1.0 The Body > 1.9 Reproductive System > 1.9.2 Birth

#97 PTB *hu BORN / BIRTH / REAR

This excellent root, with a relatively rare laryngeal proto-initial, appears in the NE Indian Areal Group, Lolo-Burmese, and Qiangic, with a range of meanings including ‘be pregnant’; ‘give birth’; ‘bring up, rear (a child)’; ‘nourish, feed’, covering the whole range of parental responsibility from conception to childhood. It is reconstructed in Matisoff 1985, ‘God and the Sino-Tibetan copula’ (note 69, p. 38) and in Matisoff 1988, The Dictionary of Lahu (p. 1071), and discussed in the context of TB laryngeal-initial etyma in general in Matisoff 1997 “Primary and secondary laryngeal initials in TB” (section 5.3).

rnanalysislgidreflexglossgfnlanguagegrpidgrpnogrpgeneticcitationsrcabbrsrcidrn
515100972012hurear (offspring) / raise (to maturity) / nourish*Tibeto-Burman20.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)0Matisoff 03 HPTBJAM-HPTB5930
15116797365hoːbirth, givevBokar731.1.1.1Western Tani1Sun J 93 TaniJS-Tani0
425081971820ɦoːbirth, give tov.Bokar731.1.1.1Western Tani1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL1620.240
429710971820ɦoːbirth, give to (piglets)v.Bokar731.1.1.1Western Tani1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL1717.240
15003197191uraise (child)Padam-Mishing [Abor-Miri]741.1.1.2Eastern Tani1Matisoff 93 PCJAM-II 1
10680p,1864,97,m,s1040ə◦ŋaŋ u◦nə◦bəbirth, givev.Meithei131.4Meithei1Singh 91 MeiQCYS-Meithei10.4.150
43097971317χubirth, giveQiang (Mawo)343.2Qiangic1Sun H 81 QiaJZ-Qiang0
219462971320χubirth, giveQiang (Mawo)343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC774.80
138841012,m,1012,97584za²¹ ni²⁴ za²¹ fv̩³³birth, giveGazhuo466.1.2.1Northern Loloish1Dai 89 GazhDQ-Gazhuo10.4.150
29651197904xo³³birth, giveLipho466.1.2.1Northern Loloish1Chen 86 YiCK-YiQ10.4.150
31137097973ʔhṿ¹¹raise, bring up (child)Luquan466.1.2.1Northern Loloish1Ma 48 LoloMXL-Lolo0
43877971665hu⁵⁵birth, giveYi (Nanjian)466.1.2.1Northern Loloish1Chen 85 YiJZJZ-Yi0
441381971915hu⁵⁵birth, giveYi (Xide)466.1.2.1Northern Loloish1Matisoff 93 PCJAM-II0
44138058,97,450831cê hu veraise animalsovLahu (Black)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Matisoff 88 DLJAM-DL10720
15003297831husupport; nourish; rearLahu (Black)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Matisoff 88 DLJAM-DL10710
1505061012,97,450831yâ hu vebe pregnant, raise a childbeLahu (Black)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Matisoff 88 DLJAM-DL12590
1087297923h'ū⁴born, bebe v.Lisu476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Bradley 79 PLoDB-PLolo5970
4191497947he³³birth, give (human)Lisu (Nujiang)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Xu 86 LisuJZ-Lisu0
425097971838hẽ³³birth, give tov.Lisu476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL1620.400
21944697942he³³birth, giveLisu476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC774.270
429735971838he̱³¹birth, give to (piglets)v.Lisu476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL1717.400
4191597947he̱⁴²birth, give (animal)Lisu (Nujiang)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Xu 86 LisuJZ-Lisu0
27578697,m946hĩ³³gu³³birth placeLisu (Northern)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Bradley 94 LisuDB-Lisu 2
28254297,m944hỹ³³gu⁴⁴birth placeLisu (Central)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Bradley 94 LisuDB-Lisu0
27568897946hø̃³³birth, give ; support; feed and educate; raiseVLisu (Northern)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Bradley 94 LisuDB-Lisu0
27569097,m946hø̃³³gu³³birth placeLisu (Northern)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Bradley 94 LisuDB-Lisu0
27569197,m946hø̃ʔ²¹la³³birth, giveLisu (Northern)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Bradley 94 LisuDB-Lisu0
28478397943hʼū⁴birth, givev.t.Lisu (Central)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Fraser 22JF-HLL0
28487197,m,m943hʼū⁴ ta¹ law³born, beLisu (Central)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Fraser 22JF-HLL0
6045119722111044agoodChinese (GSR #)529Sinitic1BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110210
6045139722111044alove, likev.Chinese (GSR #)529Sinitic1BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110230
600437972210qʰˤuʔgoodChinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110210
600439972210qʰˤuʔ-slove, likev.Chinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110230
29507497471xu(ʔ)slovevChinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0Baxter 92WHB-OC737b0
29589797471xuʔgoodChinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0Baxter 92WHB-OC15660
596365972209xawHlove, likev.Chinese (Middle)549.0.2Middle Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110230
596363972209xawXgoodChinese (Middle)549.0.2Middle Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110210
592289972208hǎogoodChinese (Mandarin)559.0.3Modern Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110210
592291972208hàolove, likev.Chinese (Mandarin)559.0.3Modern Chinese0BaxterSagart 2011WHBLS-201110230

Chinese comparanda

好 OC *χôg, GSR #1044a ‘good’ ⪤ ‘love, like’3; Li 1971: *həgwx/*həgwh; Baxter 1992: *xuʔ/ *xu(ʔ)s (737); Mand. hǎo ‘good’ ⪤ hào ‘love, like’.

The word for ‘love, like’ is a putative form derived from ‘good’ through *‑s suffixation. This presents some semantic difficulty for the OC-PTB comparison, since the basic meaning of the PTB root is closer to that of the derived Chinese transitive verb.

Corroborated as it is by other etyma (e.g. #1168 PTB *pʷu EGG / BIRD / ROUND OBJECT, #1733 PTB *r/m‑bu*pru NEST / WOMB / PLACENTA), the correspondence TB *‑u with OC *‑əgw (Li)/*‑u (Baxter) is well attested. The initial correspondence is difficult to evaluate because there are so few proposed cognates involving words with OC *h‑ (Li)/*x‑ (Baxter) or PTB *h‑. Of these several (such as Gong 1995 #142 comparing OC 鼾 *xan ‘snore’ (Mand. hān) to PTB *hal ‘snore’) are clearly onomatopoetic. In other cases Gong has derived OC *x‑ from earlier *skh‑, facilitating comparison with Written Tibetan forms having initial velars (see Gong 2000). Nevertheless, there is no specific reason to doubt the validity of the initial correspondence.
[ZJH]

畜 OC *χi̯ôk, GSR #1018a ‘raise (animals); bring up; cultivate’; Schuessler 2007:194 *huks; B & S 2011: *qʰuk‑s; Mand. .
畜 OC *t̂’i̯ôk, GSR #1018a ‘livestock; (domesticated animal’; Schuessler 2007:194 *rhuk; B & S 2011: *qʰ‹r›uk; Mand. chù.


^ 1.
J. H. Lorrain (1907:229) glosses this word as ‘to bring up; to tend; to rear; to keep; to support; to feed (as child, etc.).’
^ 2.
The nasalization in some of the Lisu forms is due to rhinoglottophilia. See Matisoff 1975 (“Rhinoglottophilia”).
^ 3.
This comparison is correctly cited in HPTB (p. 58), although by an unfortunate error the Chinese character 愛 is given instead of 好. [JAM]