Reconstruction:Proto-Tungusic/ŋiāŋta

This Proto-Tungusic 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-Tungusic

Noun

*ŋiāŋta

1. fir tree

Reconstruction notes

Southern languages show here a w-reflex, typical for *ŋ- before diphthongs and back vowels, so -ā- in the Northern subgroup must be secondary (a trace of it is perhaps preserved in the Tompon dialect of Even, where the recorded form is ńaŋta).

Alternative reconstructions

• *ŋāŋta (per Benzing but unsurely)

Descendants

• Northern:
  • Even: ӈаӈта (ŋaŋta)
  • Evenki: [script needed] (ŋaaŋtä)
  • Negidal: ӈа̄ӈта (ŋāŋta)
• Central:
  • Udihe: ӈаӈта (ŋaŋta)
• South-Eastern:
  • Nanai: ваӈта (waŋta)
  • Orok: ваӈта (waŋta)
  • Ulch: ваӈта (waŋta)
• South-Central:
  • Manchu: ᠸᠠᠨᡨᠠᡥᠠ (wantaha)

References

• Benzing, Johannes (1955), Die tungusischen Sprachen. Versuch einer vergleichenden Grammatik (Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse; 11) (in German), Wiesbaden: Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz in Kommission bei Franz Steiner Verlag, page 37
• Cincius, V. I. (1975), Сравнительный словарь тунгусо-маньчжурских языков [Comparative Dictionary of Tungus-Manchu Languages] (in Russian), volume 1, Leningrad: Nauka, pages 657-658