Proto-Sino-Tibetan
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Etymology
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Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *ngaɣ/ngay (Coblin, 1986)
Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *ŋa (Chou, 1972; Benedict, 1972); *ŋɑ (Chou, 1972); *ŋay (Benedict, 1972); *ŋǎy (Matisoff, 1985); *ŋay (Weidert, 1987); *ka ⪤ ŋa (LaPolla, 1987); *ŋa-y (Matisoff, 2003); *ŋa-y ⪤ *ka (Matisoff, STEDT)
*ŋa-j ~ ka
I , me
Descendants
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Old Chinese: 吾 /*ŋˤa/ (B-S); /*ŋaː/ (ZS) ("I"), 我 /*ŋˤajʔ/ (B-S); /*ŋaːlʔ/ (ZS) ("I")
(Note: Gong Hwang-cherng (Gong Huangcheng) argued that the distinction between 吾 and 我 was that of the nominative/accusative or subject/oblique cases. 吾 (* ŋag in his reconstruction) was the nominative case pronoun, and 我 (* ŋal) was the accusative case pronoun.)
(我 in the oracle bone script )
Middle Chinese: 吾 ( ŋuo ) , 我 ( ŋɑX )
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→ Japanese: 我 (が , ga ) Korean: 아 (我 , a ) Vietnamese: ngã ( 我 )
(Both words survive in compounds and as literary readings. Listed below are the colloquial words for "I" in each dialect, all from this etymon. )
Modern Mandarin
Beijing: 我 /u̯ɔ˨˩˦/
Jinan: 我 /uə˥/ , 俺 /ŋæ̃˥/ (fusion with 們 / 们 )
Shenyang: 我 /uə˨˩˧/ , /ə˨˩˧/
Xi'an: 我 /ŋə˥˧/
Chengdu: 我 /ŋo˥˧/
Kunming: 我 /uo˥˧/
Hefei: 我 /u˨˦/ , /u˨˩˨/
Yangzhou: 我 /o˦˨/
Wu
Suzhou: 我 /ŋəu˧˩/
Shanghai: 我 /ŋu˨˧ ~ ɦu˨˧/ , /ŋu˥˧/
Wenzhou: 我 /ŋ̍˨˦/
Xiang
Gan
Hakka
Cantonese
Guangzhou: 我 /ŋo˩˧/
Yangjiang: 我 /ŋɔ˨˩/
Min
Amoy: 我 /ɡua˥˧/
Teochow: 我 /ua˥˧/
Fuzhou: 我 /ŋuai˧˩/
Kamarupan
Himalayish
Tibeto-Kanauri
Bodic
Kurtöp: ངཏ ( ngat )
Tibetan: ང ( nga , “ I ” ) /ŋa˩˨/
Mahakiranti
Kham-Magar-Chepang-Sunwar
Kiranti
Eastern Kiranti = Rai
Western Kiranti
Kulung: aŋ
Tangut-Qiang
Northern Tangut
Tangut: 𗧓 ( *ŋa² , “ I, me ” )
rGyalrongic
Situ: ŋa ( “ I ” )
Zbu: ŋəʔ ( “ I ” )
Jingpho-Asakian
Proto-Kuki-Chin: *kaj ~ kaj-maʔ (VanBik, 2009)
Lolo-Burmese-Naxi
Proto-Lolo-Burmese: *ŋa¹ (Weidert, 1987)
Burmish: *C-ŋa¹/ (Bradley, 1979)
Burmese: ငါ ( nga , “ I ” ) /ŋà/
Proto-Loloish: *C-ŋa¹
Northern Loloish
Yi (Liangshan): ꉢ ( nga ) , ꉡ ( ngax , “ I, me ” )
Proto-Tani: *ŋoo
Proto-Kuki-Chin: *kay