Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/ʔit

This Proto-Sino-Tibetan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan

Etymology

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *ʔjit (Coblin, 1986)
  • Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *ʔit (Matisoff, STEDT); *it (Benedict, 1972)

There is no single general root for “one” in Sino-Tibetan languages, in sharp contradistinction to the cases of numerals 2-9, for each of which a single etymon overwhelmingly predominates. This root is only found at the periphery of the Sino-Tibetan area and may therefore be quite old. The more common root for “one” is *tjak ~ g-t(j)ik.

Benedict (1972) set up this etymon on the basis of only two forms: Kanawari and Written Burmese, and identified it as cognate to Old Chinese.

Matisoff (1997) posits *-i- ~ -ya- variational pattern in this etymon (akin to *tjak ~ g-t(j)ik (“one”), *gip ~ gjap (“ten”) and perhaps *riŋ ~ rjaŋ (“ten”), op. cit.) and considers this root to be etymologically cognate with *kat (“one”).

Some Eastern Min dialects use 蜀 as the colloquial word for the numeral one, e.g. Fuzhou /soʔ⁵/, Fuqing /θyo⁵³/. Hokkien also has a similar-shaped word, e.g. Amoy /t͡ɕit̚⁵/.

Numeral

*ʔit

Proto-Sino-Tibetan numerals
ONE	*ʔit *kat *tjak ~ g-t(j)ik
TWO	*g/s-ni-s
THREE	*g-sum
FOUR	*b-ləj
FIVE	*l/b-ŋa
SIX	*d-k-ruk
SEVEN	*s-ni-s
EIGHT	*b-r-gjat ~ b-g-rjat
NINE	*d/s-kəw
TEN	*gip *ts(j)i(j) ~ tsjaj
TWENTY	*m-kul
HUNDRED	*b-r-gja
THOUSAND	*s-tawŋ

1. one

Descendants

• Old Chinese: 一 (*ʔit (B-S); *qlig (ZS))

  (in the oracle bone script)

  → Proto-Hmong-Mien: *ʔɨ (“one”)
  (White Hmong (RPA): ib)

  • Middle Chinese: 一 /ʔiɪt/

**:

→ Japanese: 一 (いち, ​ichi)
Korean: 일 (一, il)
Vietnamese: nhất (一)

• • → Thai: เอ็ด (èt, “one (used as final digit, as in สิบเอ็ด (sìp-èt))”)
    Lao: ເອັດ (ʼet, “one (used as final digit, as in ສິບເອັດ (sip ʼet))”)

    • Mandarin
      • Beijing: 一 yī, /i⁵⁵/
      • Northeastern
        • Harbin: 一 /i⁴⁴/
        • Jilin: 一 /i⁴⁴/
        • Changchun: 一 /i⁴⁴/
        • Shenyang: 一 /i³³/
      • Jilu
        • Tianjin: 一 /i⁴²/
        • Jinan: 一 /i²¹³/
      • Jiaoliao
        • Qingdao: 一 /i⁵⁵/
        • Dalian: 一 /i²¹³/
        • Weihai: 一 /i⁵³/
      • Zhongyuan
        • Xi’an: 一 /i²¹/
        • Zhengzhou: 一 /i²⁴/
        • Yinchuan: 一 /i¹³/
      • Jin
        • Taiyuan: 一 /ieʔ²/
      • Southwestern
        • Chengdu-Chongqing: 一 yi2 /i²¹/
        • Wuhan: 一 /i²¹³/
        • Guiyang: 一 /i²¹/
        • Kunming: 一 /i⁴²/
      • Jianghuai
        • Nanjing: 一 i5 /iʔ⁵/
        • Hefei: 一 /ieʔ⁴/
        • Yangzhou: 一 /ieʔ⁴/
    • Yue
      • Guangzhou-Hong Kong: 一 jat1 /jɐt̚⁵/
      • Taishan: 一 /zit̚⁵/
    • Hakka
      • Meixian: 一 yid5 /it̚¹/
    • Gan
      • Nanchang: 一 /it̚⁵/
    • Xiang
      • Changsha: 一 /i²⁴/
      • Shuangfeng: 一 /i¹³/
    • Wu
      • Shanghai: 一 iq7 /iɪʔ⁴/
      • Suzhou: 一 iq7 /iəʔ⁴³/
      • Ningbo: 一 iq7 /iɪʔ⁵/
      • Hangzhou: 一 iq7 /iəʔ⁵/
      • Taizhou: 一 iq7 /iəʔ⁵/
      • Wenzhou: 一 iai7 /iai³²³/
  • Min
    • Southern
      • Hokkien: 一 it /it̚³/
      • Teoswa: 一 ig4 /ik̚²/
    • Eastern
      • Hokchiu: 一 ék /eiʔ²³/
    • Northern
      • Jian’ou: 一 ĭ /i²⁴/
• Himalayish
  • Tibeto-Kanauri
    • Western Himalayish
      • Kinnauri: id (“one”)
  • Mahakiranti
    • Kham-Magar-Chepang-Sunwar
      • Chepang: यात् (jat, “one”)
• Tangut-Qiang
  • Northern Tangut
    • Tangut: 𘂪 (*dzjij², “one, single”); 𗖌 (*gjɨ², “one, some, a”)
• Lolo-Burmese-Naxi
  • Lolo-Burmese
    • Burmish
      • Written Burmese: အစ် (ac, “unit, one”) (Benedict, 1976, RDWB)