STEDT Etymon #702
#702 PTB *g-yak ARM / HAND / CUBIT |
This allofam with velar prefix has been specialized semantically into the areas of armpits/tickling and cubits. Of particular interest is the triplet in WB below, reflecting three separate allofams of our etymon: the naked root in lak‑kăli, the variant with dental prefix (written tshak‑kăli in the transcription of STC but better interpreted as chak‑kăli), and the present variant with velar prefix (gyak‑kăli).
The Lahu form with voiced initial, jâʔ, points to a variant with a nasal prefix, perhaps at the Proto-Loloish level.
There is a separate root ‘right hand’, reconstructed as *g‑ya ⪤ *g‑ra in STC #98.
There is still another resemblant root *g‑ya TICKLE (STC #51) underlying WT gya‑ba ‘tickle, itch’, Jingpho kəyá ‘id.’, WB yâb ‘itch’.
| rn | analysis | lgid | reflex | gloss | gfn | language | grpid | grpno | grp | genetic | citation | srcabbr | srcid | rn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19953 | 702 | 174 | (g-)yɑk| | armpit | *Tibeto-Burman | 2 | 0.1 | Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions) | 0 | Chou 72 | ACST | 800m | 0 | |
| 516124 | 702 | 2012 | g-yak| | armpit / tickle / cubit | *Tibeto-Burman | 2 | 0.1 | Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions) | 0 | Matisoff 03 HPTB | JAM-HPTB | 619 | 0 | |
| 144924 | 702,m,m | 581 | jak-git-ok | wrist | Garo (Bangladesh) | 81 | 1.7.1.2 | Garo | 1 | Burling 92 GaBa | RB-GB | 1 | ||
| 466457 | 702,m,m | 1945 | jak-git-ok | wrist | n | Garo (Bangladesh) | 81 | 1.7.1.2 | Garo | 1 | Burling 03 Garo | RB-LMMG | 6.235-II:idx | 0 |
| 144939 | 702,m | 581 | jak-tong | forearm, lower part of forearm, wrist | Garo (Bangladesh) | 81 | 1.7.1.2 | Garo | 1 | Burling 92 GaBa | RB-GB | 0 | ||
| 473562 | 702,m,m | 1973 | chak◦gy◦dok | wrist | n | Atong | 82 | 1.7.1.3 | Koch | 1 | van Breugel 08 Atong | SVB-GA | 0 | |
| 78201 | 702,m | 1632 | cak diŋ | wrist | Wancho | 85 | 1.7.2.2 | Konyak-Chang | 1 | French 83 | WTF-PNN | 525 | 0 | |
| 171602 | 702,m,702,m | 1628 | chak◦lo, chak◦ding | wrist | Wancho | 85 | 1.7.2.2 | Konyak-Chang | 1 | Marrison 67 Naga | GEM-CNL | 0 | ||
| 167841 | 702 | 146 | Nkyak | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | *Lolo-Burmese | 42 | 6.1 | Lolo-Burmese | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(a) | 0 | |
| 516122 | 702 | 2011 | ʔ-|gyakᴴ | cubit | *Lolo-Burmese | 42 | 6.1 | Lolo-Burmese | 1 | Matisoff 03 HPTB | JAM-HPTB | 619 | 0 | |
| 303349 | 702 | 149 | ʔgyak | cubit | *Lolo-Burmese | 42 | 6.1 | Lolo-Burmese | 1 | Benedict 72 STC | STC | 34n109 | 0 | |
| 34200 | 702 | 146 | ʔkyak | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | (HIGH) | *Lolo-Burmese | 42 | 6.1 | Lolo-Burmese | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(b) | 0 |
| 167842 | 702 | 146 | ʔkyak | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | *Lolo-Burmese | 42 | 6.1 | Lolo-Burmese | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(b) | 0 | |
| 437209 | 702,1289 | 406 | gyak-ka-|liʼ | armpit, tickle | Burmese (Written) | 44 | 6.1.1 | Burmish | 1 | Benedict 76 WBur | PKB-WBRD | 0 | ||
| 145936 | 702,1289,699,1289,695,1289 | 409 | gyak-kăliʼ ⪤ tshak-kăliʼ ⪤ lak-kăliʼ | armpit | Burmese (Written) | 44 | 6.1.1 | Burmish | 1 | Benedict 72 STC | STC | 265 | 0 | |
| 33440 | 702 | 839 | jâʔ | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | Lahu (Black) | 47 | 6.1.2.2 | Central Loloish | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(a) | 0 | |
| 115194 | 5450,702 | 832 | ɔ̀-jâʔ | cubit | Lahu (Black) | 47 | 6.1.2.2 | Central Loloish | 1 | Matisoff 87 BP | JAM-Ety | 0 | ||
| 33441 | 5450,702 | 839 | ɔ̀-jâʔ | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | Lahu (Black) | 47 | 6.1.2.2 | Central Loloish | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(a) | 0 | |
| 33443 | 702 | 930 | cha³ | length of outstretched fingers | Lisu | 47 | 6.1.2.2 | Central Loloish | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(b) | 0 | |
| 33444 | 702 | 1368 | ca 44| | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | Sani [Nyi] | 47 | 6.1.2.2 | Central Loloish | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(b) | 0 | |
| 33442 | 702 | 234 | ca HS| | cubit (elbow to fingertips) | Akha | 48 | 6.1.2.3 | Southern Loloish | 1 | Matisoff 72 LTSR | JAM-TSR | 100(b) | 0 | |
| 80932 | p,702 | 309 | a³¹ tɕa̱⁴² | cubit (elbow to fingers) | Bai (Jianchuan) | 51 | 8 | Bai | 1 | Zhao 90 | ZYS-Bai | 13.3 | 0 | |
| 80931 | 702 | 309 | tɕa̱⁴² | cubit (elbow to fingers) | Bai (Jianchuan) | 51 | 8 | Bai | 1 | Zhao 90 | ZYS-Bai | 13.3 | 0 | |
| 20522 | 702 | 480 | di̯ək/i̯ək | wing | Chinese (Old/Mid) | 53 | 9.0.1 | Old Chinese | 0 | Chou 72 | ACST | 954d | 0 | |
| 328952 | 702 | 481 | gi̯ək/i̯ək | wing | Chinese (Old/Mid) | 53 | 9.0.1 | Old Chinese | 0 | Karlgren 57 GSR | GSR | 954d | 0 | |
| 76479 | 702 | 468 | jiək | wing | Chinese (Middle) | 54 | 9.0.2 | Middle Chinese | 0 | Coblin 86 | WSC-SH | 37 | 0 |
翼 OC *gi̯ək, GSR #954d ‘wing’; Li 1971: (*rək); Baxter 1992 #469: *ljɨk; B & S 2011: *ɢrəp (with dialectal change to ‑k)2; Schuessler 2007:570; Mand. yì.
趩 OC *tʼi̯ək, GSR #954g ‘sound of marching’; Li 1971: (*thrjək); Baxter 1992: (*hlrjɨk); B & S 2011: --; Schuessler 2007:--; Mand. chì.
腳/脚 OC *ki̯ɑk, GSR #776g-h ‘leg, foot’; Li 1971: (*kjak); Baxter 1992: (*kjak); B & S 2011: *s.kak, [k]ak; Schuessler 2007:309; Mand. jiǎo.
匊/掬 OC *ki̯ôk, GSR #1017a,c ‘both hands joined; grasp with both hands; double-handful’; Li 1971: (*kjəkw); Baxter 1992:770: *k(r)juk; B & S 2011: (*k(r)uk); Schuessler 2007:--; Mand. jū.
JAM: GSR reconstructs this morpheme (翼), Mand. yì with initial *gi̯‑, but STC prefers *di̯‑, since the phonetic series (GSR #954) also contains 趩 *t’i̯ək/t̂’i̯ək, Mand. chì ‘sound of marching’. Baxter’s (2011) reconstruction *ɢrəp reverts to the interpretation with velar (actually postvelar) onset.
Benedict (p.c.) later agreed with the GSR reconstruction, assuming that it is underlain by an earlier *gli̯ək. He then derived the allofam in *t’‑ from an alternant with prefixal *s‑, i.e. *ski̯ək, but this is not very convincing.
Yang 1980 suggests further Chinese comparanda: 腳/脚 OC *ki̯ɑk ‘leg, foot’, GSR #776g, Mand. jiǎo; and 匊/掬 OC *ki̯ôk ‘both hands joined; grasp with both hands; double-handful’, GSR #1017a-c, Mand. jū.
ZJH: Of these four Chinese comparanda, only the first, 翼 yì ‘wing’, is defensible, although the more likely PTB comparandum is *(g‑)lak (Handel 2009:133-5). Both 趩 chì and 匊/掬 jū are impossible as they are not close in terms of sound correspondences; 腳/脚 jiǎo ‘foot’ is conceivable if we assume prefix-preemption of PST *g‑yak on the Chinese side, but the semantic shift makes this comparison speculative at best.