Reconstruction:Proto-Yeniseian/su

This Proto-Yeniseian 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-Yeniseian

Etymology 1

Derived from Proto-Yeniseian *suwg (“backwards, back to the starting point”), according to Vajda-Werner (2022). Perhaps also related to Proto-Yeniseian *šowq (“hooked object”), though unclear.

The reconstructed Proto-Yeniseian form in Fortescue-Vajda (2022) is *tuj with different descendants for Ketic and Kottic, which is compared with Proto-Athabaskan *-tə (“in the middle of”), Navajo -tah (“among, through, in the promises of...”) and Tlingit tu- (“inside of...”). These compared forms, however, are most likely not cognates.

Adjective

*su (adjectival form *su-Vŋʷ)

1. half, middle, mid- (midway point in time)

Alternative reconstructions

• *su(g), *tu(g) (per Werner 2002)
• *su- (per Starostin 1994-2005)
• *sūˑ (per Vajda-Werner 2022)
• *tuj (per Fortescue-Vajda 2022)
• *su- (in compounds, per Vajda 2024)
• *su- (per Cologne group. Pattern: s.1-X)

Descendants

• Ketic:
  • Ket: (Southern dialects) су (sūˑ), сут (sūˑt), сутн (sūˑtn)
  • ⇒ Ket: (Central dialects) сусэль (súsɛlʲ, “half”)
  • ⇒ 18^th century Ostyak Yug: (Müller) súji (súji, “midday”)
  • ⇒ 18^th century Ostyak Yug: (Castrén) sutan-taq (sutan-taq, “middle finger”)
  • ⇒ 18^th century Ostyak Yug: (Castrén) sutandeŋə̂r, sutanneŋə̂r (sutandeŋə̂r, sutanneŋə̂r, “from the middle”)

• ⇒ Proto-Ketic: *su-d-qon (“midday”, literally “middle-of-seam”)
  • 18^th century Imbak Ket: (Müller, Pallas) súgge-danaŋ (súgge-danaŋ)
    • Ket: (Southern dialects) судан (suɾan)
    • Ket: (Central dialects) судан (súdan)
  • 18^th century Ostyak Yug: (Castrén) sutan, sutn, suotn (sutan, sutn, suotn, singular); sutân, sutaneŋ (sutân, sutaneŋ, plural)
    • ⇒ Yug: сухоӈ (súχɔŋ)

• Arinic:
  • ⇒ Arin: (Helimski) šemega (“midst, middle”)
• Pumpokolic:
  • ⇒ Pumpokol: (Müller, Pallas) túha (“midday”, literally “half-day”)

• Proto-Yeniseian: *su-çaj (~ -χek, -ɬ) (“midnight”, literally “middle-night”)
  • Ketic:
    • 18^th century Imbak Ket: (Müller) sus (sus), (Müller, Pallas) suésiː (suésiː)
      • Ket: (All dialects) суси (súsi)
    • 18^th century Ostyak Yug: (Müller) suúsi (suúsi)
      • Yug: суси (súsi)
  • Kottic:
    • Assan: (Klaproth, Müller, Pallas) šúšig
    • Kott: (Klaproth, Müller, Pallas) šušig
  • Pumpokolic:
    • ⇒ Pumpokol: (Pallas) tútoːl, (Müller) túthol

Etymology 2

Noun

*su

1. hazel grouse (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

Descendants

• Ket: сю
• Yug: су
• Kott: шу

See also

• Yeniseian entry guidelines § Historical bibliography

Further reading

• Bonmann, Svenja; Fries, Simon; Korobzow, Natalie; Günther, Laura; Hill, Eugen (2023), “'half'”, in “Towards a New Reconstruction of the Proto-Yeniseian Sound System. Part I: Word-Initial Consonants”, in International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics‎^[2], number 5, Brill, →DOI, →ISSN, page 60 of 39-82
• Hill, Eugen; Fries, Simon; Korobzow, Natalie; Günther, Laura; Svenja, Bonmann (2024), “'night, overnight stay'^b”, in “Towards a New Reconstruction of the Proto-Yeniseian Sound System. Part II: Word-Final Consonants”, in International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics‎^[3], number 6, Brill, →DOI, →ISSN, page 265 of 216-293
• Fortescue, Michael; Vajda, Edward (2022), “21.) ~*tuj”, in Mid-Holocene Language Connections between Asia and North America (Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas; 17)‎^[4], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 336
• Vajda, Edward; Werner, Heinrich (2022), “*sūˑ- (2)”, in Comparative-Historical Yeniseian Dictionary (Languages of the World/Dictionaries; 79, 80), volume 2, Muenchen: LINCOM GmbH, →ISBN, page 818
• Vajda, Edward (2024), “*su-”, in The Languages and Linguistics of Northern Asia: Language Families (The World of Linguistics [WOL]; 10.1)‎^[5], volume 1, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →DOI, →ISBN, page 418
• Werner, Heinrich (2002), “¹su/¹suˑ/¹suˑγ”, in Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Jenissej-Sprachen, volume 2, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 170
• Werner, Heinrich (2005), “midday, middle (midst), midnight”, in Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 309