Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/pitunsi

This Proto-Japonic 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-Japonic

Etymology

According to Martin (1987), possibly a compound of *pi (unknown, perhaps the same pi found in *pinkay (“beard”)) +‎ *tu (completion particle) +‎ *-n- (possibly a contraction of the genitive particle の (no)) +‎ *-_(u)si (related to animals, as in 肉 (shishi, “meat”, obsolete), 獣 (shishi, “animal (used for meat)”, obsolete), or possibly 牛 (ushi, “cow, ox”)).

That said, Martin's suggested compound is problematic.

• Completion suffix -tu only attaches to verbs.
• There is genitive particle tu, but this is never followed by genitive no.
• The case for unreduplicated si is weak; the "meat" sense is only ever attested as sisi, never as si.

Noun

*pitunsi

1. goat
2. sheep

Descendants

• Old Japanese: 羊 (pi₁tuzi)
  • Japanese: 羊 (hitsuji, “sheep”)