Reconstruction:Proto-Mon-Khmer/()ŋaaj

This Proto-Mon-Khmer 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.

Although the label of Proto-Mon-Khmer has mostly been abandoned or rejected, this reconstruction, which sourced from Shorto (2006)'s reconstruction for Proto-Mon-Khmer, currently does not have an appropriate Proto-Austroasiatic reconstruction. This reconstruction therefore should not be taken at face value as a state-of-the-art reconstruction for Proto-Austroasiatic, but instead ought to be treated as a valid cognate set.

Proto-Mon-Khmer

Etymology

• Proto-Mon-Khmer: *[]ŋaaj (Shorto, 2006, #1453)

Likely related to what reconstructed as *[m]ŋaaj (“person, human being”) (Shorto, 2006), whence Vietnamese người. Compare English pupil, Latin pupilla (“pupil, orphan”), pupus (“boy, child”), Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “pupil, girl”), Japanese 瞳 (hitomi, “pupil”) and 人 (hito, “person, human”), Chinese 瞳 (tóng, “pupil”) and 童 (tóng, “child”), Thao thau (“person, pupil”), Tagalog tao (“human, person”) and balintataw (“pupil”), Persian مردم (mardom, “people, pupil”).

The sense "face" also appears in descendant languages, which is obviously secondary and derived from "eye".

Noun

*()ŋaaj

1. eye
2. pupil

Descendants

• Bahnaric:
  • Bahnar: ngai (“pupil”)
• Proto-Palaungic: *ˀŋaːj (“eye”) (Sidwell, 2015)
  • Danaw: ŋɑj²
  • Palaung:
    • Shwe:
      • Sam-Loong: ငါည်
  • Plang:
    • La Gang: ŋàj
    • Man Noi: ŋáj
  • Riang: ŋɑj²
• Pearic:
  • Chong: ŋa̤ːj ("face")
• Proto-Vietic: *-ŋaːj (“pupil”) (Ferlus, 2007) (see there for further descendants)
  • Vietnamese: ngươi