Proto-Sino-Tibetan language (original) (raw)

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Reconstructed ancestor of the Sino-Tibetan languages

Proto-Sino-Tibetan
PST, Proto-Trans-Himalayan
Reconstruction of Sino-Tibetan languages
Lower-order reconstructions Proto-Sinitic (see Old Chinese) Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Proto-Sino-Tibetan (PST) is the 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,[2] in recent years several scholars have argued that this was not well-substantiated,[3] and have taken to calling the group "Trans-Himalayan".[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.

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

| | Plosive | Fricative | Sonorant | | | | | | ---------- | --------- | --------- | ------ | ----- | ----- | - | | Voiceless | Voiced | Voiceless | Voiced | Nasal | Other | | | Labial | p | b | m | w | | | | Dental | t | d | s | z | n | r | | Palatal | c | ʒ | y | | | | | Lateral | l | | | | | | | Velar | k | g | h | ŋ | | |

Peiros & Starostin (1996)

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The reconstruction by Peiros & Starostin suggests a much more complex consonant inventory.[7] The phonemes in brackets are reconstructions that are considered dubious.

| | Plosive/Affricate | Fricative | Sonorant | | | | | | | | -------------------- | --------- | --------- | ------ | --------- | ------ | - | - | | | Unaspirated | Aspirated | | | | | | | | | Voiceless | Voiced | Voiceless | Voiced | Voiceless | Voiced | | | | | Oral | Nasal | | | | | | | | | Labial | p | b | m | pʰ | (bʰ) | w | | | | Dental | t | d | n | tʰ | (dʰ) | r | | | | Alveolar | c | ʒ | cʰ | (ʒʰ) | s | | | | | Palatal | ć | ʒ́ | ń | ćʰ | ʒ́ʰ | ś | y | | | Lateral | (ƛ) | l | | | | | | | | Velar | k | g | ŋ | kʰ | (gʰ) | x | ɣ | | | Uvular | (q) | (ɢ) | (qʰ) | (ɢʰ) | (χ) | | | | | Laryngeal | ʔ | | | | | | | |

The following tables show the reconstruction of Proto-Sino-Tibetan phonemes by Nathan Hill (2019).[8]

| 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 | * | *q | | *ʔ | | | Affricate | voiced | | *dz | | | | | | | | voiceless | | *ts | | | | | | | | | Fricatives | | *(s)[a] | | | | | | | | | Approximant | | *l | *j[b] | | | | | | | | Rhotic | | *r[c] | | | | | | | |

  1. ^ The sibilant correspondences are simply presented according to their proto-Burmish outcomes, as no patterns could be found by Hill.[9]
  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.[10]

Vowels Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
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 correspondences

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The sound correspondences cited by Hill (2019) are as follows. Hill bases his correspondences to Old Chinese off of the Baxter-Sagart reconstruction, and thus that reconstruction will be used in the following correspondence tables.

Note that many cognate sets with /p t k b d g/ initials between Old Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese agree in every phoneme in a given word except for whether an initial consonant is voiced or not. Jacques explains these discrepancies as at least partially triggered by pre-syllables that were lost or decayed on the way to Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese.[11]

Expected initial correspondences in Hill (2019)

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Tibetan Written Burmese
*p- *p- p- p-
*t- *t- t- t-
*k- *k- k- k-
*kʷ- *kʷ- k- ?
*b- *b- b- p-
*d- *d- d- t-
*g- *g- g- g-
*q- *q- k(h)- (lost)
*ɢ- *ɢ- g- ?
*ɢʷ- *ɢʷ- g- w-
*ts- *ts- ts(h)- ch-
*dz- *dz- (d)z- c-

Vowel correspondences of vowels in Hill (2019)

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Tibetan Written Burmese
*a *a a o[a] a
*e *e e i[b] a[c] a[d]
*i *i i i
*o *o o wa[e]
*u *u u u o[f]
*uw *u u ui uiw[g]
a a
*əw *o u u
*əj *əj a ~ e i
  1. ^ After rounded dorsal consonants.
  2. ^ Before velar consonants.
  3. ^ Before dental or liquid consonants.
  4. ^ Before velar, dental or liquid consonants. In Proto-Burmish, pre-velar *i (from *e and *i) were still both distinct from *a.
  5. ^ o in Old Burmese.
  6. ^ Before velars. Did not merge with inherited *o > Old Burmese o > Written Burmese wa.
  7. ^ In Old Burmese.

Final correspondences according to Hill (2019)

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Tibetan Written Burmese
*-p *-p -b -p
*-t *-t -d -t
*-k *-k -g -k
*-kə *-k (lost)[a] (lost)
*-q *-ʔ -g -k
*-ʔ *-ʔ (lost) (lost)
*-m *-m -m -m
*-n *-n -n -n -ñ(ñ)[b]
*-ŋ *-ŋ -ng -ng
*-l *-j -l (lost)[c]
*-r *-r -r (lost)
*-rl *-r -l (lost)[c]
  1. ^ Except after *a, where this final instead surfaces as -' (transliterated by Hill).
  2. ^ After *e or *i.
  3. ^ a b Unless after *u; in this case the final surfaces as -y.

Final consonant changes

[edit]

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.[12]

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

[edit]

Voiceless plosive finals

[edit]

| | 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 | | |

| | 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

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| | 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 | |

| | 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 | |

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

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[a][13]
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
English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[a]
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 [i]
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 *la N/A[ii]
Star *(s-)q(ʰ)ār *kar 扈 *m-qˤaʔ [iii]
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. ^ See also the dialectal 𤈦 /*m̥əjʔ/ and 燬 /*m̥ajʔ/.
  2. ^ Chinese 月 /*[ŋ]ʷat/ is a descendant of another PST word, *s-ŋʷ(j)a-t.
  3. ^ Unclear. The more common word is 星 /*s-tsʰˤeŋ/, which is possibly related to 清 /*tsʰeŋ/, in turn from PST *(t)s(j)aŋ.

Qualitative features of an object

[edit]

English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[a]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
Black, dark (TB) *nǝk *nak 黑 *m̥ˤək[i]
White wār *hwār 皤 *[b]ˤar[ii]
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 *riŋ N/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.
English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[a]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
To eat *ʒʰa *dzya 咀 *dzaɁ
To drink *dʰɨn ~ *dʰɨŋ *daŋ ~ *doŋ
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) *ta N/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
Number Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[a] Old Tibetan [14] Old Burmese [14]
I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff
1 *dyiǝk *dik ~ *t(y)ik ~ *t(y)ak 一 *ʔi[t], 隻 *tek gcig ac, tac
2 *nĭy *ni 二 *ni[j]-s gnyis nhac < *nhik
3 *sɨm *sum 三 *s.rum gsum sumḥ
4 *lĭy *lǝy 四 *s.li[j]-s bzhi liy
5 *ŋāH *ŋa 五 *C.ŋˤaʔ lnga ṅāḥ
6 *rŭk *ruk 六 *k.ruk drug khrok < *khruk
7 *(s-)nĭt *ni 七 *[tsʰ]i[t] N/A[i] khu-nac
8 *ryēt *gyat ~ *ryat ~ *rit 八 *pˤret brgyad rhac < rhyat
9 *kwɨH *gǝw ~ *kǝw 九 *[k]uʔ dgu kuiḥ
10 *k(ʰ)ĭp *g(y)ip 十 *t.[g]әp N/A[ii] kip
100 *(p-)ryā *gya 百 *pˤrak brgya ryā
  1. ^ Tibetan bdun has unknown origins, likely used to avoid confusion with the similar-sounding "two".

  2. ^ Tibetan bcu is a descendant of another PST root, *tsjaj.

  3. ^ a b c d e 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.
  1. ^ a b 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. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11610317S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1817972116. PMC 6534992. PMID 31061123.
  3. ^ Orlandi, Georg (2021). "Once again on the history and validity of the Sino-Tibetan bifurcate model". Journal of Language Relationship. 19 (4): 263–292.
  4. ^ Hill 2019.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Egerod, Søren Christian. "Sino-Tibetan languages - Linguistic characteristics". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Hill 2019, p. 211.
  9. ^ Hill 2019, p. 234-235.
  10. ^ Hill 2019, p. 216.
  11. ^ Jacques, Guillaume (April 16, 2021). "Review of Hill (2019): The Historical Phonology of Tibetan, Burmese, and Chinese" (PDF). Journal of Historical Linguistics. 11 (1): 143–158. doi:10.1075/jhl.20001.jac. ISSN 2210-2116. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent. "The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese". The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  14. ^ a b Hill (2012).