Proto-Sino-Tibetan
PST, Proto-Trans-Himalayan
Reconstruction ofSino-Tibetan languages
Lower-order reconstructions

Proto-Sino-Tibetan (PST) is the hypothetical linguistic reconstruction of the Sino-Tibetan proto-language and the common ancestor of all languages in it, including the Sinitic languages, the Tibetic languages, Yi, Bai, Burmese, Karen, Tangut, and Naga. Paul K. Benedict (1972) placed a particular emphasis on Old Chinese, Classical Tibetan, Jingpho, Written Burmese, Garo, and Mizo in his discussion of Proto-Sino-Tibetan.[1]

While Proto-Sino-Tibetan is commonly considered to have two direct descendants, Proto-Sinitic and Proto-Tibeto-Burman, there is only weak evidence for this,[2] and in recent years several scholars have attempted to rename the group "Trans-Himalayan". In this case, Proto-Tibeto-Burman may be considered as equivalent to Proto-Sino-Tibetan if Sinitic is indeed not the first branch to split from Proto-Sino-Tibetan.[3]

Features

Reconstructed features include prefixes such as the causative s-, the intransitive m-, the miscellaneous b-, d-, g-, and r-, suffixes -s, -t, and -n, and a set of conditioning factors that resulted in the development of tone in most languages of the family.[4] The existence of such elaborate system of inflectional changes in Proto-Sino-Tibetan makes the language distinctive from some of its modern descendants, such as the Sinitic languages, which have mostly or completely become analytic.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan, like Old Chinese, also included numerous consonant clusters, and was not a tonal language.

Phonology

Benedict (1972)

The table below shows consonant phonemes reconstructed by Benedict.[1]

Plosive Fricative Sonorant
VoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicedNasalOther
Labial pbmw
Dental tdsznr
Palatal cʒy
Lateral l
Velar kghŋ

Peiros & Starostin (1996)

The reconstruction by Peiros & Starostin suggests a much more complex consonant inventory.[5] The phonemes in brackets are reconstructions that are considered dubious.

Plosive/Affricate Fricative Sonorant
Unaspirated Aspirated
VoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoiced
Labial pbpʰ(bʰ)mw
Dental tdtʰ(dʰ)nr
Alveolar cʒcʰ(ʒʰ)s
Palatal ćʒ́ćʰʒ́ʰśńy
Lateral (ƛ)l
Velar kgkʰ(gʰ)xɣŋ
Uvular (q)(ɢ)(qʰ)(ɢʰ)(χ)
Laryngeal ʔ

Hill (2019)

The following tables show the reconstruction of Proto-Sino-Tibetan phonemes by Nathan Hill (2019).[6]

Consonants Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Labiovelar Uvular Labiouvular Glottal
Nasal *m *n *ŋ *ŋʷ
Plosive voiced *b *d *g *ɢ *ɢʷ
voiceless *p *t *k *kʷ *q *ʔ
Affricate voiced *dz
voiceless *ts
Fricatives *(s)[lower-alpha 1]
Approximant *l *j[lower-alpha 2]
Rhotic *r[lower-alpha 3]
  1. ↑ The sibilant correspondences are simply presented according to their proto-Burmish outcomes, as no patterns could be found by Hill.[7]
  2. ↑ This consonant can only exist as a coda.
  3. ↑ This phonetic nature of this rhotic is unknown.

The consonants /p t k q ʔ m n ŋ l r j/ can take coda position, as well as the cluster /rl/. While Hill does not reconstruct /j/ as an initial consonant due to Baxter and Sagart's Old Chinese reconstruction lacking such a phoneme, he mentions that Jacques and Schuessler suggest a /j/ initial for some Old Chinese words due to potential Tibetan or Rgyalrongic cognates.[8]

Vowels Front Central Back
Close iu
Mid eəo
Open a

Hill also claims that his reconstruction is incomplete, as it does not account for Tibetic palatalization, proto-Burmish preglottalization, Sinitic aspirates, and the Sinitic type A and B distinction of syllables.

Sound changes

Final consonant changes

In Gong Huangcheng's reconstruction of the Proto-Sino-Tibetan language, the finals *-p, *-t, *-k, *-m, *-n, and *-ŋ in Proto-Sino-Tibetan remained in Proto-Sinitic and Proto-Tibeto-Burman. However, in Old Chinese, the finals *-k and *-ŋ that came after the close vowel *-i- underwent an irregular change of *-k＞*-t and *-ŋ ＞*-n. In Proto-Tibeto-Burman, *-kw and *-ŋw underwent a sound change to become *-k and *-ŋ respectively, while in Old Chinese those finals remained until Middle Chinese, where the finals underwent the same sound change.[9]

Furthermore, in Proto-Tibeto-Burman, the finals *-g, *-gw, and *-d underwent the following changes:

  1. *-d＞*-y
  2. *-gw＞*-w
  3. *-g＞*-w when it follows the vowel *-u-
  4. *-g＞*-∅ when it follows the vowel *a and *-a-.

Example of sound changes

Voiceless plosive finals

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei) Proto-Tibeto-Burman
*-p *-jəp 汲 *kjəp *ka·p
泣 *khrjəp *krap
立 *(g-)rjəp *g-ryap
*-jap 接 *tsjap *tsyap
*-jup 入 *njəp *nup~ *nip
*-t *-iat 八 *priat *b-r-gyat
殺 *r-siat *g-sat
*-uat 脫 *hluat *g-lwat
*-jit 一 *·jit *it
*-k *-ək 翼 *lək *lak
*-jək 織 *tjək *tak
息 *sjək *sak
食 *N-ljək *(m-)lyak
飼 *s-ljəks *(s-)lyak
*-ik 節 *tsik＞*tsit *tsik
縊 *·iks, *·jiks *ik
*-jik 蝨 *srjik＞*srjit *s-rik
*-juk 曲 *khjuk *guk~kuk
*-kw *-əkw 毒 *dəkw *duk~*tuk
*-jəkw 腹 *phjəkw, *bjəkw *pu·k~*buk
六 *drjəkw *d-ruk

Nasal finals

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei) Proto-Tibeto-Burman
*-m *-əm 含 *gəm *gam
頷 *gəm *gam
*-jəm 飲 *·jəmx *am
尋 *ljəm *la[·]m
*-jim 坅 *khjamx “pit” *kim
*-um 三 *səm *g-sum
*-jum 尋 *ljəm *lum
*-n *-an 乾 *kan *kan
*-jin 辛 *sjin *m-sin
*-ng *-jəng 夢 *mjəngs *mang
蒸 *tjəng *tang
*-jang 紡 *phjangx *pang
涼 *grjang *grang
迎 *ngrjang *ngang
*-ing 盈 *bling *bling~pling
*-jing 年 *ning＞*nin *ning
名 *mjing *r-ming
甥 *srjing *sring
薪 *sjing＞*sjin *sing
仁 *njing＞*njin *s-ning
*-ngw *-jəngw 躬 *kjəngw *gung

Voiced plosive finals

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei) Proto-Tibeto-Burman
*-b *-əb 柔 *njəb＞*njəgw *nəw
*-d *-əd 𤈦 *smjədx *məy
*-ad 簸 *padx/s *pwa·y
太  *tads *tay
蜾 *kwadx *kwa·y
我 *ngadx *ngay
移 *lad *lay
*-id 四 *sjids *b-liy
*-jid 妣 *pjidx *piy
畀 *sbjids *biy
几 *krjidx *kriy
屎 *skhljidx *kliy
死 *sjidx *siy
*-g *-əg        母 *məgx *ma
*-jəg      負 *bjəgx *ba, *bak
子 *tsjəgx *tsa
慈 *dzjəg *m-dza
孳 *dzjəgs *za
耳 *njəgx *r-na~*g-na
牛 *ngwjəg *ngwa
*-ag 補 *pagx *pa
苦 *khagx *ka
吾 *ngag *nga
五 *ngagx *l-nga~*b-nga
狐 *gwag *gwa
*-jag 斧 *pjagx *r-pwa
夫 *pjag *(p)wa
父 *bjagx *pa
無 *mjag *ma
魚 *ngjag *ngya
咀 *dzjag *dza
汝 *njagx *na
*-ug 口 *khugx *kuw
寇 *khugs *r-kuw
*-jug 霧 *m(r)jugs *(r-)muw
軀 *khjug *(s-)kuw
乳 *njugx *nuw
*-gw *-əgw 寶 *pəgwx *puw
抱 *bəgwx *buw
*-jəgw 鳩 *kjəgw *kuw
九 *kjəgwx *d-kuw
舅 *gjəgwx *kuw
*-agw 豪 *gagw *m/s-gaw
號 *gagws *gaw
熬 *ngagw *r-ngaw
臊 *sagw *sa·w
*-jagw 飄/漂 *phjagw *pyaw

Liquid finals

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei) Proto-Tibeto-Burman
*-l *-al 肝 *kan *m-kal
*-ul 本 *pən *bul~*pul
*-jul 銀 *ngjən *(d)-ngul
閩 *mjən *s-brul
*-jal 疲 *brjal *bal
*-il 洒 *silx *(m-)s(y)il
*-r *-ar 播 *s-bars *bwar
皤 *bar, *par *pwa:r
*-jar 販 *pjans *par
鮮 *sjan *sar
*-uar 酸 *suan *swa·r
*-jur 飛 *pjər *pur~*pir

Vocabulary

Words which do not have reliable Sinitic parallels are accompanied by a (TB).

Social terms

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1][10]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
Person (in general) *mĭ*mi民 *mi[ŋ]
Male *pă*pʷa父 *p(r)aʔ
Female *mǝw*mow母 *mˤoʔ (or məʔ)
Name (of a person) *miǝŋ*miŋ名 *C.meŋ

Natural phenomena

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
Earth *ƛăy *ley ~ *lǝy地 *[l]ˤej-s
Stone *ƛɨāŋ ~ *ƛɨāk*luŋ ~ *luk琭 *[r]ˤok
Sand *srāy*sa沙 *sˤraj
Fire *mēyH*mey火 *[qʷʰ]ˤəjʔ [lower-roman 1]
Smoke *gʰiw*kǝw熏 *qʰu[n]
Water *tujʔ*t(w)i(y)水 *s.turʔ
Rain *(r-)qʰʷăH*rwa ~ *wa雨 *C.ɢʷ(r)aʔ
Sun *nĭy*nǝy日 *C.nik
Moon (TB) *(s-)lăH*laN/A
Star *(s-)q(ʰ)ār*kar星 *s-tsʰˤeŋ[lower-roman 2]
Night *yăH*ya夜 *[ɢ]Ak-s
Tree *sĭŋ*siŋ ~ *sik薪 *[s]i[n]
Leaf *lăp*lap葉 *l[a]p
Plant root *bʰūl*bul ~ *pul本 *C.pˤə[n]ʔ
  1. ↑ Perhaps dialectally 𤈦 /*m̥əjʔ/ and 燬 /*m̥ajʔ/.
  2. ↑ Possibly related to 清 /*tsʰeŋ/.

Qualitative features of an object

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
Black, dark (TB) *nǝk*nak黑 *m̥ˤək[lower-roman 1]
White wār*hwār皤 *[b]ˤar[lower-roman 2]
Big *tayH*tay大 *lˤa[t]-s
Cold *(k-)răŋ ~ *(k-)răk*glak ~ *glaŋ ~ *graŋ涼 *C.raŋ
Warm *lɨm*lim ~ *lum融 *luŋ
Long (TB) *rĭŋ*riŋN/A
New *cʰăr*sar鮮 *s[a]r
  1. ↑ It is possible that *s-nak is a descendant of *s-maŋ ~ s-mak (whence OC /*m̥ˤək/).
  2. ↑ The more commonly used 白 /*bˤrak/ might be a derivation of it.

Verb stems

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
To eat *ʒʰa*dzya咀 *dzaɁ
To drink *dʰɨn ~ *dʰɨŋ*daŋ ~ *doŋ潼 *tjongs
To bite/chew *wā*wa
To die *sĭy(H)*sǝy死 *sijʔ
To know, to think *siǝH*syey悉 *[s]i[t]
To hear (TB) *tʰa(s)*taN/A
To sleep *mĭyH*mwǝy寐 *mi[t]-s
To stand *ryǝp*r(y)ap立 *k.rәp
To sit *tūŋ ~ *tūk*duŋ ~ *duk ~ *tuŋ ~ *tuk住 *dro(ʔ)-s
Give *pĭy*bǝy畀 *pi[k]‑s

Numbers

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
1 *dyiǝk*dik ~ *t(y)ik ~ *t(y)ak一 *ʔi[t]
2 *nĭy*ni二 *ni[j]-s
3 *sɨm*sum三 *s.rum
4 *lĭy*lǝy四 *s.li[j]-s
5 *ŋāH*ŋa五 *C.ŋˤaʔ
6 *rŭk*ruk六 *k.ruk
7 *(s-)nĭt*ni七 *[tsʰ]i[t]
8 *ryēt*gyat ~ *ryat ~ *rit八 *pˤret
9 *kwɨH*gǝw ~ *kǝw九 *[k]uʔ
10 *k(ʰ)ĭp*g(y)ip十 *t.[g]әp
100 *(p-)ryā*gya百 *pˤrak
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 For Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:
    • Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
    • Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
    • Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
    • Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;
    • Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

See also

References

For a list of words relating to Proto-Sino-Tibetan language, see the Proto-Sino-Tibetan language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  1. 1 2 Benedict, Paul K. (1972), Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus (PDF), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-08175-7.
  2. ↑ Sagart, Laurent; Jacques, Guillaume; Lai, Yunfan; Ryder, Robin J.; Thouzeau, Valentin; Greenhill, Simon J.; List, Johann-Mattis (6 May 2019). "Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116 (21): 10317–10322. doi:10.1073/pnas.1817972116. PMC 6534992. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ↑ van Driem, George (2007). "The diversity of the Tibeto-Burman language family and the linguistic ancestry of Chinese". Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics. 1 (2): 211–270. doi:10.1163/2405478X-90000023.
  4. ↑ Egerod, Søren Christian. "Sino-Tibetan languages - Linguistic characteristics". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  5. ↑ Peiros, Ilia; Starostin, S.A. (1996). A comparative vocabulary of five Sino-Tibetan languages. Parkville, VIC: Univ. of Melbourne, Dept. of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. ISBN 9780732513504.
  6. ↑ Hill 2019, p. 211.
  7. ↑ Hill 2019, p. 234-235.
  8. ↑ Hill 2019, p. 216.
  9. ↑ Gong Huangcheng (龔煌城) (2003). 從原始漢藏語到上古漢語以及原始藏緬語的韻母演變 [Final changes from Proto-Sino-Tibetan to Old Chinese and Proto-Tibeto-Burman] (PDF). 古今通塞：漢語的歷史與發展. 第㆔屆國際漢學會議論文集語言組 (in Chinese). pp. 187–223. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-03. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  10. ↑ Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent. "The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese". The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
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