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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:
- 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 ],
- 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. ],
- 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 ],
- 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)]
- 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:
- 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) ],
- 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 ],
- 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:
- 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 ],
- bè 筏 fà ‘raft’ (SV phiệt) [ VS also: phà | M 筏 fá < MC bwjət < OC *bhat ],
- bánh 餠 bǐng ‘bread’ (SV bính [ M 餅 bǐng < pjɛŋ < OC *peŋʔ ],
- 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],
- đũa 箸 zhú ‘chopstick’ (SV trợ, chừ, trừ) [ M 箸 zhú < MC ɖʊ < OC *dras | FQ 遲倨 | Hainanese: /du/],
- 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 ],
- 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:
- 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.],
- 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 ]
- 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. ]
- cằm 含 hán (archaic) ~ also hàm ‘chin’ (modern Mandarin: 下巴 xiàbā) [ See
etymology as previously discussed ],
- 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- |
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Chinese |
Zhuang,
Miao, Yao, etc. |
Vietnamese |
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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:
- 墓 mã ‘tomb’ (SV mộ) [ M 墓 mù < MC mo <
OC *mha:ks | FQ 莫故 | According to Starostin: Standard Sino-Viet. is mộ; cf. also other
probable borrowings from the same source: ma 'funeral', mồ 'tomb'. For *mh-
cf. Amoy boŋ6, Chaozhou mo4, Fuzhou muo5, muoŋ5. GSR :0802 f | cf. môđất 土墓 tǔmù ], we have:
(1) SV mộ (nặng or the 6th, 陽去 yángqù ‘low departing tone’),
(2) VS mồ (huyền or the 2nd, 陽平 yángpíng ‘low level tone’), and
(3) VS mã (ngã or the 4th, 陽上 yángshàng ‘low rising tone’),
(4) VS mô (thanhngang or the 1st, 陰平 yīnpíng 'high level tone') (as in 'môđất' 土墓 tǔmù 'earth mound').
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:
- 放 fàng (SV phóng) [ M 放 fàng < MC pwoŋ < OC *paŋs | According to Starostin :
to put away, put aside; neglect; banish. In Viet. cf. also a colloquial word: phỗng 'to take away,
to carry away'. | ¶ f- ~ b- : ex. fáng 房 (phòng) buồng ], we have the Sino-Vietnamese sound as
phóng ‘release’ (sắc or the 5th, 陽去 yīnqù ‘high departing tone’),
VS buông ‘let go’ (thanhngang or the 1st, 陰平 yīnpíng ‘high level tone’),
VS bỏ ‘discard’ (the 3rd tone, 陰上 yīnshàng ‘high rising tone’),
VS bắn ‘shoot’ (sắc or the 5th tone'),
VS phỗng 'take away' (ngã or the 4th tone’)
- 會 huì (SV hội)
[ % @ 會 huì ~ hiểu 曉 xiăo (hiểu), hay 知 zhī (tri) | M 會 huì < MC ɣwʌi < OC *guats ], we have:
SV hội ‘festival’ (the 6th tone),
VS hụi ‘loan’ (the 6th tone, from Fukienese or Amoy),
VS họp ‘meeting’ (nặng or the 8th, 陽入 yángrù 'low entering tone'),
VS hẹn ‘dating, appointment’ (the 6th tone),
VS hiểu ‘understand’ (hỏi or the 3rd tone),
(cognate to or an alternation of the modern Mand. 曉 xiáo ‘know, understand’, SV hiểu),
- 賊 zéi (SV tặc) [ M 賊 zéi < MC ʑæk < OC *ʑɦjə:k < PC: **ɕhjə:k ~ ʑhjə:k | Tibetan languages :
Tibetan: ʑag cướp, Kachin: ʑok2, sok2 to scout, spy out | cf. đánhcắp, ăncắp,
đạochích: 盗賊 dàozéi ], we have:
SV tặc 'enemy' (the 8th tone),
VS giặc 'enemy' (the 8th tone),
VS chích as in đạochích: 盗賊 dàozéi' 'burglar' (sắc or the 7th tone, 陰入 yīngrù 'low rising tone’),
VS cắp as in đánhcắp, ăncắp: 盗賊 dàozéi' 'steal' (same tone as chích)
- 粉 fén (SV phấn) [ M 粉 fěn <
MC pʊn < OC *pjənʔ | MC reading 臻合三上吻非 | Dialects : Minnam, including Hainanese
hun2, Amoy hun2, Chaozhou huŋ21, Fuzhou xuŋ2 | According to Starostin: The later (and usual) meaning
is 'flour'. The word is also used in compounds meaning 'noodles', thus it
seems possible that Viet. bún 'vermicelli' is an independent loan from the
same source. | ¶ f- ~ b- | ~ probably also 'bụi' @ 灰 huì (muội) ], we have:
SV phấn 'powder' (the 6th tone),
VS bột 'flour' (the 8th tone),
VS phở 'noodle soup' (the 3rd tone),
VS bún 'rice vermicelli' (the 6th tone),
- 照 zhào (SV chiếu) [ M 照 zhào ~ 炤 zhào < MC tʂɜw < OC * taws | MC reading
效開三去笑章 | FQ 之少 ], we have:
SV chiếu 'reflect' (the 6th tone),
VS chụp as in 'chụphình' 'take picture' (the 8th tone'),
VS soi 'look at the mirror' (the 1st tone),
VS rọi 'reflect' (the 5th tone),
VStheo 'according to' (the 1st tone)
- 染 răn (SV nhiễm) [ M 染 răn < MC ɲem < OC *namʔ ~ nemʔ |
According to Starostin : 'be soft' . Somewhat
later (since late Zhou) the character was also used for a homonymous *nam
(~-emʔ) 'to dye, smear; (dye <) infect' (with a variant *namʔ-s, MC ɲe\m).
Viet. nhiễm is a standard reading; there also exists a colloquial loan nhuộm
'to dye'.];
SV nhiễm 'extract a disease' (the 4th tone) ,
VS nhuốm 'extract a disease' (the 5th tone),
VS nhuộm 'dye' (the 5th tone),
VS lây 'contagious' (the 1st tone),
VS sang 'spread a virus' (the 1st tone),
VS mắc 'get sick' (the 7th tone),
- 深 shēn (SV thâm) [ M 深 shēn < MC ʂim < OC *ɫhjəm
| MC reading 深開三平侵書 | FQ 式針 | Most of dialects read sjəm11 | ¶ sh- ~ đ-
: ex. 燒 shāo (thiêu) đốt ], we have:
SV thâm 'profound' (the 1st tone),
VS đậm 'dark' (the 6th tone),
VS sâu 'deep' (the 1st tone),
- 扛 káng (SV cang) [ M 扛 káng ~ 抗 kàng (kháng) < MC khɑŋ < OC *kha:ŋs | FQ 苦浪 | MC
reading 宕開一去宕溪 | According to Starostin : to set up, lift up. Also read *gha:ŋ, MC ɠʌŋ (FQ 胡郎),
Go gau, Kan kau id. | cf. chống 抗 kàng (kháng) ], we have:
SV cang 'carry' (the 1st tone),
VS khiêng 'carry on one's shoulder' (the 1st tone)
VS gánh 'carry on one's shoulder' (the 5th tone)
VS gồng 'to shoulder' (the 2nd tone’)
VS cõng 'carry on oe's back' (the 4th tone)
- 蟲 chóng (SV trùng) [M 蟲 chóng < ɖʊŋ < OC *ɫhuŋ | MC reading 通合三平東澄 |
FQ 直弓 | According to Starostin : insect, small bird.
Used also for a homonymous *ɬhuŋ 'be hot (of weather). Standard Sino-Viet.
is trùng.] , we have:
SV trùng 'insect' (the 2nd tone),
VS giun 'earthworm' (the 1st tone)
VS sâu 'insect' (the 1st tone)
VS sán 'worm' (the 5th tone),
VS trùn 'earthworm' (the 2nd tone),
- 種 zhǒng (SV chủng) [ M 種 zhǒng, zhòng < MC tʂouŋ < OC *M 種 zhǒng, zhòng < MC tʂouŋ < OC ouŋʔ | FQ 之隴 | MC
reading: A: 通合三上腫章; B: 通合三去用章 | According to Starostin : seeds; cereals.
Also read *toŋʔ-s, MC couŋ (FQ 之用), Mand. zhòng 'to sow'. The word also means 'kind, sort,
race' ( > 'seed'), which is reflected in a colloquial Viet. loanword (from another
dialectal source) giống 'kind, sort; race, breed, strain'.], we have:
SV chủng 'type' (the 3rd tone),
VS trồng 'plant' (read zhòng in M)(the 2nd tone),
VS giống 'seed' (the 5th tone),
- 臭 chòu (SV xú, khứu) [ M 臭 chòu, xìu < MC ʨjəw < OC *khiws | MC reading 流開三去宥昌 |
According to Starostin : In MC there also exists a reading xjəw (Mand. xiu) (Jiyun); it is interesting
to note that standard Sino-Viet. renders it as khưu. These are most probably
dialectal variants of the original *khiw-s which gave the standard MC reflex
chjəw (note that Viet. thiu 'stale' is a colloquial reflex of the latter;
the standard Sino-Viet. form is xú.]
SV xú 'bad smell' (the 5th tone) ,
VS thiu 'spoiled' (the 1st tone),
VS hôi 'smelly' (the 1st tone),
VS thối (thúi) 'foul' (the 5th tone)
,
VS ngửi (hửi) 'to smell' (the 3rd tone) [ @ M 嗅 xìu < MC xǝ̀w < OC *xus |
FQ 許救 | According to Starostin: to smell (L. Zhou)],
- 按 àn (SV án) [ M 按 àn < MC ʔɒn < OC *ʔa:ns ], we have:
SV án 'press' (the 5th tone),
VS ịn 'press' (the 6th tone),
VS ấn 'press' (the 5th tone),
VS nhấn 'press' (the 5th tone),
VS nhận 'stuff' (the 6th tone),
VS nhồi 'to stuff' (the 2nd tone),
VS bấm 'press' (the 5th tone),
- 利 lì (SV lợi) [ M 利 lì < MC lɪ < OC *rhijs | Dialects: Amoy li32 (lit.); lai32, Hai. lai32, Cant.: lei32 ],
we have:
SV lợi 'benefit, advantage' (the 6th tone),
VS lãi 'profit, interest' (the 4th tone),
VS lời 'profit, interest' (the 2nd tone)
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:
- Bốcái Ðạivương
- Chồng chúa vợ tôi
- Con dại cái mang
- Cõng rắn cắn gà nhà
- Giặc đến nhà đànbà phải đánh
- Bầu ơi thươnglấy bí cùng...
- Ăn coi nồi, ngồi coi hướng...
- Bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội
- Rán đàngđông vừa trông vừa chạy...
- 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.
Back to top
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
-
酸梅 suānméi ‘salted plum’ (VS xímuội ~ mechua SV toanmai)
[ M 梅 méi < MC moj < OC *mjə: | FQ 莫杯 | Accoding to Starostin : Japanese apricot
(Prunus mume), plum. Viet. me has a narrowed meaning 'tamarind' (cf. Chin.
酸梅 'tamarind', lit. 'sour plum'). An older loanword is probably Viet. mơ
'apricot'. The regular Sino-Viet. reading is mai. For *m- cf. Min forms:
Xiamen m2, Chaozhou bue2, Fuzhou muoi2, Jianou mo2. ]
- 每 měi ‘each’ VS mỗi (SV mỗi) [ M 每 méi < MC mɔj < OC *mjə:ʔ |
MC reading 蟹合一上賄明 | Dialects Cant. : mui22, Amoy : muĩ2. Chaozhou: mue21, Fuzhou : muei2 ],
- 妹 mēi ‘younger sister’ (VS em SV muội)
[ M 妹 mēi < MC moj < OC *mhjə:ts < PC *mjət | MC reading 蟹合一去隊明 | According to Starostin:
Burmese: mat husband's younger brother, younger sister's husband. Comments:
Kham mama mother's younger brother. For *mh- cf. Xiamen be6, Chaozhou mue6,
Fuzhou muoi5, Jianou mue ]
- 魅 méi ‘obscure’ (VS mờ ) (SV muội) [ M 魅 mèi < MC mɔj < OC *mjə:ts ],
- 味 wèi ‘smell’ (VS mùi SV vị) [ M 味 wèi < MC mʊj < OC
*mjəts | FQ 無沸 | According to Starostin : Standard Sino-Viet. is vị. Since the Chinese
word also means (in later times) 'interest', Viet. muồi 'interesting' may
be traced back to the same source. For *m- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou bi6, Fuzhou
muoi6, Jianou mi6. | cf. 'mìchính 味精 wèijīing (SV vịtinh) 'MSG'],
and corespondence { b ~ m } in Chinese between Mandarin and Vietnamese can be found, such as
- 疲 pì ‘tired’ (VS mệt, SV bì) [ M 疲 pì < MC be < OC *bhaj
MC reading 止開三平支並 | ¶ b- ~ m- ]
- 肥 féi ‘fat’ (VS mập, mỡ, phệ, phị SV phì)
[ M 肥 féi< MC bwyj < OC *bjəj | According to Starostin: ST: be fat, rich. Viet.
phệ is a colloquial reading (cf. also reduplicated: phềphệ); standard Sino-Viet.
is phì (reduplicated: phìphị).],
- 秘 bì ‘secret’ SV bí /bei5/ [ M 秘 bì < pi < OC *prits],
- 忙 máng ‘busy’ VS bận (SV mang) [ M 忙 máng < MC mjəŋ < OC *ma:ŋ |
MC reading 宕開一平唐明 | Dialects : Amoyu: boŋ12 (lit.), baŋ12; Chaozhou: maŋ12; Fuzhou: mouŋ12;
Shanghai: mã32 ], and
- 悶 mèn ‘sad’ (VS buồn, SV muộn)
[ M 悶 mèn < MC mɔn < OC *mjə:ns | dialects: Amoy: bun32,Chaozhou: buŋ32 | According to
Starostin: melancholy, sorrow. Absent from Schuessler's dictionary, although attested
already in Yijing. The character is also used (since L.Zhou) for *mjə:n, MC
mon, Mand. mén 'to be stuffy, stifling, close, airless' (both readings may
be actually related).]
2) The appearance of 蒂 dì rễ ~ (SV) đế corresponds to the patterns of
- 婿 xù ‘son-in-law’ VS rễ ~ SV tế
[ M 婿 xù < MC siej < OC *sas, Also: *sēs. Zhou zyxlj p.256 (Karlgren): OC *srir, TB *krwy |
cf MC *sa 胥. MC siej could be from OC *sēs. MC reading 解開四去 ],
- 鬚 xū ‘beard’ VS râu < ~ SV tu /tʊ/
[ M 鬚 xū ~ 須 xū < MC ʂjʊ < OC *so | FQ 相俞 | According to Starostin : beard, whiskers;
place name. Also used for homonymous *so 'to wait'; *so 'necessary'. Viet. tua is
a rather archaic loan (going back to the Han-time form *sjwa) with a specialized
meaning: 'fringe, tassel; feelers (of certain animals)'. Standard Sino-Viet. is
tu. Schuessler reconstructs *s-n- in this xie-sheng series, probably because of
the identity 須 = 需 'wait' | ¶ x-, s- ~ r- : ex. 蛇 shě (xà) rắn, 縮 suō (thúc) rút ],
- 縮 suò ‘shrink’ VS rút ~ SV thu /thʊ/ (~ co, thụt)
[ M 縮 suò < MC ʂʊk < OC *sruk ],
- 菜 cài ‘vegetable’ VS rau ~ SVthể (~ cải)
[ M 菜 cài < MC chɤj < OC *shjə:ʔs | FQ 倉代 ],
- 愁 chóu ‘sad’ VS rầu ~; SV sầu (cf. 秋 qīu VSthu)
[ M 愁 chóu < MC ʐjəw < OC *dhu | MC reading 流開三平尤崇 |
Dialects: Suzhou zoy12 ; Wenzhou zau12; Changsha cou12; Nanchang chɜu12 ; Cant. sʌu12 ],
- (及)速 (jí)sù ‘hasty’ Sinitic-Vietnamese (gấp)rút ~ SV (cấp)tốc
[ M 速 sù < MC suk < OC *so:k | FQ 桑谷 | According to Starostin: urge, invite. Also
means 'rapid, quick' - a meaning obviously related to 'urge' and probably
original ('urge' < 'hasten'), but attested only since Late Zhou. ].
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-list totaled 245 entries, 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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' ]
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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. ?)
- 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'.]
- 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.)
- 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')?)
- 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-.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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. )
- 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.)
- 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.?)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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'.)
- 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')
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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/ .)
- 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.)
- 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. )
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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'.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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 ] )
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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-.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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!)
- 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-/.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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')
- 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'.)
- 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.)
- 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. ]
- 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. )
- 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'.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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'.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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!)
- 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/.)
- 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'.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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/.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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, 七跡 | According to Starostin : to prick, pierce, stab. Also read *c/hek, MC chjek (FQ 七跡),
Mand. qi: id. Viet. chích ( < MC chjek) is colloquial; the regular Sino-Viet.
forms are thích (< chjek) and thứ' (< chje\) ]
- cựa 'burr' (No Mon, Danaw /tăbyɪt3/, Riang White /sʿɤvwɔit\ /, Black /sʿəvwɔic\ /, Palaung /kābiʔ1/, Wa /pi:t1/) [ Chin. (毛)刺 máoshì (SV (mao)thích) ~ VS 'cựa' 'bur, burr'. See 'gai' above. ] (Comment: I am not sure 'vằn' is the likely word under examination.)
- cám 'thusk of rice' (Viet. /cám/, Old Khmer /aŋkām/, Malay /sěkam/, Biat /nʾkʿop/, T'eng /kam/, Lemet /nkām/, Khasi /skap/) [ Chin. 糠 kāng (SV khang), 糝糠 sănkāng (SV tầmkhang) VS tấmcám 'broken rice husk and bran residue left from ground rice grains'; hence (figuratively) 'impoverished' | ©M 糝 săn < MC sɣm < OC *sjə:mʔ || ©M 糠 kāng < MC kʌŋ
< OC *ka:ŋ ] (Comment: Besides other forms, it is no undeniable that the Chin. /kāng/ is cognate to the V /cám/, too. It is likely that this is a loanword in Chin. However, in V, there is a compound 'tấmcám' (rice husk residue) which is completely cognate to the Chin .)
- nấm 'mushroom, fungus' (Old Mon ptis/, mod. /ptuɪh/, Danaw /tət3,1/, Riang White /tis-/, Black /kətis-/, /tis-/, Palaung /ɗi:h2/, /ɗi:χ3/, Wa /ti:h5/, Old Khmer /phsit/, Sakai /betis/, Besisi /pětīh/, Semang /tēhs/, Srê /bēsīt/, Biat /chêt/, T'eng /tɪh/, Khasi /tɪt/) [ Chin. 菌 jūn (SV khuẩn) | M 菌 jùn, jūn, juàn, qùn < MC gwɨn < OC *ghrun, *khwiɲ | According to Starostin : mushroom
(L.Zhou). Viet. khuẩn reflects an unattested variant MC *khwi/n (reflected also
in Fuzhou khuŋc,3s|). | ¶ j-, q- (*kh-) ~ n- ] (Comment: The V. 'nấm' and Chin. 稛 kǔn could be cognates given their phonology and meanings.)
- tranh 'thatch grass' (No Old Mon, mod. /suit/, /tnam cwo/, Danaw /plɑŋ4/, Riang White and Black /plɑŋ-/, Palaung /plɑŋ2/, Wa /plɔŋ2/, Sakai /plôkn/ (thatch leaves), Besisi /ploŋ/, Khasi /phlang/ (grass) [ Chin. 茅 máo (SV mao) VS rơm | M 茅 máo < MC maw < OC *mrʊ | FQ 莫交 | PNH: Hm m2, Trc, Pk mau2. | ¶ m- ~ r- ] (Comment: All other forms point to V /tranh/ while the V 'rơm' and Chin. 茅 máo seem to be cognates.)
- thuốc 'drug, medicine' (Old Mon /kin-ūy/, mod. /ga-uai/, Danaw /lɔŋ2ŋɑ4/, /tɔŋ2ŋɑ4/, Riang White /sʿɤnɤm\ /, Black /sʿənəm\, sănam2/, Wa /ʃi4tah5/, /Khmer /tʿnām/, Srê /sənɔm/) [ Chin. 藥 yào (SV dược) | 藥 yào, yuè, shuò < MC jak < OC *lak | FQ 以灼 | According to Starostin : to give
medicine, cure. Also used in the diesheng 勺藥 *dakw|-lakw| 'peony'. | ¶ y- ~ th-
| cf. 龠 yuè (SV dược ~ thược), 鑠 shuò (SV thước) ] (Comment: V. 'thuốc' is cognate only to the Chin. form 藥 yào.)
- rau 'curry, vegetables' (No Old Mon, mod. /swa/, /kʿanew/, Danaw /tu1/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/, Palaung /ɗéu2/, Wa /sɑɯʔ1/, Khasi /jhur/) [ Chin. 菜 cài (SV tháI) | ©M 菜 cài < MC chɤj < OC *shjə:ʔs | FQ 倉代 ] (Comment: Only the Chin. form /cái/ seems to be cognate to the V 'rau' while Luce's 'curry' is irrelevant..)
- trúc 'bamboo' (Viet. /trúc/, Old Mon /dūñ/, mod. /dun/, Danaw /kărɔʔ2/, Riang White /rɤŋ-/, Black /rəŋ-/, Palaung /hraŋ2/, Wa /oʔ1/, Besisi /dɪkŋ/, Nicobarese /hedw/, Srê, Bahnar /diŋ/ (bamboo pipe), K'mu /rahaŋ/) [ Chin. 竹 zhú (SV trúc) VS tre 'bamboos'| ©M 竹 zhú < MC ʈʊk < OC *truk ] (Comment: The two forms in both Chin. /zhú/ and V /trúc/ forms are cognates for sure, including V /tre/ yet it is interesting to see how diverse are the sound changes occur in other languages for this item.)
- măng 'edible bamboo shoots' (Viet. /măng/, Old Mon /tbaŋ/, mod. /tɓaŋ/, Danaw /tu1bôŋ4/, Riang White /kɤtjoʔ\ /, Black /kətsoʔ\ /, Palaung /bɑŋ2/, Wa /sɑɯ1/, Khmer /dambaŋ/, Sakai /rêbôk/, Besisi /lemboŋ/, Samang /abboŋ/, Malay /rêboŋ/, Bahnar /təbaŋ/, Srê /ɓan/) [ Chin. 萌 méng (SV manh), 秧 yāng (SV ương), Also: VS mầm 'young shoot' | ©M 萌 (氓) méng < MC maijŋ < OC *mhreŋ | Starostin: bud, young shoot, to
sprout (Late Zhou). Reconstruction *m(h)rǝ̄ŋ is also possible (hsiehsheng would
suggest *m(h)rāŋ, but in this case the MC form would be irregular). Regular
Sino-Viet. is manh; another loan from the same source is possibly Viet. mống
'bud, germ'. || M 秧 yāng < MC ʔaŋ < OC *ʔaŋ | Starostin : young shoots, seedlings (Tang) |
Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *bʔaŋ, Proto-Katuic: *bʔaŋ, Proto-Bahnaric: *bʔaŋ, Khmer:
lǝmbɔŋ, Proto-Vietic: *ʔp-Proto-Viet-Muong: *ʔbaŋ, t-, #, Muong dialect: păŋ.1,
Arem: ʔabaŋ ,Proto-Ruc: *baŋ.1, t-, Ruc (Russian field rec.): taʔbaŋ.1, Ruc
tabaŋ.1, Thavung-So: baŋ.1 ] (Comment: Except for a few languages, all others appear to be cognate, including the Chinese forms. However, the modern Chin. for 'bamboo shoots' is 竹筍 zhúsǔn and 萌 méng commonly appear in the compound 萌芽 méngyá with SV manhnha 'young bud, early signs' while 芽 yá, to be considered as a basic word, is cognat to V ''giá' meaning 'young sprouts'.)
- rẫy 'hill cultivation' (No Old Mon, mod. /gū/, Danaw /ré1/, /hré1/,Riang White and Black /mɑ\ /, Palaung /mɑr2/, Wa /mɑ2/, T'eng /hré/, Biat, Srê /mir/, Khasi /kper/ (field)) [ Chin. 壠 lǒng (SV lũng) | ©M 壠 (壟 ) lǒng, lōng < MC lowŋ < OC *rhoŋʔ | Chin. also has a compound 梯田 tītián (SV thêđiền) that points to another V word as 'ruộngbậcthang' @&# ‘梯級田 tījítián’ ~ Viet. @# M 梯田 tītián \ Vh @ 田 tián ~ đồng, ruộng | { M 梯 tī < MC thiej < OC *ɫhjə:j | FQ 土雞 | MC reading 蟹開四平齊透 || M 田
(佃) tián < MC dien < OC *lhi:n | FQ 徒年} meaning 'ladder terraced field' and none of these forms do not look like original indegenous words. ] (Comment: While 'rẫy' appears to be cognate to all other MK lexemes, )
- lúa 'paddy' (Old Mon and modern /sroʾ/, Danaw /bɑ1/, Siang White /ŋUʔ-/, Black /ŋoʔ-/, Palaung /hŋɑ'2/, Wa /ŋoʔ3/, Khasi /kba/, Mundari /baba/, Old Burmese /capā/, Old Kmer /srū/) [ Chin. 來 lái (SV lai) 來 lái (unhusked rice) (SV lai) [ M 來 lái < MC ljəj < OC *rjə: | MC reading 蟹開一平咍來 | See enumeration in the section above. ] (Comment: While Starostin cites this etymon as 稻 dào, the V form does not look like cognate to other language but the Chin. 來 lái while 稻 dào is supposedly a loanword.)
- gạo 'husked rice' (Viet. /gạo/, Old Mon /sŋoʾ/, mod. /sŋu/, Danaw /ku/, Riang White and Black /koʔ-/, Palaung /răkɑ'u2/, Wa /ŋ-gɑ'u3ʔ/Old Khmer /raŋko/, Nicobarese /atôe/, T'eng /hŋɔʔ, Khasi /khaw/, Shan /khaw/) [ Chin. 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 | According to Starostin: Viet. 'lúa' unhusked rice. See enumeration of 'lúa' and 'gạo' in the above section. ] (Comment: All looks like cognates, but for the Chin. form it is strongly believed that it is a loanword from the other languages and it should be 'unhusked rice' in both Chin. and V.)
- thóc 'millet' (No Mon, Danaw /kʿwé4/, Riang White /(kɑi-)kʿuɑi-/, Black /(kai-)kʿuai-/, no Palaung and Wa forms, Khasi /krai/) [ Chin. 粟 sù (SV túc) | ©M 粟 sù < MC sjouk < OC *shok ] (Comment: While the V and Chin. forms are cognates, some forms in other languages look like 'khoai' in V, meaning 'yam, tarot' or V 'cốc' cereal.)
- Job's tears (Coix) (No Mon forms, Danaw /(plé1)bé2/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/, ) [ 'Coix lacryma-jobi' ]
- vía 'spirit (intox)' (No Mon forms, Danaw /kădo4/, Riang White /kɤdɑu-/, Black /kədɑu-/, Wa /plɑi2/) [ Chin. 魄 pó (SV phách) VS 'vía' | ©M 魄 pò, tuò, bó (phách, thác, bạc)
< MC phajk, thak < OC *paɨjk, *thak | ¶ p- ~ v- ] (Comment: No similar forms in V. seem to point to the limited list given by Luce for this item while the Chin. forms are numerous and vary depending on what we are referring to, but in V we have an interesting 'vía' which is cognate to the Chin. 魄 pó.)
- độc 'poisonn' (No Old Mon, mod. /kyɪ/, Danaw /tɑŋ2tsɤʔ4/, Riang White /kɤtjɔʔ\ /, Black /kətsɔʔ/, no Palaung and Wa forms) [ Chin. 毒 dú (SV độc) | ©M 毒 dú < MC tɦəwk < OC *dəwk ] (Comment: The Riang forms look like the V and Chin. cognates with something similar to V 'chấtđộc' which is equivalent to to Chin. 毒質 dúzhí ~ SV 'độcchất' in familiarly reversed compound form.)
- củ 'taro, tubers' (Old Mon /krow/ (ʔ), mod. /krau/, Danaw /kărō1/, Riang White /sʿɤroʔ-/, Black /sʿəroʔ-/, Wa /krɑuʔ1/, Khasi /shriew/, Mundari /aru/, /saru/) [ Chin. 塊莖 kuàijīng (SV khốicanh) ~ VS khoaisắn ~ củ, khoai, sắn. Also: Chin. 薯 shǔ (SV thự) | ©M 薯 shǔ < MC ʂjə < OC *dʑɨjə ] (Comment: All the V forms khoaisắn ~ củ, khoai, sắn... seem to be cognates to all languages involved.)
- đậu 'bean' (Old Mon /bāy/ (?), mod. /ɓɑi/, Danaw /bɑi4/, Riang White /rɤbɑi-/, Black /rəbɑi-/, /bɑi-/, Palaung /rābɑ'i2/, Wa /pɛ`2/, Khmer /pāy/, etc.) [ Chin 荳 dòu (SV đậu), 豆 dòu (VS, also 'nồi' cooking pot. See detail below. ) | ©M 豆 dòu < MC dow < OC *dho:s | FQ 田候 | MC reading 流開一去候定 ] (Comment: While all the MK forms appear something similar to /bai/, /pai/... which can not be cognate to both the Chin. /dòu/ and V /đậu/.)
- trầu 'betel, -leaf' (Viet. /trầu/, Mid Mon /sablu/, mod. /jablu/, Danaw /(lɑ1)ku:n2/, Riang White and Black /plu\ /, Palaung /plu2/, Wa /pu2/, Old Khmer /amlo/, Sakai /bluk/, Biat /mʾlu/, Bahnar /bəlâu/, T'eng /blu/, Khasi /tympew/, Old Burmese /sammlhū/ (betel), kwam /areca/) [ Chin. 柄榔 bīngláng (SV bínhlang) ] (Comment: While the Chin. 柄榔 bīngláng is cognate to all MK forms, but there is no doubt that this is a loanword in Chin.)
- mè 'sesamum' (No Old Mon, mod. /daŋnau/, /laŋau/, Danaw /lɔŋ2ŋɑʔ4/, Riang White /lɤŋɑʔ\ /, /lək\ŋɑʔ\ /, Palaung /răŋɑ2/, Wa /ŋyéʔ3/, /ŋɛ`2/, /ŋɑʔ3/, Old Knhmer /lŋo/, Malay /ləŋa/, Biat /rʾŋa/ Shan /ŋā) [ Chin. 麻 má (SV ma) | ©M 麻 má < MC ma < OC *mhra:j | FQ 莫霞 | Starostin : hemp (Cannabis sativa).
Standard Sino-Viet. is ma. For *mh- cf. Shaowu mai7.]
- mía 'sugarcane, molasses' (Viet. /mía/, Old Mon /tbow/, /tanglāy/, mod. /taŋglāai/, Danaw /tɔŋ1nɑi2/, Riang White /tɑm-lɑi\ /, Black /tam-lɑi\ /, Palaung /nɑm3mɑ'ì/, /-mɔi2/, Wa /me2/, /ñɔm4ɔ'i2/, Malay /těbu/, Nicobarese /poh/ T'eng /kəlmé/, Khasi /paɪ/) [ Chin. 蔗 zhè (SV giá) | 蔗 zhè < MC tʂɒ < OC *tiaks | Pulleyblank: LM tʂia < EM tɕia | FQ 之夜 ] (Comment: Sugarcane used to be native in South China and the V /mía/ looks like agreeing with some othe MK forms in Luce's list. In the meanwhile, the sound change patterns in the Chin. form also suggest some correspondences since this may be a loanword in Chin. )
- tranh 'palmyra, toddy palm' (Old Mon /tāl/ (< Sanskrit), mod. /tā/, Danaw /(tsok4)tʿan2/, Riang White /(tɤŋ-)tʿan-/, Black /tʿɑn-/, Palaung /tʿɑn3/, Sanskrit /tāla/, Old Burmese /tʿan/, Shan /tʿan/) [ Chin. 扇葉 shănyè (SV phiếndiệp) VS látranh ~ tranh (Borassus flabellifer) | 扇 shān, shàn (thiên, phiến, thiến) | ©M 扇 shān, shàn < MC ʂen < OC *xen |
FQ 式連 ] (Comment: Palmyra used to be native in India, so 扇葉 shănyè could simply be a translation of the word.)
- me 'tamarind' (Old Mon /maŋglañ/, /maŋgleñ/, mod. /maŋ glan/, Danaw /maŋ4kléŋ2/, Riang White /maŋ\klɛ`ŋ\ /, Black /maŋ\klɛ`əŋ\ /, Palaung /mákaŋ2/, Wa /(pléʔ1)pʿak1/, Old Burmese /maŋklañ/, Shan /makkiŋ/) [ Chin. 酸梅 suānméi (SV toanmuộI) VS mechua ~ me (Tamarindus indica) | ©M 梅 méi < MC moj < OC *mjə: | FQ 莫杯 ] Commment: Tamarind trees can only found in tropical regions in the southern hemisphere, but somehow the V form seems to be derived from that word.)
- gừng 'ginger' (No Old Mon, mod. /tagaw/, /lagaw/, Danaw /kătsaŋ4/, Riang White /kɤsʿiaŋ-/, Black /kəsʿɛ`ŋ, Palaung /ʃiaŋ2/, /cʿo:ŋ2/, Wa /ʃi4kiŋ2/, Khasi /sying/) [ Chin. 薑 jiāng (SV cương) ] (Comment: The V. and Chin. forms are cognate to other forms except for the modern Mon forms even though they are cited by Luce as the Danaw form sub-strata.)
- chè 'tea' (No Old Mon, mod. lak(pʿak), Danaw /mi:n2/, Riang White /myɛ`m\ /, Blak /mɛ`m\ /, Palaung /myɛ`m2/, Wa /lɑ2/, Burmese /lak/, /-phak/) [ Chin. 茶 chá (SV trà) | ©M 茶 chá < MC ɖa < OC *ɫa: | Starostin : tea (Han). See notes to 荼. Viet. chè
is colloquial; the regular Sino-Viet. form is trà | FQ 宅加 ] (Comment: The V and Chin. forms are cognate and sound similarly while others diverge greatly.)
- nghệ 'turmeric' (Curcama) (No Old Mon, mod. /mit/, Danaw /kʿămət2/, Riang White /rɤmit\ /, Black /rəmit\ /, Srê /rəmit/, Mnong Gar /rmut/) [ Chin. 艾 ài, yì (SV nghệ, ngải) | ©M 艾 ài, yì < MC ŋaj < OC *ŋaj, *ŋɨaj ]
- kiệu 'leeks' (No Mon forms, Danaw /kʿnuʔ1/, Riang White /..kʿyu-/, Black /cʿu-/, Palaung /(ɗéu2)kau4/) [ Chin.韭 (韮) jǐu (SV cựu) | ©M 韭 (韮) jǐu < MC kǝw < OC *kruʔ | ¶ j- ~ h- ] (Comment: All forms listed here point to Chin. /jǐu/. The question is from which language these etyma have originated?)
- cà 'aubergine, brinjal' (No Old Mon, mod. /kʿaɗoŋ/, Danaw /(plé1)lôn2/, Riang White /tɤr\luŋ\ /, Black /tər\luŋ\ /) [ Chin. 茄 qié (SV già) | ©M 茄 qié < MC ga < OC *ghiaj | QÐ: khe12, Hm: khe11 $; kio12; khe12, Trc:
kie12, Pk: kia11, Th: ka32 | từ vaymượn trong tiếngHán | 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. | ex. 茄子 qiézi (SV giàtử) ~ VS càtím 'eggplant' (Solanum melongena) ~ VS 'cà' (a bushy perennial plant belonging to the potato family) ] (Comment: All other forms are absent from Luce's list even though aubergine, brinjal, or eggplant are known native in southern regions while 茄 qié is a generic term which is cognate to V /cà/.)
- gòn 'cotton (plant)' (No Old Mon /tow/, Danaw /pʿɑi4/, Riang White and Black /pʿɑi-/, Wa /tɑ2/,Old Khmer /pa-ɪk/ (cotton cloth), Khasi /khynphad/) [ Chin. 草棉 căomián (SV thảomiên) ~ > 'gòn' (?) \ @ 棉 mián ~ VS 'bông' via ¶ m- ~ b- | ~ 棉 mián 'cotton, blanket, soft' (SV miên) VS 'mền' (blanket), 'mềm' (soft), 'mịn' | M 棉 mián ~ 綿 mián < MC mjen < OC *men | FQ 武延 | cf. 棉花 miánhuā (~ VS bôngvải 'cotton'), 棉木 miánmù, 棉布 miánbù (~ VS vảibông 'cotton cloth'), 木棉 mùmián (~ VS câygòn 'cotton plant') ] (Comment: With the meaning 'cotton' the V words vary depending on what object is specifically referred to. For example, for 'cotton' the V word is 'bôngvải', 'cotton plant' 'câybônggòn', but for 'cotton cloth' the right compound should be 'áovải' or 'áobông' while 'cotton pad' is 'bônggòn'.)
- bôngsợi 'cotton yarn, thread' (Old Mon /tol/ (< Samskrit), mod. /tow/, Danaw /lu1/, Riang White and Black /luʔ-/, Palaung /sɑŋ2/, /sen2/, Khasi /ksai/, Sanskrit /tūla/) [ Chin. 棉線 miánqiàn (SV miêntuyến) ~ VS 'sợibông' | 棉 mián ~ VS 'bông' | 線 qiàn VS 'sợi' (thread) | M 線 xiàn < MC sjɜn < OC *sars ] (Comment: While there is no corelation in other languages and the V form 'bông' once reduced from Chin. 棉 mián, then the compound 棉線 miánqiàn can give rise to V as 'bôngsợi' and 'sợibông' in reverse order.)
- quảvả 'fig tree' (Ficus) (Old Mon /jrey/, mod. /jrai/, Danaw /kăriʔ1/, Riang White /tjɤriʔ\ /, Black /tjəriʔ\ /, Palaung /tăruŋ2/ (F religiosa), Old Khmer /jray/, /jrai/, Sakai /wi/, Semang /sawet/, Malay /jawi-jawi/, Car Nicobarese /chăRi/ (banyan), Biat /rʿwi/, Bahar /jəri/, T'eng /jri/, Khasi /jri/ (=rubbei), Mundari /ãri/, /bari/) [ Chin. 無花果 wúhuāguǒ (Ficus carica) ~ VS 'quảvả' \ @ 無 wú ~ 'vả' ] (Comment: The only way to relate this compound 無花果 wúhuāguǒ is that 無花 wúhuā gives rise 'vả' with a dropped of the syllable /huā/ .)
- dâyleo 'creeper' (Old Mon /juk/, mod. /juk/, Danaw /tseŋ2/, Riang White /tji:ŋ\ /, Black /tsi:ŋ\ /, Palaung /kăsaŋ2/, Wa /mɑ3/ (rope)) [ Chin. 攀緣 fànyuán (SV phanduyên) | 緣 yuán, yùng (duyên, duyến) < MC jwen < OC *ɫonr | Starostin : hem (of
robe) (L.Zhou) Cf. also a colloquial loan in Viet.: viền 'to hem, to border'.
Also used for homonymous *L^on (-r) 'to go along, follow; reason, destination'
and *L^on (-r) 'to climb a tree'. ] (Comment: The writer is unsure if 緣 yuán is the wight word. )
- gốc 'stump of tree' (Mid. Mon /daguiw/, mod. /dʿaguiw/, Danaw /tɔŋ2ŋɔt4/, Riang White /tjɤl\ŋɤl\ /, Black /tsəl\ŋəl\ /, Palaung /ŋói2/, Wa /klUh5/, Old Burmese /ŋut/, Malay /tuŋgul/, Biat /yôkŋǒl/, Srê /təŋgu/, Bahnar /ŋâl/) [ Chin 根 gēn < MC kæn < OC *kjə:n ] (Comment: Viet. ?)
- trời 'sky' (No Mon forms, Danaw /tăʔɑ:ŋ4/, Riang White and Blak /pléŋ-/, Palung /pléŋ2/, Wa /pak4pyaŋ2/ (above), Old Khmer /phliəŋ/ (=rain), Bahnar /pleñ/, Lemet /mpliñ/, T'eng /ləʿwaŋ/, K'mu /hravaŋ/, Kasi /bneng/) [ Chin. 天 tiān (SV thiên) | M 天 tiān < MC thien < OC *thi:n | FQ 他前 | See etymology in the following sections. ] (Comment: While the MK /pl-/ initial suggests something /tr-/ the Chin. and V forms appear closer than any of other forms in the MK languages. )
- đất 'earth' (Viet. /đất/, Old Mon /ti/, mod. /kăté1/, Riang White /kɤtéʔ-/, Black /kətéʔ-/, Palaung /kăɗɑ'i2/, /kă ɗɔ'i2/, Wa /dɛ`3/, Old Khmer /ti/, Sakai /téh/, Semang /tok/, Nicobarese /mattrai/ (land), Biat /nēh/, Srê /tiăh/, Bahnar /tɛ`h/, P'u-man /tʿui/, T'eng /pětéh/, /pětéʔ/, K'mu /até/, Khasi /pyrthei/ (world), Mundari /otē/, Kurku /watē/) [ Chin. 土 tǔ (SV thổ) VS đất 'soil', 地 dì (SV địa) 'land' | 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ) | ©M 土 tǔ < MC dwo < OC *daʔ (Li Fang-Kuei : OC
*dagx ) | FQ 他魯 | MC reading 遇合一上姥透 || ] (Comment: It is interesting that almost all the listed forms are cognate to each other, including the Chin. forms.)
- trời, ngày 'sun, day' (Viet. /ngày/, Old Mon /tŋey/, mod. /tŋai/, Danaw /tsʿɪ1/, Riang White /sʿɤŋyiʔ\ /, /sʿəniʔ-/, Palaung /săŋɑ'i2/, /săŋéi2/, Wa /ʃɪ4ŋɑiʔ3/, Old Khmer /tŋaɪ/, Sakai /těŋŋɪ/, Malay /hari/, Nicobarese /heŋ/, Shom Peng /hok-ŋīa/, Srê /ŋái/, /təŋăi/, P'man /nyi/, T'eng /səŋi/, K'mu /simyi/, Khasi /sngi/, War /juŋai/, Mudari /siŋgi/, /siŋ/, Gadaba /sĩi/) [ Chin. 日 rì (SV nhật) VS ngày (day), giời, trời (sun) | 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/. ] (Comment: All MK forms are cognate to V variants, but the intrigue thing is the Chin form does not appear much different from others.)
- trăng 'moon' (Old Mon /kintu/, /garu/, /kăto1/, Riang White and Black /kiɛ`-/, Palaung /păkiɔr2/, Wa /kʿiʔ1/, Old Khmer /khe/, Nicobarese /kâhē/, Bahnar /kʿey/, Lemet /kʿé/, Mundari /ku:r/ (month), Gadaba /arkē/) [ Chin. 月 yuè (SV nguyệt) VS trăng, giăng ~ tháng (month) | M 月 yuè < MC jwjat < AC *jwot | MC reading 山合三入月疑 | See etymon in the following section. ] (Comment: While the V 'ngày, giời' appear to be cognate to other forms in the MK languages, the V 'giăng, trăng, tháng' completely diverge from the same languages. At the same time, the Chin. 月 yuè, that fits to the sam pattern as that of 日 rì for V 'ngày' and 'giời', seems to fill in the gap.)
- sao 'star' (No Old Mon, mod. /snaŋ/, Danaw /kălɑn2/, Riang White /sʿɤkmɤiñ\ /, /sʿəkməiñ\ /, Palaung /ʃi4múiñ2/, Bahnar /səŋlɔŋ/, Srê /səmañ/, T'eng /səlmiñ/, Lemet /sremeñ/, Khasi /khlur, War /shlashmen/) [ Chin. 星 xīng (SV tinh) | ©M 星 xīng < MC sieŋ < OC *she:ŋ < se:ŋ | MC reading 梗開四平青心 | FQ 桑經 | Zyyy: sijəŋ1 | Dialects : Hai.: se11
(cf. shēng 生: đẻ Hainanese: /de/), Hankou: ʂin11, Sichuan: ʂin11, Yangzhou: ʂĩ11,
Chaozhou: sin11, Changsha: sin11, Shuangfeng: $ ʂin11, ʂiõ11, Nanchang: $ ʂin11, ʂiaŋ11|
Starostin: The character was also used in Early Zhou for another word, *ʑeŋ
'to become clear (of sky)' (MC tsjeŋ, Mand. qíng, Viet. tình; despite Schuessler,
this word is quite distinct etymologically from *she:ŋ 'star'). Since Han
this word was denoted by a different character, 晴. For the latter, standard
Sino-Viet. is tinh, but there also exists a colloquial loan from the same
source, Viet. tạnh. For OC *sh- cf. Min forms: Xiamen chĩ1, Chaozhou chẽ1.
| GSR 0812 x-y ] (Comment: The appearance of both the V /sao/ and Chin./xīng/ is still closest in comparsison with other forms.)
- năm 'year' (Viet. /năm/, Old Mon and mod /cnām/, Danaw /nan2/, Riang White and Black /vwi:t\ /, Palaung /snam2/, Wa /num2/, Old Khmer /cnam/, Srê /sənam/, /nam/, Bahnar /hānam/, T'eng /num/, Khasi /snem/, Mundari /sirma/) [ Chin. 年 nián (SV niên) [ ©M 年 nián < MC nian < OC *ɲiɛn ] (Comment: While 'ngày' and 'tháng' are still uncertain, even when V 'năm' is an absolute cognate with the Chin 年 /nián/ while only 'ngày' and 'năm' cognate to those of the MK languages.)
- mưa 'rain, to rain' (Viet. /mưa/, Old Mon /brey/, /gūr/, mod. /brai/, /gū/, Danaw /kălé1/, Riang White /tjuŋ\ /, /klɛ-/, Black /tsuŋ\ /, /klɛ-/, Palaung /klɑ'i2/, /klɔ'i2/, Wa /lɛ`ʔ3préiʔ1/, Sakai /maniʾ/, Semang /mī/, Nicobarese /amīh/, Srê /miu/, Bahnar, Stieng /mi/, T'eng /kəma/, /yur/ (v.) ) [ Chin. 雨 yǔ (SV vũ) | ©M 雨 yǔ < MC hʊ < OC *haʔ | FQ
王矩 | ¶ y- ~ m- | § 雲 yún (vân) mây,
舞 wǔ (vũ) múa, 無 wú (vô) mô | See next chapter on ST. ] (Comment: Even though most of them are cognate to V /mưa/, the Chin. form 雨 yǔ is still a strong case for its plausible patterns of sounf changes.)
- cầuvồng 'rainbow' (No Old Mon, mod. /kʿamaŋ suŋ ɗāk/ (crossbeam drinks water), Danaw /pāyɔŋ2/, Riang White /tɑi-pɤr\ñuɑŋ\ /, Black /tɑi-pər\ñuɔŋ\ /, Palaung /plɑŋ3(kădu2)/, Wa /ʃi4yɔŋ2/, T'eng /dur-prʿyoŋ/ (rainbow dragon), Khasi /simpyllieng/) [ ©M 彩虹 căihóng (SV tháihồng), Also: VS 'mốngchuồng' | ©M 虹 hóng < MC ɣuŋ < OC *gōŋ, *ghoŋs, *krōŋs ] (Comment: While V 'mốngchuồng' may not be the cognate but 'cầuvồng' could be with 彩虹 căihóng. Other forms in MK are not.)
- gió 'wind' (Old Mon /kyāl/, mod. /kyā/, Danaw /kɔŋ4/, Riang White and Black /kur-/, Palaung /kʾu2/, Wa /m bɑ'ɯŋ2/, Old Khmer /khsal/, Biat /chial/, Srê /cal/, Bahnar /khnal/, Kʿmu /khur/ (storm), Mundari /hoẽo/, /hur-hur/) [ Chin. (SV phong) ~ Also: VS giông 'windstorm' | ©M 風 fēng < MC pjung < OC *pjɔm, *prɔm < PC **pryŋʷ, **prym ] (Comment: Otherwise proved, the V 'gió' and Chin. should be considered cognate.)
- nước 'water' (Viet. /nước/, Old Mon /dāk/, /dek/, mod. /ɗāk/, Danaw /u:n4/, Riang White and Black /om-/, Palaung /om2/, /Um2/, /ɤm2/, /ɛm2/, Wa /rɔm2/, Old Khmer /dik/, Sakai /dak/, Nicobarese /dāk/, Biat /ɗak/, Srê /daʔ/, Bahar /ɗak/, Mundari /dāk/, Savara /dā/, /dāŋ/, Gadaba /dẫ/, Kurku /dā/, T'eng /ʔom/, Lemet /hon/, Khasi /om/) [ Chin. 水 shuǐ 'water' (SV thuỷ) [ ©M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ | FQ 式軌 | MC reading 止合三上旨書 ] (Comment: In light of most of etyma apearing in the form /dak/, the Chin. 水 shuǐ an V /nước/ are also likey cognates. See enumeration below. )
- bọt 'foam' (Viet. /bọt/, No Old Mon, mod. /tʿaɓuih/, Danaw /lɑk4pUət5(u:n4)/, Riang White and Black /bus-?, Palaung /buh2/, Wa /m bɑi2/, Khmer /babuh/, Semang /cheʾbug/, /baʾbug/, Makay /bueh/, Biat /mʾbūh/, Mundari /moto/) [ Chin. 泡 pào (SV pháo) | ©M 泡 pào < MC phaw < OC *phra:ws, phru:s ] (Comment: Is this the case that is purely coincidental that both the Chin. and V forms look alike?)
- lửa 'fire' (Old Mon /pumat/, mod. /pumat/, /ñɔn4/, Riang White and Black /ŋal\ /, Palaung /ŋɑ'i2/, /ŋɔ2/, Wa /ŋu2/, Nicobarese /heōe/, Lemet /ŋal/ Mundari /seŋgel/, Gadaba /suōl/, Kurku /siŋgēl/) [ Chin. 火 huǒ (SV hoả) | ©M 火 huǒ < MC xwʌ < OC *smjə:jʔ | See enumeration blow. ] (Comment: The Chin. 火 huǒ and V /lửa/ look like the only cognates here if we cannot associate them with V /ngọn/ meaning 'tongue (of the flames)'. )
- bóng 'shadow of living crature' (Old Mon /sumdiŋ/, mod. /samniŋ/, Danaw /tɔŋ2bui4/, Riang White and Black /poé-/, Palaung /rUm3/ (=shade), Wa /(kɔn)pɤi2/, Old Khmer /sramol/, Mundari /umbul/) [ Chin. 影 yǐng (SV ảnh) | ©M 影 yǐng < MC ʔɑiŋ < OC *ʔraŋʔ ] (Comment: The Chin. form is also plausibly cognate to the V 'bóng'.)
- lỗ 'hole' (Old Mon /srūŋ/, mod. /sruiŋ/, Danaw /kătu1/, /tu1/, Riang White /lu\ /, Black /lu\ /, /tuʔ-/, Palaung /kăɗéu2/, Wa /n dɑɯʔ3/, T'eng /həntu/) [ Chin. 竅 qiào (AV khiếu) | M 竅 qiào < MC khiaw < OC *khjaw | ¶ q- ~ l- ]
- đá 'stone' (Old Mon /tmoʾ/. mod. /tmaʾ/, Riang White /sʿɤmoʔ\ /, Back /rə ʔaŋ-/, Palaung /mɑ'2/, Wa /ʃi4mɑʔ3/, Old Khmer /tmo/, Sakai /těmuh/, Malay /batu/, N Nicobarese /patu/, Stieng /tömau/, Bahnar /təmo/, P'u-man /muŋ/, etc.) [ Chin. 石 shí (SV thạch), also, VS 'tạ' (measure unit equal to 100 kilograms) | ©M 石 shí, dàn < MC tsjak < OC *djak | FQ 常隻 | According to Starostin : Min forms pointing
to *ʒ́: Xiamen cioʔ8, Chaozhou cieʔ8, Fuzhou sioʔ8, Jianou ciɔ6. | Tibetan: rdo
According to Starostin: Min forms pointing to *ʒ́: Xiamen cioʔ8, Chaozhou cieʔ8, Fuzhou sioʔ8,
Jianou ciɔ6. | See more at ST connection chapter. ] (Comment: The Chin form /shí/ agrees with the V 'đá' better than other forms in the MK languages if any. Most of the ST forms have the vocalic contour of /da/.)
- sấm 'thunderbolt, thunder' (Viet. /sấm/, no Old Mon, mod. /dʿaguiw/, /gatah/, Danaw /...tɔŋ4man2/, Riang White /(tɤkɤr-)tɤr\nam\ /, Black /(təkər-)tər\nam\ /, /sər\nam\ /, Palaung / kănam3/, /sănam1/, Wa /mwè2/, /ʃǐnum2/, Khmer /phgar/, Malay /tagar/, T'eng /həŋkǔr/, Cham /grom/, Bahar /grom/) [ Chin. 霆 tíng (SV đình) | M 霆 tíng, dìng, tǐng, xiāo < MC dieŋ < OC *ɬhe:ŋ | Pulleyblank: LM tɦajŋ
< EM dɛjŋ | ¶ d- ~ s- ] (Comment: If all othe MK form can relato the V 'sấm' then the Chin. form is also worth considering.)
- than 'charcoal' (No Old Mon, mod. kʿyah/, Danaw /tɔk4tsUət3/, Riang White /kɤr\tji:s-/, Black /kər\cʿas/, etc.) [ Chin. 炭 tàn (SV thán) | ©M 炭 tàn < MC thɒn < OC *tha:rs ] (Comment: No MK forms are cognate with the V /than/ but only the Chin. /tàn/.)
- sắt 'iron' (Old Mon /birsey/, /pasai/, Danaw /mɛ`4θi1/, Riang White and Vlack /hir-/, Palaung /hlɛ`k1/, Wa /riɛm2/, Malay /běsi/, Sakai /běsi/, Păo Karen /pʿasi/, Old Khmer /hir/) [ Chin. 鐵 tiě (SV thiết) | ©M 鐵 tiě < MC thiet < OC *thjɛt | FQ 他結 ] (Comment: The V forms 'sắt' is cognate to the Chin. 鐵 tiě for sure. If the forms /-si/ ~ /hir/ forms in other languages are variants of the Chin. form then they must be loanwords.)
- bạc 'silver' (Viet. /tiền/, Old Mon srañ, mod. /sran/, Danaw /rɤn2/, /hrɤn2/, Riang White /ron\ /, Black /ron\ /,/rUn\ /, Palaung /rɤŋ2/, Wa /mɑɯ2/, T'eng /srǐl/, (gold, silver), Kʿmu /srǐl/, /sěrin/ (gold), Darang /rǒn/, Katurr /ron/) [ Chin. 白銀 báiyín (SV bạchngân), 錢 qián (SV tiền) | Viet. 'bạc' ® <~ Vh @ ©M 白銀 báiyín | ©M 白 bái, bó, bà, băi, zì < MC bɐk
< OC *brak || ©M 錢 qián < MC tsjen < OC *ʑan | FQ 昨仙 ] (Comment: Luce listed all these lexemes as basic words, but, course, all V forms are derived from the Chin. forms and if 'gold; is included the the V form is 'vàng', a contracted derivation of 黃金 huángjīn where as V 'bạc' could be a contracted alternative of 白金 báijīn.)
- đồngbạc 'ruppe, tical' (Old Mon /dinkel/, /dakew/, Danaw /(rɤn2)ăplɑʔ2/, Riang White /piɑ-/, Black /(ron)pyɑ-/, Palaung /byɑ2/, Wa /plɑh5/, T'eng /nia/ (money)) [ Chin. 銅板 tóngbăn (SV đồngbản) ~ VS đồngbạc (VN monetary unit : piaster) ] (Comment: Of course, only the V and Chin. forms are cognates and have nothing to do with those in other languages.)
- giá 'price' (Old Mon /ŋūs/, mod. /ŋuh/, Danaw /ŋɔt4/, Riang White and Black /laŋ-/, etc.) [ Chin. 價 jià (SV giá) | ©M 價 jià < MC ka < OC *krajʔs ] (Comment: Of course th V and Chin. forms are the same having nothing to do with any other languages.)
- nửakhuya 'midnight' (Old Mon /sgāl tney/, mod. /sagā iai/, Danaw /chen4tsən4/, Riang White /kʿi:n-sʿɔm-/, Black /tən\kʿi:n-sʿɔm-/, Palaung /kădéi2hmɤ3/, /hmɤ3kădɑ'i2/, Wa /grəŋ4sɔm2/, Nicobarese /haròm/ (night), T'eng /pəsuòm/ (night) ) [ Chin. 午夜 wǔyè (SV ngọdạ) , 半夜 bànyè (SV bándạ), 深夜 shēnyè (SV thâmdạ) ] (Comment: I cannot relate the V form to any of all ther forms, including those of the Chin.)
- muối 'salt (Viet. /muối/, no old Mon, mod. /ɓuiw/, Danaw /tsʿɑ4/, Riang White and Black /sʿuɑk-/, Palaung /sɛ`1/, Wa /ki:h5/, Old Burmese /cʿɑ/ (salt), /jawak cʿɑ/ (sal ammoniac), Semang /siak/, Selung /selak, Lemet /siak/, Old Khmer /ampel/, Sakai /mʾpoit/, Semang /empoyd/, Stieng /bǒh/, Srê /boh/, Bahnar /bɔh/, Lemet /pelu/, Khasi /mlun/, Mundari /buluŋ/) [ Chin. 鹽 yán (SV diêm) | M 鹽 yán < MC jem < OC *am ] (Comment: Most of the forms in other language are cognate to the V 'muối' while the Chin form is only a matter of speculation.)
- thôn 'village' (Viet. /tỉnh/, Old Mon /twañ/, mod. /kwān/, Danaw /tăbo4/, Riang White and Black /pruʔ\ /, Palaung /re:u2/, Wa /yɑ'uŋ2/, Old Khmer /sruk/, T'eng /kūŋ/) [ Chin. 村 cūn (SV thôn) Also VS 'xóm' | ©M 村 cūn < MC tʂon < OC *ʂu:n ] (Comment: Apparently the V form 'tỉnh' given by Luce is a try to match it with the Old Mon /twañ/, a cognate of /tăbo4/ (?); however, 'tỉnh' is a SV sound of the Chin. 省 shěng which means 'province'. It is probably that was owing to an error of Luce's recorders through his informants like in most of the cases. )
- nhà 'house' (Viet. /nhà/, Old Mon /sŋiʾ/, mod. /sŋi/, Danaw /ña1/, Riang White and Black /kɑŋ\ /, Palaung /gɑŋ2/, Wa /ñéʔ3/, Semang /yi/, /eh/, /hēyaʾ/, Nicobarese /ñī/, Stieng, Alak, Kaseng /ñi/, Biat /ñīh/, Mnong Gar /hīh/, Bahnar /hñẽ/, /hnam/, Lemet /ña/ Khasi /ing/, War /sni/, Juang /iya/, Savana /siŋ/, T'eng /gaŋ/) [ Chin. 家 jiā (SV gia) | ©M 家 jiā < MC ka < OC *kra: | FQ 古牙 ] (Comment: An interesting case of all etyma in all languages.)
- sạn 'rest house' (Old Mon and mod. /jrap/, Danaw /kărɔt2/, Riang White /sʿrɔp\ /, Black /tsərɔp\ /, Palaung /tjarɔp1/, Wa /brɔk3/, Sakai /cherup/ (crosspieces), karob / (bamboo bed), T'eng /jěrap (bed), Old Burmese /carap/, Pa8o Karen /tjărɔp/) [ Chin. 棧 zhàn, chán (sạn, trăn, chăn, xiễn) < MC ʒan < OC *ʒhranʔ, *ʒhrans |
Starostin: carriage box made of lath or bamboọ Also read *ʒ́(h)rān-s, MC ʒ̣ạ̀n
id. (MC also has an irregular variant ʒ̣ạ̈́n). A somewhat later meaning is
'flooring (on a mountain pass)', whence probably Viet. sàn 'floor, flooring'.
Standard Sino-Viet. is sạn.
| ex.客棧 kèzhàn (SV kháchsạn) 'inn, tarvern' ] (Comment: I'm not quite sure what all these actually refer to, probably a tarver, inn or something similar which is in agreement with the Chin. 棧 zhàn. All the phonetic appearance and words with the meaning 'bed' make me relate to the V 'sạp', a 'sale stall', which loosely resembles a wooden or bamboo short-legged stall where people can sit or lie down to rest.)
- 'house post' (Old Mon /jiñjuŋ/, mod. /dayuŋ/, Danaw /kʿăraŋ2/, Riang White /kɤn\raŋ\ /, Black /kən\raŋ\ /) [ Chin. (?) ] (Comment: I am not sure what all these limited list of etyma are related to V.)
- chày 'pestle' (No Old Mon, mod. /ri/, Danaw /tsʿɔŋ1réʔ3/, Riang White /tɤn\rɛ'ʔ-/, Black /rɛ'ʔ-/, Palaung /ŋ2gɑ'i2/, /ŋ2géi2/, Wa /ŋrgriʔ3/, Khmer /aŋrai/, Sakai /rentik/, Biat /rʾnai/, Mnong Gar /rnɛ'/, Bahnar /adrih/, /adrey/, T'eng /kəndré/, /cəndré/, /ndre/, Khasi synrei/) [ Chin. 杵 chǔ (xử) | 杵 chǔ < MC tʂo < OC *thaʔ | ¶ ch- ~ d-(j-) ] (Comment: The V 'chày' and the Chin. 杵 zhú make a much more close a cognate than the rest.)
- cối 'mortar' (for rice) (No Old Mon, mod. /ɓuik/, Danaw /tɑŋ2pôn4/, Riang White and Black /pal-/, Palaung /bar2/, Wa /po2/, Old Khmer /thpal, Biat /mʾpal/, Srê /mpal/, Bahnar /təpăl/ ) [ Chin. 臼 jìu (SV cữu) | ©M 臼 jìu < MC gʌw < OC *guʔ ] (Comment: While all other MK forms do not look like having to do with the V /cối/, the Chin /jìu/ definitely is.)
- nồi 'pot' (Old Mon /klas (< Sanskrit), /tumbāy/, /timbāy/, mod. /tʿamāai/, Danaw /lɑ1/, Riang White and Black /kloʔ-/, Palaung /kaloʔ1/, Wa /ɔ2/ (=cooking pot), Sanskrit /kalasa/, Biat /glăh/, Khasi /khew/) [ Chin. 豆 dòu (SV đậu) | modern ©M 豆 dòu = Viet. (hạt)đậu | Viet. 'chậu, thau, nồi, nấu' ~ © M 豆 dòu < MC dow < OC *dho:s | FQ 田候 | MC reading 流開一去候定 | According to Starostin :
a dou vessel. A round vessel of clay or wood for serving solid food. Since Late
Zhou the character is used for a homonymous word *d(h)o:s 'bean(s)'. ] (Comment: The V /nồi/ is cognate to the Chin. form 豆 dòu conveyed with the old meaning of this original basic ideograpgh.)
- mui 'ladle' (wooden) (No Old Mon, mod. /yăk/, Danaw /lah2/, Riang White and Black /lɑk-/, Palaung /lɑʔ1/, Wa /lɔk4duh5/, Old Khmer /hvek/) [ Chin. 舀 yáo (SV), also, VS muỗng, môi | ©M 舀 yăo < MC jiaw < OC *jiaw ] (Comment: It is interesting to see that the modern Mon form reflects /yăk/ to match closely with the Chin. /yáo/.)
- Viet. ?, 'coconut water-dipper' (No Old Mon, mod. /gnā/, Danaw /...bui4/, Riang White and Black /boé-/, Palaung /bwé3/, /mwé2/, Wa /bUk3/) [ Chin. (?) ] (Comment: It seems there exists no equivalents in both V and Chin.)
- chổi 'broom' (to sweep) ( No Old Mon, mod. /tamah/, /twah/, Danaw /tɔn2pʿyé4/, /tăpʿyé4/, Riang White /tɤn\pi:s-/, /pi:s/, Black /tən\pi:s-/, /pi:s/, Palaung /kăɓih3/, /ɓih3/, /ɓiχ3/, Wa /bi:h5/, Khmer /ampos/, /os/, Sakai /sapu/, Besisi /tampoys/, Malay /sapu/, Mundari /jonoʔ/, /joʔ/, etc.) [ Chin. 帚 zhǒu (SV trửu, chửu) | ©M 帚 zhǒu < MC tʂǝw < OC *tuʔ | FQ 之九 ] (Comment: Except for the Danaw form that sound like V 'tạpdề' (mop? apron?) and the Mundari forms with /jonoʔ/, /joʔ/ (chổi ?), all other forms do not seem to relate to V. 'chỗi' and the Chin. 帚 zhǒu.)
- túi 'shoulder-bag' (No Old Mon, mod. /tʿuŋ/, Danaw /tăchi4/, Riang White /sʿɤki-/, Black /sʿəki-/) [ Chin. 袋 dài (SV đại) | ©M 袋 dài < MC dɤj < OC *ɫhjə:ks ] (Comment: The limited list for this item makes it hard to relate to a specific V etymon.)
- mác 'sword, long dah' (Old Mon /snāk/, /snek/, mod. /mra/, Danaw /vwiɛ`k4/, /nɛ`k3/ (knife), Riang White and Black /vwɑk\ /, Palaung /bUt1/ (=dah), Wa /vwɑie5/, Old Khmer /pranāk/, Old Burmese /sanlyak/, S. Karen /naʔ/, Khasi /wait (=dah), /waitlam/ (sword)) [ Chin. 矛 máo (SV mâu) | ©M 矛 máo < MC mǝw < OC *mu ] (Comment: Except for the Mon and Danaw lexemes, the labial vocalism of most of these forms can only point to the V /m-/ for 'mác' (spear). Albeit, everything could be speculative.)
- liềm 'sickle' (No Old Mon form, mod. /not/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tsén4/, Riang White /tɤn\tjan\ /kə\tsan\ /, Wa /ʃívwɔk3/) [ Chin. 鐮 lián (SV liêm) | M 鐮 (鎌) lián < MC lem < OC *rem ] (Comment: If this word is actually meant 'sickle' then only the V and Chin. word are etymologicially related.)
- kim 'needle' (Old Mon /tinliñ/, /tinleñ/, mod. /taniŋ/, Danaw /tăkaʔ3/, Riang White /pɤl\ŋyéʔ/, /pən\lɑic\ /, Palaung /rɤ2/, Wa /rɤ/, Sakai /tenlait/, /penlaig/ (blowpipe dart), Biat /ŋʾlai/, T'eng /səkăm/) [ Chin. 箴 zhēn (SV châm) ~ 針 zhēn (SV châm) VS 'kim' (needle), 箭 jiàn (SV tiễn) VS 'tên' (arrow) | ©M 針 (鍼, 箴) zhēn < MC tʂim < OC *kim | FQ 職深 || ©M 箭 jiàn < MC 箭 tɕjɜn < OC *ɕens | FQ 子賤 ] (Comment: The vocalic /t-/ in some form points to V /tên/ while only the T'eng /səkăm/ is similar to the V /kim/. In both cases the V etyma are derived fro those of Chin.)
- giáo 'spear' (Old Mon /bnas/, mod. /bnuh/, Danaw /plyɛ`h2/, Riang White and Black /plɛs\ /, Palaung /liəh3/, /lɛ`ɑu3/, Wa /pliah5/, Old Khmer /noc (ʔ)/, Sakai /bulus/, Selung /bulɔ/, Javanese /bulus/ T'eng /blya/, K'mu /plek/) [ Chin. 槊 shuò (SV sóc, sáo) | ©M 槊 shuò < MC ʂwawk < OC *ʂaɨwk | ¶ sh- ~ gi- ] (Comment: In V there is the word 'giáo' that points to Chin. 槊 shuō and it seems there is other word that sounds like any of other languages.)
- nỏ 'bow', 'crossbow' (Old Mon and mod. /tŋa/, Danaw /ɑk4/, Riang White and Black /ɑk-/, Palaung /kɑŋ3/, /kɑŋ3ɑʔ4/ (=catapult), Wa /ɑʔ1/ (=crossbow), Sakai /āg/, Stieng /ak/, Srê /a3/, Lemet /ak/, Mundari /aʔ/) [ Chin. 弩 nú (SV nỗ), also, VS ná | ©M 弩 nǔ < noɔ < OC *nhāʔ | According to Starostin : Viet. ná is an archaic loanword; a
somewhat later loan from the same source is Viet. nỏ id.; standard Sino-Viet. is
nỗ̃. In Chinese the word is witnessed since Late Zhou (Zhouli), but already in
Shujing we meet a word 砮 *n(h)āʔ, *n(h)ā, MC nó, no, Mand. nǔ, Viet. nỗ 'flint
arrowhead' - which may be historically the same word. For *nh- cf. Xiamen lɔ6,
Jianou noŋ8. ] (Comment: It has long been reckoned that the V 'nỏ' is derived from the Chin 弩 nú which is inturn originated from the MK languages while the V 'ná' is a direct cognate to them. In any cases they are all cognate to each other despite of the fact the initial /N-/ dropped from the /-aK/ forms. )
- cày 'hoe, spade-blade' (Old Mon /kwir/ (n.), /jik/ (v.), mod. /kʿɑɓɑk/, Danaw /kɔplɑ1/, Riang White and Black /plɑ-/, Palaung /plɑ3/, Wa /kɔk4pyɑk1/ (=hoe-Blade)) [ Chin. 耟 jù (SV cự) | ©M 耟 jù < MC go < OC *ghaʔ ] (Comment: It looks like the V forms /cày/ is much more cognate than other forms in the MK languages.)
- thuyền 'boat' (Old Mon /dluŋ/, mod. /gluŋ/, Danaw /tɔŋ2lui4/, Riang White /tjɤn\luaŋ\ /, Black /tsən\luaŋ\ /, Palaung /rɤ2/, Wa /rɤ2/,Srê, M'nong Gar /plǔŋ/, T'eng /cəlɔŋ/, Khasi /lieng/) [ Chin. 船 chuán (SV thuyền) | ©M 船 chuán < MC ʑwen < OC *lon ] (Comment: Except for the /rɤ2/ form, it is interesting to see that the V form 'thuyền' corresponds to the /-l-/ forms in other MK language which are cognate to that the Chin. form 船 chuán)
- trọc 'bald' (No Old Mon, mod. /kʿɑlat/, Danaw /klak3,1/, Riang White /klak-/, Black klɑk-/) [ Chin. 禿 tū (SV thốc) | ©M 禿 (秃) tū < MC thuk < OC *slho:k ] (Comment: There is no doubt that V 'trọc' and Chin. 禿 tū are cognate, but it is interesting to see the the other MK forms that show the pattern /kl-/ which usually appears in V as /tr-/.)
- đắng 'bitter' (Viet. /đắng/, no Old Mon, mod. /kɑtɑŋ/, Danaw /tsɑŋ4/, Riang White /tjiaŋʔ-/, Black /tsaŋ-/, Palaung /saŋ2/, Wa /soŋ2/, Khmer /hāŋ/, Sakai /kědetn/, Besisi /kědeg/, Nicobarese /tēak/, Srê /rəhiaŋ/, /bətaŋ/ Stieng, Bahnar /tāŋ/, Khasi /kthang/) [ Chin. 辛(苦) qīn(kǔ) SV tân(khổ)) VS đắng(cay) | ©M 辛 xīn < MC sjin < OC *sin | MC reading 臻開三平真心 | According to Starostin : the 8th of the
Heavenly Stems. Used also for a homonymous *sin 'be bitter, pungent, painful'. ] (Comment: The V for is clearly cognate to those of MK forms, but what appear in Chin. is also worth consideration.)
- lãng 'deaf' (No Old Mon, mod. /sɗuiŋ/, Danaw /klət3,1/, Riang White /lu:t-/, Black /lut-/, Palaung /lUt1/, Wa /lət3/, T'eng /səlut/, Khasi /kyllut/) [ Chin. 聾 lóng (SV lung) | ©M 聾 lóng < MC luŋ < OC *rho:ŋ | MC reading 通合一平東來 | ex. 耳聾 ěrlóng 'lãngtai' ] (Comment: All the forms with the voclism /l-/ appear loosely cognate to the V form 'lãng' derived from the Chin. 聾 lóng except for the mod. Mon as /sɗuiŋ/ which somehow resembles V. 'điếc'.)
- sâu 'deep' (Viet. /sâu/, Old Mon /jrūh/, mod. /sjuih/, Danaw /kărúi2/, Riang White /tjɤruʔ\ /, Black /tsəruʔ\ /, Palaung /lɯk1/, Wa /rɯʔ2/, Old Khmer /jrau/, /jamrau/, Sakai /jěru/, Javarese /jěro/, Stieng /jorǔh/, Srê /juruh/, Bahnar /jěruʔ/, T'eng /jru/, Khasi /jylliew/) [ Chin. 深 shēn (SV thâm) | ©M 深 shēn < MC ʂim < OC *ɫhjəm | MC reading 深開三平侵書 | FQ 式針 ] (Comment: With the resemblance of the mod. Mon /sjuih/ with V /sâu/, it is interesting to see all variants given they are from the same source except for the fact that V 'sâu' is cognate to the Chin. 深 shēn.)
- á 'dumb' (No Old Mon, mod. /klau/, /lhau/, Danaw /ă4ʔa1/, Riang White /ɑʔ-/, Black /aʔ-/, Palaung /ré:u2/, /rɑ`ì/, Wa /n dɑuʔ3/, Old Burmese /a/, Srê /kloat/) [ Chin. 啞 è, yă, yā (SV ách, á, nha), also, VS 'câm' | ©M 啞 è, yă, yā < MC ʔɑik < OC *ʔrāk | FQ 烏格 | ¶ *ʔr- ~ k- |
Starostin : Also read (irregularly) MC ʔạik (FQ 於革) id.; during Late Zhou used
for *ʔrāʔ, MC ʔạ́ (FQ 烏下), Pek. yǎ, Go e, Kan a 'mute' and *ʔrā(k)-s (MC ʔạ̀,
FQ 衣嫁, Pek. yà) 'sigh (interjection)' ] (Comment: The V /á/ form is in line with some of the MK languages, but 'câm' is only speculative due to its vocalism.)
- sớm 'early' (Old Mon /pras/ (=early), mod /prah/, Danaw /tsɑo2/, Riang White /tjɑu\ /, Black /tsɑ\ /, Palaung /sɑ'u2/, Wa /tjɑ'u2/, Archaic Chinese /*tsôg/, Burmese /co/, Shan /caw/) [ Chin. 早 zăo (SV tảo) | M 早 zăo < MC tsaw < OC *tsaw | According to Starostin: MC cʌw < OC *cūʔ < PST
*cǝ̄w, cf. Burm. ćawh 'early', Kach. ǯau33 id. (see IST 54). ] (Comment: It looks like all these forms are cross linguistic family etyma. In reality, in Chin. there are many words for 'early' in Chin. The question is how come this basic concept is cognate to that of Archaic Chin. for those MK languages. See hypothesis that follows this list.)
- xa 'far' (Old Mon /jirŋey/, mod. /sŋai/, Danaw /sʿɔŋ4ŋɑi4/, Riang White /sʿɤŋɑi\ /, /yɑn\ /, Palaung /sāŋɑ'i2/, /sāŋɔi2/, Wa /ʃi4ŋɑi2/, Khmer /cʿŋāy, Sakai /nyaʾ/, Semang /měnjiʾ/, Nicobarese /ho-i/, Srê, Biat, Stieng / ŋai/, Bahnar /jəŋəi/, /ʃəŋai/, P'uman /ŋai/, T'eng /yaʔ/, /gyaʔ/, Lemet /sŋay/, Khasi /jngai/, War / ʃŋūi/, Mundari /sāŋīn/, Savara /saŋayi/, Gadaba /sāŋayi/, Kurku /sāŋgin/) [ Chin. ] (Comment: The V. form 'xa' looks like cognate with those start with the phoneme /S-/ but their finals can only be related to something like /xaxôi/ 'faraway'. The Chin. form is just a matter of speculative.)
- đầy 'full' (Old Mon /dak/, /piñ/, mod. /peŋ/, Danaw /biɑk3/, Riang White /nɤk\ /, Black /nək\ /, Palaung /nUk1,3/, Wa /nɑuk3/, /nUk1/, Khmer /be ñ/, Sakai /t ě bik/, [ Chin. 滿 măn (SV mãn) ] (Comment: If the Chin /măn/ forn is in any way related etymologically then they must be those lexemes that appear with the bilabial initial /P-/. However, the V ‘đầy’ can be cognate to the Chin. 多 duō (SV đa) VS dầy ‘thick’ ~ đầy ‘full’.)
- nặng ‘heavy’ (Old Mon /sjiŋ/, mod. /sjuiŋ/, Danaw /kătsan2/, Riang White /kɤtjɛ`\ /, Black Riang White /kətjɛ`\ /, Palaung /tjian2/, Wa /ji:n2/, Old Khmer /jyeŋ/ (=weigh), T’eng /kətăm/, /tăm/) [ Chin. 重 zhòng (SV trọng) ] (Comment: There is no doubt that the Chin form /zhòng/ is cognate to the V /nặng/, so except for the Riang forms, all other MK forms are cognates also. How they are related to each other is another question. Could they be loanwords borred via the V medium?)
- lâu ‘long’ (of time) (Old Mon /loʾ/, mod. /lɑʾ/, Danaw /kʿămɛ` ʔ4/, Riang White /tjɤn\nɔʔ\ /, Black /tsən\nɔʔ\ ) [ Chin. 久 jǐu (SV cửu) | ©M 久 jǐu < MC kjəw < OC *kwjəʔ | FQ 舉有 | Cant. /gau2/, coloquial /loj/ or /nɔj/ ] (Comment: While there are absence of other lexicons in the MK language, the Mon forms represent what appears to be cognate to the V form /lâu/, including the Cant. form as /nɔj/ which can be related to the Chin. form as /jǐu/ in M.)
- mới ‘new’ (Viet. /mới/, Old Mon /tumi/, mod. /tami/, Danaw /kʿɛ`ʔ4/, Riang White /tɤn\méʔ\ /, Black /tən\méʔ\, Palaung /kămɑ’i2/, Wa /kʿrɑuʔ1/, Old Khmer /tmī/, Sakai /bei, /pâi/, Besisi /ʾmpai/, Biat /mʾhe/, Srê /tərɛ/, M’nong, Gar /mhei/, P’u-man /u-hmui/, T’eng /hmé/, Khasi /thymmai/) [ Chin. 新 xīn (SV tân) | Viet. 'mới' < Proto-Austro-Asiatic: pɤj,, Proto-Vietic: *bʔǝ:jʔ,
Proto-Aslian: *pa:j, Proto-Vietmuong: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Tum: bǝɨj.212 | M 新 xīn
< MC sjin < OC *sin | FQ 息鄰 | cf. ‘mớitinh’ ~ ‘mớitoanh’ @ V ‘mới’ + 'toanh 新 xīn (SV tân)’ ~ 新鮮xīnxiān (SV tântiên) VS ‘tươimới’ ] (Comment: It is undeniable that the V form ‘mới’ is cognate to those of other MK languages. However, we still cannot rule out the possibility of the Chin. 新 xīn form that has given rise to some other V forms as the compound words cited above. In addition there is a V word ‘cũ’ which a confirmed cognate with the Chin. 舊 jìu (SV cựu) or ‘old’ as a parallel to the opposite concept ‘mới’ (new).)
- tê ’numb’, ‘pins and needles’ (No Mon form, Danaw /kăñi:n4/, Riang White /kɤm\ri:m\ /, Black /kəm\ri:m\ /, Mundari /ruiam/) [ Chin. 麻 má (SV ma), also, VS 'mê' (numb), 'mè' (sesame) | ©M 麻 má < MC ma < OC * mhra:j | FQ 莫霞 ] (Comment: Except for those of the V and Chin. other forms listed by Luce are limited and showed no cognates.)
- già ‘old’ (of person) (Old Mon /pjuʾ/, mod. /byu/, Danaw /tʿɑo2/, Riang White /tʿɑu\ /, /tjaʔ-/, Black /tʿau-/, /tsɑ ʔ-/, Palaung /gat1/, Old Khmer /pju/, /pjuh/) [ Chin. 老 lăo (SV lão), 耆 qí (SV kỳ, chỉ) | M 老 lăo < MC ljəw < OC *hu:ʔ | FQ 盧皓 || ©M 耆 (嗜) qí < MC gi < OC *grij | According to Starostin : Protoform: *gri. Meaning: old. 耆
*grij old; 祁 *grij great, large. Tibetan: bgre (p. bgres) to grow old. Burmese:
krih be old. Comments: Sh. 50; Luce 10.| ST old, aged. For *g- cf.
Xiamen, Fuzhou ki2. ] (Comment: The same problem as the previous item, in this list only the Riang Black /tjaʔ-/ suggest something close to the V ‘già’ while Danaw /tʿɑo2/ and Riang White /tʿɑu\ / remind us of the Chin. Form /lăo/ SV ‘lão’.)
- cũ ‘old’ (of things) (Old Mon /tinrem/, mod. /tarem/, Danaw /ătəik3,1/, Riang White /tri:m-/, Black /trim-/, Palaung /ăprim2/, Wa /pă4pri:m2/, /Srê /rām/, Lemet /prim/, Khasi /rim/, /larim/.) [ Chin. 舊 jìu (SV cựu) | ©M 舊 jìu < MC gjəw < OC *ghwjəs | According to Starostin : be old, ancient (not of people). Regular Sino-Viet. is cựu. Cf. also Viet. khú, khụ. 'very old'. The original meaning of the graph was probably 'owl', but this usage is actually attested only since Han. ] (Comment: In contrast to V ‘mới’, the ‘cũ’ is certainly cognate to the Chin. 舊 jìu, which appears to have nothing connected with other MK forms.)
- đỏ ‘red’ (Old Mon /birket/, /baket/, mod. /baket/, Danaw /tsôn4/, Riang White and Black /roŋ\ /, Palaung /rén2/, Wa /rɑu5/, Khasi /saw/) [ Chin. 朱 zhū (SV chu) | M 朱 zhū < MC tʂʊ < OC *to | FQ 章俱 ] (Comment: In Chin. there are several words for ‘red’, but /zhu/ is the most likely cognate to V /đỏ/. In the meanwhile, the Riang /roŋ\ / suggests something about V ‘hồng’ (pink) which is cognate to the Chin 紅 hóng, also meaning ‘red’.)
- chín ‘ripe, cooked’ (Viet. /chín/ cin- Aorist prefix?, modern Mon. /ɗu/, /cin/, Danaw /ătsɛ`n4/, Riang White /sʿɪ:n/, Black /sʿɪn/, Palaung /si:n2/, Wa /ʃi:n2/ (=cooked); /tɤm2/ (=ripe), Khmer /cʿăʔin/, Sakai /chêtn/, Besisi /machin/, Semang /inchen/, Nicobarese /ishɪan/, Srê /sǐn/, Mnong Gar /sɯm/, Bahnar /ʃim/, T'eng /sin/, Mundari /isin/.) [ Chin. 熟 shú (SV thuộc) | M 熟 shú, shóu (thục, thuộc) < MC tʂʊk < OC *dhuk ] (Comment: It is apparent that the V 'chín' is cognate to other MK forms while the Chin. shows a parallel in the initial phoneme only, which may point tosomething similar in the ST languages as in many cases such as 'rắn' (snake), 'lòng' (heart), 'năm' (numeral 5), etc. (See more in the ST connection chapter) since in V there is the word 'sống' (live, raw) which is affirmatively cognate to the Chin. 生 shēng (SV sanh).)
- cạn ’shallow, low’ (Old Mon /sar/, mod. /kɗā/, Danaw /saw/, Riang White and Black /dɛ`l-/) [ Chin. 淺 qián (SV thiển) | ©M 淺 qiăn, qiān, jiăn, jiàn, cán, zàn (thiển, thê, tiên)
< MC tsjɜn < OC *tsjanʔ | FQ 七演 | According to Starostin : The word does not occur in
rhymes, and both *-en? and *-an? are possible; external evidence seems to be in
favour of the former, and so does the loan for *c/e:n (MC cien, Pek. jiăn) 'to
flow rapidly' (Chuci). ] (Comment: The only cognate forms appear here are those of V and Chin.)
- nhọn ’sharp-pointed’ (No Old Mon, mod. /ke/, Danaw /tɔŋ2pʿyak3,1/, Riang White /pait-/, paic-/, Palaung /pɑ‘i1/, Wa /pɔ’i3/ (to sharpen), T’eng /bat/ (to sharpen to a point), Khasi /beit/ (straight) [ Chin. 尖 jiān (SV kiên) | ©M 尖 jiān < MC tɕjen < OC *tɕen ] (Comment: The Mon form suggests something that shows the sound change pattern j- ~ k- with the Chin. Form which is cognate to the V form. In the meanwhile the Riang and others somehow similar to the Chin. 磨 which appear as V /mai/.)
- trợt ’slippery’ (No Old Mon, mod. /talit/, Danaw /khit3/, Riang White /li:ɪ-/, Balck /lɪɛ`-/) [ Chin. 滑 huá, gǔ (SV hoạt, cốt) | ©M 滑 huá, gǔ < MC ɣwat < OC *grwət < PC **grūt ] (Comment: The writer is not sure if the Chin. and V forms are actually cognate pending further investigation in other ST forms.)
- chật ’tight, taut’ (Old Mon /tinteŋ/ (?), mod. /teŋ/, Danaw /kʿreŋ2/, Riang White /kʿre’ŋ\ /, Black /kre’ŋ\ /, Palaung /kʿyɛ3/, Wa / ʃi4ñɛ`3/, Khasi /pyrkhiŋ/, Shan /khiŋ/.) [ Chin. 窄 zhăi (SV trách, trạch) | ©M 窄 zhăi, zé < MC tʂaik < OC *ɕra:k | FQ 側伯 ] (Comment: The V and Chin. forms are obiously cognate while others are dubious.)
- nầy ’this’ (Old Mon /awoʾ/, /woʾ/, mod. /naʾ/, Danaw /ni2/, Riang White and Black /ni\ /,Palaung /ări ŋ3/, Wa /ti;n2/, T’eng /gəni/, Khasi /kane/, Mundari /ne/, Shan /nai/, Sakai /hɔ/, Semang /öh/, Stieng /ou/, /âu/, Bahnar /ô/.) [ Chin. 那 nà (SV na) ‘that’ | ©M 那 nà, nuó, nèi < MC nʌ < OC *nha:r | According to Starostin : (Schuessler : perhaps:
be rich.) In oldest texts the character is used only with the meaning 'to be
rich' (sometimes within a compound 猗那 *?a:r-na:r id.). The pronominal meaning
(at first only interrogative) appears only during Late Zhou - as a synonym for 奈
*n(h)a:ts 'so what?' (q.v.). Later, during Wei, the character is used for a
(probably related) interrogative *n(h)a:/ > MC na^/, Mand. nuo^ (colloq. na^)
'how, what'. Finally, since Tang demonstrative usage is witnessed: MC na^\,
Mand. nuo\ (colloq. na\) 'that'. The standard Sino-Viet. reading is nã; này may
be an old loanword, or else may be just a rather universal pronominal stem (in
Viet. cf. also nó 'he', no. 'other'). ] (Comment: For the the exact of that means ‘this’ in Chin there is the word 這 zhè (SV giả) VS 'đây', or 'nầy', but to have this item in line with other MK form, the Chin /nà/, which is cognate to V ‘nớ’ and ‘đó’, fits well into the sound change pattern.)
- thẹn ‘to be ashamed, shy’ (Old Mon /twa/(?), mod. /gwa/, Danaw /kăsʿɑ1/, Riang White /kɤsʿér-/, Black /kəsʿé ʔ -/, Palaung /sɔ’i2/, Wa /kɑɪc5/.) [ Chin. 慚 cán (SV tàm) | ©M 慚 cán < MC dʒʌm < OC *dʒham ] (Comment: The V form is cognate to that of the Chin. Form. However, it is interesting to note that in V there is another word for ‘shame’, that is ‘mắccở’ and ‘cở’ somehow is similar to other MK forms that start with /k-/ or /g-/.)
- hỏi ‘to ask’ (Old Mon /smāñ/, mod. /smān/, Danaw /mɑi2/, Riang White and Black /mɑiñ-/, Palaung /hmɑn2/, /hmɔn2/, Wa /mɑiñ2/, Sakai /səman/, Semang /semañ/, Nocobarese /hamâ/, Bahar /apiñ/, T’eng /mañ/, K’mu /mai/ Lemet /mañ/, Khasi /pan/.) [ Chin 問 wèn (SV vấn) | ©M 問 wèn < MC mʊn, ʋjyn < OC *mun, *mhǝns ](Comment: All forms are cognate. It is interesting to see that all other MK reflects AC /*m-/ in their etyma, but the question remains whether if the MK forms were derived from the that of the Chin. or everything is just merely coincidental.)
- tắm ‘to bathe’ (Viet. /tắm/, Old Mon /p-hūm/, mod. /hum/, Danaw /θɔn4(u:n4)/, Riang White and Black /hu:n-(om-)/, Palaung /dɑ 2(ôm2)/, /həm2(rɔm2)/, Besisi /hum/, Srê, Stieng /um/, Bahnar /hum/, /pəhum/, T’eng /mum/, Khasi /sum/.) [ Chin. 洗 xǐ (SV tẩy) | ©M 洗 xǐ < MC siej < OC *sjə:rʔ ] (Comment: All forms appear to be cognate to each other.)
- cắn ‘to bite’ (No Old Mon, mod. /kit/, Danaw /kiət3/, Riang White and Black /kak\ /, Palaung /gɑʔ3/, /gɑk3/, Wa /ki:t/, /kʿléat1/, Malay /gigit/.) [ Chin. 嗑 kè (hạp) | ©M 嗑 kè < MC kap < OC *kəp ] (Comment: All MK etyma appear to point to V ‘cắn’.)
- vay ‘to borrow (articles)’ (No Old Mon, mod. /gleʾ/, Danaw /wɑi2/, Rieng White /yɯm-/, Black /vwɑi\ /, Palaung /kăvwɑi’2/, /kăvw ɔi’2/, Wa /vwɑi2/.) [ Chin. 借 jiè (SV tá) | ©M 借 jiè, jī < MC cjek, cja < OC *ciak, *ciaks | FQ 資昔, 子夜 ] (Comment: Except fot the mod. Mon form, all other MK forms appear to be cognate to the V ‘vay’, which usually means ‘to borrow money’. In the meanwhile, in V there is another word ‘mượn’, derived from the Chin 賃 rèn, to use in both cases of either ‘to borrow articles’ or ‘to borrow money’.)
- chôn ‘to bury’ (Old Mon /tip/, mod. /tuip/, Danaw /plu4/, Riang White and Black /plu-/, Old Khmer /kap/, Sakai /tapn/, Semang /tam/, Malay /taman/, Bahar /tâp/, Biat /tǒp/, Srê /təp/, Khasi /tep/, Mundari /topa/, Nicobarese /olō/.) [ Chin. 葬 zàng (SV táng) | ©M 葬 zàng < MC tsaŋ < OC *tsaŋ ] (Comment: While the V and the Chin. Are cognate, all other forms also appear to show similar sound change patterns being cognates.)
- bế ‘to carry on back’ (No Old Mon, mod. /bā/, Danaw /bɔʔ4,2/, Riang White /pɑʔ\ /, Black /bɔʔ\ /, Palaung /bɑ‘u2/, Wa /puʔ1/, Mnong Gar /bɑʔ/, Khasi /bah/.) [ Chin. 抱 bāo (SV bão) VS bế, bồng ‘to carry with one’s arm’ | ©M 抱 bào, bāo, fóu, páo, póu < MC bʌw < OC *bhu:ʔ < PC **puək | FQ 簙浩 ] (Comment: All the MK forms point to the V ‘bồng’ which is cognate also to the Chin. 抱 bāo. To mean ‘to carry on back’, the V has the word ‘vác’ (for objects) which is cognate to the Chin. 負 fù (SV phụ).)
- chải ‘to comb (wet) hair’ (No Old Mon, mod. /grah/, Danaw /kiɛ`t3/, Riang White and Black /kɑs\ /, Nicobarese el-kōat/ (comb), Mundari /nakiʔ/. [ Chin. 梳 shǔ (SV sơ) | ©M 梳 shū, shù, shǔ < MC ʂjə < OC *sra | FQ 所菹 | ¶ sh- ~ l-, OC *sra ~> ] (Comment No correspondences in Luce’s limited list for this item. The V and Chin. For seem to be cognate.)
- cắt ’to cut, cut down’ (No Old Mon, mod. /bāk/, /kut/, Danaw /mɔk2/, Riang White /mak\ /, Black /mɔk\ /, Wa /mUk3/, T’eng /bok/. [ Chin. 割 gē (SV cát) | ©M 割 gē < MC kat < OC *ka:t ] (Comment: The V and Chin. Forms are cognates for sure. In this limited list for this item, except for the mod. Mon form /kut/, all other forms seem to suggest the word ‘phạt’ in V which is also certainly cognate to 伐 fá in Chin.)
- chết ‘to die’ (Viet. /chết/, Old Mon /kcit/, mod. /kʿyuit/, Danaw /pyi:n2/, Riang White and Black /yam-/, Palaung /yam2/, Wa /yUm2/, Khmer /khūc/, Stieng /chot/, Biat /khöt/, Srê /chət/, Mnong Gar /khət/, Bahnar /kəcǐt/, Khasi /jot/ (to perish), Mundari /gojoʔ/, Juang /goju/, Santali /gujuk/, T’eng /han/, K’mu /yăm/, Lemet /yam/, Khasi /iap/.) [ Chin. 死 sǐ (SV tử) | M 死 sǐ < MC sji < OC *sijʔ | MC reading 止開三上旨心 ] (Comment: Even though most of the forms in Luce’s list for this item show correspondences to the V articulation of ‘chết’, the ST etyma are worth speculating. (See the next section on ST connections and Appendices for the case of ‘chết’.)
- mộng ‘to dream’ (Viet. /mộng/, Old Mon /appoʾ/(?), mod. /lapaʾ/, Danaw (ti:n2)pɔ1/, Riang White /(yɛ`t-)rɤmuʔ\ /, Black /(yɛ`t-)rəmuʔ\ /, Palaung /m-bɑu2/, Wa /puʔ1/, Sakai /ěmpoʾ/, Semang /ʾmpāʾ/, Malay /mimpi/, Nicobarese /enfūa/, Stieng /mboi/, Sr ê /mbao/, Bahar /hapō/, /apō/, T’eng /mʾpo/, Kʿmu /kamu/, Khasi /phohsniew/, Mundari /kumu/.) [ Chin 夢 mèng (SV mộng), also, VS ‘mơ’ | ©M 夢 mèng < MC mʊŋ < OC *mhjəŋs ] (Comment: There is no doubt that the Chin. and V forms are certain cognate, but the other MK forms also show similarity in the sound change patters that indicate they are also derived from the same source, but how? )
- xơi(cơm) ‘to eat (rice)’ (Old Mon /ca(hāp)/, /ca/, Danaw /sué4/, Riang White and Black /sʿuam-/, Palaung /hɑm2/, /hɔm2/, Wa /sɔm2/, Old Khmer /cya/, Sakai /cha/, Semang /chiʾ/, Nicobarese /shâ/, Briat /chat/, Stieng, Srê, Bahnar /sa/, Khasi /bsa/ (to tend), Nicobarese /hâm/, Lemet /som/, Khasi /bam/, Mundari /jom/, Savara /jum/, Gadaba /sōm/, Kurku /jōm/.) [ Chin. 吃 chī (SV ngật, 食 shí (SV thực) | ©M 吃 (喫) chī, jí < MC ʔjet < OC *ʔrjət || ©M 食 (飼) shí < MC ʑik < OC *ljək | FQ 乘力 ] (Comment: Both of the Chin, 吃 chī and 食 shí are certainly cognate to the V form ‘xơi’, but at the same time all other forms in Luce’s list for this item also show similarities in sound change patterns which point to the same root. The question is how come a basic word like ‘eat’ can be a loanword from one to another language? )
- bay ‘to fly’ (Old Mon /par/, mod. /paw/, Danaw /pan4/, Riang White /pɤr-/, Black /pər-/, Palaung /kăpɛ`h3/, Wa /pu2/, Khmer /hör/, Semang /kěpuih/, Nicobarese /hēh/, Stieng /par/, Biat /mʾpăr/, Srê /par/, /gēpăr/, Bahnar /păr/, /təpăr/, P’uman /pʿwa/, T’eng /tɯr/, K’mu /tar/, Khasi /her/, Mundari /apit/.) [ Chin. 飛 fēi (SV phi) | ©M 飛 fēi < MC pwyj < OC *pjəj | FQ 甫微 ] (Comment: Except for a few, all forms are cognate to each other, including that of Chin.)
- lấy ’to get’ (Old Mon /goʾ/, mod. /gwaʾ/, Danaw /byɛ`n4/, Riang White and Black /bɔn-/, Palaung /bɤn2/, Wa /bɔn2/, T’eng /buɔ`n/, Khasi /io/.) [ Chin. 拿 ná (SV nã) | ©M 拿(拏) ná < MC na < OC *nhra: | MC reading 假開二平麻泥 | Dialects: Nanchang lak41, Hakka :
na11, Cant. na12, naa4, laa4 (coloqiual: /lɔ12/) ] (Comment: The strange thing is the Mon forms and Khasi do not seem to be cognate to any other forms in this limited list for this item while the Chin. /ná/ and the V /lấy/, which are cognates but they do not look like having anything to do with any other MK foms.)
- rời ’to go out, issue’ (Old Mon /tīt/, mod. /tit/, Danaw /lé2/, Riang White and Black /lɛ`\ /, Palaung /lih3/, Wa /lih5/, /lah5/, Biat /lôh/, Khasi /mih/.) [ Chin. 離 lí (SV li) also VS 'lìa' | ©M 離 lí < MC le < OC *raj, *rajs | FQ 力智 ] (Comment: The writer cannot relate these forms to similar forms in Chin. or V but 離 lí looks like it wiht a slight seviation in meaning.)
- nhai ‘to grind (teeth)’ (No Mon forms, Danaw /tjət3/, Riang White /tɤr\kiɛt-/, Black /kriac-/, Palaung /kik2/, Wa /krɯt1/, Shan /kʿuit/.) [ Chin. 嚼 jué (SV tước) | M 嚼 jué, jiáo, jiào < MC ʒjak < OC *ʒhekʷ | FQ 在爵 ] (Comment: While the V form may be cognate to the Chin form, all other MK forms in this limited list start with the initial /k-/ which look kie something related to the V ‘cắn’ (bite).)
- giết ‘to kill’ (Vit. /giết/, Old Mon /kucit/, mod. /gacun/, Danaw /pyi:n4/, Riang White /pyam-/, Black /pɪɛ`m-/, Palaung /ŋɑʔ3/, / ŋɔʔ3/, Wa /ñah5/, /ñéh5/, Srê /gəsət/, Hanar /kəchǐt/, T’eng /gut/, /pəhan, /pʿān/, Lemet /piam/, Khasi /pyniap/, /pynjot/ (to destroy/, Mundari /goěʔ/. ) [ Chin. 殺 shà (SV sát) | ©M 殺 shā, shài, sà, shài, shì, xuē (sát, sái, tát) < MC ʂɑt, ʂaj < OC *sra:t,
*sre:t *sra:t-s | FQ 所拜 ] (Comment: While there is no boubt that both the Chin. And V forms are cognate to each other, but the similarities in the sound change patterns of a few other MK forms make us wonder why there exist such cross linguistic families.)
- cười ‘to laugh’ (Old Mon and mod. /gruŋ/, Danaw /kălit3/ Riang White / kăñɑʔ1/, Riang White /kɤñɑ s\ /, Black /ŋot\ /, Palaung /kăñ ɑ3/, Wa /ñah5/, /ñéh5/.) [ Chin. 笑 xiào (SV tiếu) | ©M 笑 xiào < MC sjew < OC *shaws | FQ 私妙 ] (Comment: All MK forms look like cognates while the V and Chin. forms need some enumeration in order to equate the two etyma.)
- liếm ‘to lick’ (No Old Mon, mod. /klān/, Danaw /kăliɛ`t3/, Riang White /lia\ /, Black /liɛ`t\ /, Palaung /lɛ`t/, /lɑ’ʔ1/, Wa / liɛ`t3/, Khmer /līt/, Besisi /tělön/, Nicobarese /tulân/, Malay /jilat/, Khasi /jliah/.) [ Chin. 舔 tiăn (SV thiêm) | ©M 舔 tiăn < MC t’iem < OC *slem, | According to Starostin : to lick (Tang) Viet. liếm
must be an archaic loan (unless it is a chance coincidence); standard Sino-Viet.
is thiêm. | Zhou: zyxlj p.250 : MC t’iem < OC *t’ijəm < PC* lijəm, *liem,
Guangzhou: li-m, TB *(s-)lyjəm ‘tongue’ ] (Comment: It is interesting so see that most of the listed forms are cognate to each other including the Chin.)
- giở ’to lift’ (Old Mon /yok/, /yuk/, mod. Yuik, Danaw /yəik2/, Riang White /yɔŋ\ /, Black /tsɔ\ /, /pʿrɔ-/, Palaung djUk1, Wa /yUk3/, Mnong Gar /yək/, Srê /yō/, K’mu /yôk/, Shan /yuk.) [ Chin. 舉 jǔ (SV cử) | ©M 舉 jǔ < MC kɔ < OC *klaʔ | FQ 居許 | Straostin: to rise, surge, start; to
lift, promote. Viet. also has giơ 'to show, to raise': is it a colloquial
loanword from the same source? Derived with a *k-prefix from *laʔ, see 舁.
] (Comment: The V form seems cognate to all forms.)
- khóc ‘to mourn, cry’ (Old Mon /yām/, mod. /yām/, Danaw /ñɑn2/, Riang White and Black /yɑm\ /, Palaung /yɑm2/, /yɪm2/, Old Khmer /yām/, Sakai /yabm/, Besisi /yām/, Semang /jām/, /jim/, Nicobarese /chīm/, Stieng, Srê /ñim/, Biat /ñim/, Bahar /ñem/, /ñum/, Pʿu-man /yaŋ/, T’eng /yam/, Lemet /yām/, K’mu /yâm/, Khasi /tām/, Mundari /iam/, Kurku /yam/.) [ Chin. 免 wèn (SV vấn), 哭 kù (SV khấp) | M 免 miăn, wèn < MC mian, men, mun < OC *marʔ, *mən, *mhərs | According to Starostin : MC
me/n is not quite regular (*m@/n would be normally expected). For *m- cf. Xiamen
bian3, Chaozhou, Fuzhou mien|3, Jianou min|3. Also read *m(h)@r-s, MC mu\n,
Mand. wèn 'to mourn, mourning'. || ©M 哭 kù < MC khuk < OC *kho:k | MC reading 通合一入屋溪 || ©M 泣 qì < MC khip < OC *khrǝp | FQ 去急 ] (Comment: the writer is not sure what form in V that correspond to those MK forms with /yam/, but the Chin. 免 wèn (SV vấn) 'mourning headdress' seem to fit well into the MK patterns. In the meanwhile the V ‘khóc’ can be a word to mean both ‘to mourn, cry’ which is cognate to both Chin. 哭 kù (SV khấp) and 泣 qì (SV khốc).)
- há ‘to open mouth’ (Viet. /há/, No Old Mon, mod. /hā/, Danaw /hɑ1/, Riang White and Black /ɑŋ-/, Palaung /ɑŋ2/, Wa /ɑŋ2/, Khmer /hā/, Srê /hā/, Bahnar /ha/, Besisi /ɑŋ/, T’eng /ɑŋ/, Khasi /ang/.) [ Chin. 哈 hā (SV cáp, ha), 開 kāi (SV khai) | ©M 哈 hā, hă, hà, kā, hē, shà ~ ht. QT 合 hé (hợp, hiệp, cáp) < MC ɠɤp < OC
*gjə:p || M 開 kāi < MC khɤj < OC *khjə:j | FQ 苦哀 | Cant /hoi1/ ] (Comment: Except for the /ang/ form, all other forms are cognate to the V /há/, which include those of the Chin. 開 kāi as appearing in Cant /hoi1/.)
- nhức ‘to be in pain’ (Old Mon uñjey/, /ajey/, mod. /yai/, Danaw /kătsu1/, Riang White and Black /sʿuʔ-/, Palaung /séu2/, Wa /sɑ’ɯʔ1/, Khmer /jnun/, /jnī/, Sakai /ŋi/, /nyi/, /ěnji/, Nicobarese /yē/, /tu/, Stieng, Srê /ji/, Bahnar /ji ʔ/, P’u-man /shu/, T’eng /cu/, /shu/, Lemet /so/, Khasi /suh/, Mundari /hasu/) [ Chin. 疼 téng (SV đông) VS 'nhức, nhói', 痛 tòng (SV thống) VS 'đau' | M 疼 téng < MC thəwŋ < OC *dawŋ | MC reading 曾開一平登定 | ¶ t- ~ nh- || M 痛 tòng < MC thʊŋ < OC *slo:ŋs | FQ 他貢 ] (Comment: All MK forms seem to cognate to the V form /nhức/ while its correspondence in Chin., except for ‘đau’ 痛 tòng ‘in pain’, seems to need more enumeration compared to what appears in the ST languages. See “the Sino-Tibetan connections” in the next chapter.)
- dệt ’to plait, weave’ (No Old Mon, mod. /tān/, /tut/, Danaw /tɑi4/, /tan2/, Riang White /taiñ-/, Balck /tiɑñ-/, Palaung /ɗak1/ (to weave), Wa /tiɑñ2/, Old Khmer /tāñ/, Malay /dědan/, Nicobarese /tain/, Stieng, Biat , Srê, Mnong Gar, Bahar, T’eng /tañ/, Khasi /thaiñ/, Mundari /teŋ/.) [ Chin. 織 zhí (SV chức) ] (Comment: All those forms the phonemic intials /t-/, /th-/, and /ɗ-/ seem to point to the V /dệt/ including that of the Chin. Form.)
- trồng 'to plant (tree)' (Old Mon /tal/, /til/, mod. /tuiw/, Danaw tɑi4/, /tan2/, Riang White /pɤsʿɤm-/, Black /pək\sʿəm-/, Palaung /sam2/, Wa /tɑiñ2/, Shan /pʿukswam/.) [ Chin. 種 zhòng (SV giống) | ©M 種 zhǒng, zhòng < MC tʂouŋ < OC ouŋʔ | FQ 之隴 | MC
reading: A: 通合三上腫章; B: 通合三去用章 | According to Starostin : seeds; cereals.
Also read *toŋʔ-s, MC couŋ (FQ 之用), Mand. zhòng 'to sow'. The word also means 'kind, sort,
race' ( > 'seed'), which is reflected in a colloquial Viet. loanword (from another
dialectal source) giống 'kind, sort; race, breed, strain' ] (Comment: It is no doubt that both the V and Chin. forms are certainly cognate, not only in the meaning of 'to plant' but also 'seed, race, kind..' along with other meaning that the Chin. 種 zhòng and zhǒng convey. It is also interesting to see that all other MK forms are also cognate, which substatiate the hypothesis of loanwords cross linguistic families. (See discussion at the end of this list.)
- gặt ’to reap’ (with sickle) (No Old Mon, mod. /rat/, Danaw /vwəik4/, Riang White /vwəit\ /, Black /vwəic\ /, Palaung /sUk1/, Malay /kěrat/ (to cut), Srê /ros/, Biat /rek/.) [ Chin. 穫 huò (SV hoạch) VS ‘gặt’ | ©M 穫 huò, huà, hù < MC ɣwaik < OC *whrāk | FQ 胡麥 ] (Comment: If the Chin. form as 穫 huò (V ‘gặt’) is equated, that is a picture perfect to correspond to the /v-/ forms that appear throughout. Still, the question is who has borrowed the word from whom?)
- về ‘to return, go home’ (Viet. /trở/, Old Mon cow/, mod. /cau/Danaw /yən2/, Riang White and Black /vwiŋ\ /, Palaung /vwi2 /, Wa /i:ŋ2/, Wa /vwɔk3/, T’eng /věk/, /rəvěk/.) [ Chin. 回 huí (SV hồi), 歸 guī (SV qui) | ©M 回 huí < MC ɠoj < OC *wjə:j < **PC **qwjə:l | MC reading 蟹合一平灰匣
|| ©M 歸 guī < MC kwyj < OC *kwɒj | FQ 舉韋 ] Comment: The writer is not sure V /trở/ is the right word for ‘return’ or ‘go home’ while the V ‘về’ is certainly cognate to the Chin. 回 huí or 歸 guī. . However, except for the Mon forms, it is interesting to see how the V form is to equated with other MK forms in different appearances.)
- cỡi ‘to ride, mount’ (Old Mon /duk/, /dok/, mod. /ɗuik/ , Danaw /tən4/, Riang White and Black /tutum/, Bahnar /tōk/.) [ Chin. 騎 qí (SV kỵ), also VS 'cưỡi' | ©M 騎 qí < MC ge < OC *ghaj | FQ 渠羈 ] (Comment: The V is certainly cognate to the Chin form while others in the MK languages seem to deviate a geat deal if they are cognates at all.)
- hôi ’to rot, putrid’ (Viet. /hôi/, no Old Mon, mod. /sa-uai/, Danaw /sʿɔŋ2ɤn4/, Riang White /kʿɤm/, Black /kʿəm-/, Palaung /am2/, Wa /tjuʔ1/, Old Khmer /sa-uy/, T’eng /həʔu/ (to smell bad), Mundari /soěa/, Srê /pəʔum/, Biat, Mnong Gar /ôm/.) [ Chin. 臭 chòu (SV xú) VS ‘hôi’ and ‘thúi’, 腐 fǔ (SV hủ) VS ‘hư’’ and ‘rữa’ | ©M 臭 chòu, xìu < MC ʨjəw < OC *khiws | MC reading 流開三去宥昌
|| M 腐 fǔ < MC bʊ, pu < OC *bhoʔ, *phu ] (Comment: While other MK forms vary differently, both of the Chin. forms are cognate to those of the V.)
- gãi ’to scratch, scrape’ (No Old Mon, mod. /kʿarak/, Danaw /kʿrɛ` ʔ/, /kʿriət3/, Riang White /kiɪt\ /, Black /kɪt\ /, kʿré-/, Wa /tjéh5/, /tjɪh5/ (of thorns), Khmer /kōs/, Besisi /kawait/, Semang /kaid/, Malay /kais/, Nicobarese /takaic/, Stieng /kuac/, Bahnar /kac/.) [ Chin. 抓 zhuà (SV trảo) | ©M 抓 zhuā < MC tʂaw < OC *tʂaɨw ] (Comment: The V. form is cognate to that of the Chin. to mean 'scratch'. In the mean while other MK forms deviate differently.)
- gởi ’to send, conduct’(Old Mon /pindoŋ/, mod. /palăŋ/, Danaw /pʿu1/, Riang White and Black /pʿuʔ-/.) [ Chin. 寄 jì (SV ký) | ©M 寄 jì < MC kɛ < OC *kajs ] (Comment: The writer is not certain if the V ‘gởi’ and the Chin. 寄 jì are the same lexicons of what Luce meant here in his limited list for this item.)
- lặn ‘to set’ (with the sun) (Old Mon /plit/, mod/ /pluit/, Danaw /kɔt2/, Riang White /kɤt-/, Black White /kət-/, /kut\/ (to enter), T’eng /gut/ (to enter).) [ Chin. 落 luò (SV lạc) | ©M 落 luò, lè, luō, lào, là < MC lak < OC *ra:k | ex. 日落 rìluò (SV nhậtlạc) VS trờilặn 'sunset' | See next chapter on ST. ] (Comment: Only the Mon forms are cognate to the V /lặn/ while the Chin. form for this item point to /luò/.)
- bắn ‘to shoot’ (with bow) (Viet /bắn/, Old Mon /pañ/, mod. /pan/, Danaw /pəiŋ4/, Riang White and Black /pəiñ-/, Palaung /pɑiŋ2/, Wa /púiñ2/, Old Khmer /pañ/, Malay /panah/ (bow), Nicobarese /fɑiŋ/ (crossbow), Biat /pañ/, Mnong Gar /pɛñ/, Bahnar /pɛŋ/, T’eng /piñ/, Lemet /piŋ/.) [ Chin. 放 fàng (SV phóng) | ©M 放 fàng < MC pwoŋ < OC *paŋs ] (Comment: All forms are cognate including that of the Chin.)
- nằm ‘to sleep, lie down’ (Old Mon /stīk/, mod. /stik/, Danaw /ti:n2/, Riang White /yɛ`t-/, Black /yat-/, /yɛ`t-/, Palaung /iʔ1/, Wa /it1/, Khmer /tak/, Srê /jětek/, Nicobarese /teak/, Lemet /lit/, Khasi /thiah/, Mundari /gitiʔ/.) [ Chin. 躺 tăng (thảng) | ©M 躺 táng ~ phoetic. M 尚 shàng, cháng < MC ʂaŋ (ʂhaŋ) <
OC *dʑɨaŋ | ¶ t- ~ n- | According to Starostin: Proto-Vietmuong: *ŋɨah, *ŋa:h, (lie) on one's
back, Viet. 'ngửa' supine, backwards, Proto-Ruc: *ŋah.1, Ruc: C- taŋa:h.1 ] (Comment: The V ‘n ằm’ and the Chin. ‘tăng’, which are cognate but only means ‘to lie down’, show similarity in sound change patterns that correspond to those of the MK forms. Other V and Chin. cognate forms such as 臥 wò (SV ngoạ) VS ‘ngủ’ (to sleep) but they deviate from other forms, where we are trying to find cognates for all languages under examination.)
- tẩm (No Old Mon, mod. /bap/, Danaw /tən4/, Riang White and Black /tam-/, Khasi /pdem/. [ Chin. 浸 jìn (SV tẩm) [ ©M 浸 jìn, jīn < MC cjɨm < OC *cim, *cims |
Starostin : to overflow, soak, wet. In Mand. also read ji:n (pointing to a
variant MC *cjim, OC *cim). The normal Sino-Viet. reading is tẩm; cf. also tắm
'to bathe, have a bath' (probably a colloquial loan from the same source). ] (Comment: Obviously the V and Chin. forma are cognate to other MK forms in this limited list by Luce excep that of the mod. Mon /bap/.)
- đâm ’stab, pierce’ (No Old Mon, mod. /tʿapak/, Danaw /tat3/, Riang White /tɤ-/, Black /təs-/.) [ Chin. 捅 tǒng (SV đồng) | ©M 捅 tǒng ~ phonetic. ©M 桶 tǒng < MC thʊŋ < OC *slho:ŋʔ ] (Comment: obviously bothe the Chin. and V forms are cognate while those forms in Luce’s limited list for this item might not be.)
- giậtmình ’to be startled’ (No Old Mon, mod. /takuit/, Danaw /kʿrôn2/, Riang White and Black /kʿran-/.) [ modern ©M 吃驚 chījīng (SV ngậtkinh) | dissyllabic 吃驚 chījīng \ @ 吃 chī (ngật) ~ giật, thất 失 shì | M 吃 (喫) chī < MC ʔjet
< OC *ʔrjət || M 驚 jīng < MC *kaijŋ < OC *kraŋ | ¶ j- ~
m- ] (Comment: The V ‘giậtmình’ and the Chin. 吃驚 chījīng are cognates and other forms in his limited list for this item look like it.)
- đói ‘to starve’ (Old Mon /kanlor/ (=famine), mod. /klow/, Danaw /ŋat2/, Riang White and Black/ ŋuat\ /, Old Burmese /ŋat/, Malay /kěbulor/ (famine). [ Chin. 餓 è (SV ngạ) | M 餓 è < MC ŋʌ < OC *ŋha:jʔ | ¶ w- ~ đ- | Cant. /ŋɔ/ ] (Comment: While the V form /đói/ seems to deviate greatly, if not to be cognate to any of the forms at all, while the Chin. 餓 è seems to be cognate to those of MK forms listed here except those of the Mon.)
- trộm ‘to steal’ (Old Mon /kumlec/, /kamlec/ (=thief), mod. /klat/, Danaw /rat2/, Riang White and Black /raʔ\ /, Palaung /brɑ2/, Wa /brɛʔ3/, T’eng /luic/, /luêc/, Mundari /reʔ/.) [ Chin. 盜 dào (SV đạo) | ©M 盜 dào < MC dʌw < OC *dhaws ] (Comment: The V ‘trộm’ agrees with the Chin /dào/ and both do not seem to have anything to do with other MK forms.)
- vuốt ’to stroke’ (Viet. /vuốt/, Old Mon /aumpot/, /samput/, mod. /spot/, Danaw /pʿyé4/, Riang White /puas-/, Balck /pruas-/, Palaung /puh3puh3/, Wa /mUh5/, Khmer /cpūt/, Malay /sapu/, Stieng /puōt/, /rəpuōt/, Srê /rəpoc/, Biat /rʾpōt/, Bahnar /pōt/, T’eng /puòt/ (to touch), Khasi /syrpud/.) [ Chin 撫 fǔ (SV phủ, mô) | ©M 撫 fǔ (phủ, 摹 mô) < MC phʊ < OC *phaʔ | Staostin: to accomodate oneself to, follow; manage, handle.The original meaning 'lay the hand on' (whence 'manage, accomodate') is attested somewhat later, during LZ ] (Comment: All forms seem to be cognate.)
- sưng ’to swell’ (No Old Mon, mod. /guh/, Danaw /Uət3/, RTiang White and Black /as-/, Palaung /ah3/, Wa /u1ah5/, Sakai /ki- âs, Srê /as/, T’eng /tərʔɛh/, Khasi /at/, /iar/.) [ Chin. 腫 zhǒng (SV thũng) | ©M 腫 zhǒng < MC tʂjwoŋ < OC *tjuŋ ] (Comment: The V and Chin. forms are cognate to each other while other MK forms seem to show no relation.)
- cột ‘to tie, fasten’ (Old Mon dak/, mod. /dak/, Danaw /tôk1/, Riang White and Black /tuk-/, Palaung /ɗɤk1/, Wa /pyɔk1/, T’eng /tǔk/, Khasi /the.) [ Chin. 結 jié (SV kết) | ©M 結 jié < MC kiet < OC *ki:t | FQ 古屑 ] (Comment: All forms seem to be cognate to V /cột/ which is certainly derived from the Chin. 結 jié.)
- ói ’to vomit’ (No Old Mon, mod. /tʿa-aʾ/, Danaw /ɔ:ʔ2/, Riang White and Black /hɔl-/, Palaung /hɤ2/, /hak1/, Wa /hɑ’2/, Nicobarese /oàu/, Srê /haʔ/.) [ Chin. 嘔 ǒu (SV ẩu) also VS 'ợ' babble, 'ộc' throw up | ©M 嘔 ōu, ǒu, xū, yù, òu < MC ʔɤw < OC *ʔo:, *ʔo:ʔ | According to Starostin: babble (as a child) (LZ) . Also used for *ʔo:ʔ, MC ʔow, Pek. ǒu 'vomit'.] (Comment: While V /ói/ is cognate to the Chin. /ǒu/, some of the other MK forms seem to point to V. ‘nhổ’ and ‘khạc’ ‘spit’ beside ‘thổ’, a SV word for ‘vomit’.)
- muốn ‘to want, desire’ (Old Mon /mic/, mod. /mik (gwaʾ)/, Danaw /tsʿɔŋ4/, Riang White and Black /sʿun-/, Palaung /sɤŋ2/, Wa /yUh5/, Bahnar /mɛt/, /kəmɛt/.) [ Chin. 願 yuàn (SV nguyện) VS muốn | M 愿(願) yuàn < MC ŋwɒn < OC *ŋors | According to Starostin: be attentive, sincere. Viet.
'ngoan' is a colloquial loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is nguyện. Etymologically
perhaps = 願 ] (Comment: While some other MK forms are cognate, the Chin. form need further emumeration.)
- ngáp 'yawn' (Viet. /ngáp/, no Old Mon, mod. /kʿa-āp/, Raing White /ŋɑp-/, /hɑp-/, Palaung /pʿɛ`m2ñɑ’u2/, Wa /ŋɑp3/, Khmer /sŋāp/, Malay /kuap/, Nicobarese /hiŋ-âp/, Biat /nʾgap/, Bahnar /hā-ap/, /gəŋɑp/,, T’eng /hŋɑp/, Khasi /saham/, Mundari /cahabʔ/, /cābr/.) [ Chin. 哈 hā | Colloqiual (Beijing): 哈欠 hāqiān (SV cápkhiếm) VS 'ngáp' <~ ® Vh @ QT 哈欠 hāqiān | ©M 哈 hā, hă,
hà, kā, hē, shà ~ ht. M 合 hé (hợp, hiệp, cáp) < MC ɠɤp < OC *gjə:p ] (Comment: All forms are cognate, interestingly, including the Chin.)
The wide-range list above compiled by Luce is to show the MK strata that underline 245 basic words in Danaw,
a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by an ethnic group living in Burma,
of which many are mixed lexicons cross linguistic families. The MK sub-stratum cases that matter the Danaw language are similar to what actually appears in V with apparent MK sub-strata with its etyma interconnected with different linguistic families at the same time.
As we can see in the list, even though V forms appear selectively in much less than half of the listed items, portions of them are clearly cognate to those lexicons in different linguistic families such as the Austroasiatic MK, Austronesian Malay, or Tibeto-Burmic. Like the basic word lists provided by Thomas (see below) and Baker for only those correspondences in the MK languages, many of the the Chinese elements appear to prominently correspond to the V basic words at the same time. Altogether with Luce's list they will amply provide a wide-range of basic words for comparison in all linguistic families. Even though Luce's list is plentiful, basic words are not only limited to those listed items, hence additional lists compiled by Thomas and Baker are also provided here for further examination. For those words that the Chinese etyma are involved, careful examination of the same lexicons in other ST languages, to be discussed in the next chapter, will prove them plausible for such cases.
For the laymen it is useful to examine in detail how the sound changes have varied and diverged morphologically as they may appear differently in each language. The interrelation involved therein also represents a real challenge to any philologists trying to purge out its loanwords in order to establish the indigenous layer for genetic classification, i.e., from which linguistic family each etymon have actually originated.
In historical linguitics, for those languages without clear genetic linguistic identification, some Southeast Asian linguists have come up with the term "mixed language". This may not be
applicable to the case of Vietnamese mainly because with those available basic words already found cognate to those MK languages per se it has been classed as an Austroasiatic language. Moreover, it is believed that there exists no such thing as a "generic" language on earth including Afrikaan or Esperanto. However, in many a case, there exists a situation that, typologically, a language A shares a certain percentage of its basic words with it's neighbor B and portions of those of B with C, and C in turn shares some of its other basic ones with D, and so on. In the overall picture down the line the language Z has some of basic etyma that scatter unequally in A, B, or C, and among others. Yet, some of what appears in Z may be cognate to those words in A, B, C... but they might not be not genetically related at all.
Could that scenario be the case of those existant MK factors in the V? Let's say, V (for Vietnamese) was a cousin of T (to be assigned for Proto-Tai) and T was also a cousin of Z (for Zhou). Z is adopted by Q (for Qin) and Q had given rise to S (for Chinese). Given A, B, C, D... as their neighboring languages in ancient times -- recall that ancestors of all the Yue tribes were inhabitating in areas up to the farther northern banks of the Yangtze River -- and the hypothesis of how V words might have inherited them directly from T, Z, and S, and spread to distant neighbors through "ripling" contacts, e.g. emigration, interaction, trading and bartering, and invasion and integration, etc., we see that even though V and S are not genetically affiliated, they are having linked kinship from its cousin ancestors (P, Z, and Q). This theory could be substantiated from the above word list where we can put all the V basic words at least into four groups: 1) the ones that have no connection with those of Chin., 2) those that are confirmed cognates with Chin. but also related to those in MK language, 3) those that are more likely cognate to Chin. than to those in MK languages due to direct contacts, 4) words that are listed but appear cognate only in Chin. and V., and lastly, 5) just like (4) but not listed in any MK basic word lists under examination, i.e. those should be categorized as basic lexicons. Below are sampled words in those five categories:
- tai, mũi, miệng, cổ, ba, bốn, năm, mới, ruồi, bướm, đắng, etc.
- mắt 目 mù, tay 臂 bì (cf SV tý), vú 乳 rǔ, thỏ 兔 tù, dê 羊 yáng, đực 特 tè, trứng 蛋 dàn, chấy 虱 shī, mô 巫 wū, bông 葩 pā, cám 糠 kāng, sắt 鐵 tiě, sâu 深 shēn, etc.
- tiếng 聲 shēng, lửa 火 huǒ, than 炭 tàn, chổi 帚 zhǒu, etc.
- goá 寡 guă, liềm 鐮 lián, mác 茅 máo, thuyền 船 chuán, trọc 禿 tù, etc.
- uống 飲, khóc 哭 kù, cười 笑 xiào, bếp 庖 pào, tấm 糝 săn, giếng 井 jǐng, suối 泉 quán, nắng 陽 yáng, etc.
Even though in the above list the V basic forms, still inexhausive, are dominantly in agreement with those of Chin., many of them still appear in different languages. We can hence assume that the shared portions of the V basic words with others are results of typologically interpolated resettlement where the basic glosses had infiltrated in different linguistic families as we have seen in Luce's list. (3)
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1) Without "linguistic feelings" due to lack of first-hand experience in modern Chinese, both standard and coloquial, those authors would never know roots of many V words such as 'đầunậu' (ring leader) 頭腦 tóunăo (SV đầunão), láibuôn' 大販 dăipán (Cant. /taipan/ -- merchant), 'lẻtẻ' (trivial) 零星 língxīng (SV linhtinh, miscellaneous), 'ănnhậu' (eat and drink) 應酬 yìngchóu, 'cụngly' (raise glasses and toast) 碰盃 bèngbèi, 'luônluôn' (always) 牢牢 láoláo, 'đừnghòng' (don't you ever) 甭想 péngxiăng, 'đượclắm' (pretty good) 得來 dé lái, 時間 shíjiān for 'giờgiấc' (time -- while 'thuở (thủa)' (a period of time), a product of phonetic sandhi of 時候 shíhòu (SV thờihậu)), and 至於 zhìyú giving rise to both 'đốivới' (with regards to) and 'đếnnổi' (to such a degree (that)) -- that match exactly the same usage and meanings in C -- etc., not to mention in-depth knowledge required for the Chinese phonological historical linguistics to appreciate the roots of basic lexicons such as 'chỉ' 線 xiàn (thread) and 'chỉ' 錢' (ancient monetary unit weighed approximately a 10th of a tael), đường' 唐 táng (road, as apposed to 道 dào, SV đạo), 'lá' 葉 yè (leaf), 'lúa' 來 lái (paddy, as opposed to 稻 dào 'gạo' rice), 'cá' 魚 yú (fish), 'sông' 江 jiāng (river, as opposed to 川 chuān), 'mây' 霧 wù (cloud, as opposed to 雲 yún), mưa 雨 yǔ (rain), nắng 陽 yáng (sunshine), 'biển' 海 hăi (sea, same as VS 'bể'), ăn, uống 飲 yǐn (drink), đi 去 qù (go), 'đứng' 站 zhàn (stand), ỉa 屙 é (to poo), 'đái' 尿 niào (urinate, same as VS 'tiểu'), 'ngủ' 臥 wò (sleep, as opposed to 睡 shuì), 'đụ' 嫖 piáo (fuck, same as VS 'đéo'), 'đẻ' 生 shēng (Hainanese /de/ -- give birth to), 'việc' 活 huó (work), etc., and of a countless number of other words cited in this paper. For the same reason, due to lack of first-hand experience in modern Vietnamese the same authors will never know dissyllabic words such as 'vòmtrời' 宇宙 yúzhōu (SV vũtrụ 'unviverse'), 奎瓜 kuìguā 'dưahấu' (watermelon), ănmày 要飯 yàofàn, 巫師 wùshì 'thầymô' (also 'phùthuỷ') (shaman), etc. are cognates.
2) Note that "Vietnamese" and "Muong" are specifically not grouped into the MK languages. That indicates that Norman is also aware of the problems in their affirmative classification.
3) The same phenomenon can also be observed in other languages of different roots, even though they are lumped together under the umbrella of Indo-European, such as English and French: one ~ un or une, two ~ deux, three ~ trois, eye ~ oeil, nose ~ nez, tongue ~ tongue, sun ~ soleil, moon ~ lune, fire ~ feu, time ~ temp, mountain ~ montagne, wind ~ vent, water ~ eau, etc.
ā ē ě ī ǐ ă ō ǒ ū ǔ ǖ ǘ ǚ ǜ ü ɔ ɑ ɪ ɛ ɤ ə ŋ ɯ ɪ ʔ ʃ ö χ ɓ ɗ ɱ ʿ ʾ θ ñ