Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/b-sej
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Proto-Sino-Tibetan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]- Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *bsɨd (Coblin, 1986)
- Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *b-sey (Matisoff, STEDT)
Chinese 犀 (OC *sliːl, “rhinoceros”) possibly descends from this root, although the presence of the lateral segment, *-lˁ- (B-S) or *-l- (ZS), after the initial *s- remains unexplained.
Schuessler (2007) considers it an areal word, also attested in Mon-Khmer languages, e.g. Khmer សេះ (seh) and Mon ချေံ (chɛh), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ʔseh (“horse”). See also Proto-Mon-Khmer *mraŋ (“horse”), compared with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-m-raŋ ~ s-raŋ (“horse”), for a similar case.
Noun
[edit]*b-sej
Descendants
[edit]- Old Chinese: 犀 /*s.lˤəj/ (B-S), /*sliːl/ (ZS) (“rhinoceros”)
- Middle Chinese: 犀 (sej) (/sei/) (“rhinoceros”)
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**:
→ Japanese: 犀 (さい, sai)
Korean: 서 (犀, seo)
Vietnamese: tê (犀)