Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-twak

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

Proto-Sino-Tibetan

Etymology

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *s-twak (STEDT)

This root is well-attested in Lolo-Burmese and other branches of the family however in some languages it has been specialized to refer to animal births. The -t final is particular to Chinese, but this could well be a secondary development from an original velar after a front vowel. This term may have been conflated with a descendant from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-(t/d)u (“nephew; descendant”) – whence the Burmese တူ (tu, “nephew”) – a sense no longer productive but was mentioned in the glossary book Erya, c. 2nd century BCE.

Noun

*s-twak

Descendants

Old Chinese: 出 (OC *kʰljuds, *kʰljud) ("go out; leave")
- - Modern Mandarin
    - Beijing: 出 (chū) ("go out; leave") (chū)
Lolo-Burmese-Naxi
- Lolo-Burmese
  - Burmish
    - Burmese: ထွက် (htwak, “go out; leave”)