Proto-Sino-Tibetan language

Proto-Sino-Tibetan
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 reconstructed proto-language of the Sino-Tibetan language family and the common ancestor of all languages in it, most prominently the Chinese languages, the Tibetan language, 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]

Proto-Tibeto-Burman may be considered as equivalent to Proto-Sino-Tibetan if Sinitic is considered to be a lower-order subgroup within the Tibeto-Burman group.[2]

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.[3] 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/Affricate		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)

The reconstruction by Peiros & Starostin suggests a much more complex consonant inventory.[4] The phonemes in brackets are reconstructions that are considered dubious.

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

Sound changes

Final consonant changes

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.[5]

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

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

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
	*-iat	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
	*-ik	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
	*-jəkw	六 *drjəkw	*d-ruk

Nasal finals


	Proto-Sino-Tibetan	Old Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei)	Proto-Tibeto-Burman
*-m	*-əm	含 *gəm	*gam
	*-əm	頷 *gəm	*gam
	*-jəm	飲 *·jəmx	*am
	*-jəm	尋 *ljəm	*la[·]m
	*-jim	坅 *khjamx “pit”	*kim
	*-um	三 *səm	*g-sum
	*-jum	尋 *ljəm	*lum
*-n	*-an	乾 *kan	*kan
*-n	*-jin	辛 *sjin	*m-sin
*-ng	*-jəng	夢 *mjəngs	*mang
	*-jəng	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
	*-ug	寇 *khugs	*r-kuw
	*-jug	霧 *m(r)jugs	*(r-)muw
		軀 *khjug	*(s-)kuw
		乳 *njugx	*nuw
*-gw	*-əgw	寶 *pəgwx	*puw
	*-əgw	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
	*-jul	閩 *mjən	*s-brul
	*-jal	疲 *brjal	*bal
	*-il	洒 *silx	*(m-)s(y)il
*-r	*-ar	播 *s-bars	*bwar
	*-ar	皤 bar, par	*pwa:r
	*-jar	販 *pjans	*par
	*-jar	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][6]
English	I. Peiros & S. Starostin	J. Matisoff	Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1][6]
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]
English	I. Peiros & S. Starostin	J. Matisoff	Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
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	*la	N/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

Perhaps dialectally 𤈦 /*m̥əjʔ/ and 燬 /*m̥ajʔ/.
Possibly related to 清 /*tsʰeŋ/.

Qualitative features of an object

English	Reconstruction by		Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
English	I. Peiros & S. Starostin	J. Matisoff	Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
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	*riŋ	N/A
New	*cʰăr	*sar	鮮 *s[a]r

It is possible that *s-nak is a descendant of *s-maŋ ~ s-mak (whence OC /*m̥ˤək/).
The more commonly used 白 /*bˤrak/ might be a derivation of it.

Verb stems

English	Reconstruction by		Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
English	I. Peiros & S. Starostin	J. Matisoff	Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
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)	*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

Numbers

English	Reconstruction by		Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
English	I. Peiros & S. Starostin	J. Matisoff	Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart)[lower-alpha 1]
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

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.

References

Benedict, Paul K. (1972), Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus (PDF), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-08175-7.
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.
Egerod, Søren Christian. "Sino-Tibetan languages - Linguistic characteristics". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
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.
Hwang-cherng, Gong. "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) (in Chinese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-03. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent. "The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese". The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

Matisoff, James A. (2003), Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-09843-5.

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[8] Perhaps dialectally 𤈦 /*m̥əjʔ/ and 燬 /*m̥ajʔ/.

[9] Possibly related to 清 /*tsʰeŋ/.

[10] It is possible that *s-nak is a descendant of *s-maŋ ~ s-mak (whence OC /*m̥ˤək/).

[11] The more commonly used 白 /*bˤrak/ might be a derivation of it.

[notation-6] 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.

[6] Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;

[7] Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;

[8] Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;

[9] Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

[10] Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

[benedict1972-1] Benedict, Paul K. (1972), Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus (PDF), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-08175-7.

[2] 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.

[3] Egerod, Søren Christian. "Sino-Tibetan languages - Linguistic characteristics". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 July 2019.

[4] 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.

[5] Hwang-cherng, Gong. "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) (in Chinese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-03. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

[7] Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent. "The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese". The Baxter-Sagart reconstruction of Old Chinese. Retrieved 10 August 2022.