Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/tsa ~ za

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *tsa (Chou, 1972); *tsjəɣ ~ dzjəɣ (Coblin, 1986), *tsə (Schuessler, 2007)
  • Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *tsa-n ~ za-n ("child"), *m-dza-k ("to love") (Matisoff, STEDT); *za (Benedict, 1972; Weidert, 1987); *tsa ⪤ *za (LaPolla, 1987)

*tsa ~ za

1. child, son, offspring; grandson; relatives; nephew/niece

*tsa ~ za

1. to come forth (as child at birth) - perhaps the original meaning
2. (prenasalised) to love, to be loving

• Old Chinese:

  子 (*tsəʔ (B-S), *ʔslɯʔ (B-S), “child”)

  ~ 崽, 仔 (*tsˁəʔ (B-S, unlisted), *ʔslɯːʔ, *srɯː (B-S), “(Southern dialect) child”)

  字 (*mə-dzə(ʔ)-s (B-S), *zlɯ (B-S), “to bear; to give birth; to breed; to love; character”)

  →   Burmese:  စာ (ca, “writing, letter, paper, document”)
        Vietnamese:  chữ (“writing, letter”)

  慈 (*dzə, *zɯ, “loving, kind”)

  滋 (*tsə, *ʔsɯ, “to grow, to breed, to propagate, to bring about, to increase”)

  孳 (*tsə, *dzə unlisted, *ʔsɯ, *zɯ, “to breed, to propagate”)

  (子 in bronzeware inscriptions: - "child}}

  (字 in bronzeware inscriptions: - "child under roof > to bear, to give birth}}

  • Middle Chinese: 子 (t͡sɨX), 崽, 仔 (t͡sʌiX), 字 (d͡zɨH), 慈 (d͡zɨ), 滋, 孳 (t͡sɨ)

• • →   Japanese:  子 (し, ​shi)
          Korean:  자 (子, ja)
          Vietnamese:  tử (子)

• • →   Japanese:  字 (じ, ​ji)
          Korean:  자 (字, ja)
          Vietnamese:  tự (字)

• • • Modern Mandarin
      • Beijing: 子 (zǐ, /t͡sz̩²¹⁴/, "child; diminutive"), 崽, 仔 (zǎi, /t͡saɪ̯²¹⁴/, "young animal"), 字 (zì, /t͡sz̩⁵¹/, "character"), 慈 (cí, /t͡sʰz̩³⁵/, "kind"), 滋, 孳 (zī, /t͡sz̩⁵⁵/, "to breed")
• Kamarupan
  • Kuki-Chin
    • Central Chin
      • Lushai [Mizo]: fa (“offspring, child; nephew, niece”)
• Himalayish
  • Tibeto-Kanauri
    • Bodic
      • Tibetan
        • Written Tibetan: ཚ་བོ (tsha bo, “grandson, grandchild; nephew”), བཙའ་བ (btsa' ba, “to bear, to bring forth, to give birth; to be born”), མཛའ་བ (mdza' ba, “amicable, intimate, close, loving”)
  • Newar
    • Newar: चिल् चा (cil cā, “baby goat”)
  • Mahakiranti
    • Kiranti
      • Eastern Kiranti = Rai
        • Limbu: ᤛᤠ (sa, “child, offspring”) (ᤛᤠ᤹ (saʔ) in compounds, e.g. ᤏᤢᤛᤠ᤹ (nusaʔ, “younger sibling”), ᤑᤠᤰᤛᤠ᤹ (phaksaʔ, “piglet”))
• Lolo-Burmese-Naxi
  • Lolo-Burmese
    • Burmish
      • Written Burmese: သား (sa:, “son, child, offspring”), စာ (ca, “to have tender regard for, to feel for”)
    • Loloish

      /*ʒa²/ (Hansson, 1989)

      • Northern Loloish
        • Yi (Liangshan): ꍶꌺ (chyt sse, “baby goat”)
      • Central Loloish
        • Lisu (Northern): ꓤꓽ (zà, “son, offspring”)

• *m/s-ŋa-j (“small; inferior; offspring”)
• *s-riŋ ~ s-r(j)aŋ (“to live, to be born, raw, to give birth”)
• *krwəj (“son-in-law, daughter-in-law”)
• *maːk (“son-in-law; genitals”)
• Proto-Mon-Khmer: *kuun ~ kuən (“child”) - source of the word "child, son" (e.g. 囝) in some Southern Chinese dialects, in place of descendants from common ST *tsa.