Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-nəw

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: *njuɣ (Coblin, 1986)
  • Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *s-nəw (Matisoff, STEDT), *nəw, *nuw (Weidert, 1987), *nuw (Benedict, 1972; Michailovsky, 1991), *nuw(*C) (Coblin, 1986)

According to Schuessler (2007), it may be an area word. Compare for instance Mundari नुनु (nunu, “breast”), Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɲuuʔ (“to drink”) and also Proto-Austronesian *nunuh (“female breast”), whence Tsou nunu and Big Nambas nunu (Handel, 2008; Blust, ACD).

Chinese 乳 (OC *njoʔ, “breast, nipple”) could alternatively be the endoactive derivative of 懦 (OC *njo, “soft”), meaning literally “the one which is soft”.

Noun

*s-nəw

1. breast, nipple
2. milk

Descendants

• Old Chinese: 乳 (*njoʔ, “breast; to give birth; milk; to suckle”)
  • Middle Chinese: 乳 (ȵɨo^X)

**:

→ Japanese: 乳 (にゅう, ​nyū)
Korean: 유 (乳, yu)
Vietnamese: nhũ (乳)

• • • Modern Mandarin
      • Beijing: 乳 (rǔ, “breast, milk”) /ʐu²¹⁴/)
• Himalayish
  • Tibeto-Kanauri
    • Bodic
      • Tibetan
        • Written Tibetan: ནུ་མ (nu ma, “breast, nipple”), ནུ་བ (nu ba, “to suck”), ནུད་པ (nud pa, “to suckle”)
• Kuki-Chin
  • Central Chin
    • Lushai [Mizo]: hnute (“breast, milk”), nu (“mother, married woman”)
• Tangut-Qiang
  • Northern Tangut
    • Tangut: 𗨔 (*new¹, “breast”)
  • rGyalrongic
    • Situ: tənuʔ
• Lolo-Burmese-Naxi
  • Lolo-Burmese
    • Burmish
      • Written Burmese: နို့ (nui., “breast, nipple; milk”)