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(Continued)

III) THE MON-KHMER ASSOCIATION :

A) The underlined stratum of basic vocabularies :

At present philologists of Vietnamese tend to embrace the idea that Vietnamese belongs to the Mon-Khmer (MK) branch of the larger Austroasiatic linguistic family. Austroasiatic languages, according to Norman (1988), “are spoken over a vast geographic range: the Munda languages in northwestern India, Khasi in Assam, Palaung-Wa and Mon in Burma, the MK languages in Indo-China, Vietnamese and Muong in Vietnam [...] and were once spoken much more widely in China.” (pp. 7-8) The issue of the Austroasiatic origin of Vietnamese is not new, but until now what has been written on the subject suggesting that Vietnamese belongs to the Austroasiatic linguistic family, based on a small number of basic words that scatter in different MK languages, is unsatisfactory, inconclusive, insufficient, hypothetical, and questionable based on the newly discovered evidences that are presented in this paper even though there still exist intriguing questions left unanswered for further investigation.(2)

In any events, terminologically and categorially, the name Austroasiatic linguistic family has been termed by western linguists anyway, I do not see why we could not coin another one when their categorization could be misleading and the term does not exactly signify what we are really up to. As for that broad classification of the Austroasiatic linguistic family, except that the same concept is used to refer to a smaller scale of a linguistic sub-family, that includes those of the MK languages but minus the Vietnamese language and its sibling descents of the ancestral languages which "were once spoken much more widely in China”. Those speeches nowadays have been explicitly referred to as of proto-Taic forms. In this paper, as dicussed earlier, the so-called Yue linguistic sub-family was considered as one of them that had split at the same time as that of the proto-Austroasiatic group; otherwise, they could be regarded as of common root at the early stage where the boundary between them was a matter of intepretation and speculation. Hence, I will confine myself to examine only those languages originally evolved from ancient languages of the Yue peoples, spoken by those those ethnic groups still living in the southern part of China, from which Vietnamese has emerged as a special case of virtual siniticization.

Visual view of linked kinship of Vietnamese
with other major  linguistic families and their sub-strata
ST Proto-Taic
Proto-Tibetan Proto-Chinese Yue Austroasiatic
Tibetan Archaic Chinese Proto-Vietmuong Proto-Daic Mon-Khmer
  Proto-Vietic Proto-Muong Tai-Kudai Zhuang Yao
Ancient Chinese Vietic Muong, Chac, etc. Daic Dong Miao
Annamese
Middle Chinese Vietnamese Siamese Nung Khmer
modern Chinese dialects Thai, etc. etc. Mon etc.

Before we go on, it is worth mentioning here a trend of the school of Prague appearing during the 20th century that it was fashionable for many linguists to concentrate on the analysis of the phonemic system and the phonological description of the languages due to its simplicity in methods and procedure. Bloomfield for example was able to describe and analyze the Tagalog language on the basis of the information provided by one informant. (Indo-Pacific, Part II, Descriptive Linguistics, or Lingua 15, 1963, p. 515) It is of no surprise that many of linguists in MK camp belong to that school, looking for similarities in groups of languages based solely on information provided by their local informants without first-hand experience in related languages which contribute orthographical errors in cited sources which in fact could be found throughout ever their work. With regards to first-hand experience, readers will see many cited etyma in this paper that require a good command and "linguistic feelings"(1) of the target language in order to appreciate how such words have evolved.

Up to 1991, though Parkin classified Vietnamese (of Viet-Muong branch) as Austroasiatic without any further argument, he still admitted that “considerable controversy has surrounded the problem of the affiliation of Vietnamese.” (p.89) His agreement with Haudricourt’s and Shorto’s view is his basis for the classification. In other word, the view on the origin of Vietnamese was based on the common belief in the MK theories hold by most of linguists at the time who, in turn, use others' views as their spring board to jump to their own subject matters. That is to say when a convincing view was first initiated by a small number of identified scholars, then subsequently it was later followed by many others, some of them being not specialized in these areas of study for just having taken the most accepted views and some even ludicrously citing linguistic family listing in the Britanica Encyclopedia or other non-scholarly referals. Of course, The sources are not always correct even viewed by a majority as a matter of fact.

Also, strangely enough, some specialists even have relied on the MK classification of Vietnamese made by the aforementioned sources for their basis. We can say that what is listed in an encyclopedia is not a dependable source since it just a summary of what has been said and repeated elsewhere, not by any actual scholarly study in the related field. If a commonly accepted view changes, encyclopedia will change, too. In other word, no linguists should do so. For serious philologists of Vietnamese, the issue of whether Vietnamese should be grouped into the Austroasiatic, of which Vietnamese is classed in the same linguistic group with other MK languages, or ST linguistic family, which includes the langages spoken by the Zhuang, Dong, Dai,... minorities in Vietnam's mountainous regions and south China, in fact, is still a big question mark.

The view of MK origin, or even that of Austroasiatic one for both as of two linguistic sub-groups, of Vietnamese has been originated from the misconceptions that are partially due to misinterpretation and, unreservedly, acceptance of those research work done by renown specialists in the field as premises for one's own argument. The most innovated views mainly were originally initiated by French linguists Maspero and Haudricourt in the middle of 20th century and then repeated by other linguists such as Baker, Parkin, Thomas, etc., in the later half of the same century. The whole matter can be summed up by using Parkin’s words (1991): “Maspero based his case on the presence of Tai vocabulary in Vietnamese as well as on other pecularities” (p. 89) even though “Maspero accepted a Mon-Khmer ‘substratum for Vietnamese’” and “Haudricourt is the chief debunker of Maspero, and it is his view that is generally accepted today” for his taking [quoting Thomas] “Maspero’s examples of Thai-Vietnamese cognates and [showing] most of them to be general Southeast Asian vocabulary [and] correspondences between Vietnamese tones and Mon-Khmer final consonants”; therefore, “Maspero’s key argument, that tones cannot be acquired by a language previously lacking them, is thus rejected.” (p. 90)

I shall examine both Maspero's and Haudricourt's viewpoints and point out their flaws. Firstly let's examine some Vietnamese words cited in Maspero’s examples (1952) as having MK sub-stratum or Thai cognates to which I often found them to have Chinese correspondences:

(1) Mon-Khmer:

  1. rừng 林 lín ‘forest’ (SV lâm) [ M 林 lín < MC lim < OC *rjəm < PC **rjəɱ | ~ OC *srjəm : 森 (sâm) rậm) | Tibetan languages: Burmese: rum 'dense', Kachin: diŋgram2 'forest', Lushei: ram 'forest' | Cant. /lʌm/ | ¶ l- ~ r-, ex. 龍 lóng (long) rồng ],
  2. áo 衣 yī ‘shirt’ (SV y)[ M 衣 yī (y) < MC ʔyj < OC *ʔjəj | FQ 於希 | MC reading 止開三平微影 | Shuowen: 依也.上曰衣.下曰常.象覆二人之形.凡衣之屬皆從衣. (388). | According to Starostin : clothes, garment, gown. Also read *ʔjəj-s, MC ʔyj (FQ 於既), Pek. yì 'to wear'. Sometimes the character is also used for the homonymous 依 *ʔjə | See more in the next chapter on ST. ],
  3. chim 禽 qín ‘bird’ (SV cầm) [ M 禽 qín < MC gim < OC *ghjəm | ~ modern M niăo 鳥 | Dialects: Hainanese /jiăo/ is the sound for 'chim' | Chaozhou: ʑin12, Wenzhou: ʑiaŋ12, Shuangfeng: ʑin12 | According to Starostin : The character is more frequently used (since L.Zhou) with the meaning 'wild bird(s)' ('something caught'), whereas for the meaning 'to catch, capture' (SV 'cầm', VS 'giam') one uses the character 擒 ],
  4. luá 來 lái (unhusked rice) (SV lai) [ M 來 lái < MC ljəj < OC *rjə: | MC reading 蟹開一平咍來 | lúa ~ 來 lái © 'lúamì, lúamạch' (wheat (Triticum aestivum)) | According to Starostin: In Shijing rhyme jə OC *rjəs | OC *r- cf. Dialects: Amoy, Chaozhou lai2, Fuzhou li2, Jianou lej2, lai9, Jianyang le2, Shaowu li2 | Also, according to Starostin, 'lúa' is 稻 dào, an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is đạo. See 'gạo' below)]
  5. ngày 日 rì ‘day’ (SV nhật) [ VS giời, trời, ngày | M 日 rì < MC rit < OC *ɲit | According to Starostin : MC ɲit < OC *nit, Min forms: Xiamen tɕit8, lit8, Chaozhou zik8, Fuzhou nik8, Jianou ni8. | @ 日 rì ~ ngày / giời > trời | giời and M 'rì' have their corresponding initials gi- and r- as well as y-, close to nh-, j-, jh- and ng- in SV nhật, Cant. /jat/ and /jit/.]

(2) Thai:

  1. gà 雞 jī ‘chicken’ SV: kê ) [ M 雞 < MC kiej < OC *ke: | ¶ j- ~ g-: 寄 jì (ký) gởi | x. gàmái : 雞母 jīmǔ , gàtrống: 雞公 jīgōng (Minnan, including Hai.) . Also, gàmẹ : 雞母 jīmǔ , gàcồ : 雞公 jīgōng | cf. jìn 近 SV cận: gần, jì 記 SV ký: ghi, jì 寄 SV ký: gởi, jí 及 SV cấp: gấp) ],
  2. vịt 鴨 yà ‘duck’ ( SV áp) [ M 鴨 yā < MC ʔap < OC *ʔra:p | FQ 烏甲 | MC reading 咸開二入狎影 | Cant. ap43 and ŋap43 ],
  3. gạo 稻 dào ‘paddy, rice’ (SV đạo) [ M 稻 dào < MC dɑw < OC *lhu:ʔ ~ ɫhu:ʔ (Schuessler : MC dâu < OC *gləwʔ or *mləwʔ) | MC reading 效開一上皓定 | However, according to Starostin : Viet. lúa is an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is đạo. Protoform: *ly:wH (~ ɫ-), Meaning: rice, grain, Chinese: 稻 *lhu:ʔ (~ɬh-) rice, paddy, Burmese: luh sp. of grain, Panicum paspalum, Kachin: c^jəkhrau1 paddy ready for husking. Kiranti: *lV 'millet' | SR: 1078 h-k | Based on the structure and phonetic stem of the character 稻 dào, it could have been a later development after 'lúa' 來 lái. ],]

Below are many other words in Maspero’s list common to both Thai and Vietnamese, for which Haudricourt (1961, pp. 51-52), contrarily, considered them as ancient Chinese loans in both languages:

  1. chèo 掉 diáo ‘row’ (SV trạo) [ M 櫂 (棹) zhào < MC ɖɑw < OC *ɫhe:kʷs | According to Starostin: The word was originally (L.Chou) written as 櫂, which allows to reconstruct *ɬ(h)e:kʷ-s. After Han the reading changed to *d.(h)ie:\w (with dialectal retroflexity, sometimes occurring in former lateral hsieh-sheng series), which enabled its writing as 櫂 (attested only since Tsin). The character 櫂 has also a late (Han) reading *ɬ(h)e:kʷ, MC d.a.uk, Mand. zhuo/ 'a k. of bowl, vessel'. Viet. chèo is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is trạo ],
  2. bè 筏 fà ‘raft’ (SV phiệt) [ VS also: phà | M 筏 fá < MC bwjət < OC *bhat ],
  3. bánh 餠 bǐng ‘bread’ (SV bính [ M 餅 bǐng < pjɛŋ < OC *peŋʔ ],
  4. tiếng 聲 shēng ‘noise, sound’ (SV thanh) [ M 聲 shēng < MC ʂeŋ < OC *xeŋ | Cant. ʃieŋ21, Amoy: sɨŋ11 (literary); siã11, Tchiewchow: siã11, Fukienese siŋ11 (literary); Zyyy: ʃijəŋ1],
  5. đũa 箸 zhú ‘chopstick’ (SV trợ, chừ, trừ) [ M 箸 zhú < MC ɖʊ < OC *dras | FQ 遲倨 | Hainanese: /du/],
  6. nàng 娘 niáng ‘Mrs., she, girl’ (SV nương) [ VS also nạ, nường | M 娘 niáng (Beijing dialect 'mom') (ancient Vietnamese means "mother") | < MC naŋ < OC* nraŋ | MC reading 宕開三平陽泥 | Pk: nuəŋ12, Zyyy: niaŋ12, Amoy nĩu12, Chaozhou niẽ12, Shanghai niã32 | see © nạ | < ~ © 妳 nǐ (nhĩ) > Bk 娘兒 niár ],
  7. mèo 貓 māo ‘cat’ (SV miêu) [ M 貓 māo < MC maw < OC * mrhaw | According to Starostin : Also read *mhraw, MC mew id. Viet. mèo is colloquial; standard Sino-Vietnamese is miêu.],...

In the list above, we can now see that Haudricourt could provide only those limited Vietnamese words having Chinese cognates. For many other words in Thai (languages) which have Vietnamese correspondences were assumed by him as Austroasiatic loans, I find them cognate to those in Chinese, too. They are:

  1. bụng 腹 fú ‘belly’ 腹 fù (phục) [ M 腹 fù < MC pʊk < OC *puk | ¶ OC *p- ~> b-, M f- ~ b- | FQ 方六 | GSR 1034 h | Tibetan languages: (W) ze-a~bug the maw or fourth stomach of ruminating animals. Burmese: pjəuk belly, stomach. Lushei: KC *puk. Lepcha: ta-fuk, ta-bak the abdomen, the lower part of stomach. Kiranti: *ʔpo/k. Comments: Sho puk; Kham phu: belly, abdomen; Gyarung tepok. Sh. 49, 69, 409; Ben. 77 | See more in the next chapter on ST.],
  2. nghe 聽 tìng, tīng ‘hear’ (SV thính) [ M 聽 tìng, tīng < thieŋ < OC *ɫhe:ŋ | MC reading 梗開四平青透 | FQ 他丁 | Dialects: Hainanese /k'ɛ/, Amoy: thiɛŋ11 $; thiã11, Chaozhou : thiã11 | ¶ t- ~ ng- : ex. 停 tíng (đình) ngừng ]
  3. cổ 喉 hóu (SV hầu) [ M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *ghro: | According to Starostin: for OC *gh- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou au2, Protoform: *khrjə:w (~gh-,qh-,Gh-), Meaning: throat, Chinese: *gh(r)o: throat, Tibetan: kru-kru windpipe (cf. also mgur, mgul throat, neck, ko-ko throat, chin), Kachin: z^|jəkhro1 the throat, gullet. | cf. cổhọng, cuốnghọng 喉嚨 hóulóng (hầulung) while modern Mandarin: bózi 脖子: 'cáicổ', a much later development. ]
  4. cằm 含 hán (archaic) ~ also hàm ‘chin’ (modern Mandarin: 下巴 xiàbā) [ See etymology as previously discussed ],
  5. cà 茄 qié ‘eggplant’ (SV già) [ M 茄 qié < MC ga < OC *ghiaj | Cant.: khe12, Amoy: khe11 $; kio12; khe12, Chaozhou kie12, Fuzhou: kia11, Shanghai: ka32 | This is a loanword in Chinese | According to Starostin : The oldest attested meaning and reading is OC *kra:j, MC ka. (FQ 求迦), Mand. jia: 'lotus stalk' (Han); the meaning 'egg-fruit' is attested since Tsin. The MC reading ga is exceptional (-a normally does not occur after velars) and may be dialectal; thus the OC form for 'egg-fruit' could have been *ghaj. Viet. cà is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is già. For *gh- cf. Xiamen khe2 ]

So if one takes dichotomy of both Maspero’s and Haudricourt’s views, for whatever relationship the above word list may establish, the question of their roots, that whether which word is borrowed from which language or whether they originated from the same sources, remains the same that they are etymologically related For example, lúa ~ gạo 稻 dào ‘paddy’(rice) and cà 茄 qié ‘eggplant’, along with other words such as đường 糖 táng 'sugar', voi 為 wēi 'elephant', chuối 蕉 jiāo 'banana', chó 狗 gǒu 'dog', sông 江 jiāng 'river', etc.-- for which there also exist Chin. native words -- are words that show to have the same origin, just like many other basic words, of which some have been found cognate to those of Austroasiatic and Autronesian languages (see Luce's list below.) Specifically, in the case of Chin. and V, with their relationship probably of more than 2,000 years old, if there exists correspondence in any word in their vocabularies, chances are that they are related to each other than to any other languages. If a larger number of basic words in both Vietnamese and Chinese is proved to be of the same root, they should be treated as of the same linguistic family or at least more closely affiliated genetically.

We can see that many of the above words can be treated as basic vocabularies and it is hard to imagine the "Chinese" borrowed those basic words from the "barbaric" southerners. As likely as such is the case that most of those listed words were originated from either the same ST linguistic family or common proto-Taic linguistic forms; otherwise, both Maspero and Haudricourt could be able yo have gone far enough in establishing a solid etymological relationship for most of the basic Vietnamese words with those of the MK. At the same time, they did not question or give answers for issues such as how come what exists in one MK language does not exist in all other MK languages or why the similarities of those same words were found in both Vietnamese and Chinese? Could Maspero's listed words in the MK languages have been loanwords from Vietnamese instead? We cannot rule out this assumption since the hill tribesmen who speak those MK languages have been living in geographical proximity closer to the Vietnamese "Kinhs" than the Chinese in the far north. Again, given the possiblities of Chinese cognates with those lexicons enumerated in the above examples for which Maspero failed to see their affiliation, it is hard to imagine how on earth from the early days of their existence "the Chinese" had not already possessed a set of basic words for their own daily use unless this hypothesis is true: apart from the common words both Tibetan and Chinese were initially originated, all of other basic words in Chinese were derived from "an already extinct foreign source" (Norman, on Chinese 1988, p. 17) which was what had given rise to those in Vietnamese as well. In either case, the authencity of genetic affiliation of both Chinese and Vietnamese basic words is even more firmly strengthened.

Given this hypothesis, here our question is driven back to the previous point: why do there exist Vietnamese basic cognates in many MK languages? (See all other MK list below.) One possible answer could be that, after purging and filtering out all Chinese and Vietnamese lexical commonalities in basic vocabularies, what remains could be a mix of indigenous glosses and proto-Vietmuong lexicons, as demonstrated in Mương lexical remnants, for which the Viet and Mương both had shared before they split into two different languages, just like the biological composition of their speakers.

As for those words in the above list, the similarities between Chinese and Vietnamese are parallel, concurrent, and undeniable. If we keep tracing other words beyond what both Maspero and Haudricourt could provided with so far in all other lexical categories, in one way or another, much more words like these in Vietnamese could be found related to those of Chinese.

 

A graphical view of the hypothesis of lexical interpolation of respective languages

Tibetan Unknown extinct foreign elements Mon-
    Chinese  Zhuang, Miao, Yao, etc. Vietnamese   Mường   Khmer languages
                   
 
 
 
 
 
     
                 
                 

 

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B) Haudricourt’s theory of tonal development

To counter Maspero's theory of tonal inheritance, Haudricourt’s hypothesis of tone development in Vietnamese language is that it had been a result of changing pitch due to the nature of initial and final consonants. This view has been also wrongly accepted by many contemporary scholars since this was probably a nouveau idea in his time; otherwise, it is hard to explain how with the same basic words that exist in Vietnamese and other MK languages those Vietnamese words are accented with tones while others are not. That is how, in his view, an Austroasiatic language like Vietnamese had acquired tones. However, Haudricourt’s hypothesis is questionable for the following reasons:

Firstly, from beginning the tonal table set up by Haudricourt itself for comparison was not correct according to the scheme traditionally used Chinese historical lingustics, but it has been adoped by numerous philologists in their works. It is not like this:
1. ­­ 3. ´ 5. ʔ 7. ´ -p, -t, -c, -ch
2. ` 4. . 6. ~ 8. . -p, -t, -c, -ch

(Sources: Norman. 1988, p55)

but it should be:
1. ­­ 3. ʔ 5. ´ 7. ´ -p, -t, -c, -ch
2. ` 4. ~ 6. . 8. . -p, -t, -c, -ch

For this table, it can be found in most Chinese historical linguistics or classic syllabic rhyme books. From this wrong start, I doubt if Haudricourt fully understood how the ancient tonal scheme were devised and interpreted and how the tones had developed from the four tone system of Ancient Chinese.

Secondly, it is not as rigid as his hypothesis in associating the corresponding Vietnamese tonal categories (sắc, nặng  for shàng 上聲 ‘rising’ tone and hỏi, ngã for qù 去聲 ‘departing’ tones in Ancient Chinese and the reverse of them to those of Middle-Chinese) as to those initial or final consonants which appear in most of the Vietnamese words which happen to fall into those tones in both of the two tonal registers, i.e., low and higher pitches. (For easy identification, instead of denoting 1 to 4 in 2 registers as classified in a traditional scheme the tones are numbered from 1 to 8 in the discussion below that follows immediately.) In other words, Haudricourt saw only one-to-one correspondences from one initial or final consonants in some MK words to a certain tone in Vietnamese. The reason is that, firstly, many Vietnamese words having Ancient Chinese origin in Haudricourt’s list are based on his limited word stock and, secondly, he was probably not aware that there exist many more Vietnamese words of Chinese origin that have many layers of tones or they have changed many times in the long-gone past to have distanced themselves from the original ones considerably, not to mention the loanword factor that the MK might have even borrowed those words from Vietnamese and then altered their pronunciation scheme to fit into their speech habit as toneless system, not the other way around. Let’s examine a cited example from Haudricourt:

This word is apparently cognate to the Chinese 墓 and has evolved into several words, each pronounced with different tones. So, the rigidity of tone and initial and ending consonants correspondence, e.g., {~ => ʔ}, is unfounded. Please note that André Haudricourt cited the pronunciation of this word as "mã", a Sinitic-Vietnamese sound for "mộ" that is obviously a Sino-Vietnamese sound and definitely a cognate with 墓. We may want to wonder aloud if he did it on purpose or else?

Other examples below demonstrate further the fact that multiple tonal changes occurred to a word of Chinese origin and they had given rise to multiple words in Vietnamese of which Haudricourt might have not been aware:

and the list can go on and on. Note that the above list contains only monosyllabic words. If we include the dissyllabic words, the roster would probaly expand to even a much larger extent.

From the purposedly long listed examples above, we can see that the phenomenon of multiple sound changes is commonplace and not exceptional and that the correspondence of tones from those of Old Chinese and Sinitic-Vietnamese are diversed and manifold, not only one-to-one basis per Haudricourt's hypothesis that certain Vietnamese words with the 3rd and 4th tones, i.e., hỏi and ngã, were originally words ending with ʔ as appear in some MK languages. Strictly speaking, in the Sinitic-Vietnamese lexicons the tone changes are both diachronic and synchronic. They can be varied as we can see in many examples throughout this paper. In any cases, the sound of one word in Chinese could possibly give rise to multiple sounds in Vietnamese accented with different tones.

From here we can even propose a reverse hypothetical scenario that Vietnamese words could have been borrowed in the MK languages and they had to alter their pronunciation to compensate for the lack of tones, e.g., {~ => ʔ}.

Thirdly, Haudricourt's argument about the tonal development in Vietnamese as being independent of that of Chinese is absurb, given the existence of ancient Chinese loanwords in Vietnamese, since it is unimaginable that Vietnamese might have borrowed words without tones first then added them later. Moreover, his own hypothesis of the origin of the Vietnamese tone development which, he believed, had evolved from none to being completely formed by the 12th century seems to contradict itself from start. The reason is that the modern Vietnamese tonal system fits so well into Middle-Chinese tonal scheme which had been completely formed around the 9th century with four tones in two registers -- traditionally they used to be called 8 tones -- with its Vietnamese pronunciation of Chinese characters as manifested by the Sino-Vietnamese words as compared to the 'fănqiè' 反切 pronunciation keys for those characters listed in the Kangxi Zidian 康熙字典 dictionary. Interestingly enough, that makes Vietnamese sound like Cantonese spoken without its 9th tone since the tensity of those tonal values are virtually the same!

With regard to the question of either tone is inheritance or acquisition, Japanese and Korean are the two languages that have borrowed massive Chinese words just like Vietnamese. In the Japanese case, it was not until the 9th century that Japan sent her students to the Middle Kingdom ruled by the Tang Dynasty with the intention to learn everything, including the Tang language, just to bring home the Kanji as we know today (Bo Yang, 1983) -- without the tones! The same was true with the Korean language which had adapted a lot of Chinese lexicons but under circumstances somewhat similar to those of Vietnam as a subjugated country under China's domination. The result was the same as what had happened to the Japanese language -- toneless Chinese loanwords! In comparison, Vietnamese loanwords, as now being assumed, borrowed in the MK languages must have undergone the same evolution. This analogy is brought up just to emphasize that the Japanese and Korean cases alone are enough to prove that tone is inherited, not an end result of a process of acquisition.

The matter appears simple enough, but it has failed to catch on with many specialists in this field completely. One repeats after another following a flawed theory that tried to explain why a "toneless" Vietnamese could have evolved into a tonal language.

On other hand, what are the merits of Haudricourt's theory that have made quite a few specialists in Vietnamese believe in? I have spent more than enough time regarding this matter just because I want to rebut Haudricourt's idea that Vietnamese originally a toneless language before the 12th century. Was Vietnamese originally toneless like many MK languages in that time frame? Sentimentally, for those who want a quick answer to this question, the fact of the matter is that it is hard for Vietnamese speakers to accept that many of their tonally melodious cadao ‘folksongs’, fixed expressions, and idioms in Vietnamese, believed to have originated from ancient times, were originally toneless. For example:

  1. Bốcái Ðạivương
  2. Chồng chúa vợ tôi
  3. Con dại cái mang
  4. Cõng rắn cắn gà nhà
  5. Giặc đến nhà đànbà phải đánh
  6. Bầu ơi thươnglấy bí cùng...
  7. Ăn coi nồi, ngồi coi hướng...
  8. Bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội
  9. Rán đàngđông vừa trông vừa chạy...
  10. Bàcon xa khôngbằng lánggiềng gần...

and so on....

If Haudricourt's theory of tonal acquisition in Vietnamese were dated as far back as the 2nd century, it might have been plausible, but the whole scheme will not fit into the Old MK morphological system. Again, it is unconceivable that Vietnamese was toneless until the 12th century. What did the Vietnamese call the lovely Huyềntrân Côngchúa ('Princess Huyềntrân') at that time? In the centuries before that, did the Vietnamese people read Chinese, the Sino-Vietnamese or HánViệt for that matter, with a Khmer-like toneless language? The enormously large amount of Chinese-origin words already existing in the Vietnamese language in any period of time in Vietnamese history is enough to say that Haudricourt must be wrong then. Therefore, that is to say, Maspero was right when he suggested that the tones of a language could not be inherited if we examine Vietnamese loanwords in many MK languages spoken by many ethnic groups living in the highland areas in Vietnam which are toneless even though typologically and geographically they are close to the Vietnamese "Kinhs".

Fourthly, if Vietnamese were originally toneless to that period of time as speculated by Haudricourt, many MK words existing in Vietnamese might have been retained and pronounced as they originally were without the tones. On the other hand, when a toneless language, like those of MK origin in this case, borrows words from a tonal language like Vietnamese, chances are that it could have needed not to compensate the lack of tones in its language with other phonemic features to be added to each word if they and V indeed had shared the same linguistic peculiarities. But it actually did anyway with Vietnamese tonal loanwords. In short, Haudricourt’s theory of tonal development in Vietnamese, i.e., from tonal Chinese to his hypothesized toneless Vietnamese, works the other way around in the MK languages.

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C) Correspondences in basic vocabularies revisited:

In the previous section, because Haudricourt’s argument about tonal development in Vietnamese involved an etymological aspect of many Vietnamese basic words cited in his examples -- which is important in the discussion about Sino-Vietnamese in the lexical aspect and with which, as in previous cases, I often find Chinese cognates -- I will discuss some of these matters in detail as follows and in the next chapter.

Firstly, let’s examine his examples of Khmu and Riang words, the two MK languages, that end with a glottal stop [ʔ] corresponding with related Vietnamese words of sắc and nặng tones. (Norman 1988, p. 55-56; 1991, p. 206):

Việt Khmu Riang Chinese correspondences suggested by dchph
‘leaf’ lá (1) hlaʔ laʔ 葉 yè (leaf) (SV diệp) [ M 葉 yè < MC jep < AC *lhap < OC *lap < PC **lɒp | MC reading 咸開三入葉以 | Most of the Tibetan languages carry the the sound near lá: Tibetan: ldeb lá, tờ, Burmese: ɑhlap cánhhoa., Kachin: lap2 lá, Lushei: le:p búp, Lepcha: lop lá, Rawang ʂɑ lap lá (cuốn bánh) ; Trung ljəp1 lá, Bahing lab. Sh. 138; Ben. 70. ]
‘rice’ gạo (2) rənkoʔ koʔ 稻 dào (SV đạo) [ M 稻 dào < MC dɑw < OC *lhu:ʔ ~ ɫhu:ʔ (Schuessler : MC dâu < OC *gləwʔ or *mləwʔ) | MC reading 效開一上皓定 | However, according to Starostin : Viet. lúa is an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is đạo. Protoform: *ly:wH (~ ɫ-), Meaning: rice, grain, Chinese: 稻 *lhu:ʔ (~ɬh-) rice, paddy, Burmese: luh sp. of grain, Panicum paspalum, Kachin: c^jəkhrau1 paddy ready for husking. Kiranti: *lV 'millet' | SR: 1078 h-k ]
‘fish’ cá (3) kaʔ -- 魚 yú (SV ngư) [ M 魚 yú < MC ŋʊ < OC *ŋha | FQ 語居 | MC reading 遇合三平魚疑 | Shuowen 水蟲也.象形.魚尾與燕尾相似.凡魚之屬皆從魚. (575) | According to Starostin : ST fish. For *ŋh- cf. Xiamen hi2, Chaozhou hy2. | Protoform: *ŋ(j)a. Meaning: fish. Chinese: 魚 *ŋha fish. Tibetan: ɳa fish. Burmese: ŋah fish, LB *ŋhax. Kachin: ŋa3 fish. Lushei: ŋha fish, KC *ŋhɑ. Kiranti: *ŋjə. Comments: PG *tàrŋa; BG: Garo năk, Bodo ŋa ~ na, Dimasa na; Chepang ŋa ~ nya; Tsangla ŋa; Moshang ŋa'; Namsangia ŋa; Kham ŋa:ɬ; Kaike ŋa:; Trung ŋa1-plăʔ1. Simon 13; Sh. 36, 123, 407, 429; Ben. 47; Mat. 192; Luce 2. | OC *ŋh- ~ k- (ca-) ]
‘dog’ chó (4) soʔ soʔ 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu) [ ~ VS 'cầy' | M 狗 gǒu < MC kjəw < OC *ko:ʔ | MC reading 流開一上厚見 | Proto-Viet **kro | In Chinese this is a loanword. ]
‘louse’chí (5) --  siʔ 虱 shī (siết, sắt) [ M 虱 shī ~ M 蝨 shī < MC ʂit < OC *srit | FQ 所櫛 ]

Notes on the Chinese cognates:

1) One thing we know for sure is that Vietnamese lá corresponds to 葉 yè, which in turn is from AC *lhap < OC *lap < PC **lɒp. "Leaf" in all other Tibetan languages point to inital l- with little semantic variations.

2) The Chinese word 稻 is borrowed from a variant of languages, defined in this paper as the Yue languages or those languages of Austroasiatic linguistic family, spoken by ancestors of minorities now still living in Southern China of which the Vietnamese likely originally were a member.

3) Like lá, it is highly probable that cá and 魚 yú are cognate to Old Chinese *nga. It is not hard to see how a velar initial OC *ŋh- has changed to another glottal sound /k/.

4) According to Norman (1988) the Chinese 狗 gǒu, is an early loanword from Proto-Miao-Yao form *klu for ‘dog’ (Haudricourt: spoken Mon 'kle' and written Mon 'kluiw') (p.17). Note also that in Viet. "chó" is also called "cầy". According to Tsu-lin Mei,

The Shuo-wen says 南越名犬#### “Nan-yüeh calls ‘dog’ *nôg **g.” This explanation occurs under the entry for ##， which implies that the meaning “dog” is attached to this character. The first character of the compound probably represents a pre-syllable of some kind. Tuan Yü-ts’ai mentioned in his Commentary to the Shuo-wen that this word was still used in Kiangsu and Chekiang, but did not give any further detail.

Karlgren gives **gas the OC value for ## (GSR 109 7h). At the time of the Shuo-wen (121 A.D.), -g had probably already disappeared; in Eastern Han poetry, MC open syllables (OC –b, -d, -g) seldom rhyme with stopped syllables (OC –p, -t, -k); in old Chinese loan words in Tai (specifically, the names for twelve earth’s branches 地支 ti-chih), probably reflecting Han dynasty pronunciation, Proto-Tai –t corresponds to OC –d, but no trace can be found for –g. The proper value for our purpose is therefore **ô.

This is the AA [Austroasiatic] word for “dog,” as the following list shows: “dog”: VN chó; Palaung shɔ:; Khum, Wa soʔ, Riang s’oʔ; Kat, Suk, Aak, Niahon, Lave có; Boloben, Sedang có; Curu, Crau ʃŏ; Huei, Sue, Hin, Cor sor; Sakai cho; Semang cû, co; Kharia sɔ’lɔʔ, ; Ju solok; Gutob, Pareng, Remo guso; Khasi ksew; Mon klüw; Old Mon clüw; Khmer chkɛ.

The forms after VN represent almost all the major groups spoken in the Indo-China and Malay Peninsulas, as well as the Palaung-Wa, Khmer, and Mal groups. The proto-form for these languages appears to be soʔ or coʔ, preceded perhaps by k-(cf. Khasi, Gutob, etc.). On the basis of Mon, Haudricourt suggested that VN ch- < kl-.** But there is another possibility, namely, VN ch- < kc-; “to die” * kcət, VN chết, Kuy kacet, Kaseng sit. And even if VN ch- did come from kl-, this change must have occurred quite early, since in all the AA languages except Mon, the initial is either a sibilant fricative or affricate.

'Nan-yeh' refers to North Vietnam and parts of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. With this piece of evidence, we know that the language spoken there in the second century A.D. was AA. This is also the earliest record of the language of Vietnam.

Source : http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/tm17/paper459.htm ]

The point to be made here is that the V "chó" and Chinese 狗 gǒu go hand in hand that were dated back to more than 2000 years ago where the indigenous Vietnamese had already been in contact with original Chinese whereas the Chinese 犬 quán (khuyển) [ M 犬 quán < MC khwijen < OC *khwyi:nʔ ] must be native. The two words exist and are used until this day in the Chinese language, which sheds light the reconciliation to the fact that other basic words in both languages are originated from the same roots, whether they are Han or Austroasiatic, or of the Yue languages as used in this paper. (Again, it is so called because I would like to embrace all the modern Zhuang, Miao, Yao, etc. as their descents which are classed as of ST linguistic family in this concept while the MK languages are not.)

Likewise, in the case -s or -h frequently corresponding to tones hỏi-ngã in V:

Việt Mon Mnong Chinese correspondences
‘nose’ mũi (1) muh mǔh 鼻 bí (SV tỵ) [ M 鼻 bí < MC pɦji < OC *bji | Pulleyblank : The Yuan and modern Mandarin readings as well in may other modern dialects (e.g. Taiyuan piə', Amoy literary pit), imply E. bjit, L. pɦjit. | ¶ b- ~ m- ]
‘root’ rễ (2) rɜh ries 蒂 dì (SV đế) [ M 蒂(蔕) dì < MC tiaj < OC *tɛjs | ¶ d- ~ r- ]
‘seven’bảy (3) tpah poh 七 qī [ M 七 qī < MC chjit < OC *shit | FQ 親吉 | MC reading 臻開三入質清 | Note that all dialects, like M, have longer retain the final -t | According to Starostin: Protoform: *nit (s-), Meaning: seven, Chinese: 七 *chit seven ( < *snhit ʔ). Burmese: khu-natɕ seven. Kachin: sjənit2 seven. Lushei: KC *s-Nis. Comments: Limbu nu-si seven; PG *ɲi(s) seven; BG: Garo sni, Dimasa sini; Rawang sanit, Trung sjə3-ɲit1; Kanauri stiʂ; Mantshati nyiz/-i; Rgyarung ʂnis, -ʂnes; Namsangia iŋit; Andro sini. Sh. 123, 134, 411, 429; Ben. 16; Mat. 203 ]

Notes on the Chinese cognates:

1) The ancient Chinese sound of 鼻 bí are reconstructed by different linguists as biuzj (MC) <*bjiwer (Chou 1973), b’ji- (MC) <*b’òcd (Karlgren 1957), bi (MC) <*bjidh (Li 1971), bi (MC) <*bjcs (Schuessler 1987), phjì (MC) <*bjis (Pulleyblank 1991). This gave rise to bei6 (Cantonese, Wenzhou dialects), pó (Xiamen and Chaozhou dialects) and p’ei 6 (Fuzhou dialect), but it became tị [tei6] (conditioned by -j-) in SV. However, if it could become bei6 it could be nasalized (fronted due to -w-) to become mei6 , giving rise to moui6 then moui4 . Compare

2) The appearance of 蒂 dì rễ ~ (SV) đế corresponds to the patterns of

3) For 'bảy', read the next chapter.

Some of the above Sinitic-Vietnamese words give us the impression that the sound changes were derived from Sino-Vietnamese, which in turn had originated from Middle Chinese. However, the other way around must have been more likely, assuming that basic words have a closer relation with Old Chinese or even with Proto-Chinese than that of a later period.

D) Similarity in cross-lingusistic-family vocabularies proves no genetic relation

Luce, G. H. (1965) in "Danaw, a Dying Austroasiatic Language" (pp. 104- 129) (pronounced /tʿănɔʔ/, a Tibeto-Burmic tribal language of a hill tribe in Burma) has put out 2 sets of word-lists totalled 245 vocabularies, including those of basic words, with correspondences in many Austroasiatic languages as purposedly listed in the first set that includes Mon, Danaw, Riang (/rəyɑŋ/), Palaung (panku) , and Wa (Tung Wa). For the second list, besides Vietnamese amidst others of Austrasiatic such as Khmer, Bahnar, Mundari, and even Javanese and Malay of Austronesian and Old Burmese of Tibeto-Burmic linguistic families. Interestingly enough, many of them appear cognate to those of Vietnamese. For this matter, when examing the second bear in mind that not all of these languages appear in each listed item list and they are crossed-linguistic-family listed, that means loanwords exist among them, inevitably. However, that is good enough for non-specialists in this linguistic field, unless otherwise proved. Luce's detailed lists therefore are sufficiently convincing that with many lexicons being very similar to those of Vietnamese to have it correctly classed as an Austroasiatic language. For the same reasons, in the space below I would like to bring in the Chinese elements to match those etyma that I also think they could be plausible candidates for being considered as cognates or derived words in Vietnamese.

1) Basic word lists at crossroads
(Note: Some irrelevant and totally non-cognate items of those languages to the Vietnamese etyma listed in Luce's two tables are omitted here.)

  1. hai 'two' (Mon Old /bār/, modern /ɓa/, Old Khmer /ver, vyar/, Bahnar /ɓar/, Mundari /bar/) [ Chin. 二 èr ‘two’ nhị (SV), M 二 èr < MC ɳɨ < OC *nijs | FQ 而至 | SV nhị /ɲej/ < /hei/ < /hai/ ? | cf. hăm 廿 niàn (nhập) 'twenty', ex. 廿一 niànyī (nhậpnhất) hămmốt 'twenty-one' | In late Zhou 再 zài (SV tái) could be used as 'hai'. In modern M 再三 zàisān mean 'two or three times. ] (Comment: This item sounds like 'ba' (three) in V, but it cannot be because if so this sound will actually takes place of the actual 'ba' then, V cognate is not mentioned in this item. It is also interesting to see that number 'one' is not listed. See more down below.)
  2. ba 'three' (Old Mon /piʔ/ mod. /pi/, Old Khmer /pɪ/, Bhanar /pɛŋ/), Mundari /apɪ/) [ Chin. 三 sān, sàn (SV tam), M 仨 sā (ta) ~ M 三 sān, sàn < MC sɑm < *OC sjə:m | cf. băm 卅 sā, 卅二 sà'èr (tạpnhị) bămhai 'thirty-two' | See more enumeration below.] (Comments: Like một 'one' 一 yi (SV nhất), this Chin. etymon could have been a plausible candidate if there is not 'bốn' (four) that follows. V cognate is not included in this item.)
  3. bốn 'four' (Viet. /bốn/, Old Mon /pan/ mod. /pan/, Danaw /pən/, Palaung /p'Un/, Wa /pɔl2, pɔn2/, Old Khmer /pon/, Mundari /upun/, Bhnar /pūən/) [ For Chin. see enumeration down below.] (Comment: if there is no general concensus in the linguist cirle about the V numerals one to five to be cognate with those of MK, Chin. 四 sī could have been included for investigation then.)
  4. năm 'five' (Viet. /năm/, Old Khmer /prām/) [ For Chin. 五 wǔ see enumeration down below.] (Comment: It looks like the only plausible candidate is in the Old Khmer etymon while all others in other languages seem diverged with viarants.)
  5. sáu 'six' (Viet. /sáu/, Old Mon /taraw/, mod. /tarau/, Wa /lyah5/) [ For Chin. 六 līu see enumeration down below.] (Comment: In all otherher languages the etyma appear in polysyllabic form with the common last syllable as -ru. As we all may already know, there is no 'six' in Khmer, but 'five plus one' equivalent.)
  6. bảy 'seven' (Old Mon /dumpoh/, mod. /t'apah/, Danaw /pat4/, Palaung /pu2/, Sakai /tempo/, Bahnar /təpət/, Srê /pɔh/, Piat /pôh/, P'aman /p'ua/, Lemet /pul/) [ For Chin. 七 qī see enumeration down below.] (Comment: Like 四 sī, 七 qī is another speculative case. In Khmer, like six, there are no seven, eight, nine, and ten.)
  7. tám 'eight' (Viet. /tám/, Old Mon /dincām/, mod. /dacām/, Danaw /tsɑn/, Riang White /pər\tɑʔ-/, Black /pər\tɑʔ-/, Palaung /ta/, Wa /n\dɑiʔ3/, Bahnar /təhŋam/, Srê /p'am/, Lemet /ta/ Khatia /t'am/, Savara /tamji/) [ For Chin. 八 bā see enumeration down below.] (Comment: 八 bā is another speculative case.)
  8. chín 'nine' (Old Mon /dincit/, mod. /dacit/, Danaw /tsən4/, Riang White /tɪ:m/, Black /tɪm/, Palaung /tɪ:m2/, Wa /dɪ:m2/) [ Chin. 九 jǐu (SV cửu), M 九 jǐu < MC kʌw < OC *kwjəʔ | See enumeration down below. ] (Comment: if all V numerals are not cognate with those of Chinese etyma, then this is only another speculation.)
  9. mười 'ten' (Comments: Nothing looks alike here in all languages involved. For Chin. 十 shí (SV thập) we have 'chục' in V while 'mươi' is just speculative like other cases sis, seve, eight, nine... See more enumeration down below.)
  10. trăm 'hundred' (Viet. /trăm/, Old Mon and mod. /klam/, Riang White /pər-yɑ\ /, Black /pər-yɑ\ /, Palaung /păyɑh/, Khasi /spah/, Old Burmese /ryā/. [ Chin. 百 băi < MC pɐk < OC *prak | FQ 博陌 | According to Starostin : Protoform: *rja: (p-) Chinese: *pra:k hundred. Tibetan: brgja hundred. Burmese: ra hundred, LB *rja. Kachin: l@ca1 hundred. Lushei: za hundred, KC *p-rkya\ (?). Comments: Gurung bhra, Thakali bhra; BG: Dimasa ra>dz/a, Garo ritts/a; Kanauri ra; Thebor gya; Rgyarung pa>rye; Rawang ya, Trung c^a1. Simon 14; Sh. 42, 136, 123; Ben. 45; Mat. 171. | ¶ b- ~ tr- (bl- ~ tr-), p- ~ tr-, OC *pr- ~ tr- , ex. 白 bái (SV bạch, VS trắng) 'white' ]
  11. ai 'I' (Old Mon /ey/, mod. /ʾai/, Danaw /oʔ1/, Riang White /oʔ-/, Black /oʔ-/,Palaung /ɑ2/, Wa /ɑəʔ1/, Old Khmer /añ/, Bahnar /iñ/, Khasi /nga/, War /ñia/, Mundari /aiŋ, iŋ, iñ/, Kurku /iŋ/) [ ~ VS ta, tôi, tao | Chin. there is 咱 zá (SV tá). | M 我 wǒ < MC ŋʌ < OC *ŋha:jʔ | FQ 五可 | MC reading 果開一上哿疑 | In Chinese there also exist several characters for the first person pronoun which can be related to several words in V and one of which is the word 俺 án, ăn (> 'ai') and its old and coloquial usage (see the classic novels 三國演義 'Romance of the Three Kingdom' or 水滸傳 'Water Margins') as the first peronal pronoun for someone to call oneself when addressing to an old older person. This word point to 'em' (literally 'younger bother' in V.) ] (Comments: 'Ai' is a Proto-Vietic form which is cognate to those in all MK languages while the Chin. 我 wǒ, SV ngã, seems to be a recent development.)
  12. mình 'we' (exclusive) (Old Mon /poy/, mod. /puiai/) [ < ~ 'chúngmình' < ~ Chin. ©M 咱們 zánměn (SV tamôn) | ©M 們 mén < MC mon < OC *mjə:n ] (Comment: Other cognates do not sound anything like 'mình, chúngmình' or 'chúngtôi' at all.)
  13. mầy 'thou' (Viet. /mày/, Old Mon /beh/, mod. /beh/, Danaw /mɤʔ1/, Riang White /mɪʔ\ /, Black /mɪʔ\ /, Palaung /méɪ2/, Wa /mɑɪʔ3/, Semang /pāy/, /meh/, Nicobarese /mẽ/, T'eng /mé/, Khasi /mé/, Mundari /am/, /me/) [ ~ VS 'mi' | Chin. 你 nǐ (SV ni) | ©M 你 nǐ < MC niej < OC *nhe:jʔ | Actually in Chin. there are several other scholarly characters such as 爾 ér, 汝 rú, etc. all point to elevated modern second singular personal pronoun 你 nǐ ~ 'mày, mày, mi...' in V ] (Comment: Though there is no doubt that there are cognates among listed languages in this items, but the cross-linguistic-family similarity make one wonder if ithey are the same cases as those of pa, ma, mat, etc. ?)
  14. bay 'ye' (No listings for modern and Old Mon, Danaw /pɤ1/, Riang White /péʔ-/, Blak /péʔ-/, Palaung /pɛ`2/, Wa /pɛ'1/, T'eng bò, Khasi phʾ, Maundari /pe/) [ A variant of 'mày'.]
  15. nó 'he, she' (Old Mon /dehh/, mod. /ɗeʾ/, Danaw /anʾ4/, Riang /ɤn-/, Black /hnʔ-/, Palaung /an2/, Wa /an2/, Nicobarese /an/, Mundaria /diya/) [ Chin. 他 tā (SV tha) | ©M 他 tā, tuō, duò < MC thʌ < OC *sla:j < PC **la:js | According to Starostin : other, different, Protoform: *la:j (s-), Meaning: other. Chinese: 他 *sla:j another. Burmese: ta-lij someone. Lushei: hlei (hlei?) compared with the other. | ¶ t-(th-) ~ n-, h- ] (Comment: it must be a solid cognate with that of Chinese.)
  16. chúng 'they' (Old Mon /deh t-eh/, mod. /ɗeʾ taʾ/, Danaw /kʿɤʔ1,3/, Riang White /kɤʔ\ /, Black /kəʔ\ /, Palaung /kɛ`2/, Wa /kʿɛʔ/, Old Khmer /ke/) [ 'chúng' < 'chúngnó, tụinó, lũnó' < Chin. 他們 tāmén | Problem here is to pinpoint which word is that, but in any cases nothing is mimilar to /ke/ except that the Mon forms look like 'tụinó'. ] (Comment: Is it a cognate of 'kẻ' as in 'kẻkhác' #其他 qítā (SV kỳtha, VS 'kkác')?)
  17. trai 'male' (human) (Old Mon /trūs/, mod. /truʾ/, Danaw /pʿrɔh2/, Khmer /prus/) [ Chin. 丁 dīng (SV đinh) ( ©M 丁 dīng, zhēng < MC tieŋ, taiŋ < OC *te:ŋ, *trēŋ | FQ 當經, 知耕) while 子 zǐ (SV tử) in ancient uage means both 'trai' (male) and 'gái' (female) ( ©M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsjɤ, tsjy < OC *cɑʔ *cɑʔs and it's doublet is 仔 zǐ, zī (SV tử, tể, tế) < MC tsz < OC *tsɨ | QĐ zai21 | ex. Cantonese 仔仔 /zai24 zai21/ (contrai) ] (Comment: all other forms seem irrelevant for this item except for Khmer inital cluster pr- to poinnt to V tr-.)
  18. đực 'male' (animal) (Old Mon /kmak/, mod. /kmak/,[ Chin. 特 tè (SV đặc) | ©M 特 tè, té < MC dʌk < OC *dhǝ̄k | and this etymon means male (animal) in ancent time. According to Starostin: male animal, bull. Used also for homonymous *dhǝ̄k 'be straight-rising'; *dhǝ̄k 'a match, a mate'. In later times the character was frequently used instead of 犆 *dhǝ̄k 'single; special' q.v. The regular Sino-Viet. form is đặc. || § 犆 tè (đặc) < MC dʌk < OC *dhǝ̄k | According to Starostin: After Chou written usually as 特 (q.v.), with a more broad meaning 'special'. ] (Comment: all other forms seem irrelevant for this item except for what look like inital cluster km- with no correspondences in both Khmer and V.)
  19. vợ 'wife' [Luce: 'woman, female', 'vợ' ] (Old Mon /brow/, mod. /brau/, Danaw /kămyaʔ3/, Riang White /réŋ\ /, Black /rɪŋ\ /, Palaung /kăloŋ2/, Wa /méŋ/, Kasi /briew/, /briw (=homo) [ For Chin. there is 婦 fù (SV phụ) for Luce's 'vợ' as in 寡婦 guăfù (SV quảphụ, VS goábụa 'widow') ©M 婦 fù (M 婦 fù < MC bjəw < *OC bjəʔ) and 婆 pó (SV bà) for 'woman' | ©M 婆 pó < MC bwʌ < OC *bha:j ] (Comment: the initial form br- can be associated with both 'bụa' and 'bà' while the -eng and -ong forms make us relate to 'nàng' 娘 niáng SV nương 'girl, woman'. The Khmer cognate is absent for this item.)
  20. ba, bố 'father' (Old Mon /amba/, /abaʾ/, mod. /ma/, Danaw /pɑ4/, Old Khmer /vāpa/, Old Javanese and Malayan /bapa/, Khasi /kpa/, Mundar /aba'/) [ Chin. for V 'ba' is 爸 bā (ba) and 'bố' for 父 fù (SV phú) ] (Comment: all other forms in Luce's do not sound like they are cognates)
  21. má, mẹ 'mother' (Old Mon /ambo/, /aboʾ/, mod. /bo/, Danaw /mɑɪʔ3/, Riang White /marʾ/, Black /maʔ/, Palaung /mɑ2/, Wa /meʔ3/, /maʔ3/) [ Chin. for 'má' is 媽 mā, 'mẹ' 母 mǔ (also 'mợ') | See enumeration in the previous section.) ] (Comment: Actually /pa/ and /ma/ are almost similar to almost all languages on earth.)
  22. con 'child' (Viet. /con/, Old Mon kon/, mod. /kon/, Danaw /kon4/, Riang White and Black /kuan/, Palaung /kɔn2/, Wa /kɔn2/, Old Khmer /kon/, /kun/, Sakai /kěnon/, Semang /kodn/, Nicobaese /kōan/, Shom Peng /köat/, Pʿman /kʿuan/, Bahnar /kon/, T'eng /kon/, Khasi /khún/, War /hūn/, Mundari /hon/, /hɔn/, Sav /on/, Gad /ōdu-ōn, Kurku /kōn/) [ Chin. 子 zǐ (SV tử) | See further enumeration far below. ] (Comment: there is no doubt that they are almost the same in this item.)
  23. nội, ngoại 'grandfather' (Old Mon /lwaʾ/, mod. /la/, Danaw /tɑ1/, Riang White and Black /tɑʔ/, Palaung /tɑ3/, Wa /tɑʔ1/, Old Khmer /atā/ (=old man) [ Chin. 阿公 āgōng (SV acông) | M 公 gōng < MC kuŋ < OC *klo:ŋ | FQ 古紅 | MC reading 通合一平東見 | There is no doubt that 'nội' 'paternal grandpa' is from 內 nèi (reduced from ngoại 外 wài for 外公 wàigōng (#ôngngoại 'maternal grandpa')). In Chin. modern Mandarin 'paternal grand father' is 爺爺 yéye. ] (Comment: there is no distinction from the mother's or father's side for this word in these languages and they seem to be similar to the V /tiá/ 'daddy' that is cognate to 爹 diè in Chin. See more in the Sino-Tbaetan chapter. )
  24. bà 'grandma' (Old Mon /abow/ (?), mod. /bau/, Danaw /yaʔ1/, Riang White and Black /yaʔ\ /, Palaung /yā2/, Wa /yeʔ3/, /yaʔ3/, Old Khmer /aji/, Mundari /jia/) [ Chin. 婆 pó is for V 'bà', but 'bà' also means 'woman, old woman'. Specifically 'maternal grandmother' is bàngoại 外婆 wàipó (SV ngoạibà), hence, 'bànội' (paternal grandmother) is 內婆 nèipó (modern Mandarin is 奶奶 năinài. ] (Comment: 'bà, bànội, bàngoại' are from Chinese while the b- form point to V 'bà' and /ye/and /ya/ forms somehow look like '爺爺 yéyě 'paternal grandpa', but they may not be related at all. The form /yeye/ is common in several languages.)
  25. cháu 'grandchild' (Viet. /cháu/, Old Mon /cow/, mod. /cau/, Ranaw /tapli4/, Riang Black White /pli-/, Palaung /hlan3/, Wa /kɔn4 sɑ'əʔ/, old Khmer /cau/, Sakai /chěn-oʔ/, Besisi /kin-chu/, Semang /kanchɔʔ/, Malay /chuchu/, Bahnar /sâu/, T'eng /jeʔ/, Khasi /khsiw/, Old Burmese /mliy/) [ Chin. 姪 zhí (SV điệt) | ©M 姪(侄) zhí < MC trɦit < OC *drit ] (Comment: most of the word forms are similar to as V 'cháu', including the Chin /zhí/. Is it the same case as pa, ma, mat, etc.?)
  26. goá 'widowed' (Old Mon /kamāy/ (Mid. M.), mod. /kmāai/, Danaw /mɑiʔ3/..., Riang White /kɤmɑi\ /, Black /kəmɑi-/, Palaung /kămɑ'i2/,/kămɑ'i2/ Wa /mɑi2/, Old Khmer /māy/, T'eng /boi/, K'mu /boi/, Old Burmese /kmay/, Shan /mai/, Chin /hmeɪ/, /meɪ/) [ Chin. 寡 guă | ©M 寡 guă < MC kwɑ < OC *kwra:ʔ | FQ 古瓦 | ex. 寡婦 guăfù (SV quảphụ, VS goábụa 'widow'. This dissyllabic word also gives rise to 'ởvậy' 'widowed' (literally, 'to live the same old way')) ] (Comment: The /boi/ form is somewhat related to /bua/ and probably the /mai/ to /quả/ or /kamai/ to 'ởvậy', but 'goá' in V. is definitely derived from Chin.)
  27. mo 'witch, wizard' (Mon mod. /bamuai/, Danaw .../pʿriʔ3/, Riang White and Black .../pʿrɛʔ3\ /, Palaung /bréi2/, T'eng /mòhrói/) [ Chin. 巫 wū | ex. thầymo 巫師 wūshī, also 'phùthuỷ' | ©M 巫 wū, wú < MC mʊ < OC *mha ] (Comment: 'thầymo' and 'phùthuỷ' are cognates.)
  28. tên 'name' (Old Mon /yamo/, /imoʾ/, mod. /imu/, Danaw /maʔ2/, Riang White and Black /mus\ /, Palaung /jɯ3/, Wa /tjɯ3/, Old Khmer /jmah/, /jimoh/, Srê /təməh/, T'eng /səŋmɤ/) [ Chin. 姓 xìng (SV tính) | ©M 姓 xìng < MC sjɜŋ < OC *seŋs | FQ 息正 | MC reading 梗開三去勁心 ] (Comment: all listed forms and some others do not seem to be cognate to 'tên'.)
  29. Xiêm 'Shan' (Viet. /xiêm/, Mon mod. /sem/, Riang White and Black /sʿɛm-/, Palaung /sɪm2/, Wa /ʃiɛ`m2/, Old Khmer /syām/, Malay /sɪam/, Biat /chiăm/, P'u-man sien/, Old Burmese /syam/) [ Chin. 暹 Xián as in 暹羅 Xiánluó (SV Tiêmla) (VS Xiêmla) ] (Comment: V 'xiêm' has come by way of the Chin. form for sure. In Eng. it is also known as 'Siam' but not the same as 'Shan')
  30. Miến 'Burmese' (Old Mon /mirmār/, mod. /bamā/, Danaw /mlan2/, Riang White /mɤrɑn/, Black /məran/, Palaung /brɑn/, /brɔn/, Old Burmese /mranmā/, Chinese /mien/, Shan man [ Chin. 緬 Miàn as in 緬甸 Miăndiàn (SV Miếnđiện) ] (Comment: Like 'xiêm' V 'miến' is from Chin.)
  31. Hẹ 'Chinese' (Mon mod. /kruk/, Danaw /ché4/, Riang White and Black /kʿɛ`-/, Palaung /kɛ`3/, Wa /hɔʔ1/, Old Burmese /taruk/) [ Chin. 客 Kè as in 客家 Kèjiā (SV kháchgia) | ©M 客 kè < MC khjajk < OC *khrajk ] (Comment: 'Hakka' is another word for this item.)
  32. Ấnđộ 'Indian' (Old Mon /gulā/, mod. /galā/, Riang White /kɤrɑ-/, Black /kərɑ-/, Palaung /kălɑ2/, Wa /kălɑ2/ Old Burmese /kulā/, Sanskrit/Pali kulaputta [ Chin. 印度 Yìndù (SV Ấnđộ). In MC the word for it is 天竹 tiānzhú (SV thiêntrúc) ] (Comment: the V and Chin. forms do not have anything to do with the others at all.)
  33. đầu 'head' (Old Mon /kdip/, mod. /kɗuɪp/, Danaw /ktɑŋ4/, Riang White /ki:ŋ-/, Black /kiŋ-/, Palaung /kɛŋ/, /kaɪŋ/, Wa /kéŋ/, Khasi /khlieh/) [ Chin.頭 tóu (SV đầu) | ©M 頭 tóu < MC dɤw < OC *dho: | See more enumeration in previous sectiom. ] (Comment: It is so obvious that V đầu and Chin. 頭 tóu are cognates while in Mon for both Old and mod. their forms carry some similarity but farther. No Khmer ist listed in Luce's list.)
  34. tóc 'hair' (Viet. /tóc/, Old Mon /sok/, mod. /sok/, Danaw /ñok1/, Riang White /huk-/ Black /huk-/, Palaung /huʔ1/, Wa /hɑɯk1/, Old Khmer /suk/, Sakai /sok/, /suk/, Semang /sog/, Nicobarese /yôk/, Biat /chōk/, Srê /soʔ/, Bahnar /sɔk/, Pʿu-man /su-chʿi/, Khasi /shñih/, War /su'kha'/, Mundari /uʔ/, Savara /ū/) [ Chin. 髮 fā (SV phát), M 髮 fā < MC pjɐt < OC *piat | ¶ p- ~ t- ] (Comment: While others are clear cognates, the Chin. mod. and ancient forms also appear conformed to the a sound change pattern that if there were no other forms for comparison, they would have certainly become a good candidate.)
  35. mắt 'eye' (Viet. /mắt/, Old Mon /mɑt/, mod. /mɑt/, Danaw /ŋɑi2/, Riang White /ŋɑi\ /, Black /ŋɑi\ /, Palaung /ŋɑ'i2/, /ŋɔi2/, Wa /ŋɑ'i2/, Old Kmer /mat/, Sakai /mat/, Besisi /mōt/, Semang /med/, Malay /mata/, Nicobarese /oal-mât/, T'eng /măt/ Lemei /ŋɑi/, Khasi /khmat/, War /mat/, Mundari /mẽdʔ/, Gadaba /mā/, Kurku /mẽd/) [ Chin. 目 mù (SV mục) | ©M 目 mù < MC mukʷ < OC *mhuk | Hainanese /mat/, ex. (Hainanese) 目鏡 /matkɜng/ (VS mắtkiếng) 'glasses' | See enumeration above. ] (Comment: all languages have the same etyma for this word! Southeast Asian linguists usually discount this word out of their list owing the close similarity among them which may be a mere coincident. However, the point to be made here is the Chin. form appears to be cognate to the V /mắt/, too.)
  36. tai 'ear' (outer; inner) (Old Mon /ktor/, mod. /ktow/, Danaw /kătən4/, /kătɔn4/, Riang White /tiôr-/, /kɔtiak-/, Black /tsor-/, /kɔtiɛ`k-/, Palaung /hyUʔ1/, Wa /yɑɯʔ2/, Sakai /ĕntāk/, Besisi /tögn/, /töŋ/, Semang /kentk/, Nicobarese /nâŋ/, Bat /tôr/, Srê /tur/, Bahnar /dɔn/, T'eng /kədɔʔ/, Khasi /shkor/, Mundari /lutūr/, Kurku /lutur/) [ Chin. #耳朵 ěrtuō (SV nhĩđoá) ~ VS 'lỗtai' | M 耳 ěr, rén, rěng < MC ɳy < OC *nhjəʔ || M 朵 duǒ < MC twʌ < OC *to:jʔ | See enumeration in the above section. ] (Comment: the Viet. /tai/ is not listed here but they all look like cognates except for the speculation of the Chin. form 耳朵 ěrtuō, that, interestingly, looks like those of Mundari /lutūr/ and Kurku /lutur/ .)
  37. mũi 'nose' (Viet. /mũi/, Old Mon /muh/, mod. /muh/, Dənaw /kădət3/, Riang White and Black /kədɔʔ-/, Palaung /muh3/, Wa /mɤh5/,Old Khmer /muh/, Sakai /moh/, /mūh/, T'eng /muh/, Khasi /khmut/,Mundari /mũ/, Savara /mu/, Gadaba /muvvu/, Kurku /mū/) [ Chin. 鼻 bí (tỵ) | M 鼻 bí < MC pɦji < OC *bji | See enumeration above. ] (Comment: Obviously all other forms are cognates except for the Chin. form.)
  38. lưỡi 'tongue' (No Old Mon, mod. /lātɑk/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑʔ1/, Riang White /tak-/, Black /tɑk-/, Palaung /săɗɑʔ1/, Wa /n-dak3/, Khmer /antāk/, Sakai /ləntāk/, Semang /letic/, Maly /lidah/, Nicobarese /kaletâk/, T'eng /həntak/, Mundari /leʔ/, /alaŋ/) [ Chin. 舌 shé | ©M 舌 shé < MC ʑet < OC *lat | FQ 食列 | According to Starostin : Protoform *lăj(H) ( / *lăt;t; m-). Meaning: tongue. Chinese: 舐 *lajʔ, *leʔ to lick; 舌 *lat tongue. Tibetan: ltɕe tongue; blade; flame. Burmese: hlja tongue, LB *s-lja. Kachin: siŋlet2 the tongue, (H) lai id. Lushei: lei tongue, KC *m-lei. Lepcha: li/, a-li/ the tongue. ] (Comment: As we can see, the Chinese form points to a much more credible etymon which is cognate to those in the ST camp. See more detail in the ST section. )
  39. tiếng 'voice, noise' (Old Mon /binru/, mod. /baru/, Danaw /rat3/, Rieng White /rɤs\ /, Black /rəs\ /) [ Chin. 聲 shēng (SV thanh), ©M 聲 shēng < MC ʂeŋ < OC *xeŋ | Cant. ʃieŋ21, Amoy: sɨŋ11 (literary); siã11, Tchiewchow: siã11, Fukienese siŋ11 (literary); Zyyy: ʃijəŋ1] (Comment: The linited list provided by Luce gives no cognates with the V 'tiếng' but the Chin.)
  40. răng 'tooth' (Viet. /răng/, No Old Mon, mod. /ŋek/, Danaw /pəiŋ4/, Rieng White /rɑŋ-/, Black /rɑ:ŋ-/, Palaung /hrɑŋ2/, Wa /rɑn2/, T'eng /hraŋ/) [ Chin. 牙 yá (SV ngà) | M 牙 yá, yă, yà < MC ŋya < OC *ŋrya: | See enumeration in the previous section and in the next section. ] (Comment: All forms are obviously cognates while the mod. Mon somewhat look similar to V. /ngà/.)
  41. cổ 'neck' (Viet. /cổ/, Old Mon /koʾ/, mod. /kaʾ/, Danaw /kɔŋ2/, Riang White /kok/, Black /kok/, Palaung /kʿāmɛ`ŋ2/, Wa /nɔʔ3/, Khmer /kah/, Sakai /kuaʾ/, Semang /sěŋkoʾ (=larynx), Srê /ŋkɔ/, Bahnar /hako/, /ako/, T'eng /ŋɔk/, Shan /kɔ/, Lao /go/, S Karen /kʿUʔ/, /koʔ/ (etc.), Mundari /hotoʔ/) [ Chin. 喉 hóu (SV hầu), ©M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *ghro: | According to Starostin: for OC *gh- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou au2, Protoform: *khrjə:w (~gh-,qh-,Gh-), Meaning: throa, Chinese: *gh(r)o: throat, Tibetan: kru-kru windpipe (cf. also mgur, mgul throat, neck, ko-ko throat, chin), Kachin: z^|jəkhro1 the throat, gullet ] (Comment: It looks like all are cognates cross linguistic families.)
  42. gáy 'nape' (of the neck) (No Old Mon, mod. /katak/, Danaw /lɔʔ4Ut2/, Riang White /sʿɤkɔ\ /, Black /tərŋɔk\ /, Palaung /kăŋɔ3/, /kɑŋɑuh3/, Wa /tiaŋ4ŋɔt3/, T'eng /təglók/) [ Chin. 頸 jǐng (SV cảnh, cành) | ©M 頸 jǐng, qìng, gěng < MC kjeŋ < OC *keŋʔ ] (Comment: No other Kmer and V formars are listed. If anything is related to V they should be 'càngcổ' or (trunk of) the neck, which is similar to Chin. /bójīng, bózi/ 脖(頸)子.)
  43. vai 'shoulder' (mon Mid. /pnah/, /pnah/, Danaw /tsɔk3pɑ1/, /tjak-paʔ-/, Black /tsak-paʔ-/, Palaung /yɑʔ1/, Wa /(pyaŋ4)klɪ:p1/, T'eng /tla/) [ 膊 bó (SV bạc) [ ©M 膊 bó < MC bʌk < OC *bak ] (Comment: In Chin. there is the form 臂膊 bèibó which can be cognate to 'bảvai'.)
  44. nách 'armpit' (No Old Mon, mod. .../knak/..., Danaw /kʿăyɛək2/, Riang White /(ɔk-)yɑk\ /, Black /yɑk\ /, Palaung /yɑʔ1/, Wa .../klaiʔ1/, T'eng /ʿɛk/,, /kəlʿɛk/) [ Chin. 腋 yè (SV diệt, dịch) | ©M 腋 yè < MC 亦 jek < OC *liak | ¶ y-(*l-) ~ n- ]. (Comment: Luce does not provide the Khmer and Vforms, but he mod. Mon form /knak/ is certainly cognate to V /nách/ while, interestingly enough, some of the other sounds are somewhat similar to the Chin. /yè/ form.)
  45. vú 'breast' (Viet. /bú/, Old Mon tohl(pubow = to suckle), mod. /tah/, Danaw /bu/, Riang White /nin\ /, Black /buʔ-/, Palaung /bu2/ /nUm2/, Wa /təh5/, Old Khmer /toh/ (breast), /pau/ (to suck), Besisi /tuh/,Semang /tuk/, Malay /dada/, Nicobarese /toah/, Bahnar /tōh/, Mundari /toa/, Sakai /bot/, Semang /bu/, Shom Peng /bōo-tōa/, Bìat /m'pu/, T'eng /buʔ/, Khasi /buiñ/ (tu suck), /jymbuiñ/, Mundari /jembedʔ/) [ Chin. 乳 rǔ (SV nhũ) for 'breast' and 哺 bǔ (SV bộ) for 'to suck'. | ©M 乳 rǔ < MC rɤə < OC *ɲɤə || ©M 哺 bǔ < MC bo < OC *ba:s | ex. 'búvú' 哺乳 bǔrǔ (SV bộnhũ) 'to suckle' ] (Comment: There is no doubt that the Chin. form are cognate to both of the V /vú/ and /bú/ respectively, so for other forms there must be some kind of coincidence similar to /pa/ and /ma/ where p- and m- form seem common in other languages with child's early languages.)
  46. bụng 'heart, mind, feelings' (Old Mon /pumas/, mod. /tma3/, Danaw /ruɔt2/, Riang White /kɪ:ŋ-kɤnuas\, Black/kɪ:ŋ-kənuas\ /, Palaung /nɔh3/, /nɑuh3/, Wa /rɔm2/, T'eng /ʿñươm/, Khasi /jingmut/) [ Chin. 腹 fù (SV phúc) | 腹 fù < pʊk < OC *puk ]. (Comment: Danaw form is exactly what appears as V /ruột/ while Old Mon form /pumas/ points to V /bụng/ which, in turn/ is cognate to Chin /fú/.)
  47. rốn, rún 'navel' (No Old Mon, mod. /poŋluit/, Danaw /kon4dɑiŋ4/, Riang White /kluŋdi:ŋ-/, Black /kən\diŋ-/, Palaung /kădan2/, Wa /pi:t1/, K Khmer /pʿoit/, Semang /lus/, T'eng /kəndɪñ/, Khasi /sohpet/) [ Chin. 臍 qí (SV tề) | M 臍 qí < MC ʒiej < OC *ʒəj | ¶ q- ~ r- | ex. 肚臍 dùjí (VS lỗrún) ] (Comment: It looks like there is no candidate for the cognate to V /rún/ here. Usually in this case, if we look hard enough we may find something other forms in Chin.)
  48. cặt 'penis' (No Old Mon, mod. /bow/, Danaw /lé1/, Riang White and Black /klɛ`ʔ-/, Palaung /béu3/, Wa /klɪʔ1/, Car Nicobarese /ku-lɔɪch/, Mundari /loeʔ/) [ Chin. 雞巴 jībā (SV kêba) | ©M 雞 jī < MC kiej < OC *ke: ] (Comment: If there is any similarity to draw here is the forms that appear in Riang as /klɛ`ʔ-/ and Wa /klɪʔ1/ while in others thk- has been dropped. The same can be said with the Chinese dissyllabic coloqiual /jībā/ which, if related at all, has been contracted to 'cặt' [ \ j- ~ k-, -b ~ -t ] )
  49. hòndái 'testicles' (No Old Mon, mod. /makruik/, Danaw /tɔŋ2klot4/) [ ©M 玉丸 yùwăn (SV ngọchoàn) | M 玉 yù < MC ŋöuk < OC *ŋok | FQ 魚欲 | Pulleyblank: LM ŋywk < OC *ŋuawk || M 丸 huăn < MC ɠwʌn < OC wa:r | FQ 胡官 ] (Comment: Additional listings by Luce do not show anything similar to the V form as /hòndái/, which is definitely from the Chin. /yùwăn/, as in numerous other lexicons, in reverse order.)
  50. đùi 'thigh' (No Old Mon, mod. dī, Danaw /pluʔ1/, Riang White /pluʔ\ /, Black /kə\diɛ`l-/, Palaung /blɑu2/, /bléu2/, Wa /plɑuŋ4bɑ2/, Mundai /bulu/, Khasi /lbong/) [ Chin. 腿 tuǐ (thối) | ©M 腿 tuǐ < MC tuaj < OC *twəj ] (Comment: like 足 zú and 腳 jiăo, 腿 tuǐ, generally meaning 'leg', has been elevated to designate 'thigh' of which the same meaning exists in Chin.)
  51. chân 'foot, leg' (Viet. /chân/, Old Mon and mod. /juŋ/,Danaw /kɔʔ\ /, Riang White /tjɔ:ŋ\ /, /tsɔŋ\ /, Palaung /djɑn2/, /djén2/ Wa /tjɑuŋ2/, Old Khmer /jeŋ/, Sakai /jukn, Besisi /joŋ/, Semang /chān/, Old Javanese /joŋ/, Shom Peng /chuk/, Bahnar /jəŋ/, P'u-man /chin/, T'eng /yươŋ/, Khsi /kiat/, Mundari /jaŋga/, Savara /talljeŋ/, Gadaba /susuŋ/, Kurkur /nāŋgā/) [ Chin. 足 zú (SV túc), VS 'giò' 'leg' and 腳 jiăo (SV cước) VS 'chân' 'foot' | ©M 足 zú < MC tsjouk < OC *ɕok || M 腳 jiăo < MC kak < OC *kak ~ zú 足 ~ giò | FQ 居勺 ] (Comment: While we cannot deny the V /chân/ is cognate to those in other languages -- in different linguistic families -- the Chin. forms also appear plausible for V. 'chân' 'leg' and 'giò', respectively.)
  52. đuôi 'tail' (Old Mon /birta/ (?), /bata/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑ/, Riang White /taʔ-/, Black /sʿən\taʔ-/, /săɗɑ2/, Wa /ʃi4taʔ1/, T'eng /hěnta/) [ Chin. 翘 qiáo (AV kiều) | M 翘 qiáo, qiào < MC gjew < OC *ghew | FQ 渠遙 ] (Comment: The closest forms is those initials of the second syllable that starts with t-.)
  53. tay 'hand, arm' (Viet. /tay/, Old Mon /tey/, mod. /tai/ Danaw /ti1/, Riang White and Black /tiʔ-/, Palaung /ɗɑ'2/, /ɗéi2/, Wa /tɑʔ1/, Old Khmer /tai/, Sakai /tok, /ti/, Semang /tɔŋ/, Nicobarese /tai/, Car Nicobarese /tiʾ/, Bahnar /tɪ/, P'uman /chʿi/, T'eng /tiʔ/, Khasi /kti/, War /taɪ/, Mundari /tɪhī/, /tɪʔ/, Gadaba /tītī/, Kurku /tī/. [ Chin. 手 shǒu (SV thủ). There is also a 臂 bì (SV tý), denoting 'arm', a 指 zhǐ (SV chỉ) form, denoting 'finger', that looks like those lexemes with /ti/ and chi/. | M 臂 bì, bèi < MC pje < OC *peks || M 指 zhǐ, zhì, zhī < MC tɕɨ < OC *kijʔ || ©M 手 shǒu < MC ʂjəw < OC *ɫhuʔ | FQ 書九 ] (Comment: Viet. /tay/ shows apparent cognate with all the languages involved, including the Chin. '臂 bì (SV tỵ)', but for the Chin. /shǒu/ and /zhǐ/ they seem to be speculative.)
  54. gót 'sole', also Luce 'palm' (Old Mon /kintāl/ (=underpart), mod. /gatā/, Danaw /patk1,3/, Riang White /plɑk-/, Black /plɑk-/, Palaung /kă\bɑ2/..., Wa /kiat1/, T'eng /kēdăk/ (=sole)) [ Chin 跟 gēn (SV căn) for VS 'gót' (sole), 巴手 bāshǒu (SV bathủ) ~ 巴掌 bāzhăng (SV bachưởng) VS 'bàntay' (palm) | ©M 跟 gēn < MC kən < OC *kən ] (Comment: The Chin. forms are plausibly cognates.)
  55. móng 'nails' (Old Mon /sinlem/, mod. /sanem/, Danaw /kălɛ`əŋ4/, Riang White /rəm\hi:m-/, Black /kʿiəŋ2/,/pʿyUəŋ2/, Wa /să\ʔ, Shom Peng /rīap/, Khasi /tyrsim/) [ Chin. 跰 bèng, bǐng, pián (SV nghiễn), VS vuốt 'claw' ~ móng 'mail' | ©M 跰 bèng, bǐng, pián, yàn ~ ©M 趼 jiăn < MC kiɛn, ŋjen < OC *ke:nʔ, *ŋhe:ns | FQ 古典, 吾甸 | According to Starostin : Pek. yàn meaning 'extremity of animals' paw' is also attested since Han; it accounts for g- in Goon. | ¶ y- ~ m-, v- ] (Comment: except for the Chin. word, all the forms look distant and need more elaboration.)
  56. cánh 'wing' (Old Mon /sumneŋ/ (=winged), mod. /sneŋ/, Danaw /pʿan2/, Riang White /pɪaŋ-/, Black /pɪɛŋ-/, Palaung /pʿiəŋ2/, /pʿyUŋ2/, Wa /pʿrɤɪt1/, Semang /bieg/, Car Nicobarese /sănéōk/, Khasi /thapɪniang/) [ Chin. 翅膀 chìbăng (SV chibàng) | M 翅 chì, shì, jì, qí < MC ʂi < OC *kjeh, *kes || M 膀 băng, bàng, pāng, páng < MC bɔŋ < OC *bhaŋ | FQ. 步光 ] (Comment: V 'cánh' could be cognate with 膀 băng only, instead of from a contracted form of 翅膀 chíbăng.)
  57. xương 'bone' (Viet. /xương), Old Mon /jūc(ʔ)/, mod. /jut/, Danaw /kănaŋ4/, Riang White /yɤn\ʔaŋ-/, Back /tsən\ɑŋ-/, Palaung /kă\ʔɑŋ2/, Wa /să\ʔɑŋ2/, Kmer /cʿa-iŋ/, Sakai /ja-akn/, Semang /jaʔis/, Nicobarese /oŋ-eŋ/, Biat /n'tiŋ/, Srê /n'tīŋ/, T'eng /cʿəʔaŋ/, Khasi /Shyeng/, Mundari /jaŋ/, Malay /tulaŋ/) [ Chin 腔 qiāng (SV khang, xoang) | M 腔 qiāng < MC khjawŋ < OC *khaɨwŋ ] (Comment: all appears to be cognate.)
  58. thịt 'flesh' (Old Mon /psun/, mod. /pʿyun/, Danaw /ñəŋ/, Riang White /yɤŋ\ /, Black /mɑi\ /, Palaung /yɑŋ2/, Wa /néʔ3/) [ Chin. 肉 ròu (nhục) | M 肉 ròu < MC ɳʊk < OC *nhikʷ, *nhuk ] (Comment: It looks like we have a case that we cannot map V 'thịt' into any of the above languages including Chin.)
  59. da 'skin' (No Old Mon, mod. /snɑm/, Danaw /kădət3/, Riang White /hu:r-/, Black /hur-/, Palaung /hu2/, Wa /hɑʔ1/, T'eng /pūr/, K'mu /kpur/, Mundari /ūr/, Khasi /snep/) [ Chin. 皮 pí (SV bì), 膚 fū (SV phu) | ©M 膚 fū, lú < MC pʊ < OC *pra ] (Comment: The Chin. /pí/ is more like V. da /ja/ but the form /fū/ is closer to other forms!)
  60. máu 'blood' (Old Mon /chim/, mod. /chim/, Danaw /kănɑ4/, Riang White /nɑ:m-/, Black /nɑm-/, Palaung /nɑm2/, Wa /hnɑm2/, Khmer /jhām/, Sakai /běhīm/,Semang /muhum/, Car Nicarobese /măham/, Bahar /pham/, T'eng /mam/, K'mu /semắm/,Khasi /smam/ Mundari maěon/) [ Chin. 血 xiě, xuě (SV huyết) | M 血 xiě, xiè, xuè < MC xwiet < OC *swit ] (Comment: It looks like the V /máu/ point to those words in other languages starting with /m-/ and /p-/ while the Chin. form /xiě/ is speculative via /hw-/ ~ /m-/.)
  61. nướcmiếng 'spittle' (Old Mon /ksas (=to spit?), mod. /ɗāk kasah/, Danaw /ñɛ`n2/, Riang White and Black /ñɑŋ-/, Palaung /bɑ'iʔ3/ (to spit), Wa /bɑ'iʔ3/, /bɛ'ʔ3/, Old Khmer /samtoh/, Sakai /toh/, /getɔʾ/, Malay /ludah/, Nicobarese /tapaih/, Bahnar /gəsɔʾ/, T'eng /təʔa/ Khasi /biah (to spit), Mundari /beʔ/) [ Chin. 唾沫 tuòmò (SV thoámạt) ~ 唾液 tuòyè (SV thoádịch) | M 唾 tuò < MC thwʌ < OC *thojs || M 沫 mò, mèi < MC mwʌt, mwʌj < OC *mhāt, *māts || M 液 yè < MC jek, ʂek < OC *lhiak, *sliak ] (Comment: the only similarity appears here is between the V and Chin forms.)
  62. nướcđái 'urine' (No Old Mon, mod. /knam/, Danaw /tsɛ`2/, Riang White /nɯm\ /, Black /num\ /, Palaung /hnUm2/, Wa /nɯm2/, Khmer /nom/, Sakai /nom/, Semang /kènom/, Srê /ɗum/, Bahnar /nôm/, T'eng /num/, Khasi /jung/) [ Chin. 尿水 niàoshuǐ (SV niệuthuỷ) | ©M 尿 niào, suī < MC niew < OC *ne:ws, *njew, *ne:wkws | ¶ n- ~ đ- || ©M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ | FQ 式軌 | cđ MC 止合三上旨書 ] (Comment: There is little doubt that the Chin. and the V. forms are cognates except that the syllabic-word order is in reverse as in many cases.)
  63. cứt 'dung' (No Old Monn, mod. /ʿik/, Danaw /yaŋ4/, Riang White and Black /yaŋ-/, Palaung /íəŋ2/, /íɛŋ2/, Wa /iɑŋ2/, Khmer /āc/, Sakai /êt/, /êg/, Semang /ɪ/, /aɪh/, Nicobarese /āɪch/, /āɪk/, Bahnar /ɪc/, /ɪk/, T'eng /ʔɪak/, Khasi /eɪk/, Mundari /ɪʔ/) [ Chin. 屍 shǐ (SV thỉ) | ©M 屎 shǐ < MC shǐ < OC *ʂij < PC **kijh, **ʂijh | Zhou zyxlj p.251: TB *kip, Burmese: khjijh excrement, Kachin: khji3 excrement, Dimasa: khi, Garo: khi, Bodo: kí, Kham kī; , Kanauri khoa, Bahing khl, Digaro: klai. Simon 19; Sh. 44; Ben. 39; Mat. 191. | Zhu Fagao zyxlj p.251 Tibetan: *kəp ] (Comment: If this is a case of the initial k- having evolved into zero in most languages, they are cognate to them then. If not, they could be a derived form cognate to V. ỉa 'to poo, to shit' in V., which, in turn, is cognate to Cantonese /o/ 屙 M. /è/.)
  64. chó 'dog' (Viet. /chó/, Old Mon /clew/, /cluiw/, mod. /kluiw/, Danaw /tso1/, Riang White and Black /sʿɔʔ-/, Palaung /ă\ʔoʔ1/, Wa /soʔ1/, Old Khmer cke, Sakai /cho/, Semang /āsūʔ/, Malay /asu/, Srê /sɔ/, P'uman /shaw/, T'eng /soʔ/, Khasi /ksew/, War /ksiā/, Mundari /seta/, Savara /sōr/, /kinsor/ Gadaba /kussō/, Kurku tsītā/) [ Chin. 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu) | ©M 狗 gǒu < MC kjəw < OC *ko:ʔ | MC reading 流開一上厚見 | Proto-Viet **kro | See further enumberation below. ] (Comment: there is no doubt that they the forms are cognates, including the Chin. 狗 gǒu.)
  65. ngựa 'horse' (Old Mon /kseh/, mod. /kyeh/, Danaw /θé4/, Riang White /mɤraŋ\ /, Black /məraŋ\ /, Palaung /braŋ2/, Wa /bruŋ2/, Old Khmer /aseh/, Cham /àsaih/, Biat /cheh/, Bahnar /əsɛh/, Aren /kəθe/, /θiri/, /s'e/ etc., Central and S. Chin /si/, /se, /ksʿɛ/, T'eng /mbraŋ/, Lemet /mraŋ/, Old Burmese /mraŋ/.) [ Chin. 馬 mă (SV mã) | M 馬 mă < MC mɑ < OC *mra:ʔ | FQ 莫下 || ©M 午 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋa:ʔ | According to Starostin : the 7th of the Earthly Branches. During Late Zhou also used as a loan for homonymous *ŋ(h)a:? 'to resist; crosswise'. ] (Comment: For V 'ngựa' 午 wǔ (SV ngọ) is much more plausible since it is in line with other forms which are in the 12 animal zodiac table, with exception of 'cat' being substituted by 'hare' by the Chinese, adopted by both of the Vietnamese and Khmer peoples. The other forms appear only in the forms with initial /mbr-/, /mr-/, /br-/ and finals as /-aŋ/, otherwise they are not cognates.)
  66. trâu 'water buffallo' (Old Mon and mod. /preŋ/, Danaw /mănaʔ3/, Riang White /pɤnɑʔ\ /, Black /pənɑʔ\ /, Palaung /krɑʔ1/, Wa /krak1/, T'eng /tăk/, Mundari /kera/, Karen /pəna/.) [ Chin. 牛 níu (SV ngưu) | ©M 牛 níu < MC ŋjəw < OC *ŋujə | FQ 語求 || 丑 chǒu (SV sửu, xú) || ©M 丑 (丒) chǒu < MC triw < OC *truw | According to Starostin : MC ʈhjəw < OC *snruʔ ] (Comment: Like 午 wǔ for 'ngựa', 丑 chǒu is also a possible candidate for V 'trâu' while no cognate forms are found in the MK languages.)
  67. đàn 'herd, flock' (No Old Mon, mod. /tʿakaʾ/, Danaw /pʿôn2/, Riang White /vwuŋ /, Black /wuŋ/, Palaung /pʿɑŋ3/, Wa /pʿUŋ2/, Khmer /hvūŋ/, Biat /pʿuŋ/, Shan /pʿuŋ/) [ Chin. 團 tuán (SV đoàn) | ©M 團 tuán < MC dwʌn < OC *dho:n || M 幫 bāng < MC pwʌŋ < OC *pa:ŋ | FQ 博旁 ] (Comment: Actually V 'bọn' is more plausible to other form of MK languages, but that lexeme is for people -- pointing to Chin. 幫 bāng (SV bang) 'group' -- while the V 'đàn' is mostly for animals, which is cognate to Chin. /tuán/ and its SV equivalent 'đoàn' can be used for people.)
  68. heo 'pig' (Old Mon /klīk/, /kliŋ/, mod. /klik/, Danaw /kălék3,1/, Riang White and Black /lék\ /, Palaung /léʔ1/, Wa /li:k3/, Old Khmer /jrvrak/, Sakai /lu/, Semang /jalin/, Madurese /cheleŋ/ (wild pig), Khasi /sniang/) [ Chin. 亥 hài (SV hợi) VS 'heơ', the 12th animal in the zodiac table | ©M 亥 hài < MC ɠɤj < OC *ghə:ʔ | See 'lợn' below. ] (Comment: all MK forms show cognate forms with V 'lợn' and Chin. 豬 zhū (SV trư) has no cognate in V.)
  69. dê 'goat' (Old Mon /babeʔ/, mod. /baɓeʔ/, Danae /bo4bɛ`1/, Riang White /pɛʔ\ /, Black /pɛʔ-/, Palaung /pɛ`2/, Wa /bɛ`ʔ3/, Old Khmer /vave/, Sukai /kambikn/, Jakun /bêbek/, Cham /pabaiy/, Malay /kambiŋ/, Nicobarese /me/, Bahnar /bəbɛ`/, Pu-man /pir/, T'eng /bɛ`/, Savara /kimme/) [ Chin. 羊 yáng (SV dương) | ©M 羊 yáng < MC jaŋ < OC *laŋ | FQ 與章 | According to Starostin : Protoform: *jă(k) / *jăŋ. Meaning: goat, yak. Chinese: 羊 *laŋ sheep, goat. Tibetan: g-jag the yak. Kachin: ja3 a wild goat. Lepcha: jo/k a yak, Bos grunniens. Comments: Trung ja? mongrel; Yamphu ja' :-suba 'goat'.| Dialects : Tn : iã1, Hk : iaŋ12, Tx : iaŋ12, Dc : iaŋ12, Tc : iaŋ12, Ôc : ɦi12, Ts : ian12, Sp : iaŋ12, Nx : iɔŋ31, Hẹ : jɔŋ12, Qđ : jöŋ12, Hm : iɔŋ12 (lit.), iũ12, Trc : iẽ12, Th : iã 32 ] (Comment: There is no doubt that the Chin. 羊 yáng is cognate to V 'dê' while other MK forms look similar to V 'bê' 'young cow')
  70. voi 'elephant' (Viet. /tượng/, Chinese /*dzaiaŋ/, Old Mon /cīŋ/, mod. /ciŋ/, Danaw /kătsɑŋ4/, Riang White /sʿɑŋ-/, Black /sʿi-tsɑŋ-/, Palaung /sɑ:ŋ2/, Wa /sɑŋ2/, Sakai /chik/, T'eng /sǐkyaŋ/, K'mu /chaŋ/, Old Burrmese /cʿaŋ/) [ Chin. 象 xiàng (SV tượng) | M 象 xiàng < MC zjaŋ < OC *lhaŋʔ | FQ 徐兩 || ©M 為 wéi (SV vi) 'voi' elephant | ©M 為 wéi < MC we < OC *waj, *wajs | FQ 薳支 | MC reading A: 止合三平支云; B: 止合三去寘云 | According to Starostin: An *-s-derivate from the word is OC *waj-s, MC we (FQ 于偽), Pek. wèi 'for, on behalf', Viet. vì, vị. For initial *w- cf. Min forms: MC we - Xiamen, Chaozhou, Fuzhou ui2; MC we, Xiamen ui6, Fuzhou oi6, Jianou ue6. Shuowen defines the character as 'female monkey'. Although this word is not attested in literature, it may be compared to PST *qwaj reflected in Kach. (D) woi monkey; Moshang vi-sil; Rawang əwe; Trung a-koi; Kadu kwe id. (STC No 314 *(b)woy; dubious are Mikir ki-pi and Miri si-be). Thomas: voi | Shuowen : 母猴也.其為禽好爪.下腹為母猴形.王育曰.爪象形也.古文為.象兩母猴相對形. | GSR 0027 a-e ] Comment: With V 'tượng' all are the same forms as that of Chin. /xiàng/, but V 'voi' seems only cognate to Chin /wei/ is much more common than 'tượng'.)
  71. cọp 'tiger' (Old Mon /klaʾ/, mod. /kla/, Danaw /tăwɑi2/, Riang White /rɤvwɑ'i\ /, Black /rəwɑ'i\ /, Palaung /răvwɑ'i2/, /rāwɑ'i2/, Wa /ʃi4vwɑi2/, Old Khmer /klā/, Sakai /klaʾ/, Bahnar /kla/, Srê /kliu/, Khasi /khla/, Mundari /kula/, Kurku /kūlā/, T'eng /təvai/) [ Chin. 虎 hǔ (SV hổ) | ©M 虎 hǔ < MC xo < OC *xla:ʔ ] (Comment:All forms ar cognate for certainty and were probably derived from a proto-form from proto-Tai.)
  72. gấu 'bear' (Old Mon /kmīm/, mod. /kmim/, Danaw /kʿryet3/, Riang White and Black /krɛ`s-/, Palaung /krih3/ /kriχ3/, Wa /krih5/, Khasi /dnghiem/, Srê /grih/) [ Chin. 熊 xióng (SV hùng) | M 熊 xióng < MC ɦʊŋ < OC *whǝm ] (Comment: Given variations of other MK words, the V 'gấu' could be probably cognate to the Chin. form /xióng/ with *wh- ~ g-, and -wŋ ~ -aw sound change. ]
  73. vượn 'monkey' (Old Mon /knuy/. mod. /knuai/, Danaw /vwɔ2/, Riang White /vwaʔ-/, Black /wɑʔ-/, Palaung /fɑ2/, Wa /rɑu2/, Old Khmer /svā/, T'eng /hwa/, Srê /kuañ/ (gibbon) [ Chin. 猿 yuán (SV viên), VS vượn 'gibbon' | ©M 猿 yuán < MC wən < OC *whan || 猴 hóu (SV hầu) VS khỉ | M 猴 hóu < MC ɠɤw < OC *go: ] (Comment: V 'vượn' gibbon and all other are cognates, inclusing the Chin /yuán/ while Old Mon /knuy/. mod. /knuai/ look like to be cognate to 'khỉ' monkey in V. )
  74. nai 'barking deer' (No Old Mon, mod. pah/, Danaw /pɤt3/, Riang White and Black /pos-/... [ Chin. 麃 biāo, páo (SV tiêu, bào) VS hươu 'giraffe, hind' | M 麃 biāo, páo < MC baw, pew, phʌw < OC *paw, *bhrāw, *phāwʔ ] (Comment: other forms are omitted here since they totaly do not seem to be related to that of V. 'nai'.)
  75. thỏ 'hare' (Old Mon /batāy/, mod. /batāai/, Danaw /yɤn2/, Riang White /pɤl\tāi-/, Black /pəl\tāi-/, Palaung /pɑŋ3ɗɑi2/, /pɑŋ3ɗɔi2/, Wa /pālɑ2/, Old Burmese /yun/, Malay /tapai/, Biat /r'pai/, Srê dərpae/, Shan /paŋtai/) [ Chin. 兔 tù (SV thố) | ©M 兔 tù < MC tho < OC *thāks, *slhaks | FQ 湯故 ] (Comment: The Chin. /tù/ is certainly cognate to the V /thỏ/ form while other MK forms deviate a great deal.)
  76. lợn 'porcupine' (no Old Mon., mod. /lamlen/, Danaw /tɔŋ2kiɛ`t1/, Riang White /rɤn\kɔs-/, Black /rəŋ\kɔs-/, Palaung /ākɤh3/, Wa /ŋ-goh3/, Sakai /kūsh/...) [ Chin. 猏 jiān (kiên) | M 猏 (豜) jiān < MC kien < OC *kēn | ¶ j- ~ l- ] (Comment: For those MK forms selective listed here, they bear resemblence to each other as cognates. At the same time the Chin. /jiān/ cognate is highly plausible with the sound change pattern j- ~ l- for V /lợn/. At the same time V has also the word /heo/ for 'pig' which is from the same source as that of the Chin. form 亥 hài (SV hợi) appearing in the zodiac 12 aniimal table.)
  77. sóc 'squirrel' (No Old Mon, mod. /prip/, Danaw /plɑi2/, Riang White /kɤlɑ'i\ /, Black /klɑ\ /..) [ Chin. 松鼠 cōngshǔ (SV tùngthử) | M 松 sōng < MC tʑjöuŋ < OC *lhoŋ || ©M 鼠 shǔ < MC ʂo < OC *ɬhaʔ ~ *ɬh < *ʂh- < ʂ- | Dialects: Amoy /chu3/, Chaozhou /chy3/, Fuzhou, Jianou /chʊ3/, Tc chu2, Wenzhou /chei21/, Hakka /chu2/, Xiamen /chu2/, Trc chɨ21, Fuzhou /chy2/, Shanghai /chʊ3/ | According to Starostin : OC *l^h (normally yielding t.h, but here having given a dialectal reflex *s/h- > s/-) is reconstructed on the basis of Min forms: Xiamen chu3, Chaozhou chy3, Fuzhou, Jianou chu3. ] (Comment: Some other forms are omitted here because they do not seem to relate the V 'sóc' as to the Chin. /cōngshǔ/ which could be plausibly cognate if the drop-out factor accounts for the sound change between the two, that is, either syllabic sound falls out. However, if we treat the Chin. compound 松鼠 cōngshǔ as an indication that this kind of animal not native originally, then, like 狗 gǒu or 虎 hǔ, the Chin. form must have a southern origin, probably from Taic since all the MK forms in Luce's list do not provide a clue for that.)
  78. rái 'otter' (No Old Mon, mod. /pheʾ/, Danaw /bUn2/, Rinag White /bUn\ /, Black /bon-/, Palaung /mUn3/, /bUn3/, Wa /pʿɛi1/ [ Chin. 獺 tă, tà (SV thát) | M 獺 tă, tà < MC thʌt < OC *srhāt ] (Comment: Only Chin. 獺 tă, tà is cognate to V. rái.)
  79. chuột 'rat, mouse' (Old Mon and mod. /kni/, Danaw /kăné1,2/, Riang White /kʿrɔm-/, Black /kəbu-/, /kʿrɔm-/, Palaung /hnɔ'i2/, Wa /kiaŋ2/, Sakai /kaněh/, Semang /kaneʾ/, Srê /ɗɛ`/, Bahnar /kənɛ`/, T'eng /kənéʔ/, Khasi /khnai/, Mundari /huni/ ) [ Chin. 鼠 shǔ (SV thử) | See enumeration above.] (Comment: While there is no cognate with the MK forms, it is no doubt that the Chin. /shǔ/ and V. 'chuột' are cognate.)
  80. dơi 'bat' (Old Mon /kilwa/, mod. /kawa/, Danaw /lUk3lat2/, Riang White /tɤr\lɑk/, Black /rəlɑk\ /, Palaung /gădɑʔ1/, Wa /blak3/, Malay /kělawar/) [ Chin. 蝙 biān (SV biên) | 蝙 biān < MC pien < OC *pēnʔ ] (Comment: For this item if there are any cognates at all, so it must be a falling-out form of Mon /-wa/.)
  81. bươmbướm 'butterfly' (No Old Mon, mod. /puŋkamū/ (butterfly soul), Danaw /pɔŋ2pɑʔ3/, Riang White and Black /puŋ-pɑʔ-/, Palaung /kɑʔ1lá/, Wa /pɑi4pyaŋ2/, T'eng /pam/) [ Chin 蝴蝶 húdié (SV hồđiệp) ] (Comment: The V 'bướm' is likely cognate to T'eng /pam/ and the Mon first syllable /puŋ/ while 'bươmbướm/ to others. The Chin form /húdié/ show no relation at all. However, in other Austronesian languages we found some similar etyma cognate to 'bươmbướm/ such as proto-Eastern-Oceanic /*mpe(e)mpe(e)/, Fiji /beebee/, Samoan /pepe/, New Zealand Maori /pê/, /pepe/, Rotuman /pêpa/.)
  82. ongmật 'honey bee' (No Old Mon, mod. /sāai/, Danaw /tsɔŋ4hən2/, Riang White /tjɤr\ŋur\ /, Black /tsən\ŋur\ /, Palaung /pʿrər2/, Wa /hiɑ2/, Car Nicobarese /sɛ`k mak/, T'eng /brǔʾŋ/, /prǔʾŋ/) [ Chin 蜜蜂 mìfēng (SV mậtphong) | Chin. 蠮 螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ (SV nghệông) VS 'ongnghệ' ~ 螉 wēng (SV ông) ~ 蜂 fēng (SV phong) | ©M 螉 wēng < MC ʔuŋ < OC *ʔōŋ | According to Starostin: a k. of small bee (Han). Used only in compounds: 螉 � *ʔōŋ-shoŋ, 蠮 螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ denoting a k. of small bee or gadfly, thus the borrowed nature of Viet. ong is questionable (cf. PAA *hɔ:ŋ / *ʔɔ:ŋ 'bee' = PAN *wani, *qawani id.). The standard Sino-Viet. reading of 螉 is ông. || M 蜂 fēng < MC phouŋ, buŋ < OC *phoŋ, *bhōŋ | FQ 敷容, 薄紅 ] (Comment: It is for certainty that the Chin. compound form 蜜蜂 mìfēng is cognate to V. 'ongmật' in reverse order. For other languages, see the next item below.)
  83. ong 'wasp, hornet' (Viet. 'ong', no Old Mon, mod. /huiŋ/, Danaw /(mɑʔ3)ôn4/, Riang White /vwɔŋ-vwɔl-/, Black /uaŋ-/, Palaung /ɔn2/, /kă\ʔɔn2/, Wa /ɔŋ2/, Old Khmer /srāŋ/ (?), Sakai /ôkn/ Besisi /hoŋ/, Semang /oŋ/, /ēŋ/, /wuŋ/, Bahnar /ōŋ/, Srê /oŋ/) [ Chin. (黃)蜂 huángfēng (SV hoàngphong) VS 'ong(vò)' | See enumeration above. ] (Comment: Like 蜜蜂 mìfēng, this is for sure an cognate with the V 'ong'. For other MK languages, in contrast with the V 'ongmật' above,which is similar to Danaw /(mɑʔ3)ôn4/ 'honey bee', they all are cognates. In both Chin and V. this exist only one form 蜂 fēng ~ 'ong'.)
  84. cua 'crab' (Viet. /tôm/ (prawn), No Old Mon, mod. /gatā/, Danaw /kătam2/, Riang White /kɤtɑm-/, Black /kətɑm-/, Palaung /tākrɛk3/, Wa /tɑm2/, Semang /kěntem/, Srê /tām/, T'eng /kətam/, Khasi /thəm/ Mundari /katəkom/, /karakom/) [ Chin. 蝦 xiā (SV hà) VS 'tép' small shrimp, 'tôm' prawn, also 'ruốc' tiny shrimp || 蟹 xié (SV giải) VS ghẹ, cáy ~ cua 'crab' || M 蝦 (鰕) xiā, há < MC ɠa < OC *ghra: | FQ 胡加 | MC reading 假開二平麻曉 | According to Starostin : frog (Han). Used only in the compound 蝦蟆 *g(h)ra:-mra: | ex. 蝦蟆 hámó (SV hàmạc) nhái, cóc 'frog' || ©M 蟹 xié < MC ɠa < OC *ghre:ʔ | According to Starostin : crab (Han). Normal Sino-Viet. is giải: it is interesting that both this form and the colloquial cáy reflect a voiceless initial (possibly pointing to a variant *kre:?). | Protoform: *q(r)e:(j)H. Lushei: ai, KC *t?-g|ai. Lepcha: ta<-hi. Kiranti: *ghra\ ] (Comment: All the MK langages point to V 'tôm' and they look like also cognate to V. 'contôm'. However, they all mean 'crab' while the V forms 'cua' and 'tôm' with their variants seem in line with those equivalents in Chin. /xià/ and /xié/.)
  85. cá 'fish' (Viet. /cá/, Old Mon /kɑʾ/, mod. /kɑ/, Danaw /ʔyaŋ4/, Riang White and Black /kaʔ-/, Palaung /kɑ2/, Wa /kaʔ1/, Sakai /kaʾ/, Semang /kah/, Malay /ikan/ Nicobarese /kâa/, Stieng, Srê, Bahnar /ka/, P'uman /kʿa/, T'eng /kaʔ/, Mundari /hai/, /haku/, Kurku /kaku/) [ Chin. 魚 yú (SV ngư) | M 魚 yú < MC ŋʊ < OC *ŋha | FQ 語居 | MC reading 遇合三平魚疑 | Shuowen 水蟲也.象形.魚尾與燕尾相似.凡魚之屬皆從魚. (575) | According to Starostin : fish. For *ŋh- cf. Xiamen hi2, Chaozhou hy2. | Protoform: *ŋ(j)a. Meaning: fish. Chinese: 魚 *ŋha fish. Tibetan: ɳa fish. Burmese: ŋah fish, LB *ŋhax. Kachin: ŋa3 fish. Lushei: ŋha fish, KC *ŋha\. Kiranti: *ŋ@\ . Comments: PG *ta\rŋa; BG: Garo na-tk, Bodo ŋa ~ na, Dimasa na; Chepang ŋa ~ nya; Tsangla ŋa; Moshang ŋa'; Namsangia ŋa; Kham ŋa:\L; Kaike ŋa:; Trung ŋa1-pla?1. Simon 13; Sh. 36, 123, 407, 429; Ben. 47; Mat. 192; Luce 2. | Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *ka, Thai: ka:.A, Proto-Katuic: *ka, Proto-Bahnaric: *ka, Khmer: ka:-, Proto-Vietic: *kaʔ, ʔǝ-, Proto-Monic: *ka:ʔ, Proto-Palaungic: *kaʔ, Proto-Khmu: *kaʔ, Khasi: doh=kha, Proto-Aslian: *kaʔ, , Proto-Viet-Muong: *kaʔ, ʔ-, Thomon: ka.343ʔ, Tum: ka.212 (Kh 714; VHL 64; S-27) | Ghichú: OC *ŋh- ~ k- (ca-) (hầuâm biếnđổisang hầuâm là một hiệntượng ngữâm rấtphổbiến) ] (Comment: All languages for this item in Luce's list are cognate while the Chin. form 魚 yú (SV ngư) is also worth examing.)
  86. rắn 'snake' (Old Mon and mod. /jrum/, Danaw /păθén4/, Riang White and Black /hiəñ-/, Palaung /hanʔ2/, Wa /ʃi4ʔúiñ2/, Semang /jěkob/, Nicanarese /pai(d)/, Car Nicobarese /péich/, Khasi /bseiñ/, Mundari /bin/) [ Chin. 蛇 shé (SV xà, also di ) | ©M 蛇 shé < MC ʑa < OC *liaj, *laj | FQ 食遮 | According to Starostin: snake. Also read *laj (MC je, FQ 弋支, Mand. yí) in the compound 委蛇 *?w|aj-laj 'be compliant, gracious'. | ¶ s- ~ r- | Also /yì/ as in 委蛇 wěiyì (VS ngoằnngoèo) 'zigzag' ] (Comment: Variably some of the listed form are cognates while the Chin. form is only a matter of speculation.)
  87. chim 'bird' (Viet. /chɪm/, Old Mon /kiñcem/, mod. gacem, Danaw /tsən4/, Riang White /si:m/, Black /sim/, Palaung /sim2/, Wa /ʃi:m2/, Sakai /chēp/, /chēm/, Biat /chɪum/, Srê /sɪm/, Bahnar /sɛm, T'eng /sim/, Khasi /sim/ War /ksem/, Mundari /sīm/ (=fowl), Kurku /ʃɪm(fowl), Sav /kansɪm/ (fowl)) [ Chin. 禽 qín ‘bird’ (SV cầm) | ©M 禽 qín < MC gim < OC *ghjəm | ~ modern M niăo 鳥 | Dialects: Hainanese /jiăo/ is the sound for 'chim' | Chaozhou: ʑin12, Wenzhou: ʑiaŋ12, Shuangfeng: ʑin12 | According to Starostin : The character is more frequently used (since L.Zhou) with the meaning 'wild bird(s)' ('something caught'), whereas for the meaning 'to catch, capture' (SV 'cầm', VS 'giam') one uses the character 擒 ] (Comment: It looks like all forms are cognates, including Chin.)
  88. giacầm 'fowl' (Old Mon /tyāŋ/, /tyeŋ/, mod. /cāŋ/, Danaw /yén4/, Riang White /yɛr-/, Black /yɛ`r-/, Palaung /i:r2/, íər2/, Wa /iɑ2/, Bahnar /ir/, T'eng /ʿier/, Khasi /syiar/, Mundari /jiaŋ-jiaŋ/ (=chicken) [ Chin. 家禽 jiāqín (SV giacầm) ] (comment) The V compound simply a MC variant of the Chinese form.)
  89. chimcông 'peafowl' (Old Mon /mrek/, /mrā/, Danaw (<Burmese), Riang White and Black /prāk\ /, Palaung /brɑʔ3/, Wa /kɑ'ɯŋ2/, Malay /měrak/, Cham /amrak/, Biat /brak/, T'eng /kuóŋ/...) [ Chin. 孔雀 kǒngquè (SV khổngtước) VS chimcông | M 孔 kǒng < MC khúŋ < OC *khōŋʔ | FQ 康董 | For 'chim' see above.] (Comment: Obviously the V 'chimcông' is the Chin. form in reverse order. Some more forms unrelated with Vietnamese in other languages listed in this item are ommited.)
  90. cuncút 'quail' (Corturnix) (Viet. /cuncút/, Old Mon tgit/, /tget/, /tgat/, mod. /daguit/, /thagut/, Danaw /taʔ3kot2/, Riang White /rɤku:t\ /, Black /rəkut\ /, Palaung /ăguʔ1,3, Wa /kɯt1/, Khmer /grwac/, Biat /gôi/, Srê /rəgut/, T'eng /təgut/, Khasi /tyut/, Mundari /gagar/) [ Chin. 鶉 chún (thuần) | VS. 'cuncút' reduplicative '鶉 chún (cun)' + '鶉 chún (cút) | M 鶉 chún < MC dʒwin < OC *dhwǝn ] (Comment: Most of the forms are cognates, including the Chin. compound)
  91. diềuhâu 'bird of prey, kite) (No Old Mon, mod. /hawkluiŋ/ (large hornbill) (?), Danaw /kăyɑŋ4kyɑŋ2/, Riang White and Black /klɑŋ-/, Palaung /klɑŋ2/, Dnaw /klɑŋ2/, Khmer /khlaŋ/ (fish eagle), Sakai /kělâtn/, Semang /kělă/ Malay /hělɑŋ/, Srê, Bahnar /klaŋ/, T'eng /klaŋ/, Khasi /khlɪeŋ/) [ Chin. 鳶 yuān (SV diên) | ©M 鳶 yuān < MC lwan < OC *jwen ] (Comment: The V and Chin. forms are cognates.)
  92. ưng 'vulture' (Old Mon /timmāt/, /tammāt/, mod. /tamāt/, Danaw /lɔŋ2tɑʔ2/, Riang White /lɑŋ\tɑʔ\ /, Black /klɑŋ-tɑʔ\ /, Palaung /lɑŋ3ɗɑ2/, Wa /klɑŋ4préŋ2/,Old Khmer /tmāt/, Old Burmese /lāŋta/, Shan /laŋta/, /naŋta/ [ Chin. 鷹 yīng (SV ưng) VS 'ó' (hawk) | M 鷹 yīng < MC ʔiŋ < OC *ʔjəŋ ] (Comment: It looks like only the Chin. and V. forms are cognates.)
  93. ác 'crow' (Viet. /ác/, Old Mon /kil-ak/, /kil-ek/, mod. /kɑɗɑk/, Danaw /lɔŋ4ɑʔ2/, Riang White /luʔ\ʔɑk-/, Balck /luk\ɑk-/, Palaung /kă\ʔɑʔ1/, Wa /lak3/, Old Khmer /kāk/, Sakai /aag/, /gaag/, Semang /ukag/, Malay /gagak/, Srê /kənɗɑ/, Bahnar /āk/, T'eng /kăʔak/, K'mu /klāk/) [ Chin. 烏 wū, wù, yā, yān (SV ô, ác) VS quạ, ác | ©M 烏 wū, wù, yā, yān < MC ʔo < OC *ʔā | FQ 哀都 | According to Starostin: Later also attested in the sense ('black as a crow' > ) 'black, very dark'. ] (Comment: All forms are cognates with an extra variant for the V lexeme as /quạ/.)
  94. ruồi 'house-fly' (Viet. /ruồi/, no Old Mon, mod. /ruai/, Danaw /rui4/, /hrui4/, Riang White and Black /ruəɪ\ /, Palaung /rɔ'i2/, Wa /rɔi2/, Khmer /ruy/ Sakai /rūl/, /ruoi/, Besisi /roi/, Nicobarese /yüe/, Car Nicobarese /ɪn-Rúɛ/, Biat /rʾhūai/, Bahnar /rɔi/, T'eng /ròé/, Mundari /roko/) [ Chin. 蠅 yíng 'fly' (dăng) [ ~ VS nhặng, lằng | M 蠅 yíng < MC jiŋ < OC *ljəŋ | FQ 余陵 | MC reading 曾開三平蒸以 | See more below. ] (Comment: All MK etyma are cognates while the Chin. form could be a variant with different sound to point to the same bug.)
  95. kiến 'ant' (Viet. /mối/ (white ant), no Old Mon, mod. /samat/, Danaw /tɔŋ4kʿrun2/, Riang White /pruiñ\ /, /priñ\ /, Palaung /brun2/, Wa /mɔ1,3/..) Ols Khmer /samoc/ Malay /sěmut/, T'eng /hmuic/, Mundari /muiʔ/) [ Chin. 蟻 yǐ < MC ŋé < OC *ŋhajʔ | According to Starostin: For *ŋh- cf. Xiamen hia6, Chaozhou hia4, Fuzhou ŋie6. | ¶ y- (OC*ŋ-) ~ k- || According to Starostin : kiến can be 蜆 xiàn < MC xiɜn < OC *he:nʔ | a k. of mussel (Corbicula leana) (modern). Also read *g(h)e:nʔ, MC g|ien; *khe:ns, MC khien. The standard Sino-Viet. reading is quite irregular: nghiễn. The usage of 蜆 for 'mussel' is quite recent; the earliest attested meaning of the character (in Erya) is 'a k. of silkworm', and the word may be actually a dialectal variant of the standard 繭 *ke:nʔ 'silkworm' (q.v.). Cf. also Viet. kiến 'ant' (borrowed from the same source?) | See 'hến' ] (Comment: All cross-linguistic family etyma are cognate to V. 'mối' as Luce's notation. In that case V 'kiến' is possibly cognate to either Chin. /yì/ or /jiàn/.)
  96. chấy 'louse in the hair' (Viet. /chấy/, no Old Mon. mod. /cai/, Danaw /tsɪ1/, Riang White and Black /sʿɪʔ/, Palaung /sɑ'ɪ2/, /sɔ2/, Wa /ʃɪʔ1/, Khmer /caɪ/, Sakai /cha/ Semang /chiʾ/, Nicobarese /shēɪ/, Stieng /sɪh/, Srê /săi/, T'eng /séʔ/, Khasi /ksi/, Mundari /siku/) [ Chin 虱 shī (SV siết, sắt) | ©M 虱 shī ~ ©M 蝨 shī < MC ʂit < OC *srit | FQ 所櫛 ] (Comment: Interestingly enough, the Chin form /shī/ appears to be cognate to other Austroasiatic forms, too!)
  97. trứng 'egg' (Old Mon /tumʾāy/ (?), mod. /kʿamhāai/, Banaw /kătn4/, /kătUn4/, Riang White and Black /tam-/, Wa /tɔm2/, Sakai /tap/, Shom Peng /kâtēab/, Bahnar /kətap/, Lemet /ntam/, T'eng /kədóŋ/) [ Chin. 蛋 dàn (SV đản) ] (Comment: Besides other MK forms, it is with certainty that the V 'trứng' is cognate to the Chin /dàn/.)
  98. lụa 'silk' (No Old Mon, mod. /sut/, Danaw /kătuʔ2/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ\ /, Black /sʿətuʔ/, Palaung /ɗéu2/, Wa /tɑ'əʔ1/) [ Chin. 綢 chóu (SV trù, thao) ~ 縷 lǚ (SV lũ, lâu) | ©M 綢 (紬) chóu, diào, tāo < MC ɖǝw < OC *dru | Schuessler : be wrapped round, pressed tightly together, dense. || ©M 縷 lǚ < MC lʊ < OC *rhoʔ | According to Starostin : silk thread (L.Zhou). Viet. lụa is a colloquial loan (probably of Late Han time); regular Sino-Viet. is lũ. ] (Comment: The Mon /sut/ looks like a cognate to the V 'lụa/ and others like V 'tơlụa', all point to the Chin 綢 /chóu/ for 'lụa' and 絲綢 /sīchóu/ for 'tơlụa'.)
  99. keo 'lac' (No Old Mon, mod. /krek/, /krut/, Danaw /yaŋ4kʿărék3/, Riang White /trɔit-/, Black /trɔic-/, Palaung /krɤɪʔ1/, krɔ'it1/, Mundari /êrê-ko/) [ Chin. 蟲膠 chóngjiāo, 蟲脂 chóngzhǐ | ©M 膠 jiāo, háo, jiăo, jiào, năo, qiāo < MC kɑw < OC *kri:w ] (Comment: Semantically V 'keo', cognate to the Chin. 膠 jiāo 'glue', is not exactly 'lac', but it looks like those of other forms listed by Luce for this item.)
  100. rừng 'jungle' (Old Mon grīp/, mod. /gruip/ Danaw /pʿrɑ2bo4/, Riang White /priʔ\ /, Black /prɪʔ\ /, Palaung /bréɪ2/, Wa /brɑʔ3/, Old Khmer /vraɪ/, Sakai /brɪ/, Besisi /ʾmbri/, Semang /těpɪʾ/, Srê /brɪ/, T'eng /brɪ/, K'mu /mprɪ/, Khasi /brɪ/, (=grove), Mundari /bɪr/) [ Chin. 林 lín ‘forest’ (SV lâm) | ©M 林 lín < MC lim < OC *rjəm < PC **rjəɱ | ~ OC *srjəm : 森 (sâm) rậm) | Tibetan languages: Burmese: rum 'dense', Kachin: diŋgram2 'forest', Lushei: ram 'forest' | Cant. /lʌm/ | ¶ l- ~ r-, ex. 龍 lóng (SV long) rồng 'dragon' ] (Comment: Except for the /brɪ/ form, all forms are loosely cognate to the V. 'rừng' which is more affirmatively a plausible cognate with the Chin. /lín/.)
  101. cây 'tree, wood' (Viet. /cây/, /thân/, Old Mon /cʿuʾ/, /tam/, mod. /tnam/, Danaw /tsok4θé1/, Riang White /tɤŋ-kʿɛʔ-/, Black /təŋ-kʿɛʔ-/, Palaung /héi2/, /hɑ'i2/, /hɔ'i2/, /taŋ2/, /tiŋ2/, teŋ2/, Wa /kʿɪʔ/, kʿɑuʔ1/ (firewwood), Old Khmer /jhe/, /tem/, tnem/, Sakai /jěhu/, Semang /tum/, Old Malay /kāyu/, /bataŋ/ Nicobarese /chīa/, Srê /chɪ/, /təm/, T'eng /həʔɛ`ʔ/ (firewood), P'uman /zɪe/, K'mu /che/, Khasi /ba-eh (wooden), /dieng/ (tree), Mundari /sɪŋ/) [ Chin. 樹 shù (SV thụ) VS cây 'tree', 木 mù (SV mộc) VS gỗ 'wood', 材 cái (SV tài) VS gỗ 'wood', 柴 chăi VS cũi 'firewood', 本 běn (SV bổn) VS thân 'trunk' | M 樹 shù < MC tʂʊ < OC *dhoʔ | FQ 臣庾 || M 木 mù < MC muk < OC *mho:k | FQ 莫卜 || ©M 材 cái < MC ʑʊj < OC *ʑhjə: | According to Starostin: MC ʒʌj < OC *ʒhǝ̄j = 才 ] (Comment: Looking at the lexical patterns appear in Luce's list for this item in different languages, we can similarly associate them with those in Chin. which could be good candiates for the cognates with V forms such as 'cây tree', 'cũi' firewood, 'gỗ' wood, 'thân' trunk, which differentiate better each distinctive etymon, phonologically and leaxically.)
  102. rễ 'root' (Viet. /rễ/, no Old Mon, mod. /ruih/, Danaw /tɔŋ2rít4/, Riang White rias\ /, Black /riɛ`\ /, Palaung /riɛh3/, Wa /riah5/, Khmer /rīs/, rưs/, Besisi /purus/, Semang /yaes/ Car Nicobarese /Reh/, Sre^ /riăs/, Bahnar /riəh/, /rə/, T'eng /riaχ/, /riɛχ/, Khasi /trai/, Mundai /redʔ/) [ Chin. 蒂 dì (SV đế) | ©M 蒂(蔕) dì < MC tiaj < OC *tɛjs | ¶ d- ~ r- ] (Comment: Eventhoghu all other languages show apparent cognates etymologically, the V 'rễ' and Chin. /dì/ form also demonstrate similar appearance etymologically.)
  103. lá 'leaf' (Viet. /lá/, Old Mon /sla/, mod. /sla/, Danaw /lɑ1/, Riang White and Black /laʔ-/, Palaung /hlɑ2/, Wa /laʔ3/, Old Khmer /slik/, Sakai /sělâk/, Nicobarese /dai/, /rai/, Biat /nʾha/, Bahnar /hla/, P'u-man /hla/, T'eng /hlaʔ/, Khasi /sla/, Mundari /araʔ/ (edible leaf) [ Chin. 葉 yè (SV diệp) | ©M 葉 yè, dié, shè < MC jep < OC *lhap < OC *lap < PC **lɒp | MC reading 咸開三入葉以 | According to Starostin: Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *la, Proto-Katuic: *la, Proto-Bahnaric: *la, Khmer: sla:, Proto-Pearic: *laʔ.N, Proto-Vietic: *laʔ, s-, Proto-Monic: *la:ʔ, Proto-Palaungic: *laʔ, Proto-Khmu: *laʔ, Khasi: sla-diŋ, Proto-Aslian: *sǝlaʔ, Proto-Viet-Muong: *laʔ, ʔ-, Thomon: la.343ʔ, Tum: la.212 | Tibetan: ldeb lá, tờ, Burmese: ɑhlap cánhhoa., Kachin: lap2 lá, Lushei: le:p búp, Lepcha: lop lá, Rawang ʂɑ lap lá (cuốn bánh) ; Trung ljəp1 lá, Bahing lab. Sh. 138; Ben. 70. | Shuowen: 草木之葉也從草**聲 | FQ 與涉 ] (Comment: In addition the obvious cognatesust among those listed MK lexicons, like 'rễ', 'lá' also shows etymological similarity with the Chin. /yè/.)
  104. bông 'flower, to flower' (Old Mon /pkāw/,/pluh/, mod. /pkaw/, /raŋ/, Danaw /puɑŋ1po4/, /po4/, Riang White /pɤdɑk-/, /pɔ-/, Black /dɑk-/, /pɔ-/, Palaung /dɑk-/, /ɓɔh3/, Wa /tɑi2/, /pruh5tɑi2/, Old Khmer /pkā/, Sakai /běkáu/, Srê, Bahnar /bɔkao/, T'eng /raŋ/ Lemet /raŋ/, Khasi /phuh/ (=blossom)) [ Chin. 葩 pā (SV ba), 花 huā (SV hoa) | ©M 葩 pā < MC bɒ < OC *bra: || ©M 花 huā (SV hoa) ~ 華 huā, huá (Hoa) \ Cant. 花 /fa/ ~ 葩 pā (ba) bông | ©M 花 huā < MC xwa < OC *sŋrōjs | MC reading 假合二平麻曉 | Also: 芭 bā (SV ba) VS bông] (Comment: The variant forms in different language show they are cognate to each other while in the same time the V. form /bông/ also points to the Chin. 葩 pā and 花 huā forms as its cognates.)
  105. trái 'fruit' (Old Mon /sac/, mod. /sat/, Danaw /plé1/, Riang White and Black /plɛ`\ /, Palaung /plɑ'i2/, /pléi2/, Wa pléʔ/, Old Khmer /ple/, Srê /plê, T'eng /pléh/,Lemet /pʿli/, Khasi /soh/) [ Chin. 實 shí (SV thực) | ©M 實 shí < MC ʑit < OC *lit | FQ神質 | According to Starostin: be solid, true; actually, really. Used also for *lit 'fruit'; *lit 'be rich'. The three meanings of 實 are probably one and the same word: 'fruit' < 'to be fruitful = rich'; 'to bring fruits < be effective, true'. Viet. has also a colloquial loanword thiệt 'real, genuine'. ] (Comment: All forms appears to be cognate to each other, including the Chin. 實 shí and Old Mon /sac/, mod. /sat/ which are cognate to SV thực, thật.)
  106. gai 'thorn' (Old Mon /jirla/, mod. /jala/, Danaw /kălaʔ2/, Riang White /sʿɤr\kɤt-/, Black /sʿərkət-/ , Palaung /pă\ʔɛʔ1/, Wa /kat1/, Sakai /jěrlâkn/, Semang /jliʾ/ Bahnar /jělaʔ/, T'eng /cərlaʔ/, Khasi /shah/, Nicobarese /hēt/) [Chin. 刺 cì (SV thích) VS gai, cựa 'bur' | ©M 刺 cì, cī, qì, jì < MC chjɜ, chjek < OC *tseks, *tʂjek | FQ 七賜, 七