Appendix:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/g/s-ni-s

This entry contains Proto-Sino-Tibetan reconstructed words and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan

Etymology

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan: ?
  • Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *g/s-ni-s (Matisoff, STEDT); *g-nis (Benedict, 1972; Chou, 1972; LaPolla, 1987); *g-ni-s (Weidert, 1987)

Alongside the root for "three" (*g-sum), this root for "two" is one of the most lexemically and phonologically stable numerals in Sino-Tibetan languages, and lexical replacement of this etymon is excessively rare: e.g. Jingpho /ləkhôŋ/ which has not been successfully connected to anything else (Note that the Jingpho word for "one" has a similar shape: /ləŋâi/ and is also etymologically unclear).

This root appears unmistakably cognate with *s-ni-s (“seven”). See there for more.

The Burmese form seems to suggest a proto-language velar final variant: *-ik.

Numeral

Proto-Sino-Tibetan numerals
ONE	*ʔit *kat *tjak ~ g-t(j)ik
TWO	*g/s-ni-s
THREE	*g-sum
FOUR	*b-ləj
FIVE	*l/b-ŋa
SIX	*d-(k-)ruk
SEVEN	*s-ni-s
EIGHT	*b-r-gjat ~ b-g-rjat
NINE	*d/s-kəw
TEN	*gip *ts(j)i(j) ~ tsjaj
TWENTY	*(m-)kul
HUNDRED	*b-r-gja
THOUSAND	*s-toŋ

1. two

Descendants

• Old Chinese: 二 /*nij-s/
  • Middle Chinese: 二 /ȵiɪH/

    →   Japanese:  二 (に, ni)
          Korean:  이 (二, i)
          Vietnamese:  nhị

    • Modern Mandarin
      • Beijing: 二 (èr, /ˀɤɻ⁵¹/)
    • Cantonese
      • Guangzhou: 二 /jiː²²/
    • Wu
      • Shanghai: 二 /ȵi²³/ (colloquial) /ɦəɻ²³/ (literary)
• Himalayish
  • Tibeto-Kanauri
    • Bodic
      • Tibetan
        • Written Tibetan: གཉིས (gnyis) (“two”)
• Lolo-Burmese-Naxi
  • Lolo-Burmese
    • Burmish
      • Written Burmese: နှစ် (hnac) (“two”)
    • Loloish
      • Northern Loloish
        • Yi (Liangshan): ꑍ (nyip) (“two”)
• Karenic:

  /*k-hnejᴬ/ (Luangthongkum, 2013)

  • Sgaw: ခံ (khi) (“two”)

See also

• *s-ni-s (“seven”)