1.0 The Body > 1.9 Reproductive System > 1.9.6 Womb

#670 PTB *s-b-rum WOMB / PLACENTA

This etymon is not reconstructed in STC, but appears in VSTB pp. 225-6 and Matisoff 19831 #52.

This root occurs in the NE Indian Areal Group, Himalayish, and perhaps Lolo-Burmese (Ugong). There are possible Chinese comparanda (below). WT shows variation between ‑r‑ and ‑l‑. The b‑ has been treated as a prefix and dropped everywhere but in WT and Chinese. For a similar doubly prefixed form set up for PTB, cf. *s‑b‑rul SNAKE. WT hlums reflects an alternant *s‑lum. This *s‑ prefix seems to have preempted the initial consonant in Tsangla shum, wak◦tsa ɕum ‘placenta’.

We now consider this etymon to be independent of #680 PTB *s‑lam WOMB / PLACENTA, even though they were treated as allofams in VSTB and Matisoff 1983.

rnanalysislgidreflexglossgfnlanguagegrpidgrpnogrpgeneticcitationsrcabbrsrcidrn
5147856702012s-|brumpregnant*Tibeto-Burman20.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)0Matisoff 03 HPTBJAM-HPTB5850
3050126701470rəmafterbirthTangkhul661.3.4Tangkhulic1Bhat 69 TNVBhat-TNV840
1163786701472rəmplacentaTangkhul661.3.4Tangkhulic1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
1446776701476rəmplacentaTangkhul661.3.4Tangkhulic1Matisoff 78 VSTBJAM-VSTB0
620636701098shumplacentaTsangla (Central)222.1.2Bodic1Egli-RodunerSER-HSLT35 160
42233m,2727,6701086wak◦tsa ɕumplacentaTsangla (Motuo)222.1.2Bodic1Sun H 80 MLDSLZO-MLD0
2200726701550rəmhatchTibetan (Amdo:Bla-brang)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC786.40
310466701572hlumswomb (resp.)Tibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 83 TILJAM-TIL520
1648896701565lhumswombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Luce 85GHL-PPBX.2130
1164186701568lhumswombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
1446836701574lhumswombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 78 VSTBJAM-VSTB0
1648886701565rumwombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Luce 85GHL-PPBX.2130
1164206701568rumwombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
310456701572rumwombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 83 TILJAM-TIL520
1446846701574rumwombTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 78 VSTBJAM-VSTB0
144685670,s1574sbrum-papregnantTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 78 VSTBJAM-VSTB 2
172458670,s1564sbrum◦papregnantTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Marrison 67 NagaGEM-CNL0
173011670,6721618lọ̵̌ŋ◦yɛ́ʔplacentaUgong486.1.2.3Southern Loloish1Bradley 93 UgoDB-Ugong10.4.110
6098146702207範casting moldChinese (Hanzi)529Sinitic1BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-20116620
60415267022110626dcasting moldChinese (GSR #)529Sinitic1BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-20116620
31044670475b'i̯wǎmmould, matrixChinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0Matisoff 83 TILJAM-TIL52 3
6000786702210bomʔ {[b](r)omʔ}casting moldChinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-20116620
5960046702209bjomXcasting moldChinese (Middle)549.0.2Middle Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-20116620
5919306702208fàncasting moldChinese (Mandarin)559.0.3Modern Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-20116620

Chinese comparanda

Luce 1981 (“A Comparative Word-List of Old Burmese, Chinese, and Tibetan”) compares this root with 範 OC *b’i̯wɑ̆m, Mand. fàn, glossed by him as ‘mould, matrix’. See Matisoff 1983: #52 (“Transclucent insights”). For the semantic connection, cf. Latin and English matrix ‘womb; a situation or surrounding substance in which something originates’, ult. < mater ‘mother’.

範 OC *bʼi̯wɑ̆m, GSR #626d ‘mould; rule, law’; Li 1971: *bjamx; Baxter 1992: (*bjamʔ / *b(r)jomʔ); Mand. fàn.

Baxter does not reconstruct this word. There are several possible reconstructions in his system, as indicated above. The Chinese word 範 may be related to 凡 ‘general rule, pattern’, Mand. fán and 法 ‘law, model’, Mand. fǎ, reconstructed *b(r)jom and *pjap respectively by Baxter.
[ZJH]

妊 OC *ńi̯əm, GSR #667i ‘pregnant’; Li 1971: *njəmh; Baxter 1992: *njɨms; Mand. rèn.

Gong (1995 #368) proposed that this Chinese word was cognate to WT sbrum < *smrum. However, the vowel and initial correspondences are not regular, and the comparison is not found in Gong’s later publications. Schuessler 2007:441 treats 妊 rèn ‘pregnant’ as an internal Chinese derivation from 任 rèn ‘carry on the shoulder, to load’.
[ZJH]


^ 1.
“Translucent insights: a look at Proto-Sino-Tibetan through Gordon H. Luce’s Comparative Wordlist.” BSOAS 46.3:462-76.
^ 2.
The word-family relationship between WT rum ‘womb’ and sbrum‑pa ‘pregnant’ was already recognized by W. Simon (1975:250).
^ 3.
The credit for recognizing the cognacy of this Chinese word with forms in Tibetan belongs to G.H. Luce (1981). See Matisoff 1983 #52. The labial initial is paralleled in WT sbrum‑pa ‘pregnant’.