Sino-Tibetan *w in Tibetan and Old Chinese

Bibliographic Data

ID21757017
AuthorsAxel Schuessler (Wartburg College, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume25
Issue1
Pages80-122
Publication date2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage and Linguistics 語言暨語言學 (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1606-822X • E-ISSN: 2309-5067
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/lali.00150.sch
OpenAlexW4390501549
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited38

From the perspective of Baxter’s (1992) Old Chinese (OC, which is generally followed by Schuessler 2009 ), the fate of a putative Sino-Tibetan (ST) * w in Tibetan and Old Chinese is quite straight-forward: In Tibetan * w was deleted everywhere in all environments; in word-initial position loss of * w ‐ resulted in (smooth) vocalic onset, it is argued here that this feature is represented by the letter ’a-chung , e.g. ’oŋ ‘come’ from * waŋ ; some such words have developed a new, or alternative, y -initial (e.g. yoŋ beside ’oŋ ). Vocalic onset (with ’a-chung ) is also the outcome of loss of other initial consonants (e.g. suffix ’u from bu ). In Old Chinese * w survived only as part of labiovelars, in absolute word initial position (later Middle Chinese initial jwi̯-), and in configurations * hw ‐ (voiceless * w ), * ʔw ‐ and * sw ‐ ( s -prefix). Drawn into the discussions are side-issues, like the elimination of * ɦ ‐ from the Old Chinese phonemic inventory; OC final *- r metathesis, monophthongization in closed syllables, ST labiovelars, as well as a number of new etymologies. This paper confirms by and large the conclusions of Handel (2009) and Jacques (2013) , but with some adjustments and elaborations

Linguistics · Prefix · Suffix · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Mathematics · Philosophy

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