Vietnamese Chinese
What Makes Chinese so Vietnamese?
An Introduction to Sinitic-Vietnamese Studies
(Ýthức mới về nguồngốc tiếngViệt)
DRAFT
Table of Contents
dchph
Chapter Nine
IX) Similarity in cross-linguistic-family vocabularies proves no genetic relation
Luce, G. H. (1965) in "Danaw, a Dying Austroasiatic Language" (pp. 104- 129) (pronounced /tʿănɔʔ/, a Tibeto-Burmic tribal language of a hill tribe in Burma) put out 2 sets of word-list totaled 245 entries, including those of basic words, with correspondences in many Austroasiatic languages as purposedly listed in the first set that includes Mon, Danaw, Riang (/rəyɑŋ/), Palaung (Panku) , and Wa (Tung Wa). In the second list, Vietnamese forms appear amidst other Austroasiatic languages such as Khmer, Bahnar, Mundari, including Javanese and Malay of Austronesian as well as Old Burmese of Tibeto-Burmic linguistic families. Interestingly enough, many of their vocabularies in cross-linguistic families seem to be cognate to those of Vietnamese. For this matter, when examining the second list bear in mind that not all those listed items are related linguistic family, that is, loanwords, inevitably, exist among them (this extra note is good enough for laymen in this linguistic field, unless otherwise proved.)
With many lexicons bearing similar forms to those of Vietnamese in Luce's detailed lists, it looks like they are the same data that the Austroasiatic specialists have ever used all along in their works in grouping Vietnamese into the Mon-Khmer linguistic family. In addition to the first column "Vietnamese" and the last column "Comments" to annotate and explain the quoted items added to his listings as reprinted below I would like to bring in the Chinese elements to match those etyma which I think could be plausible candidates for being considered as cognates or derived words from the same origin. The main reason to include the Chinese words herein, even with some items that lack the related Vietnamese form originally, is to point out their association with the Vietnamese equivalents in comparison to those items quoted from other languages. As the cited Chinese words appear to be concurrently cognate to other etyma in the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family at the same time, it could mean that they might have common roots with the Yue or at least the ancestral Taic forms as well. Such a postulation would help pave way to put all Vietnamese, Chinese, and Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer forms as having evolved from the proto-Taic, if not the later ancient Taic-Yue, origin; otherwise, we will find it hard to explain why all cited etyma from each linguistic family appear to be similar, which suggests they are affiliated kins. Note that, however, the cognates are seldom found in all branches of the same linguistic family, including basic words, which indicates that they might be old loanwords. Such association is in turn purported to serve the purpose of placing the ancestral Yue roots ahead of those Sinitic elements as previously mentioned in Chapter Seven.
A) Basic word lists at crossroads
Note: Some irrelevant items of those languages totally non-cognate to the Vietnamese etyma listed in Luce's two tables are intentionally omitted here. Also, in the list the first Vietnamese notation in form Viet /vvvvvv/ starting in certain selective items, e.g., "Viet. /nhà/...", is originally cited by Luce.
Star * to ****** is to indicate degree of Vietnamese and Chinese cognateness in listed each item.
 Vietnamese |
English |
Mon-Khmer etymologies |
Chinese |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hai | two | Old Mon /bār/, modern /ɓa/, Old Khmer /ver, vyar/, Bahnar /ɓar/, Mundari /bar/ | Chin. 二 èr ‘two’ (SV nhị , M 二 èr < MC ɳɨ < OC *nijs | Consider the possibility of SV 'nhị' /ɲej6/ > /nhej/ > /hej1/ > /haj1/ ? | cf. V 'hăm' 廿 niàn (SV nhập) 'twenty-', ex. 廿一 niànyī (SV nhậpnhất) or VS 'hămmốt' (twenty-one). In late Zhou 再 zài (SV tái) could be used to indicate the concept of 'hai' as in modern M 再三 zàisān (VS haiba') to mean 'two or (times)'. | **Phonetic vocables rendered with this item sounds like 'ba' (three) in Vietnamese, though. But it cannot be "three" because if it is the case, this sound will take place of the actual "ba", then; Vietnamese cognate is not mentioned in this item in any case. It is also interesting to see that number 'one' is not listed in Luce's listings. Luce's list starts with 'two'; no 'one' was cited while V 'một' ~ '一 yī' (SV nhất) as 'one' could be cognate. See more down below. |
| ba | three | Old Mon /piʔ/ mod. /pi/, Old Khmer /pɪ/, Bhanar /pɛŋ/), Mundari /apɪ/ | Chin. 三 sān, sàn (SV tam) || M 仨 sā (ta) ~ M 三 sān, sàn < MC sɑm < *OC sjə:m | cf. băm 卅 sā 'thirty-', 卅二 sā'èr (tạpnhị) 'bămhai' (thirty-two). See more below. | **Like "một" ('one' 一 yī SV nhất), this Chinese etymon could have been a plausible candidate with or without the cognate number 'bốn' ('four' where it does not appear to be related to C 四 sì but Bhanar /pɛŋ/) if what follows it does not break up the pattern as compared with the others. the Vietnamese cognate, hence, is not included in this item. In historical linguistic, loanwords or words of the same root might deviate the meaning of the related etyma as in several languages, numeral cognates could be limited to two numbers. Similarly, the same postulation could be applied to the form 'two'. |
| bốn | four | Viet. /bốn/, Old Mon /pan/ mod. /pan/, Danaw /pən/, Palaung /p'Un/, Wa /pɔl2, pɔn2/, Old Khmer /pon/, Mundari /upun/, Bhnar /pūən/ | Chin. 四 sì (SV tứ) || M 四 sì < MC sjɨ < OC *slhijs | For Chin. 四 sì see elaboration down below. | *As 一 yī', 二 èr, and 三 sān could be associated with VS 'một', hai', and 'ba', respectively, if there is no general concensus in the linguist circle about the Vietnamese numbers one to five to be cognate to those in Mon-Khmer,C 四 sì still could be included for investigation then. |
| năm | five | Viet. /năm/, Old Khmer /prām/ | Chin. 五 wǔ (SV ngũ) || M 五 wǔ, wu < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋha:ʔ | For Chin. 五 wǔ see elaboration down below. | *Like number 'two', it looks like the only plausible candidate is in the Old Khmer etymon cited here while all others in other languages seem to be diverged with variants, that is, in different shapes and sounds. |
| sáu | six | Viet. /sáu/, Old Mon /taraw/, Modern Mon /tarau/, Wa /lyah5/ | Chin. 六 lìu (SV lục) || M 六 lìu, lù, líu < MC lʊk < OC *rhuk | FQ 力竹 | According to Starostin, be six, six. For *rh- cf. Jianyang so8, Shaowu su7. | ¶ l- ~ s-, td. 浪 làng (lãng) sóng, 蓮 lián (liên) sen | Chin. 六 lìu is highly plausible a cognate with both Wa /lyah5/ and V 'sáu'. | ***In all other languages the etyma appear in polysyllabic form with the common last syllable as -ru. As we all may already know, there is no 'six' in Khmer but 'five plus one' equivalent. |
| bảy | seven | Old Mon /dumpoh/, Modern Mon /t'apah/, Danaw /pat4/, Palaung /pu2/, Sakai /tempo/, Bahnar /təpət/, Srê /pɔh/, Piat /pôh/, P'aman /p'ua/, Lemet /pul/ | Chin. 七 qī (SV thất) || M 七 qī < MC chjit < OC *shit | For Chin. 七 qī see elaboration down below.< | *Like 四 sì, 七 qī is another highly speculative case for SV 'thất'. In Khmer, like six, there are no seven, neither eight nor nine and ten. |
| tám | eight | Viet. /tám/, Old Mon /dincām/, Modern Mon /dacām/, Danaw /tsɑn/, Riang White /pər\tɑʔ-/, Black /pər\tɑʔ-/, Palaung /ta/, Wa /n\dɑiʔ3/, Bahnar /təhŋam/, Srê /p'am/, Lemet /ta/, Khatia /t'am/, Savara /tamji/ | Chin. 八 bā (SV bát) || M 八 bā < MC pat < OC *pre:t | For Chin. 八 bā, see elaboration down below. | *八 bā is another speculative case for V. |
| chín | nine | Old Mon /dincit/, Modern Mon /dacit/, Danaw /tsən4/, Riang White /tɪ:m/, Black /tɪm/, Palaung /tɪ:m2/, Wa /dɪ:m2/ | Chin. 九 jǐu (SV cửu) || M 九 jǐu < MC kʌw < OC *kwjəʔ | For Chin. 七 qī, see enumeration down below. | ***If all other Vietnamese numbers are not cognate to those of Chin. etyma, then this is only another speculation along with 'six' 六 lìu and probably 'two' 二 èr and 'three' 三 sān. |
| mười | ten | (None applicable) | (None applicable) | Chin. 十 shí (SV thập) || M 十 shí < MC ʂʌp < OC * ʈjəp | Nothing looks alike here in all languages involved. For Chin. 十 shí (SV thập) we have 'chục' in Vietnamese while 'mươi' is highly speculative just like the other cases of 'four', 'five', 'seven', and 'eight'. See more elaboration on nymbers below. |
| trăm | hundred | Viet. /trăm/, Old and Modern Mon /klam/, Riang White /pər-yɑ\ /, Black /pər-yɑ\ /, Palaung /păyɑh/, Khasi /spah/, Old Burmese /ryā/ | Chin. 百 băi < MC pɐk < OC *prak | According to Starostin: Protoform: *rja: (p-) Chinese: *pra:k hundred. Tibetan: brgja hundred. Burmese: ra hundred, LB *rja. Kachin: l@ca1 hundred. Lushei: za hundred, KC *p-rkya\ (?). Comments: Gurung bhra, Thakali bhra; BG: Dimasa ra>dz/a, Garo ritts/a; Kanauri ra; Thebor gya; Rgyarung pa>rye; Rawang ya, Trung c^a1. Simon 14; Sh. 42, 136, 123; Ben. 45; Mat. 171. | ¶ b- ~ tr- (bl- ~ tr-), p- ~ tr-, OC *pr- ~ tr- , cf. blơi ~ 'trời', plau ~ 'trầu' | *The Chinese ~ Vietnamese cognateness is subject to speculative interpretion. |
| ai | I | Old Mon /ey/, Modern Mon /ʾai/, Danaw /oʔ1/, Riang White /oʔ-/, Black /oʔ-/, Palaung /ɑ2/, Wa /ɑəʔ1/, Old Khmer /añ/, Bahnar /iñ/, Khasi /nga/, War /ñia/, Mundari /aiŋ, iŋ, iñ/, Kurku /iŋ/ | Chin. 咱 zá (SV tá) ~ VS 'ta', cf. 'tao', 'tôi' || M 我 wǒ < MC ŋʌ < OC *ŋha:jʔ | In C there also exist several characters for the first person pronoun which can be related to several words in Vietnamese and one of which could be the word 俺 án, ăn (> 'ai') in its old and coloquial usage, probably still popular in northeast regions of China (see the classic novel 三國演義 'Romance of the Three Kingdom' or 水滸傳 'The Water Margins', etc.) as the first personal pronoun for someone to call oneself when addressing to an older person. This word also points to 'em' (literally 'younger bother' and a form of self-addressing pronoun 'I' in humble position in Vietnamese.) | ***'Ai' is a Proto-Vietic form which is cognate to those variants in all Mon-Khmer languages. In the meanwhile the Chin. 我 wǒ, SV 'ngã', seems to be recent development. However, if V 'qua' /wa/ is taken into consideration, the Vietnamese form then is cognate to the Chin. 我 wǒ. |
| mình | we (exclusive) | Old Mon /poy/, Modern Mon /puiai/ | Chin. M 咱們 zánměn (SV tamôn) ~ > 'chúngmình' ~ > V. 'mình' | M 們 mén < MC mon < OC *mjə:n | ****Other Luce's listed cognates do not sound anything like 'mình', 'chúngmình', or 'chúngtôi' at all. |
| mầy | thou | Viet. /mày/, Old Mon /beh/, Modern Mon /beh/, Danaw /mɤʔ1/, Riang White /mɪʔ\ /, Black /mɪʔ\ /, Palaung /méɪ2/, Wa /mɑɪʔ3/, Semang /pāy/, /meh/, Nicobarese /mẽ/, T'eng /mé/, Khasi /mé/, Mundari /am/, /me/ | Chin. 你 nǐ (SV ni) | M 你 nǐ < MC niej < OC *nhe:jʔ | ~ VS 'mi' | Note: in Chinese Aactually there are several other scholarly characters such as 爾 ér, 汝 rú, etc. all point to elevated modern second singular personal pronoun 你 nǐ ~ 'mày, mày, mi...' in Vietnamese | ***Though there is no doubt that there are cognates among listed languages in this item, the cross linguistic family similarity makes one wonder if they are the same cases as those of pa, ma, mat, som, etc. ? |
| bay | ye | No listings for modern and Old Mon, Danaw /pɤ1/, Riang White /péʔ-/, Blak /péʔ-/, Palaung /pɛ`2/, Wa /pɛ'1/, T'eng bò, Khasi phʾ, Maundari /pe/. See 'mày' | No Chin. form applicable | **'bay' is a variant of 'mày' as in Vietnamese 'tụibay' ~ 'tụimày', 'bọnbay' ~ 'bọnmày', that could be possibly cognate to '你們 nǐmén (SV nimôn) where 們 mén ~ 'bọn' and 你 nǐ ~ 'mầy', hence ~> 'bay', etc. |
| nó | he, she | Old Mon /dehh/, Modern Mon /ɗeʾ/, Danaw /anʾ4/, Riang /ɤn-/, Black /hnʔ-/, Palaung /an2/, Wa /an2/, Nicobarese /an/, Mundaria /diya/ | Chin. 他 tā (SV tha) | M 他 tā, tuō, duò < MC thʌ < OC *sla:j < PC **la:js | According to Starostin: other, different, Protoform: *la:j (s-), Meaning: other. Chinese: 他 *sla:j another. Burmese: ta-lij someone. Lushei: hlei (hlei?) compared with the other. | ¶ t-(th-) ~ n-, h- | ****The V 'nó' is plausibly a cognate with that of Chin. 他 tā with the pattern ¶ t- ~ n-. Another possibility is 其 qí (SV kỳ), which is possibly associated with 'va', both with the pattern / ¶ q- ~ n-, v- / but the latter could be a later development. |
| chúng | they | Old Mon /deh t-eh/, Modern Mon /ɗeʾ taʾ/, Danaw /kʿɤʔ1,3/, Riang White /kɤʔ\ /, Black /kəʔ\ /, Palaung /kɛ`2/, Wa /kʿɛʔ/, Old Khmer /ke/ | Chin. 他們 tāmén > 'chúngnó' > 'chúng' | **For other forms, could it be also a cognate of 'kẻ' as in 'kẻkhác' #其他 qítā (SV kỳtha, VS 'khác')? the Vietnamese form 'kẻ' is similar to /ke/ but the Mon forms, /deh t-eh/, Modern Mon /ɗeʾ taʾ/, look like V 'tụinó'. In any case, 'chúng' could be postulated as a contraction of early M 'tamen' where /t-/ ~ /ch-/ and /-men/ ~ /-owng/. |
| trai | male | (human) Old Mon /trūs/, Modern Mon /truʾ/, Danaw /pʿrɔh2/, Khmer /prus/ | Chin. 丁 dīng (SV đinh) ( M 丁 dīng, zhēng < MC tieŋ, taiŋ < OC *te:ŋ, *trēŋ | Note: 子 zǐ (SV tử) in ancient usage means both 'trai' (male) and 'gái' (female) ( M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsjɤ, tsjy < OC *cɑʔ *cɑʔs and it's doublet is 仔 zǐ, zī (SV tử, tể, tế | Cant. zai21) < MC tsz < OC *tsɨ || ex. Cantonese 仔仔 /zai24zai21/ = VS 'contrai' (boy) | ****All other forms seem irrelevant for this item except for Khmer initial cluster /pr-/ that suggests the interchange with the Vietnamese "tr-" which is prononced variably with a single consonant /ʨ-/, /tʂ-/, or /ʈ-/ depending on Vi subdialects. |
| đực | male | (animal) Old Mon /kmak/, Modern Mon /kmak/ | Chin. 特 tè (SV đặc) | M 特 tè, té < MC dʌk < OC *dhǝ̄k | Note: this etymon means male (animal) in ancent time. According to Starostin: male animal, bull. Used also for homonymous *dhǝ̄k 'be straight-rising'; *dhǝ̄k 'a match, a mate'. In later times the character was frequently used instead of 犆 *dhǝ̄k 'single; special' q.v. The regular Sino-Viet. form is đặc. || § 犆 tè (đặc) < MC dʌk < OC *dhǝ̄k. Per Starostin, after Zhou written usually as 特 (q.v.), with a more broad meaning 'special'. | ******While The Chinese and Vietnamese forms are sure cognates, all other Luce's listed etymologies seem irrelevant for this item except for what looks like inital cluster km- with no correspondences in both Khmer and Vietnamese. |
| vợ | wife (Luce: 'woman, female', 'vợ') | Old Mon /brow/, Modern Mon /brau/, Danaw /kămyaʔ3/, Riang White /réŋ\ /, Black /rɪŋ\ /, Palaung /kăloŋ2/, Wa /méŋ/, Kasi /briew/, /briw/ (=homo) | Chin. 婦 fù (SV phụ) | M 婦 fù < MC bjəw < *OC bjəʔ) | For Luce's 'vợ', 婦 fù (SV phụ) is also cognate to 'bụa' as in 寡婦 guăfù (SV quảphụ, VS goábụa 'widow'). Besides, for Chin. 婆 pó, SV 'bà' means 'woman', M 婆 pó < MC bwʌ < OC *bha:j | ******Besides 'vợ', 婦 fù is also cognate to V 'bụa'. In other languages the initial form br- can be associated with both 'bụa' and 'bà' while the -eng and -ong forms also appear to be related to the form 'nàng' 娘 niáng (SV nương) 'girl', 'woman'. The Khmer cognate is absent for this item. Besides, for 'vợ', there exists another form that shows C and Vietnamese cognate, that is, 妻 qī (SV thê), ¶ q- ~ v- where /v-/, a labio-dental initial, was a much later development, in Vietnamese southern dialect 'vợ' is pronounced as /jə:6/. Hence, the possible development has been 'buạ' /ɓwəːʔ6/ ~> 'dợ' /jəː6/ or /jəː˨˨/ (spoken only) ~> 'vợ' /və̰ːʔ6/. |
| ba, bố | father | Old Mon /amba/, /abaʾ/, Modern Mon /ma/, Danaw /pɑ4/, Old Khmer /vāpa/, Old Javanese and Malayan /bapa/, Khasi /kpa/, Mundar /aba'/ | Chin. 父 fù (SV phụ) | M 父 fù, fǔ (phụ, phủ) < MC pu < OC *paʔ < PC **pah | Note: Both Chinese and Vietnamese 'ba' is 爸 bā (SV ba) and 'bố' for 父 fù (SV phụ) | ******While /pa/ and /ma/ are similar to almost all languages on earth, all other forms in Luce's do not sound like they are cognates while the C 父 fù and V 'bố' forms are doubtless cognate. |
| má, mẹ | mother | Old Mon /ambo/, /aboʾ/, Modern Mon /bo/, Danaw /mɑɪʔ3/, Riang White /marʾ/, Black /maʔ/, Palaung /mɑ2/, Wa /meʔ3/, /maʔ3/ | Chin. 母 mǔ (SV mẫu, mô) | M 母 mǔ < MC mow, mʌw < OC *mjəʔ, *mǝ̄ʔ | Chin. for 'má' is 媽 mā, 'mẹ' 母 mǔ (also 'mợ') 母 mǔ (mẫu, mô). See elaboration in the previous section. | ******Like 'bố' being cognate to 父 fù, C 母 mǔ and V 'mẹ' are definitely of the same source. |
| con | child | Viet. /kon/, Old Mon kon/, Modern Mon /kon/, Danaw /kon4/, Riang White and Black /kuan/, Palaung /kɔn2/, Wa /kɔn2/, Old Khmer /kon/, /kun/, Sakai /kěnon/, Semang /kodn/, Nicobaese /kōan/, Shom Peng /köat/, Pʿman /kʿuan/, Bahnar /kon/, T'eng /kon/, Khasi /khún/, War /hūn/, Mundari /hon/, /hɔn/, Sav /on/, Gad /ōdu-ōn, Kurku /kōn/ | Chin. 子 zǐ (SV tử) | M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, zi, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsjɤ, tsjy < OC *cɑʔ *cɑʔs. For Chin. 子 zǐ (SV tử), cf. Fukienese (Fuzhou) 囝 Fukien /kiaŋ/, /kiã/, /kẽ/ ‘son, child’ | According to Starostin, 子 zǐ 'child, son, daughter, young person; prince'; a polite substitute for 'you' Also read *c@?-s, MC cjy\, Mand. zì 'to treat as a son'. Related is 字 *z|@?-s 'to breed' q. v. The character is also used for an homonymous word *c@? 'the first of the Earthly Branches' (in Sino-Viet.: tý). || Note: interestingly, 子 zǐ also means 'girl', ex. 處子 chūzǐ # 'gáitơ' (= 處女 chǔnǚ, SV xửnữ, 'virgin'), 《詩 Shī (Thi) ·周南 Zhōunán (Châunam) · 桃夭 Táoyāo (Đàoyêu) 》： '之子於歸，宜其室家。 Zhī zǐ yúguī, yí qì shìjiā.' (Congái vuquy, để thành giathất.), 子婿 zǐxù (chàngrể), 子民 zǐmín (condân), 長子 zhǎngzǐ (contrưởng), 孩子 háizi (concái), 戲子 xìzi (conhát). | ****Except for those variants of Chinese M 子 zǐ (SV tử) and Fukienese /kẽ/, there is no doubt that all the forms are the same in this item. |
| nội, ngoại | grandfather | Old Mon /lwaʾ/, Modern Mon /la/, Danaw /tɑ1/, Riang White and Black /tɑʔ/, Palaung /tɑ3/, Wa /tɑʔ1/, Old Khmer /atā/ (=old man) | Chin. 外 wài (SV ngoại) | M 外 wài < MC ŋwʌj < OC *ŋo:ts || For 內 nèi (SV nội), M 內 nèi, nà < MC nɔj < OC *njəps | Note: Viet. 'ông' is cognate to southern dialectal Chin. 阿公 āgōng (SV acông) that encompasses both maternal or paternal grandfathers (M 公 gōng < MC kuŋ < OC *klo:ŋ) in a wide range of speeches in terms to address kinship. There exist the C 外公 wàigōng (VS #ôngngoại); nonetheless, there exist no 內公 nèigōng (SV nộicông) for the extant VS 'ôngnội', probably due to dialectal differentiations, for instance, 'paternal grandfather' in modern Mandarin is 爺爺 yéye or Hainanese and Fukienese 阿公 āgōng. While there is no doubt that the short form of V 'ngoại' 外 wài is derived from 外公 wàigōng (#ôngngoại 'maternal grandpa'), the V 'nội' 內 nèi for 'paternal grandpa' is simply a deduction from the former (內 nèi as opposed to 外 wài). | ****There is no distinction from the mother's or father's side for the word 'grandfather' as listed here. Amusingly enough, for all the forms of they seem to be similar to the V /tiá/ that is cognate to 爹 diè (VS 'cha') in Chin. to mean 'daddy' instead. See more in the Sino-Tbetan chapter. |
| bà | grandma | Old Mon /abow/ (?), Modern Mon /bau/, Danaw /yaʔ1/, Riang White and Black /yaʔ\ /, Palaung /yā2/, Wa /yeʔ3/, /yaʔ3/, Old Khmer /aji/, Mundari /jia/ | Chin. 婆 pó (SV 'bà') | M 婆 pó < MC bwʌ < OC *bha:j Chin. 婆 pó is for V 'bà', but 'bà' also means 'woman, old woman'. Specifically, 'maternal grandmother' is 'bàngoại' 外婆 wàipó (SV ngoạibà) and 'bà' is a short form for both maternal and paternal grandmothers. However, like that of the case of 'ôngngoại' above, there exists no 內婆 nèipó for 'bànội' (paternal grandmother) in parallel with the solid cognate of 'bàngoại' as 外婆 wàipó in Chinese, wherein modern Mandarin is 奶奶 năinài. | *****'bà', 'bànội', 'bàngoại' are doubtless from Chinese with the V 'bà' cognate to Chin. 婆 pó. Meanwhile, the /ye/ and /ya/ forms somehow look like '爺爺 yéye 'paternal grandpa'. In all probabilities they may not be related at all for the form /yeye/ that is common in many languages. |
| cháu | grandchild | Viet. /cháu/, Old Mon /cow/, mod. /cau/, Ranaw /tapli4/, Riang Black White /pli-/, Palaung /hlan3/, Wa /kɔn4 sɑ'əʔ/, Old Khmer /cau/, Sakai /chěn-oʔ/, Besisi /kin-chu/, Semang /kanchɔʔ/, Malay /chuchu/, Bahnar /sâu/, T'eng /jeʔ/, Khasi /khsiw/, Old Burmese /mliy/ | Chin. 姪 zhí (SV điệt) | M 姪 (侄) zhí < MC trɦit < OC *drit | ***The modern Chinese M /zhí/ appears to be similar to the Vietnamese form. With other forms cited can also be postulated to be cognate to V 'cháu'., we could wonder if it is the same case as /pa/, /ma/, /mat/, /miao/, etc., in the world's languages." |
| goá | widowed | Old Mon /kamāy/ (Mid. Mon), Modern Mon /kmāai/, Danaw /mɑiʔ3/..., Riang White /kɤmɑi\ /, Black /kəmɑi-/, Palaung /kămɑ'i2/,/kămɑ'i2/ Wa /mɑi2/, Old Khmer /māy/, T'eng /boi/, K'mu /boi/, Old Burmese /kmay/, Shan /mai/, Chin. /hmeɪ/, /meɪ/ | Chin. 寡 guă | M 寡 guă < MC kwɑ < OC *kwra:ʔ | FQ 古瓦 = /kwa5/ | ex. 寡婦 guăfù SV 'quảphụ' < VS 'goábụa' > #'bàgoá' (widow). This dissyllabic word also gives rise to 'ởvậy' (widowed) in Vietnamese, literally, 'to live the same old way') | ******The /boi/ form is somewhat related to /bua/ and probably the /mai/ to /quả/ or /kamai/ to 'ởvậy'. In the meanwhile 'goá' in Vietnamese was definitely derived from Chinese by way of 寡婦 guăfù as /wa3buə6/, cf. 婦 fù (SV phụ) for both form Middle Vietnamese 'bụa' and 'vợ (wife). See elaboration on the item 'vợ'. |
| mo | witch, wizard | Mon mod. /bamuai/, Danaw .../pʿriʔ3/, Riang White and Black .../pʿrɛʔ3\ /, Palaung /bréi2/, T'eng /mòhrói/ | Chin. 巫 wū | ex. 'thầymo' 巫師 wūshī, also 'phùthuỷ' | M 巫 wū, wú < MC mʊ < OC *mha | ******'thầymo' and 'phùthuỷ' are a sure cognate with the Chinese word 巫師 wūshī. Based on their forms we could posit 'phùthuỷ' a later development from early M /wūshī/ or a dialectal form. |
| tên | name | Old Mon /yamo/, /imoʾ/, Modern Mon /imu/, Danaw /maʔ2/, Riang White and Black /mus\ /, Palaung /jɯ3/, Wa /tjɯ3/, Old Khmer /jmah/, /jimoh/, Srê /təməh/, T'eng /səŋmɤ/ | Chin. 姓 xìng (SV tính) | M 姓 xìng < MC sjɜŋ < OC *seŋs | FQ 息正., ex. 那姓習的是個流氓. Nà xìng Xí de shì gè líumáng. (Cái tên Tập đó là kẻ lưumanh.) 'The guy named Xi there is a bum.' | ****All listed forms and some others do not seem to be cognate to V 'tên' except that of Chinese which means 'given name' in modern Chinese while 'họ' (surname) was likely from 氏 shì (SV thị /thɛj6/, VS họ /ho6/), etymologically, cf. 氏族 shìzú (SV thitộc) VS 'giònghọ' (family line) and, phonologically, cf. 二 èr (SV nhị /nhej6/, VS hai /haj1/) 'two'. |
| Xiêm | Shan | Viet. /xiêm/, Mon mod. /sem/, Riang White and Black /sʿɛm-/, Palaung /sɪm2/, Wa /ʃiɛ`m2/, Old Khmer /syām/, Malay /sɪam/, Biat /chiăm/, P'u-man sien/, Old Burmese /syam/ | Chin. 暹 Xián as in 暹羅 Xiánluó (SV Tiêmla) (VS Xiêmla) | ****V 'Xiêm' has doubless come by way of the Chinese form. In English it is also transcribed as 'Siam' but it does not denote the same nominal 'Shan' as of people. |
| Miến | Burmese | Old Mon /mirmār/, Modern Mon /bamā/, Danaw /mlan2/, Riang White /mɤrɑn/, Black /məran/, Palaung /brɑn/, /brɔn/, Old Burmese /mranmā/, Chinese /mien/, Shan man | Chin. 緬 Miàn as in 緬甸 Miăndiàn (SV Miếnđiện) | *****Like 'Xiêm' or ''Miên' (Khmer), V 'Miến' is such called after that of the same word in Chinese. |
| Hẹ | Chinese | Mon mod. /kruk/, Danaw /ché4/, Riang White and Black /kʿɛ`-/, Palaung /kɛ`3/, Wa /hɔʔ1/, Old Burmese /taruk/ | Chin. 客 Kè as in 客家 Kèjiā (SV kháchgia) VS 'cácchú' | M 客 kè < MC khjajk < OC *khrajk | ****Another term "Chệt', degrading, though, is another possibility. V 'cácchú' from Hakka is another word for 客家 Kèjiā. |
| Ấnđộ | Indian | Old Mon /gulā/, Modern Mon /galā/, Riang White /kɤrɑ-/, Black /kərɑ-/, Palaung /kălɑ2/, Wa /kălɑ2/ Old Burmese /kulā/, Sanskrit/Pali kulaputta | Chin. 印度 Yìndù (SV Ấnđộ). In MC the word for it is 天竺 Tiānzhú (SV Thiêntrúc) | *****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms have nothing to do with the others at all. |
| đầu | head | Old Mon /kdip/, Modern Mon /kɗuɪp/, Danaw /ktɑŋ4/, Riang White /ki:ŋ-/, Black /kiŋ-/, Palaung /kɛŋ/, /kaɪŋ/, Wa /kéŋ/, Khasi /khlieh/ | Chin.頭 tóu (SV đầu) | M 頭 tóu < MC dɤw < OC *dho: | See more elaboration on this term in the previous section. | *****It is so obvious that V đầu and Chin. 頭 tóu are cognate while in Mon for both Old and modern forms they carry some intial variants of /kl-/. No Khmer is listed in Luce's list., though. |
| tóc | hair | Viet. /tóc/, Old Mon /sok/, Modern Mon /sok/, Danaw /ñok1/, Riang White /huk-/ Black /huk-/, Palaung /huʔ1/, Wa /hɑɯk1/, Old Khmer /suk/, Sakai /sok/, /suk/, Semang /sog/, Nicobarese /yôk/, Biat /chōk/, Srê /soʔ/, Bahnar /sɔk/, Pʿu-man /su-chʿi/, Khasi /shñih/, War /su'kha'/, Mundari /uʔ/, Savara /ū/ | Chin. 髮 fā (SV phát), M 髮 fā < MC pjɐt < OC *piat | ¶ p- ~ t- | **While others are clear cognates, including that of Vietnamese form, the Chinese modern and ancient forms also appear to fit into the sound change pattern that if there were no other forms for comparison, they would have certainly become a good candidate. |
| mắt | eye | Viet. /mắt/, Old Mon /mɑt/, Modern Mon /mɑt/, Danaw /ŋɑi2/, Riang White /ŋɑi\ /, Black /ŋɑi\ /, Palaung /ŋɑ'i2/, /ŋɔi2/, Wa /ŋɑ'i2/, Old Kmer /mat/, Sakai /mat/, Besisi /mōt/, Semang /med/, Malay /mata/, Nicobarese /oal-mât/, T'eng /măt/ Lemei /ŋɑi/, Khasi /khmat/, War /mat/, Mundari /mẽdʔ/, Gadaba /mā/, Kurku /mẽd/ | Chin. 目 mù (SV mục) | M 目 mù < MC mukʷ < OC *mhuk | cf. Hainanese /mat7/, ex. (Hai.) 目鏡 /mat7kɜng5/ (VS mắtkiếng) 'glasses' (note the word order in both speech are the same, too.) | ******All languages have the same etyma for this word! Southeast Asian linguists usually discount this word out of their list owing the close similarity among them, which may make it a mere coincidence. However, the point to be made here is this core item is cognate to the V /mắt/. |
| tai | ear | (outer; inner) Old Mon /ktor/, Modern Mon /ktow/, Danaw /kătən4/, /kătɔn4/, Riang White /tiôr-/, /kɔtiak-/, Black /tsor-/, /kɔtiɛ`k-/, Palaung /hyUʔ1/, Wa /yɑɯʔ2/, Sakai /ĕntāk/, Besisi /tögn/, /töŋ/, Semang /kentk/, Nicobarese /nâŋ/, Bat /tôr/, Srê /tur/, Bahnar /dɔn/, T'eng /kədɔʔ/, Khasi /shkor/, Mundari /lutūr/, Kurku /lutur/ | M dā 耷 tāp (big ear), Siamese, Lao tūp_ (pendant ears) (p. 71) | (Haudricourt) Daic Siamese, Lao, Ahom, Shan, Tay noir, Tay blanc, Dioi ta, Tho tha, Nung ha (p. 456), Also: Viet. 'say' (?), tai, *tśru Daic Siamese, Lao, Shan, Tay noir, Tay blanc hu, Tho su, Nung khyu, Cao-lan lɯ Sui qha, Mak tśha, Bê sa, Li say (p. 488) | Chin. #耳朵 ěrtuō (SV nhĩđoá) ~ VS 'lỗtai' | M 耳 ěr, rén, rěng < MC ɳy < OC *nhjəʔ || M 朵 duǒ < MC twʌ < OC *to:jʔ | **The Viet. /tai/ is not listed here but all the other forms appear to be cognate. The Chinese form 耳朵 ěrtuō posited for 'lỗtai', that, interestingly, looks like those of Mundari /lutūr/ and Kurku /lutur/ but it is subjected to speculation, though. |
| mũi | nose | Viet. /mũi/, Old Mon /muh/, Modern Mon /muh/, Danaw /kădət3/, Riang White and Black /kədɔʔ-/, Palaung /muh3/, Wa /mɤh5/,Old Khmer /muh/, Sakai /moh/, /mūh/, T'eng /muh/, Khasi /khmut/,Mundari /mũ/, Savara /mu/, Gadaba /muvvu/, Kurku /mū/ | Chin. 鼻 bí (tỵ) | M 鼻 bí < MC pɦji < OC *bji | See elaboration on the word 'mũi' 鼻 bí. | *Obviously, except for the Cinese form, all other forms are cognates. The V /muj4/ is cognate to the former forms. The speculation that 'mũi' and 鼻 bí are cognate is based on the posits of other body parts between the 2 languages. Let's postulate this form as either irregular or distant etymological variants which share only their labial phoneme which of the Vietnamese form was nasalized via /pt-/ demonstrated by the SV /tej6/ 'ty.' < /ptej/ ~ /mej4/ ~ /muj4/. |
| lưỡi | tongue | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /lātɑk/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑʔ1/, Riang White /tak-/, Black /tɑk-/, Palaung /săɗɑʔ1/, Wa /n-dak3/, Khmer /antāk/, Sakai /ləntāk/, Semang /letic/, Maly /lidah/, Nicobarese /kaletâk/, T'eng /həntak/, Mundari /leʔ/, /alaŋ/ | Chin. 舌 shé | M 舌 shé < MC ʑet < OC *lat | According to Starostin: Protoform *lăj(H) ( / *lăt;t; m-). Meaning: tongue. Chinese: 舐 *lajʔ, *leʔ to lick; 舌 *lat tongue. Tibetan: ltɕe tongue; blade; flame. Burmese: hlja tongue, LB *s-lja. Kachin: siŋlet2 the tongue, (H) lai id. Lushei: lei tongue, KC *m-lei. Lepcha: li/, a-li/ the tongue. | ***As we can see, the Chinese form points to a much more credible etymon which is cognate to those in the Sino-Tibetan camp. See more details in the chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. Besides, Cantonese still retains the ancient form as /lei6/ 脷 lěi (SV lợi), cf. 舐 *lajʔ ~ VS 'liếm'. |
| tiếng | voice, noise | Old Mon /binru/, Modern Mon /baru/, Danaw /rat3/, Rieng White /rɤs\ /, Black /rəs\ / | Chin. 聲 shēng (SV thanh), M 聲 shēng < MC ʂeŋ < OC *xeŋ | Hai. /tjɜ1/, Cant. ʃieŋ21, Amoy: sɨŋ11 (literary); siã11, Tchiewchow: siã11, Fukienese siŋ11 (literary); Zyyy: ʃijəŋ1 | ******The limited list provided by Luce gives no cognates with the V 'tiếng'. The Chinese form is doubless plausible. As discussed in the previous chapter more than once, Chin. 聲 shēng ~ VS 'tiếng' are cognate also to denote the meaning of 'speech', for example, '言語, 口音. '與人罕言, 語類楚聲。' (明·魏禧《大鐵椎傳》. ) where 楚聲 means "the Chu language' or 'tiếngSở'. |
| răng | tooth | Viet. /răng/, No Old Mon, mod. /ŋek/, Danaw /pəiŋ4/, Rieng White /rɑŋ-/, Black /rɑ:ŋ-/, Palaung /hrɑŋ2/, Wa /rɑn2/, T'eng /hraŋ/ | Chin. 牙 yá (SV ngà) | M 牙 yá, yă, yà < MC ŋya < OC *ŋrya: | See elaboration on this item in the previous section and in the next chapter. | ***All forms, including that of Vietnamese, are obviously cognates while the mod. Mon /ŋek/ somewhat look similar to SV /ngà/. |
| cổ | neck | Viet. /cổ/, Old Mon /koʾ/, Modern Mon /kaʾ/, Danaw /kɔŋ2/, Riang White /kok/, Black /kok/, Palaung /kʿāmɛ`ŋ2/, Wa /nɔʔ3/, Khmer /kah/, Sakai /kuaʾ/, Semang /sěŋkoʾ (=larynx), Srê /ŋkɔ/, Bahnar /hako/, /ako/, T'eng /ŋɔk/, Shan /kɔ/, Lao /go/, S Karen /kʿUʔ/, /koʔ/ (etc.), Mundari /hotoʔ/ | Chin. 喉 hóu (SV hầu), M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *ghro: | According to Starostin: for OC *gh- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou au2, Protoform: *khrjə:w (~gh-,qh-,Gh-), Meaning: throa, Chinese: *gh(r)o: throat, Tibetan: kru-kru windpipe (cf. also mgur, mgul throat, neck, ko-ko throat, chin), Kachin: z^|jəkhro1 the throat, gullet | ****It looks like all forms are cognates cross several linguistic families. However, the Chinese etymon 喉 hóu is exactly 'throat'. Besides, M 胡 hú < MC ɠo < OC *gha: is another candidate for V "cổ". |
| gáy | nape (of the neck)' | (No Old Mon, mod. /katak/, Danaw /lɔʔ4Ut2/, Riang White /sʿɤkɔ\ /, Black /tərŋɔk\ /, Palaung /kăŋɔ3/, /kɑŋɑuh3/, Wa /tiaŋ4ŋɔt3/, T'eng /təglók/ | Chin. 頸 jǐng (SV cảnh, cành) | M 頸 jǐng, qìng, gěng < MC kjeŋ < OC *keŋʔ | **No other Khmer and Vietnamese forms are listed. If anything is related to Vietnamese they should be 'càng' as in 'càngcổ' or (trunk of) the neck, which is similar to C 脖頸 bójīng or 脖子 bózi in reverse. cf. 胡 hú (SV hồ), plausible cognate to VS "cổ" (neck). |
| vai | shoulder | mon Mid. /pnah/, /pnah/, Danaw /tsɔk3pɑ1/, /tjak-paʔ-/, Black /tsak-paʔ-/, Palaung /yɑʔ1/, Wa /(pyaŋ4)klɪ:p1/, T'eng /tla/ | Chin. 膊 bó (SV bạc) | M 膊 bó < MC bʌk < OC *bak | ***In Chinese there is the form 臂膊 bèibó (upper arm) which can be associated and posited as 'bảvai' (shoulder). |
| nách | armpit | No Old Mon, mod. .../knak/..., Danaw /kʿăyɛək2/, Riang White /(ɔk-)yɑk\ /, Black /yɑk\ /, Palaung /yɑʔ1/, Wa .../klaiʔ1/, T'eng /ʿɛk/, /kəlʿɛk/ | Chin. 腋 yè (SV diệt, dịch) | M 腋 yè < MC 亦 jek < OC *liak | ¶ y-(*l-) ~ n- | ***Luce does not provide the Khmer and Vietnamese forms, but the mod. Mon form /knak/ is likely cognate to V 'nách' /najk5/ while, interestingly enough, some of the other sounds are somewhat similar to the Chin. /yè/ form.) |
| vú | breast | Viet. /bú/, Old Mon tohl(pubow = to suckle), Modern Mon /tah/, Danaw /bu/, Riang White /nin\ /, Black /buʔ-/, Palaung /bu2/ /nUm2/, Wa /təh5/, Old Khmer /toh/ (breast), /pau/ (to suck), Besisi /tuh/,Semang /tuk/, Malay /dada/, Nicobarese /toah/, Bahnar /tōh/, Mundari /toa/, Sakai /bot/, Semang /bu/, Shom Peng /bōo-tōa/, Bìat /m'pu/, T'eng /buʔ/, Khasi /buiñ/ (tu suck), /jymbuiñ/, Mundari /jembedʔ/ | Chin. 乳 rǔ (SV nhũ) for 'breast' and 哺 bǔ (SV bộ) for 'to suck'. | M 乳 rǔ < MC rɤə < OC *ɲɤə || M 哺 bǔ < MC bo < OC *ba:s | ex. 'búvú' 哺乳 bǔrǔ (SV bộnhũ) 'to suckle' | ****There is no doubt that the Chinese forms are cognate to both of the V /vú/ and /bú/, respectively. For other forms there must be some kind of coincidence similar to /pa/ and /ma/ where p- and m-, hence, b- and v-, forms seem to converge children's early vocables. |
| bụng | heart, mind, feelings | Old Mon /pumas/, Modern Mon /tma3/, Danaw /ruɔt2/, Riang White /kɪ:ŋ-kɤnuas\, Black/kɪ:ŋ-kənuas\ /, Palaung /nɔh3/, /nɑuh3/, Wa /rɔm2/, T'eng /ʿñươm/, Khasi /jingmut/ | Chin. 腹 fù (SV phúc) | M 腹 fù < pʊk < OC *puk | ****The Danaw form /ruɔt2/ is exactly what appears as V 'ruột' while Old Mon form /pumas/ points to V 'bụng' which, in turn, is cognate to Chin. 腹 fù. |
| rốn, rún | navel | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /poŋluit/, Danaw /kon4dɑiŋ4/, Riang White /kluŋdi:ŋ-/, Black /kən\diŋ-/, Palaung /kădan2/, Wa /pi:t1/, K Khmer /pʿoit/, Semang /lus/, T'eng /kəndɪñ/, Khasi /sohpet/ | Chin. 臍 qí (SV tề) | M 臍 qí < MC ʒiej < OC *ʒəj | ¶ q- ~ r- | ex. 肚臍 dùjí (VS lỗrún) | *It looks like there is no candidate for the cognate to V 'rún' here. Usually in this case, if we look hard enough we may find something other forms in Chinese. |
| cặc | penis | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bow/, Danaw /lé1/, Riang White and Black /klɛ`ʔ-/, Palaung /béu3/, Wa /klɪʔ1/, Car Nicobarese /ku-lɔɪch/, Mundari /loeʔ/ | Chin. 龜頭 guītóu ~> SV 'quiđầu' ~ VS #'đầucu' | ***If there is any similarity to draw here is the forms that appear in Riang as /klɛ`ʔ-/ and Wa /klɪʔ1/ while in others thk- has been dropped. The same can be said with the Chinese dissyllabic /guītóu/ which, if related at all, has been contracted to 'cặc' ¶ /k- ~ k-/, /-t ~ -k/ ] |
| hòndái | testicles | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /makruik/, Danaw /tɔŋ2klot4/ | Chin. @# M 玉丸 yùhuăn (SV ngọchoàn) | M 玉 yù < MC ŋöuk < OC *ŋok | Pulleyblank: LM ŋywk < OC *ŋuawk || M 丸 huăn < MC ɠwʌn < OC wa:r | FQ 胡官 | ******Additional listings by Luce do not show anything similar to the VS form as 'hòndái' /hɔn2jaj6/, which is definitely from the C /yùhuăn/ (SV ngọchoàn), as in numerous other lexicons, in reverse order. |
| đùi | thigh | No Old Mon, mod. dī, Danaw /pluʔ1/, Riang White /pluʔ\ /, Black /kə\diɛ`l-/, Palaung /blɑu2/, /bléu2/, Wa /plɑuŋ4bɑ2/, Mundai /bulu/, Khasi /lbong/ | Chin. 腿 tuǐ (thối) | M 腿 tuǐ < MC tuaj < OC *twəj | ******Like 足 zú and 腳 jiăo, 腿 tuǐ, generally meaning 'leg', has been elevated to designate 'thigh' of which the same meaning exists in Chinese. |
| chân | foot, leg | Viet. /chân/, Old and Modern Mon /juŋ/, Danaw /kɔʔ\ /, Riang White /tjɔ:ŋ\ /, /tsɔŋ\ /, Palaung /djɑn2/, /djén2/ Wa /tjɑuŋ2/, Old Khmer /jeŋ/, Sakai /jukn, Besisi /joŋ/, Semang /chān/, Old Javanese /joŋ/, Shom Peng /chuk/, Bahnar /jəŋ/, P'u-man /chin/, T'eng /yươŋ/, Khsi /kiat/, Mundari /jaŋga/, Savara /talljeŋ/, Gadaba /susuŋ/, Kurkur /nāŋgā/ | Chin. 足 zú (SV túc) VS 'giò' (leg) and 腳 jiăo (SV cước) VS 'chân' (foot) | M 足 zú < MC tsjouk < OC *ɕok || M 腳 jiăo < MC kak < OC *kak | ***While it appears that the V /chân/ is cognate to those in other languages – cross different linguistic families – the Chinese forms are also cognate to V /chân/ 'leg' and /giò/, respectively. |
| đuôi | tail | Old Mon /birta/ (?), /bata/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑ/, Riang White /taʔ-/, Black /sʿən\taʔ-/, /săɗɑ2/, Wa /ʃi4taʔ1/, T'eng /hěnta/ | Chin. 翘 qiáo (SV kiều) | M 翘 qiáo, qiào < MC gjew < OC *ghew | ¶ q- ~ d- | ***The sound change pattern /q- ~ d-/ in C /qiáo/ plausibly could give rise to 'đuôi'. In other languages in Luce's list, the closest forms are those initials of the second morph that starts with /t-/ on the condition that /t-/ ~> /d-/. |
| tay | hand | Viet. /tay/, Old Mon /tey/, Modern Mon /tai/ Danaw /ti1/, Riang White and Black /tiʔ-/, Palaung /ɗɑ'2/, /ɗéi2/, Wa /tɑʔ1/, Old Khmer /tai/, Sakai /tok, /ti/, Semang /tɔŋ/, Nicobarese /tai/, Car Nicobarese /tiʾ/, Bahnar /tɪ/, P'uman /chʿi/, T'eng /tiʔ/, Khasi /kti/, War /taɪ/, Mundari /tɪhī/, /tɪʔ/, Gadaba /tītī/, Kurku /tī/ | Besides Chin. 手 shǒu (SV thủ), there exists also a 臂 bì (SV tý), denoting 'arm', plus the 指 zhǐ (SV chỉ) form, denoting 'finger', that looks like those lexemes with /ti/ and /chi/ in this list: (1) M 手 shǒu < MC ʂjəw < OC *ɫhuʔ, (2) M 臂 bì, bèi < MC pje < OC *peks, (3) M 指 zhǐ, zhì, zhī < MC tɕɨ < OC *kijʔ | ***Viet. /tej1/ ~ Chin. /shǒu/ appear to be cognate to all the languages involved, including the C '臂 bì (SV tỵ /tej6/)'. In the meanwhile altogether with the Chin. M 指 zhǐ, they seem to be speculative. cf. Japanese 手 /te/ |
| gót | sole, also Luce 'palm' | Old Mon /kintāl/ (=underpart), Modern Mon /gatā/, Danaw /patk1,3/, Riang White /plɑk-/, Black /plɑk-/, Palaung /kă\bɑ2/..., Wa /kiat1/, T'eng /kēdăk/ (=sole) | Chin. 跟 gēn (SV căn) is cognate to VS 'gót' (sole) while there is 手板 shǒubăn (SV thủbản) ~ VS 'bàntay' (palm) where 'bàn', literally, 'the panel' (of the palm) | M 跟 gēn < MC kən < OC *kən | ¶ -n ~ -t | ****The Chinese forms are plausibly cognates. |
| móng | nails | Old Mon /sinlem/, Modern Mon /sanem/, Danaw /kălɛ`əŋ4/, Riang White /rəm\hi:m-/, Black /kʿiəŋ2/, /pʿyUəŋ2/, Wa /să\ʔ, Shom Peng /rīap/, Khasi /tyrsim/ | Chin. 跰 bèng, bǐng, pián (SV nghiễn), VS vuốt 'claw' ~ móng 'nail' | ¶ y- ~ m- | M 跰 bèng, bǐng, pián, yàn ~ M 趼 jiăn < MC kiɛn, ŋjen < OC *ke:nʔ, *ŋhe:ns | According to Starostin, Pek. yàn meaning 'extremity of animals' paw' is also attested since Han; it accounts for g- in Go-on. | ¶ /y-/ ~ /ng-/, /m-/, and /v-/, and ¶ /j-/ ~ /ng-/, i.e., VS 'ngón' (finger, toe) | *Except for the Chinese word and the derived Vietnamese 'ngón', all the forms look distant and need more elaboration. |
| cánh | wing | Old Mon /sumneŋ/ (=winged), Modern Mon /sneŋ/, Danaw /pʿan2/, Riang White /pɪaŋ-/, Black /pɪɛŋ-/, Palaung /pʿiəŋ2/, /pʿyUŋ2/, Wa /pʿrɤɪt1/, Semang /bieg/, Car Nicobarese /sănéōk/, Khasi /thapɪniang/ | Chin. 翅膀 chìbăng (SV chibàng) | M 翅 chì, shì, jì, qí < MC ʂi < OC *kjeh, *kes || M 膀 băng, bàng, pāng, páng < MC bɔŋ < OC *bhaŋ | *As the etymology of this lexicon showed in the listed speeches, the V 'cánh' could be cognate with either the contracted form of the dissyllabic 翅膀 chìbăng or only 膀 băng to be considered as of the same root. cf. 胳臂 gēbèi ~ VS 'cánhtay' (arm) |
| xương | bone | Viet. /xương/, Old Mon /jūc(ʔ)/, Modern Mon /jut/, Danaw /kănaŋ4/, Riang White /yɤn\ʔaŋ-/, Back /tsən\ɑŋ-/, Palaung /kă\ʔɑŋ2/, Wa /să\ʔɑŋ2/, Kmer /cʿa-iŋ/, Sakai /ja-akn/, Semang /jaʔis/, Nicobarese /oŋ-eŋ/, Biat /n'tiŋ/, Srê /n'tīŋ/, T'eng /cʿəʔaŋ/, Khasi /Shyeng/, Mundari /jaŋ/, Malay /tulaŋ/ | Chin. 腔 qiāng (SV khang, xoang) | M 腔 qiāng < MC khjawŋ < OC *khaɨwŋ | ex. 腔骨 qiānggǔ (VS xươngcốt) 'bone', 盆腔 pénqiāng (VS xươngchậu) 'the pelvic cavity' | See elaboration on this etymology in the next chapter on TB languages. | *Except for the Chinese speculative etymon 腔 qiāng, all forms above appear to be cognate. |
| thịt | flesh | Old Mon /psun/, Modern Mon /pʿyun/, Danaw /ñəŋ/, Riang White /yɤŋ\ /, Black /mɑi\ /, Palaung /yɑŋ2/, Wa /néʔ3/ | For 'flesh' there is M 肉 ròu < MC ɳʊk < OC *nhikʷ, *nhuk, which evolved into several forms in VS as discussed in the previous chapter. Meanwhile, there exists the Chin. 膱 zhí (SV thức) ~ VS 'thịt' (meat) and 腊 xī (SV tích) form as 'reserved meat'. | **It looks like we have a case here that we cannot map V 'thịt' into any of the above languages except for C 膱 zhí (SV thức) but it is 'meat', not 'flesh'. |
| da | skin | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /snɑm/, Danaw /kădət3/, Riang White /hu:r-/, Black /hur-/, Palaung /hu2/, Wa /hɑʔ1/, T'eng /pūr/, K'mu /kpur/, Mundari /ūr/, Khasi /snep/ | Chin. 皮 pí (SV bì), 膚 fū (SV phu) | M 膚 fū, lú < MC pʊ < OC *pra | ***The Chinese /pí/ is more like V 'da' /ja1/ but the form /fū/ is closer to other forms. |
| máu | blood | Old Mon /chim/, Modern Mon /chim/, Danaw /kănɑ4/, Riang White /nɑ:m-/, Black /nɑm-/, Palaung /nɑm2/, Wa /hnɑm2/, Khmer /jhām/, Sakai /běhīm/,Semang /muhum/, Car Nicarobese /măham/, Bahar /pham/, T'eng /mam/, K'mu /semắm/, Khasi /smam/ Mundari /maěon/ | While the modern Chin. 血 xiě, xuè (SV huyết, VS 'tiết' as in 'tiếtcanh' 血羹 xiěgēng), there exists the word 衁 huāng where it carries the phonetic stem M 亡 wáng (vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | Kangxi: 【唐韻】【集韻】【正韻】𠀤 呼光 切，音 荒。【說文】血也。【左傳·僖十五年】士刲羊，亦無衁也。【韓愈 詩】衁 池 波 風 肉 陵 屯。【字彙】又入皿部，書 作 𥁃，非。| Per Nicholas C. Bodman (1980) 'Proto-Chinese and Sino-Tibetan,' (in Frans Van Coetsem et al. (eds.) Contributions to Historical Linguistics) (p.120) : 'An interesting hapax legomenon for 'blood' appears in the Dzo Zhuan which has an obvious Austroasiatic origin: Proto-Mnong *mham, Proto-North Bahmaric *maham, 衁 hmam > hmang > ɣuáng.' | ****It appears that the V 'máu' /maw5/ points to other etyma in other languages cross linguistic families, starting with /m-/ and /p-/ while the Chinese form /xuè/ is speculative via @ /hw-/ ~ /m-/ of 衁 huáng 'blood'. For Bodman's comment, it should be the other way around where the Austroasiatic cognate must have evolved from some common Taic root, so did variants of proto-Chinese and Old Chinese. |
| nướcmiếng | spittle | Old Mon /ksas/ (=to spit?), Modern Mon /ɗāk kasah/, Danaw /ñɛ`n2/, Riang White and Black /ñɑŋ-/, Palaung /bɑ'iʔ3/ (to spit), Wa /bɑ'iʔ3/, /bɛ'ʔ3/, Old Khmer /samtoh/, Sakai /toh/, /getɔʾ/, Malay /ludah/, Nicobarese /tapaih/, Bahnar /gəsɔʾ/, T'eng /təʔa/ Khasi /biah (to spit), Mundari /beʔ/) | Chin. 唾沫 tuòmò (SV 'thoámạt', VS 'nướcmiếng') ~ 唾液 tuòyè (SV 'thoádịch', VS 'nướcdãi') | M 唾 tuò < MC thwʌ < OC *thojs || M 沫 mò, mèi < MC mwʌt, mwʌj < OC *mhāt, *māts || M 液 yè < MC jek, ʂek < OC *lhiak, *sliak | **The only similarity appears thereof is between the Vietnamese and Chinese forms above if we posit 唾 tuò for 'nước' and 沫 mò for 'miếng' and 液 yè for VS 'dãi', or even with 口水 kǒushuǐ in reverse order where 水 shuǐ is 'nước' (<~ 'nák' ) and 口 kǒu ~ 'miếng' ( <~ /m-/ <~ /hw-/ <~ Cantonese /how3/). |
| nướcđái | urine | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /knam/, Danaw /tsɛ`2/, Riang White /nɯm\ /, Black /num\ /, Palaung /hnUm2/, Wa /nɯm2/, Khmer /nom/, Sakai /nom/, Semang /kènom/, Srê /ɗum/, Bahnar /nôm/, T'eng /num/, Khasi /jung/ | For 'đái' and 'tiểu', M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ || For 'nướcđái' the word id cognate to 尿水 niàoshuǐ (SV niệuthuỷ) | M 尿 niào, suī < MC niew < OC *ne:ws, *njew, *ne:wkws | ¶ n- ~ t-, đ- | ****There is little doubt that the C and the Vietnamese forms are cognates except that the syllabic-word order is in reverse as in many cases of other VS etyma. It is plausible that the original form might be monosyllabic that is cognate to 尿 *njew to mean 'đái' and 'tiểu' (urine), hence 'nướctiểu'. |
| cứt | dung | No Old Monn, mod. /ʿik/, Danaw /yaŋ4/, Riang White and Black /yaŋ-/, Palaung /íəŋ2/, /íɛŋ2/, Wa /iɑŋ2/, Khmer /āc/, Sakai /êt/, /êg/, Semang /ɪ/, /aɪh/, Nicobarese /āɪch/, /āɪk/, Bahnar /ɪc/, /ɪk/, T'eng /ʔɪak/, Khasi /eɪk/, Mundari /ɪʔ/ | Chin. 屎 shǐ (SV thỉ) | M 屎 shǐ < MC shǐ < OC *ʂij < PC **kijh, **ʂijh | According to Zhou Fagao (Zhongyuan Yinyun, p.251), TB: *kip, Burmese: khjijh excrement, Kachin: khji3 excrement, Dimasa: khi, Garo: khi, Bodo: kí, Kham kī; , Kanauri khoa, Bahing khl, Digaro: klai. Simon 19; Sh. 44; Ben. 39; Mat. 191. | ***Note that in Zhou Fagao (zyxlj p.251) M 屎 shǐ also cognate to another form of ancient Tibetan: *kəp In other cases, it is unlikely that this is a case of the initial **k- having evolved into zero (Ø) in most languages cited in Luce's wordlist above. If that is the case, they are cognate to them then, otherwise, the cited forms could be postulated to be cognate to V 'ỉa' (to poop, to shit), which, in turn, is a similar form of Cant. /o5/ 屙 M. /è/. |
| chó | dog | Viet. /chó/, Old Mon /clew/, /cluiw/, Modern Mon /kluiw/, Danaw /tso1/, Riang White and Black /sʿɔʔ-/, Palaung /ă\ʔoʔ1/, Wa /soʔ1/, Old Khmer cke, Sakai /cho/, Semang /āsūʔ/, Malay /asu/, Srê /sɔ/, P'uman /shaw/, T'eng /soʔ/, Khasi /ksew/, War /ksiā/, Mundari /seta/, Savara /sōr/, /kinsor/ Gadaba /kussō/, Kurku tsītā/ | Chin. 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu) | M 狗 gǒu < MC kjəw < OC *ko:ʔ | For Proto-Viet **kro, see elaboration on the etymology in the above section. | ****There is no doubt that all the forms above are cognates, including the C 狗 gǒu, cf. 'cầy' as in 'cầytơ' 小狗 xiăogǒu (SV tiểucẩu). |
| ngựa | horse | Old Mon /kseh/, Modern Mon /kyeh/, Danaw /θé4/, Riang White /mɤraŋ\ /, Black /məraŋ\ /, Palaung /braŋ2/, Wa /bruŋ2/, Old Khmer /aseh/, Cham /àsaih/, Biat /cheh/, Bahnar /əsɛh/, Aren /kəθe/, /θiri/, /s'e/ etc., Central and S. Chin. /si/, /se, /ksʿɛ/, T'eng /mbraŋ/, Lemet /mraŋ/, Old Burmese /mraŋ/.) | Chin. 午 wǔ | M 午 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋa:ʔ | According to Starostin, 午 wǔ 'the 7th of the Earthly Branches', during Late Zhou it was also used as a loan for homonymous *ŋ(h)a:? 'to resist; crosswise'. | ****For V 'ngựa', 午 wǔ (SV 'ngọ') is much more plausible since it is in line with other forms that is placed as the 7th animal in the list of the 12 animal zodiac table. The other forms appear only in the forms with initial /mbr-/, /mr-/, /br-/ and finals as /-aŋ/ as in Chin. 馬 mă (SV mã) < MC mɑ < OC *mra:ʔ; otherwise, 'ngựa' and 馬 mă are not cognates. (See 'ngựa'.) |
| trâu | water buffallo | Old and Modern Mon /preŋ/, Danaw /mănaʔ3/, Riang White /pɤnɑʔ\ /, Black /pənɑʔ\ /, Palaung /krɑʔ1/, Wa /krak1/, T'eng /tăk/, Mundari /kera/, Karen /pəna/. | Chin. (1) 丑 chǒu (SV sửu, xú) || M 丑 (丒) chǒu < MC triw < OC *truw | According to Starostin, C 丑 chǒu < MC ʈhjəw < OC *snruʔ, (2) 牛 níu (SV ngưu) | M 牛 níu < MC ŋjəw < OC *ŋujə | ****Like the case of 午 wǔ (SV ngọ) being posited for 'ngựa', 丑 chǒu is also a plausible candidate for V 'trâu' where /ch-/ and /tr-/ interchange. In the meanwhile there are no cognates in the Mon-Khmer languages. |
| đàn | herd', flock | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿakaʾ/, Danaw /pʿôn2/, Riang White /vwuŋ /, Black /wuŋ/, Palaung /pʿɑŋ3/, Wa /pʿUŋ2/, Khmer /hvūŋ/, Biat /pʿuŋ/, Shan /pʿuŋ/ | Chin. 團 tuán (SV đoàn) | M 團 tuán < MC dwʌn < OC *dho:n || M 幫 bāng < MC pwʌŋ < OC *pa:ŋ | ***Actually 團 tuán as VS 'bọn' is more plausible with other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages, but the word is for people – pointing to C 幫 bāng (SV bang) 'group' – while the V 'đàn' as 'herd, flock' is mostly for animals, which is cognate to C /tuán/ with its SV equivalent form of 'đoàn' to use for people in the case of 'họpđàn' @& 合團 hétuán (congregate). |
| heo | pig | Old Mon /klīk/, /kliŋ/, Modern Mon /klik/, Danaw /kălék3,1/, Riang White and Black /lék\ /, Palaung /léʔ1/, Wa /li:k3/, Old Khmer /jrvrak/, Sakai /lu/, Semang /jalin/, Madurese /cheleŋ/ (wild pig), Khasi /sniang/ | Chin. 亥 hài (SV hợi) VS 'heơ', the 12th animal in the zodiac table | M 亥 hài < MC ɠɤj < OC *ghə:ʔ | ****While all Mon-Khmer forms show cognates with V 'lợn', that is, plausibly a cognate with C 豘 tún (SV đồn, độn) { also, M 豚 tún (SV đồn, độn) }, Chin. 亥 hài (SV 'hợi') with VS 'heơ' is another case, similar to the case of 'trâu' (water buffallo) or 'ngựa' (horse), which fits well into the 12 animal zodiac table the proto-Chinese must have borrowed from the Yue people from the China South. |
| dê | goat | Old Mon /babeʔ/, Modern Mon /baɓeʔ/, Danaw /bo4bɛ`1/, Riang White /pɛʔ\ /, Black /pɛʔ-/, Palaung /pɛ`2/, Wa /bɛ`ʔ3/, Old Khmer /vave/, Sukai /kambikn/, Jakun /bêbek/, Cham /pabaiy/, Malay /kambiŋ/, Nicobarese /me/, Bahnar /bəbɛ`/, Pu-man /pir/, T'eng /bɛ`/, Savara /kimme/ | Chin. 羊 yáng (SV dương) | M 羊 yáng < MC jaŋ < OC *laŋ | According to Starostin, Protoform: *jă(k) / *jăŋ. Meaning: goat, yak. Chinese: 羊 *laŋ sheep, goat. Tibetan: g-jag the yak. Kachin: ja3 a wild goat. Lepcha: jo/k a yak, Bos grunniens. Comments: Trung ja? mongrel; Yamphu ja' :-suba 'goat'.| Dialects : Tn : iã1, Hk : iaŋ12, Tx : iaŋ12, Dc : iaŋ12, Tc : iaŋ12, Ôc : ɦi12, Ts : ian12, Sp : iaŋ12, Nx : iɔŋ31, Hẹ : jɔŋ12, Qđ : jöŋ12, Hm : iɔŋ12 (lit.), iũ12, Trc : iẽ12, Th : iã 32 | ******There is no doubt that the Chin. 羊 yáng is cognate to V 'dê' while other Mon-Khmer forms look similar to V 'bê' (young cow). Interestingly, another cognate is the Chin. 未 wèi (SV 'mùi', 'vị'), the 8th animal in the 12 animal zodiac table. The significant thing to note here is that the latter 未 wèi must stand for 'goat', not 'sheep', as northern C scholars have tried hard to convince the world everytime the Year of the Goat returns (2003, 2015, 2027, etc.). |
| voi | elephant | Viet. /tượng/, Chinese /*dzaiaŋ/, Old Mon /cīŋ/, Modern Mon /ciŋ/, Danaw /kătsɑŋ4/, Riang White /sʿɑŋ-/, Black /sʿi-tsɑŋ-/, Palaung /sɑ:ŋ2/, Wa /sɑŋ2/, Sakai /chik/, T'eng /sǐkyaŋ/, K'mu /chaŋ/, Old Burrmese /cʿaŋ/ | Chin. 象 xiàng (SV tượng) | M 象 xiàng < MC zjaŋ < OC *lhaŋʔ || © M 為 wéi (SV vi) 'voi' elephant | M 為 wéi < MC we < OC *waj, *wajs | According to Starostin, an *-s-derivate from the word is OC *waj-s, MC we (FQ 于偽), Pek. wèi 'for, on behalf', Viet. vì, vị. For initial *w- cf. Min forms, MC we, Xiamen, Chaozhou, Fuzhou ui2; also, Xiamen ui6, Fuzhou oi6, Jianou ue6. Shuowen defines the character as 'female monkey'. Although this word is not attested in literature, it may be compared to PST *qwaj reflected in Kach. (D) woi monkey; Moshang vi-sil; Rawang əwe; Trung a-koi; Kadu kwe id. (STC No 314 *(b)woy; dubious are Mikir ki-pi and Miri si-be). Thomas: V 'voi' | However, per Shuowen it is 'monkey': 母猴也. 其為禽好爪.下腹為母猴形.王育曰.爪象形也.古文為.象兩母猴相對形. | ***With V 'tượng' all forms above are the same forms as that of C /xiàng/, but V 'voi' seems only cognate to C /wéi/, posited by Thomas (1969) as 'voi', which is much more original than 'tượng'. |
| cọp | tiger | Old Mon /klaʾ/, Modern Mon /kla/, Danaw /tăwɑi2/, Riang White /rɤvwɑ'i\ /, Black /rəwɑ'i\ /, Palaung /răvwɑ'i2/, /rāwɑ'i2/, Wa /ʃi4vwɑi2/, Old Khmer /klā/, Sakai /klaʾ/, Bahnar /kla/, Srê /kliu/, Khasi /khla/, Mundari /kula/, Kurku /kūlā/, T'eng /təvai/ | Chin. 虎 hǔ (SV hổ) < MC xo < OC *xla:ʔ | ***All forms of cognates with initial /k-/ and /kl-/ above certainly must have originated from the same root, probably of a form diverged from proto-Tai. The Chinese word 寅 yǐn (SV dần) for the 3rd animal in the 12 animal zodiac table appears to cognate with 'hùm' 虎 hǔ or 甝 hán (SV hàm). |
| gấu | bear | Old Mon /kmīm/, Modern Mon /kmim/, Danaw /kʿryet3/, Riang White and Black /krɛ`s-/, Palaung /krih3/ /kriχ3/, Wa /krih5/, Khasi /dnghiem/, Srê /grih/ | Chin. 熊 xióng (SV hùng) < MC ɦʊŋ < OC *whǝm | *OC 熊 熊 侵 雄 ɢʷlɯm | According to Bernhard Kargren, C ɣịung < AC g'iung < OC * g'ium. The ordinary Chinese word for 'bear' (ursus) is Mandarin hiung, delevoped from a 6th century ɣịung, which in its turn developed from a still older g'iung < Archaic Chinese g'ium (by disimilation: a labial final - was immpossible after labial main vowel -u- (cf. OC *pịm 'wind' > AC pịung.) That 'bear' really was a g'ium and not a g'iung in pre-Christian times is shown by a form in the Swatow dialect, the most archaic, most peculiar of all Chinese dialects. (Philology and Ancient China, pp. 135, 136 ) Per Starostin, 熊 xióng is black bear (Ursus torquatus), but he posits it with Viet. hùm that means 'tiger' which should be a doublet of 虎 hǔ (SV hổ, VS cọp) and 甝 hán (SV hàm) that is phonetically very close to OC *whǝm 'bear' and probably borrowed from this source; regular Sino-Viet. is hùng. Cf. also Viet. vâm 'elephant'? | ****Given variations of other Mon-Khmer words, the V 'gấu' is plausibly cognate to the Chinese form /xióng/ with /*wh-/ ~ /g-/ and /-wŋ/ ~ /-aw/ sound change patterns. |
| vượn | monkey | Old Mon /knuy/. mod. /knuai/, Danaw /vwɔ2/, Riang White /vwaʔ-/, Black /wɑʔ-/, Palaung /fɑ2/, Wa /rɑu2/, Old Khmer /svā/, T'eng /hwa/, Srê /kuañ/ (gibbon | Chin. 猿 yuán (SV viên), VS vượn 'gibbon' | M 猿 yuán < MC wən < OC *whan || For VS khỉ 'monkey', cf. M 猴 hóu < MC ɠɤw < OC *go: \ @ 'khỉ' 猴 hóu (SV hầu) <~ 猢 hú (SV 'hồ'), 猻 sūn (SV 'tôn', cf. 'thân') <~ 猻猢 sūnhú (SV tônhồ'); for 申 shēn ~ '猿 yuán SV viện, SV vượn, that matches the pattern 伸 shēn (stretch) ~ 援 yuán SV viện, VS vươn (reach out), all means 'monkey'. (See An Chi. 2016. Vol. 1, pp. 177-183) | ******V 'vượn' (猿 yuán) gibbon and all other are cognates, including the C /yuán/ while Old Mon /knuy/, and modern Mon /knuai/ look like to be cognate to 'khỉ' monkey in Vietnamese. |
| nai | barking deer | No Old Mon, mod. pah/, Danaw /pɤt3/, Riang White and Black /pos-/... | Chin. 麃 biāo, páo (SV tiêu, bào) VS hươu 'giraffe, hind' | M 麃 biāo, páo < MC baw, pew, phʌw < OC *paw, *bhrāw, *phāwʔ | *Other forms are omitted here since they totally do not seem to be related to that of Vietnamese. 'nai'. In the meanwhile, 鹿 lù (SV lộc) is possibly a good candidate . |
| thỏ | hare | Old Mon /batāy/, Modern Mon /batāai/, Danaw /yɤn2/, Riang White /pɤl\tāi-/, Black /pəl\tāi-/, Palaung /pɑŋ3ɗɑi2/, /pɑŋ3ɗɔi2/, Wa /pālɑ2/, Old Burmese /yun/, Malay /tapai/, Biat /r'pai/, Srê dərpae/, Shan /paŋtai/ | Chin. 兔 tù (SV thố) | M 兔 tù < MC tho < OC *thāks, *slhaks | ******The Chinese /tù/ is certainly cognate to the V /thỏ/ form while other Mon-Khmer forms deviate a great deal. |
| lợn | pig | No Old Mon., mod. /lamlen/, Danaw /tɔŋ2kiɛ`t1/, Riang White /rɤn\kɔs-/, Black /rəŋ\kɔs-/, Palaung /ākɤh3/, Wa /ŋ-goh3/, Sakai /kūsh/...) | Chin. 豘 tún (đồn, độn) ~ M 豚 tún (đồn, độn) < MC don < AC *lhwǝ̄n < OC *ɫhwǝ̄n < PC **ɫhūn | Dialects Cant. tyun4, Hakke tun3 | ¶ t- ~ l- | ****For those Mon-Khmer forms selectively listed here, they bear resemblance to each other as cognates among themselves. At the same time the Chin. /tún/ cognate is highly plausible with the sound change pattern /t- ~ l-/ for V /lợn/. At the same time Vietnamese has also the word 'heo' (pig) which is from the same source as that of the C 亥 hài (SV 'hợi') appearing in the 12 animal zodiac table as also discussed in "heo" (pig), "trâu" (water buffallo", and "ngựa" (horse). |
| sóc | squirrel | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /prip/, Danaw /plɑi2/, Riang White /kɤlɑ'i\ /, Black /klɑ\ /..) | Chin. 松鼠 cōngshǔ (SV tùngthử, VS 'consóc') M 松 sōng < MC tʑjöuŋ < OC *lhoŋ || M 鼠 shǔ < MC ʂo < OC *ɬhaʔ ~ *ɬh < *ʂh- < ʂ- | Dialects: Amoy /chu3/, Chaozhou /chy3/, Fuzhou, Jianou /chʊ3/, Tc chu2, Wenzhou /chei21/, Hakka /chu2/, Xiamen /chu2/, Trc chɨ21, Fuzhou /chy2/, Shanghai /chʊ3/ | According to Starostin, OC *l^h (normally yielding t.h, but here having given a dialectal reflex *s/h- > s/-) is reconstructed on the basis of Min forms: Xiamen chu3, Chaozhou chy3, Fuzhou, Jianou chu3. | ***Some other forms are omitted here because they do not seem to relate the V 'sóc' as it is to the C /cōngshǔ/ which could be plausibly cognate if the drop-out factor accounts for the sound change between the two, that is, either syllabic sound falls out. However, if we treat the Chinese compound 松鼠 cōngshǔ ~ VS '(chuột)sóc' as an indication that this kind of animal not native originally, then, like 狗 gǒu or 虎 hǔ, the Chinese form must have had the southern origin, probably from Taic since all the Mon-Khmer forms in Luce's list do not provide a clue for that. |
| rái | otter | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /pheʾ/, Danaw /bUn2/, Rinag White /bUn\ /, Black /bon-/, Palaung /mUn3/, /bUn3/, Wa /pʿɛi1/ | Chin. 獺 tă, tà (SV thát) | M 獺 tă, tà < MC thʌt < OC *srhāt | ***Only Chin. 獺 tă, tà is cognate to V 'rái'. where /*srhāt/ ~> /raj5/. |
| chuột | rat | Old and Modern Mon /kni/, Danaw /kăné1,2/, Riang White /kʿrɔm-/, Black /kəbu-/, /kʿrɔm-/, Palaung /hnɔ'i2/, Wa /kiaŋ2/, Sakai /kaněh/, Semang /kaneʾ/, Srê /ɗɛ`/, Bahnar /kənɛ`/, T'eng /kənéʔ/, Khasi /khnai/, Mundari /huni/ | Chin. 鼠 shǔ (SV thử) | M 鼠 shǔ < MC ʂo < OC *ɬhaʔ | See also elaboration on 'sóc' (squirrel). | ******While there is no cognate with the Mon-Khmer forms, there is no doubt that the C /shǔ/ and V 'chuột' are cognate, including that of the doublet of C 子 zǐ in the 12 animal zodiac table. |
| dơi | bat | Old Mon /kilwa/, Modern Mon /kawa/, Danaw /lUk3lat2/, Riang White /tɤr\lɑk/, Black /rəlɑk\ /, Palaung /gădɑʔ1/, Wa /blak3/, Malay /kělawar/ | Chin. 蝙蝠 biānfú (SV biênbưc) | M 蝙 biān < MC pien < OC *pēnʔ || M 蝠 fú < MC pük < OC pǝk | **For this item the Vietnamese form is plausibly cognate to 蝠 fú where f- ~> /j-/ for 'dơi /jǝj1/; otherwise, if there are any cognates at all posited for all other forms, it must be a falling-out form of Mon /-wa/, which in turn possibly points to the C /fú/, a falling-out from the dissyllabic form /biānfú/, cf. VS 'giàu' 富 fù (SV phú), 'dadẻ' 皮膚 pifū (SV bìphu), 'bưởi' 柚 yóu (SV du), 'giông' /jowŋm1/ 風 fēng (SV phong), etc. |
| bươmbướm | butterfly | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /puŋkamū/ (butterfly soul), Danaw /pɔŋ2pɑʔ3/, Riang White and Black /puŋ-pɑʔ-/, Palaung /kɑʔ1la1/, Wa /pɑi4pyaŋ2/, T'eng /pam/ | Chin. 蝴蝶 húdié (SV hồđiệp) | *While the V 'bướm' is likely cognate to T'eng /pam/ and the Mon first syllable /puŋ/ while /bươmbướm/ to others, the Chinese form /húdié/ shows no relation at all unless we reconstructed a proto-form as **/bombjem/. Interestingly, however, some other Austronesian languages share some similar etyma cognate to 'bươmbướm' such as proto-Eastern-Oceanic /*mpe(e)mpe(e)/, Fiji /beebee/, Samoan /pepe/, New Zealand Maori /pê/, /pepe/, Rotuman /pêpa/. The author does not know how to interpret the data, but the best guess is it could be of Austronesian origin. |
| ongmật | honey bee' | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /sāai/, Danaw /tsɔŋ4hən2/, Riang White /tjɤr\ŋur\ /, Black /tsən\ŋur\ /, Palaung /pʿrər2/, Wa /hiɑ2/, Car Nicobarese /sɛ`k mak/, T'eng /brǔʾŋ/, /prǔʾŋ/ | Chin. 蜜蜂 mìfēng (SV mậtphong) ~ 蠮螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ (SV nghệông) VS 'ongnghệ' ~ 螉 wēng (SV ông) ~ 蜂 fēng (SV phong) | M 螉 wēng < MC ʔuŋ < OC *ʔōŋ | According to Starostin: a k. of small bee (Han). Used only in compounds: 螉 *ʔōŋ-shoŋ, 蠮螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ denoting a k. of small bee or gadfly, thus the borrowed nature of Viet. ong is questionable (cf. PAA *hɔ:ŋ / *ʔɔ:ŋ 'bee' = PAN *wani, *qawani id.). The standard Sino-Viet. reading of 螉 is ông. || M 蜂 fēng < MC phouŋ, buŋ < OC *phoŋ, *bhōŋ | ******It is for certainty that the Chin. compound 蜜蜂 mìfēng is cognate to Vietnamese. 'ongmật', but in reverse order, a common phenomenon of Chinese loanwords in Vietnamese. For other languages, see the item ' 'ong' (bee). |
| ong | wasp, hornet | Viet. 'ong', no Old Mon, mod. /huiŋ/, Danaw /(mɑʔ3)ôn4/, Riang White /vwɔŋ-vwɔl-/, Black /uaŋ-/, Palaung /ɔn2/, /kă\ʔɔn2/, Wa /ɔŋ2/, Old Khmer /srāŋ/ (?), Sakai /ôkn/ Besisi /hoŋ/, Semang /oŋ/, /ēŋ/, /wuŋ/, Bahnar /ōŋ/, Srê /oŋ/ | Chin. (黃)蜂 huángfēng (SV hoàngphong) VS 'ong(vò)' | See elaboration above. | ******Like 蜜蜂 mìfēng, the C 蜂 fēng is plausibly a cognate with the V 'ong'. For other Mon-Khmer languages, in contrast with the V 'ongmật' above, which is similar to Danaw /(mɑʔ3)ôn4/ 'honey bee', they all are cognates. In both Chinese and Vietnamese there exist the form 螉 wēng (SV ông) and it doublet 蜂 fēng for 'ong'. |
| cua | crab | Viet. /tôm/ (prawn), No Old Mon, mod. /gatā/, Danaw /kătam2/, Riang White /kɤtɑm-/, Black /kətɑm-/, Palaung /tākrɛk3/, Wa /tɑm2/, Semang /kěntem/, Srê /tām/, T'eng /kətam/, Khasi /thəm/ Mundari /katəkom/, /karakom/ | Chin. 蝦 xiā (SV hà) VS 'tép' small shrimp, 'tôm' prawn, also 'ruốc' tiny shrimp || M 蝦 (鰕) xiā, há < MC ɠa < OC *ghra: || M 蟹 xié < MC ɠa < OC *ghre:ʔ | Chin. 蟹 xié (SV giải) ~> VS 'ghẹ' > 'cáy' > 'cua' (crab) | According to Starostin: crab (Han). Normal Sino-Viet. is giải: it is interesting that both this form and the colloquial cáy reflect a voiceless initial (possibly pointing to a variant *kre:?). | Protoform: *q(r)e:(j)H. Lushei: ai, KC *t?-g|ai. Lepcha: ta<-hi. Kiranti: *ghra\ | ****All the Mon-Khmer langages point to V 'tôm' and they look like also cognate to V 'contôm'. However, here as illustrated in Luce's listings, they all mean 'crab' while the Vietnamese forms 'cua' and 'tôm' with their variants seem to be in line with those equivalents in Chin. /xià/ and /xié/ which point to Chin. 蟹 xié. |
| cá | fish | Viet. /cá/, Old Mon /kɑʾ/, Modern Mon /kɑ/, Danaw /ʔyaŋ4/, Riang White and Black /kaʔ-/, Palaung /kɑ2/, Wa /kaʔ1/, Sakai /kaʾ/, Semang /kah/, Malay /ikan/ Nicobarese /kâa/, Stieng, Srê, Bahnar /ka/, P'uman /kʿa/, T'eng /kaʔ/, Mundari /hai/, /haku/, Kurku /kaku/ | Chin. 魚 yú (SV ngư) | M 魚 yú < MC ŋʊ < OC *ŋha | According to Starostin: fish. For *ŋh- cf. Xiamen hi2, Chaozhou hy2. | Protoform: *ŋ(j)a. Meaning: fish. Chinese: 魚 *ŋha fish. Tibetan: ɳa fish. Burmese: ŋah fish, LB *ŋhax. Kachin: ŋa3 fish. Lushei: ŋha fish, KC *ŋha\. Kiranti: *ŋ@\ . Comments: PG *ta\rŋa; BG: Garo na-tk, Bodo ŋa ~ na, Dimasa na; Chepang ŋa ~ nya; Tsangla ŋa; Moshang ŋa'; Namsangia ŋa; Kham ŋa:\L; Kaike ŋa:; Trung ŋa1-pla?1. Simon 13; Sh. 36, 123, 407, 429; Ben. 47; Mat. 192; Luce 2. | Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *ka, Thai: ka:.A, Proto-Katuic: *ka, Proto-Bahnaric: *ka, Khmer: ka:-, Proto-Vietic: *kaʔ, ʔǝ-, Proto-Monic: *ka:ʔ, Proto-Palaungic: *kaʔ, Proto-Khmu: *kaʔ, Khasi: doh=kha, Proto-Aslian: *kaʔ, Proto-Viet-Muong: *kaʔ, ʔ-, Thomon: ka.343ʔ, Tum: ka.212 (Kh 714; VHL 64; S-27) | Note: OC *ŋh- ~> k- (ca-) | ****All languages for this item in Luce's list are cognate while the Chinese form 魚 yú (SV ngư) is possibly cognate as well where OC *ŋha ~> /ka/. (See APPENDIX M for the case of 'ketchup', 'catsup' 魚汁 yúzhí) |
| rắn | snake | Old and Modern Mon /jrum/, Danaw /păθén4/, Riang White and Black /hiəñ-/, Palaung /hanʔ2/, Wa /ʃi4ʔúiñ2/, Semang /jěkob/, Nicanarese /pai(d)/, Car Nicobarese /péich/, Khasi /bseiñ/, Mundari /bin/ | Chin. 蛇 shé (SV 'xà', also 'di' ) | M 蛇 (虵) shé < MC ʑa < OC *liaj, *laj | According to Starostin, 'snake'; also read *laj (MC je, FQ 弋支, Mand. yí) in the compound 委蛇 *?w|aj-laj 'be compliant, gracious'. | ¶ s- ~ r- | Also /yì/ as in 委蛇 wěiyì (VS ngoằnngoèo) 'zigzag' | **Variably some of the listed form are cognates while the Chinese form is only a matter of speculation. 龍 lóng (SV long, VS rồng, 'dragon' is another candidate. |
| chim | bird | Viet. /chɪm/, Old Mon /kiñcem/, mod. gacem, Danaw /tsən4/, Riang White /si:m/, Black /sim/, Palaung /sim2/, Wa /ʃi:m2/, Sakai /chēp/, /chēm/, Biat /chɪum/, Srê /sɪm/, Bahnar /sɛm, T'eng /sim/, Khasi /sim/ War /ksem/, Mundari /sīm/ (=fowl), Kurku /ʃɪm(fowl), Sav /kansɪm/ (fowl) | Chin. 禽 qín ‘bird’ (SV cầm) | M 禽 qín < MC gim < OC *ghjəm (modern M niăo 鳥), dialects: Hainanese /jiăo/ is the sound for 'chim', Chaozhou: ʑin12, Wenzhou: ʑiaŋ12, Shuangfeng: ʑin12 | According to Starostin: the character 禽 qín is more frequently used since L.Zhou with the meaning 'wild bird(s)' ('something caught'), whereas for the meaning 'to catch, capture', SV 'cầm', VS 'giam' one uses the character 擒 | ***It looks like all forms are cognates, including that of Chinese. |
| giacầm | fowl | Old Mon /tyāŋ/, /tyeŋ/, Modern Mon /cāŋ/, Danaw /yén4/, Riang White /yɛr-/, Black /yɛ`r-/, Palaung /i:r2/, íər2/, Wa /iɑ2/, Bahnar /ir/, T'eng /ʿier/, Khasi /syiar/, Mundari /jiaŋ-jiaŋ/ (=chicken | Chin. 家禽 jiāqín (SV giacầm) | *****The Vietnamese compound hereof simply a Middle Chinese variant of the Chinese form. |
| chimcông | peafowl | Old Mon /mrek/, /mrā/, Danaw (<Burmese), Riang White and Black /prāk\ /, Palaung /brɑʔ3/, Wa /kɑ'ɯŋ2/, Malay /měrak/, Cham /amrak/, Biat /brak/, T'eng /kuóŋ/...) | Chin. 孔雀 kǒngquè (SV khổngtước) ~> VS #'chimcông' | M 孔 kǒng < MC khúŋ < OC *khōŋʔ | Note: for 'chim' see its etymology above. | ***Obviously the V 'chimcông' is the Chinese form in reverse order. Some more forms in other languages listed for this item are ommited for their being unrelated to Vietnamese. |
| cuncút | quail | (Corturnix), Viet. /cuncút/, Old Mon tgit/, /tget/, /tgat/, Modern Mon /daguit/, /thagut/, Danaw /taʔ3kot2/, Riang White /rɤku:t\ /, Black /rəkut\ /, Palaung /ăguʔ1,3, Wa /kɯt1/, Khmer /grwac/, Biat /gôi/, Srê /rəgut/, T'eng /təgut/, Khasi /tyut/, Mundari /gagar/ | Chin. 鶉 chún (SV thuần) | VS. 'cuncút' reduplicative '鶉 chún (cun)' + '鶉 chún (cút) | M 鶉 chún < MC dʒwin < OC *dhwǝn | ***Most of the forms are cognates, including the Chinese reduplicative compound. |
| diềuhâu | bird of prey, kite | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /hawkluiŋ/ (large hornbill) (?), Danaw /kăyɑŋ4kyɑŋ2/, Riang White and Black /klɑŋ-/, Palaung /klɑŋ2/, Dnaw /klɑŋ2/, Khmer /khlaŋ/ (fish eagle), Sakai /kělâtn/, Semang /kělă/ Malay /hělɑŋ/, Srê, Bahnar /klaŋ/, T'eng /klaŋ/, Khasi /khlɪeŋ/ | Chin. 鳶 yuān (SV diên) | M 鳶 yuān < MC lwan < OC *jwen | **The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognates. |
| ưng | vulture | Old Mon /timmāt/, /tammāt/, Modern Mon /tamāt/, Danaw /lɔŋ2tɑʔ2/, Riang White /lɑŋ\tɑʔ\ /, Black /klɑŋ-tɑʔ\ /, Palaung /lɑŋ3ɗɑ2/, Wa /klɑŋ4préŋ2/,Old Khmer /tmāt/, Old Burmese /lāŋta/, Shan /laŋta/, /naŋta/ | Chin. 鷹 yīng (SV ưng) > VS 'ó' (hawk) | M 鷹 yīng < MC ʔiŋ < OC *ʔjəŋ | *****It looks like only the Chinese and Vietnamese. forms are cognates. |
| ác | crow | Viet. /ác/, Old Mon /kil-ak/, /kil-ek/, Modern Mon /kɑɗɑk/, Danaw /lɔŋ4ɑʔ2/, Riang White /luʔ\ʔɑk-/, Balck /luk\ɑk-/, Palaung /kă\ʔɑʔ1/, Wa /lak3/, Old Khmer /kāk/, Sakai /aag/, /gaag/, Semang /ukag/, Malay /gagak/, Srê /kənɗɑ/, Bahnar /āk/, T'eng /kăʔak/, K'mu /klāk/ | Chin. 烏 wū, wù, yā, yān (SV ô, ác) VS 'quạ', 'ác' | M 烏 wū, wù, yā, yān < MC ʔo < OC *ʔā | According to Starostin: Later also attested in the sense ('black as a crow' > ) 'black, very dark'. | ****All forms are cognates with an extra variant for the Vietnamese word as /quạ/.) |
| ruồi | house-fly | Viet. /ruồi/, no Old Mon, mod. /ruai/, Danaw /rui4/, /hrui4/, Riang White and Black /ruəɪ\ /, Palaung /rɔ'i2/, Wa /rɔi2/, Khmer /ruy/ Sakai /rūl/, /ruoi/, Besisi /roi/, Nicobarese /yüe/, Car Nicobarese /ɪn-Rúɛ/, Biat /rʾhūai/, Bahnar /rɔi/, T'eng /ròé/, Mundari /roko/ | Chin. 蠅 yíng 'fly' (SV dăng) VS 'nhặng', 'lằng' | M 蠅 yíng < MC jiŋ < OC *ljəŋ | ***All Mon-Khmer etyma are cognates while the Chinese form 蠅 yíng with VS 'nhặng', 'lằng' could evolve into different sound "ruồi". |
| mối | white ant | Viet. /mối/, no Old Mon, mod. /samat/, Danaw /tɔŋ4kʿrun2/, Riang White /pruiñ\ /, /priñ\ /, Palaung /brun2/, Wa /mɔ1,3/..) Ols Khmer /samoc/ Malay /sěmut/, T'eng /hmuic/, Mundari /muiʔ/ | Chin. 螞 mă, mà, mā ~ phonetic M 馬 mă < MC mɑ < OC *mra:ʔ | ex. 螞蟻 măyǐ ~ VS 'kiếnmối' (white ant) | Chin. 蟻 yǐ < MC ŋé < OC *ŋhajʔ | **All cross-linguistic family etyma are cognate to V 'mối' as Luce's notation. In that case V 'kiến' is possibly cognate to either Chin. /yì/ or /xiàn/.) |
| chấy | louse in the hair | Viet. /chấy/, no Old Mon. mod. /cai/, Danaw /tsɪ1/, Riang White and Black /sʿɪʔ/, Palaung /sɑ'ɪ2/, /sɔ2/, Wa /ʃɪʔ1/, Khmer /caɪ/, Sakai /cha/ Semang /chiʾ/, Nicobarese /shēɪ/, Stieng /sɪh/, Srê /săi/, T'eng /séʔ/, Khasi /ksi/, Mundari /siku/ | Chin. 虱 shī (SV siết, sắt) | M 虱 shī ~ M 蝨 shī < MC ʂit < OC *srit | Also, V /chí/ is a doublet. | ****Interestingly enough, the Chin. form /shī/ appears to be cognate to other Austroasiatic forms, too, and that could likely be coincidental. |
| trứng | egg | Old Mon /tumʾāy/ (?), Modern Mon /kʿamhāai/, Banaw /kătn4/, /kătUn4/, Riang White and Black /tam-/, Wa /tɔm2/, Sakai /tap/, Shom Peng /kâtēab/, Bahnar /kətap/, Lemet /ntam/, T'eng /kədóŋ/ | Chin. 蛋 dàn (SV đản) | ****Beside other Mon-Khmer forms, it is with certainty that the V 'trứng' is cognate to the C /dàn/. |
| lụa | silk | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /sut/, Danaw /kătuʔ2/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ\ /, Black /sʿətuʔ/, Palaung /ɗéu2/, Wa /tɑ'əʔ1/ | Chin. 綢 chóu (SV trù, thao) ~ 縷 lǚ (SV lũ, lâu) | M 綢 (紬) chóu, diào, tāo < MC ɖǝw < OC *dru || M 縷 lǚ < MC lʊ < OC *rhoʔ | According to Starostin: silk thread (L.Zhou). Viet. lụa is a colloquial loan (probably of Late Han time); regular Sino-Viet. is lũ. | ***The Mon /sut/ looks like a cognate with the V 'lụa/ and others like V 'tơlụa'; however, all point to the Chin. 綢 /chóu/ for VS 'lụa' and 絲綢 /sīchóu/ for 'tơlụa'. |
| keo | lac | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /krek/, /krut/, Danaw /yaŋ4kʿărék3/, Riang White /trɔit-/, Black /trɔic-/, Palaung /krɤɪʔ1/, krɔ'it1/, Mundari /êrê-ko/ | Chin. 蟲膠 chóngjiāo, 蟲脂 chóngzhǐ | M 膠 jiāo, háo, jiăo, jiào, năo, qiāo < MC kɑw < OC *kri:w | *Semantically V 'keo', a cognate with the Chinese form 膠 jiāo 'glue', is not exactly 'lac', but it looks like those of other forms listed by Luce for this item. |
| rừng | forest | Old Mon grīp/, Modern Mon /gruip/ Danaw /pʿrɑ2bo4/, Riang White /priʔ\ /, Black /prɪʔ\ /, Palaung /bréɪ2/, Wa /brɑʔ3/, Old Khmer /vraɪ/, Sakai /brɪ/, Besisi /ʾmbri/, Semang /těpɪʾ/, Srê /brɪ/, T'eng /brɪ/, K'mu /mprɪ/, Khasi /brɪ/, (=grove), Mundari /bɪr/ | Chin. 林 lín ‘forest’ (SV lâm) | M 林 lín < MC lim < OC *rjəm < PC **rjəɱ | cf. 森 (SV sâm) VS 'rậm' ~ OC /*srjəm/, dialect Cant. /lʌm2/ | ¶ l- ~ r-, ex. 龍 lóng (SV long) ~ VS 'rồng' 'dragon' | Note: Tibetan languages Kachin: diŋgram2 'forest', Lushei: ram 'forest', Burmese: rum 'dense' . | ***Including the /brɪ/ form, most of them are loosely cognate to the V 'rừng' which is more affirmatively a plausible cognate with the C /lín/. |
| cây | tree, wood | Viet. /cây/, /thân/, Old Mon /cʿuʾ/, /tam/, Modern Mon /tnam/, Danaw /tsok4θé1/, Riang White /tɤŋ-kʿɛʔ-/, Black /təŋ-kʿɛʔ-/, Palaung /héi2/, /hɑ'i2/, /hɔ'i2/, /taŋ2/, /tiŋ2/, teŋ2/, Wa /kʿɪʔ/, kʿɑuʔ1/ (firewwood), Old Khmer /jhe/, /tem/, tnem/, Sakai /jěhu/, Semang /tum/, Old Malay /kāyu/, /bataŋ/ Nicobarese /chīa/, Srê /chɪ/, /təm/, T'eng /həʔɛ`ʔ/ (firewood), P'uman /zɪe/, K'mu /che/, Khasi /ba-eh (wooden), /dieng/ (tree), Mundari /sɪŋ/ | Chin. 株 zhū (SV châu) ~ VS 'cây' | M 株 zhū < MC tʂʊ < OC *to || Chin. 樹 shù (SV thụ) VS cây 'tree', 木 mù (SV mộc) VS gỗ 'wood', 材 cái (SV tài) VS gỗ 'wood', 柴 căi VS cũi 'firewood', 本 běn (SV bổn) VS thân 'trunk' | M 樹 shù < MC tʂʊ < OC *dhoʔ || M 木 mù < MC muk < OC *mho:k || M 材 cái < MC ʑʊj < OC *ʑhjə: | ***Looking at the lexical patterns for the Viet. /cây/, /thân/ given by Luce item in different languages, we can similarly associate several Chinese words that could be good candiates for the cognates with Vietnamese forms, such as 'cây' 樹 shù (tree), 材 cái 'gỗ' (wood), 柴 căi 'cũi' (firewood), 本 běn 'thân' ('trunk' vs. 'root' 根 gēn), each which differentiates better every distinctive etymon, phonologically and lexically. |
| rễ | root | Viet. /rễ/, no Old Mon, mod. /ruih/, Danaw /tɔŋ2rít4/, Riang White rias\ /, Black /riɛ`\ /, Palaung /riɛh3/, Wa /riah5/, Khmer /rīs/, rưs/, Besisi /purus/, Semang /yaes/ Car Nicobarese /Reh/, Sre^ /riăs/, Bahnar /riəh/, /rə/, T'eng /riaχ/, /riɛχ/, Khasi /trai/, Mundai /redʔ/ | Chin. 蒂 dì (SV đế) | M 蒂 (蔕) dì < MC tiaj < OC *tɛjs | ¶ d- ~ r- | ***Even though all other languages demonstrate apparently plausible cognates etymologically, the V 'rễ' and Chin. /dì/ form also show similar correspondences phonologically. |
| lá | leaf | Viet. /lá/, Old Mon /sla/, Modern Mon /sla/, Danaw /lɑ1/, Riang White and Black /laʔ-/, Palaung /hlɑ2/, Wa /laʔ3/, Old Khmer /slik/, Sakai /sělâk/, Nicobarese /dai/, /rai/, Biat /nʾha/, Bahnar /hla/, P'u-man /hla/, T'eng /hlaʔ/, Khasi /sla/, Mundari /araʔ/ (edible leaf | Chin. 葉 yè (SV diệp) | M 葉 yè, dié, shè < MC jep < OC *lhap < OC *lap < PC **lɒp | ¶ y- ~ l- | According to Starostin: Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *la, Proto-Katuic: *la, Proto-Bahnaric: *la, Khmer: sla:, Proto-Pearic: *laʔ.N, Proto-Vietic: *laʔ, s-, Proto-Monic: *la:ʔ, Proto-Palaungic: *laʔ, Proto-Khmu: *laʔ, Khasi: sla-diŋ, Proto-Aslian: *sǝlaʔ, Proto-Viet-Muong: *laʔ, ʔ-, Thomon: la.343ʔ, Tum: la.212 | Tibetan languages: ldeb lá, tờ, Burmese: ɑhlap cánhhoa., Kachin: lap2 lá, Lushei: le:p búp, Lepcha: lop lá, Rawang ʂɑ lap lá (cuốn bánh) ; Trung ljəp1 lá, Bahing lab. Sh. 138; Ben. 70. | ****In addition the obvious cognates among those listed Mon-Khmer lexicons, the Vietnamese form 'lá' also shows etymological similarity with the 葉 yè, especially with its ancient sounds. |
| bông | flower | Old Mon /pkāw/,/pluh/, Modern Mon /pkaw/, /raŋ/, Danaw /puɑŋ1po4/, /po4/, Riang White /pɤdɑk-/, /pɔ-/, Black /dɑk-/, /pɔ-/, Palaung /dɑk-/, /ɓɔh3/, Wa /tɑi2/, /pruh5tɑi2/, Old Khmer /pkā/, Sakai /běkáu/, Srê, Bahnar /bɔkao/, T'eng /raŋ/ Lemet /raŋ/, Khasi /phuh/ (=blossom) | Chin. 葩 pā (SV ba), 花 huā (SV hoa) | M 葩 pā < MC bɒ < OC *bra: || M 花 huā (SV hoa) ~ 華 huā, huá (Hoa) \ Cant. 花 /fa1/ ~ VS 'bông' 葩 pā (SV ba) | M 花 huā < MC xwa < OC *sŋrōjs | Also, 芭 bā (SV ba) VS bông | ****The variant forms in different languages show that they are cognate to each other while at the same time the Vietnamese form /bông/ also points to the Chin. 葩 pā and 花 huā forms as its cognates. |
| trái | fruit | Old Mon /sac/, Modern Mon /sat/, Danaw /plé1/, Riang White and Black /plɛ`\ /, Palaung /plɑ'i2/, /pléi2/, Wa pléʔ/, Old Khmer /ple/, Srê /plê, T'eng /pléh/,Lemet /pʿli/, Khasi /soh/ | Chin. 實 shí (SV thực) | M 實 shí < MC ʑit < OC *lit | According to Starostin, 實 be solid, true; actually, really. Used also for *lit 'fruit'; *lit 'be rich'. The three meanings of 實 are probably one and the same word: 'fruit' < 'to be fruitful = rich'; 'to bring fruits < be effective, true'. Vietnamese has also a colloquial loanword 'thiệt' (real, genuine. | cf. M 水果 shuǐguǒ (VS 'tráicây') and 結果 jiéguǒ (1) VS 'kếttrái' (near fruits), (2) 'kếtquả' (result) | ***All /pl-/ forms appears to be cognate to each other, including the C 實 shí and Old Mon /sac/, Modern Mon /sat/ which are cognate to SV 'thực', 'thật' (reality). Meanwhile, the AA /pl-/ form appears to fit into old VietMuong /blai/ for 'trái'. The question is, "Is any form of C 實, i.e., those of Old CHinese, MIddle Chinese, dialects, etc., truly cognate to V 'trái' and, for that matter, concerrently to all other Austroasiatic forms? |
| gai | thorn | Old Mon /jirla/, Modern Mon /jala/, Danaw /kălaʔ2/, Riang White /sʿɤr\kɤt-/, Black /sʿərkət-/ , Palaung /pă\ʔɛʔ1/, Wa /kat1/, Sakai /jěrlâkn/, Semang /jliʾ/ Bahnar /jělaʔ/, T'eng /cərlaʔ/, Khasi /shah/, Nicobarese /hēt/ | Chin. 棘 jí (SV cức) | M 棘 jí, jì < MC kik < OC *kǝk | **Phonologically, the V 'gai' could possibly be cognate to Chin. 棘 jí, ex. 荊棘 jīngjí: VS 'chônggai' (thistles and thorns) |
| cựa | burr | No Mon, Danaw /tăbyɪt3/, Riang White /sʿɤvwɔit\ /, Black /sʿəvwɔic\ /, Palaung /kābiʔ1/, Wa /pi:t1/ | VS 'cựa' 'bur', 'burr'. | Chin. 棘 jí (SV cức) M 棘 jí, jì < MC kik < OC *kǝk | *Again, the C 棘 jí could possibly give rise to both 'gai' and 'cựa'. |
| cám | thusk of rice | Viet. /cám/, Old Khmer /aŋkām/, Malay /sěkam/, Biat /nʾkʿop/, T'eng /kam/, Lemet /nkām/, Khasi /skap/ | Chin. 糠 kāng (SV khang), 糝糠 sănkāng (SV tầmkhang) VS tấmcám 'broken rice husk and bran residue left from ground rice grains'; hence, figuratively, 'impoverished' | M 糝 săn < MC sɣm < OC *sjə:mʔ || M 糠 kāng < MC kʌŋ < OC *ka:ŋ | ****Besides other forms, it is doubtless that the C /kāng/ is cognate to the V /cám/ with the interchage of their intitial /kh- ~ k-/ and syllable /-ang/ ~ /-am/. It is likely that both Vietnamese and Chinese forms originated from the same root, including that of compound 'tấmcám' (rice husk residue). |
| nấm | mushroom, fungus | Old Mon ptis/, Modern Mon /ptuɪh/, Danaw /tət3,1/, Riang White /tis-/, Black /kətis-/, /tis-/, Palaung /ɗi:h2/, /ɗi:χ3/, Wa /ti:h5/, Old Khmer /phsit/, Sakai /betis/, Besisi /pětīh/, Semang /tēhs/, Srê /bēsīt/, Biat /chêt/, T'eng /tɪh/, Khasi /tɪt/ | Chin. 菌 jūn (SV khuẩn) | M 菌 jùn, jūn, juàn, qùn < MC gwɨn < OC *ghrun, *khwiɲ | According to Starostin: mushroom (L.Zhou). Viet. khuẩn reflects an unattested variant MC *khwi/n (reflected also in Fuzhou khuŋc,3s|). | ¶ jw-, qw- (*khw-) ~ n- / jw - ~> w- | **The V 'nấm' and Chin. 菌 jùn could be cognates given their phonology with the interchange of palatal affricate to that of nasal sound and meanings. |
| tranh | thatch grass | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /suit/, /tnam cwo/, Danaw /plɑŋ4/, Riang White and Black /plɑŋ-/, Palaung /plɑŋ2/, Wa /plɔŋ2/, Sakai /plôkn/ (thatch leaves), Besisi /ploŋ/, Khasi /phlang/ (grass | Chin. 莛 tíng (SV đình) | M 莛 tíng ~ phonetic stem M 廷 (庭) tíng < MC dieŋ < OC *ɬhe:ŋ | PNH: QĐ ting4, Hẹ tin2 | Shuowen: 莖也。从艸廷聲。特丁切。 清代段玉裁『說文解字注』 | ****All other forms point to V /tranh/ given old Vietic /bl-/ ~ /tr-/ while both the Vietnamese and Chinese forms appear to be cognate. |
| thuốc | drug, medicine | Old Mon /kin-ūy/, Modern Mon /ga-uai/, Danaw /lɔŋ2ŋɑ4/, /tɔŋ2ŋɑ4/, Riang White /sʿɤnɤm\ /, Black /sʿənəm\, sănam2/, Wa /ʃi4tah5/, /Khmer /tʿnām/, Srê /sənɔm/ | Chin. 藥 yào (SV dược) | M 藥 yào, yuè, shuò < MC jak < OC *lak | FQ 以灼 | According to Starostin: to give medicine, cure. Also used in the diesheng 勺藥 *dakw|-lakw| 'peony'. | ¶ y- ~ th- | cf. 龠 yuè (SV dược ~ thược), 鑠 shuò (SV thước) | ******There is little doubt that V 'thuốc' is plausibly cognate to the Chinese form 藥 yào. |
| rau | vegetables, curry (Luce) | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /swa/, /kʿanew/, Danaw /tu1/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/, Palaung /ɗéu2/, Wa /sɑɯʔ1/, Khasi /jhur/ | Chin. 菜 cài (SV tháI) | M 菜 cài < MC chɤj < OC *shjə:ʔs | ***For the denotation of 'vegetables', only the Chinese form /cài/ seems to be cognate to the V 'rau' while Luce's cited 'curry' is irrelevant. |
| trúc | bamboo | Viet. /trúc/, Old Mon /dūñ/, Modern Mon /dun/, Danaw /kărɔʔ2/, Riang White /rɤŋ-/, Black /rəŋ-/, Palaung /hraŋ2/, Wa /oʔ1/, Besisi /dɪkŋ/, Nicobarese /hedw/, Srê, Bahnar /diŋ/ (bamboo pipe), K'mu /rahaŋ/ | Chin. 竹 zhú (SV trúc) VS tre 'bamboo' | M 竹 zhú < MC ʈʊk < OC *truk | *****The two forms in both Chin. /zhú/ and V /trúc/ forms are cognates for sure, including V /tre/, yet it is interesting to see how diverse are the sound changes occur in other languages for this item. |
| măng | edible bamboo shoots | Viet. /măng/, Old Mon /tbaŋ/, Modern Mon /tɓaŋ/, Danaw /tu1bôŋ4/, Riang White /kɤtjoʔ\ /, Black /kətsoʔ\ /, Palaung /bɑŋ2/, Wa /sɑɯ1/, Khmer /dambaŋ/, Sakai /rêbôk/, Besisi /lemboŋ/, Samang /abboŋ/, Malay /rêboŋ/, Bahnar /təbaŋ/, Srê /ɓan/ | Chin. 萌 méng (SV manh), 秧 yāng (SV ương), also, VS mầm 'young shoot' | M 萌 (氓) méng < MC maijŋ < OC *mhreŋ | According to Starostin, 萌 bud, young shoot, to sprout (Late Zhou). Reconstruction *m(h)rǝ̄ŋ is also possible (hsiehsheng would suggest *m(h)rāŋ, but in this case the MC form would be irregular). Regular Sino-Viet. is manh; another loan from the same source is possibly Viet. mống 'bud, germ'. || M 秧 yāng < MC ʔaŋ < OC *ʔaŋ | According to Starostin, 秧 young shoots, seedlings (Tang) | Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *bʔaŋ, Proto-Katuic: *bʔaŋ, Proto-Bahnaric: *bʔaŋ, Khmer: lǝmbɔŋ, Proto-Vietic: *ʔp-Proto-Viet-Muong: *ʔbaŋ, t-, #, Muong dialect: păŋ.1, Arem: ʔabaŋ ,Proto-Ruc: *baŋ.1, t-, Ruc (Russian field rec.): taʔbaŋ.1, Ruc tabaŋ.1, Thavung-So: baŋ.1 | ***Except for a few languages, all others appear to be cognate, including the Chinese forms. However, the modern Chinese for 'bamboo shoots' is 竹筍 zhúsǔn and 萌 méng 'young shoot' commonly appear in the compound 萌芽 méngyá with SV 'manhnha' (young bud) while 芽 yá, plausibly a basic word, is cognate to V 'giá' meaning 'young sprouts'; also, 萌 méng could be cognate to 'mới' (new). |
| rẫy | hill cultivation | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /gū/, Danaw /ré1/, /hré1/, Riang White and Black /mɑ\ /, Palaung /mɑr2/, Wa /mɑ2/, T'eng /hré/, Biat, Srê /mir/, Khasi /kper/ (field) | Chin. 壠 lǒng (SV lũng) | M 壠 (壟 ) lǒng, lōng < MC lowŋ < OC *rhoŋʔ | Chin. also has a compound 梯田 tītián (SV thêđiền) that points to another Vietnamese word as 'ruộngbậcthang' @&# ‘梯級田 tījítián’ (seemingly new coined word) ~ V @# M 梯田 tītián \ Vh @ 田 tián ~ VS 'đồng', 'ruộng' \ { M 梯 tī < MC thiej < OC *ɫhjə:j || M 田 (佃) tián < MC dien < OC *lhi:n}, meaning 'ladder terraced field' and none of these forms do not look like original indigenous words. | *While V 'rẫy' appears to be cognate to some of Mon-Khmer words, the C 梯田 tītián could be the case of contraction if it has anything to do with the V 'rẫy' at all while the C 壠 lǒng (SV lũng) is more in line with 'nương', phonetically. |
| lúa | paddy | Old Mon and modern /sroʾ/, Danaw /bɑ1/, Siang White /ŋUʔ-/, Black /ŋoʔ-/, Palaung /hŋɑ'2/, Wa /ŋoʔ3/, Khasi /kba/, Mundari /baba/, Old Burmese /capā/, Old Khmer /srū/ | For Chin. 來 lái (SV lai) 'unhusked rice', M 來 lái < MC ljəj < OC *rjə: | ***While Starostin cited this etymon as 稻 dào for 'lúa', other forms in other Austroasiatic languages do not appear to be close the Chinese and Vietnamese forms, i.e., 來 lái and 'lúa'. The 稻 dào ('lúa') is supposedly a loanword in Chinese. See elabration on its doublet VS 'gạo' 稻 dào (SV đạo) in the previous chapter. |
| gạo | husked rice | Viet. /gạo/, Old Mon /sŋoʾ/, Modern Mon /sŋu/, Danaw /ku/, Riang White and Black /koʔ-/, Palaung /răkɑ'u2/, Wa /ŋ-gɑ'u3ʔ/, Old Khmer /raŋko/, Nicobarese /atôe/, T'eng /hŋɔʔ, Khasi /khaw/, Shan /khaw/ | Chin. 稻 dào (SV đạo) | M 稻 dào < MC dɑw < OC *lhu:ʔ ~ ɫhu:ʔ (Schuessler : MC dâu < OC *gləwʔ or *mləwʔ) | According to Starostin, Chin. 稻 dào ~ Viet. 'lúa' (unhusked rice). See elaboration of 'lúa' and 'gạo' in the previous chapter. | ****All looks cognate, but for the Chinese form it is credibly that it is a loanword from an ancient Yue language in China South and it should be 'unhusked rice' in both Chinese and Vietnamese. |
| thóc | millet | No Mon, Danaw /kʿwé4/, Riang White /(kɑi-)kʿuɑi-/, Black /(kai-)kʿuai-/, no Palaung and Wa forms, Khasi /krai/ | Chin. 粟 sù (SV túc) | M 粟 sù < MC sjouk < OC *shok | ***While the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate, some forms in other languages look like 'khoai' in Vietnamese, meaning 'yam, taro' or V 'cốc' cereal which inturn is from the C 穀 gǔ. |
| xuyêncốc | Job's tears ('Coix lacryma-jobi') | No Mon forms, Danaw /(plé1)bé2/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/, | Chin. 川穀 chuāngǔ | ***The Danaw /(plé1)bé2/ form appear to be cognate to V /bobo/ while Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/ 'xuyêncốc' which is from Chin. 川穀 chuāngǔ. |
| vía | spirit (intox) | No Mon forms, Danaw /kădo4/, Riang White /kɤdɑu-/, Black /kədɑu-/, Wa /plɑi2/ | Chin. 魄 pó (SV phách) VS 'vía' | M 魄 pò, tuò, bó (phách, thác, bạc) < MC phajk, thak < OC *paɨjk, *thak | ¶ p- ~ v- | ***No similar forms in Vietnamese seem to point to the limited list given by Luce for this item while the Chinese forms are numerous and vary greatly depending on what we are referring to. In any cases, in Vietnamese we have an interesting 'vía' which is cognate to the Chin. 魄 pó. |
| độc | poison | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kyɪ/, Danaw /tɑŋ2tsɤʔ4/, Riang White /kɤtjɔʔ\ /, Black /kətsɔʔ/, no Palaung and Wa forms | Chin. 毒 dú (SV độc) | Also, VS 'nọc' (venom) ~ M 毒 dú < MC tɦəwk < OC *dəwk | ****The Riang forms look like the Vietnamese and Chinese cognates with something similar to VS /chấtđộc/ 'poisonous substance' which is equivalent to to Chin. 毒質 dúzhí ~ SV 'độcchất' in familarly reverse compound form. |
| củ | taro, tubers | Old Mon /krow/ (ʔ), Modern Mon /krau/, Danaw /kărō1/, Riang White /sʿɤroʔ-/, Black /sʿəroʔ-/, Wa /krɑuʔ1/, Khasi /shriew/, Mundari /aru/, /saru/ | Chin. 塊莖 kuàijīng (SV khốicanh) ~ VS 'khoaisắn' ~ 'củ', 'khoai', 'sắn'. Also: Chin. 薯 shǔ (SV thự) | M 薯 shǔ < MC ʂjə < OC *dʑɨjə | ***All the Vietnamese forms 'khoaisắn', 'củ', 'khoai', and 'sắn' seem to have cognates in all languages involved. |
| đậu | bean | Old Mon /bāy/ (?), Modern Mon /ɓɑi/, Danaw /bɑi4/, Riang White /rɤbɑi-/, Black /rəbɑi-/, /bɑi-/, Palaung /rābɑ'i2/, Wa /pɛ`2/, Khmer /pāy/, etc. | Chin. 荳 dòu (SV đậu), 豆 dòu (VS, also 'nồi' cooking pot. See elaboration below. ) | M 豆 dòu < MC dow < OC *dho:s | *****While all the Mon-Khmer forms appear something similar to /bai/, /pai/... which can not be cognate to both the Chin. /dòu/ and V /đậu/. |
| trầu | betel, betel-leaf | Viet. /trầu/, Mid Mon /sablu/, Modern Mon /jablu/, Danaw /(lɑ1)ku:n2/, Riang White and Black /plu\ /, Palaung /plu2/, Wa /pu2/, Old Khmer /amlo/, Sakai /bluk/, Biat /mʾlu/, Bahnar /bəlâu/, T'eng /blu/, Khasi /tympew/, Old Burmese /sammlhū/ (betel), kwam /areca/ | Chin. 柄榔 bīngláng (SV bínhlang), cf. old VietMuong /blau/ | ****With the Chin. 柄榔 bīngláng, meaning both betel and betel-leaf (doublet of 蔞 lóu, SV lâu, 'betel vine') that is cognate to all Mon-Khmer forms, there is no doubt that this is a loanword in Chinese. |
| mè | sesamum, sesame | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /daŋnau/, /laŋau/, Danaw /lɔŋ2ŋɑʔ4/, Riang White /lɤŋɑʔ\ /, /lək\ŋɑʔ\ /, Palaung /răŋɑ2/, Wa /ŋyéʔ3/, /ŋɛ`2/, /ŋɑʔ3/, Old Knhmer /lŋo/, Malay /ləŋa/, Biat /rʾŋa/ Shan /ŋā | Chin. 麻 má (SV ma) | QT 蔴 (麻) mā, má ~ QT 麻 má < MC ma < OC * mhra:j | For 麻 má, according to Starostin 'hemp' (Cannabis sativa), standard Sino-Viet. is ma. For *mh- cf. Shaowu mai7. | ******Viet and Chinese forms are cognate with no relation to other languages. |
| mía | sugarcane, molasses | Viet. /mía/, Old Mon /tbow/, /tanglāy/, Modern Mon /taŋglāai/, Danaw /tɔŋ1nɑi2/, Riang White /tɑm-lɑi\ /, Black /tam-lɑi\ /, Palaung /nɑm3mɑ'ì/, /-mɔi2/, Wa /me2/, /ñɔm4ɔ'i2/, Malay /těbu/, Nicobarese /poh/ T'eng /kəlmé/, Khasi /paɪ/ | Chin. 蔗 zhè (SV giá) | M 蔗 zhè < MC tʂɒ < OC *tiaks | Pulleyblank: LM tʂia < EM tɕia | *Sugarcane used to be native in South China and the V /mía/ looks like agreeable to some Mon-Khmer forms in Luce's list. Meanwhile, the sound change patterns in the Chinese form also suggest some correspondences since this may be a loanword in Chinese. |
| tranh | palmyra, toddy palm | Old Mon /tāl/ (< Sanskrit), Modern Mon /tā/, Danaw /(tsok4)tʿan2/, Riang White /(tɤŋ-)tʿan-/, Black /tʿɑn-/, Palaung /tʿɑn3/, Sanskrit /tāla/, Old Burmese /tʿan/, Shan /tʿan/ | Chin. 扇葉 shănyè (SV phiếndiệp) VS 'látranh' ~> 'tranh' (Borassus flabellifer) | M 扇 shān, shàn (thiên, phiến, thiến) < MC ʂen < OC *xen | **Palmyra used to be native in India, so 扇葉 shănyè could simply be a translation of the word. |
| me | tamarind | Old Mon /maŋglañ/, /maŋgleñ/, Modern Mon /maŋ glan/, Danaw /maŋ4kléŋ2/, Riang White /maŋ\klɛ`ŋ\/, Black /maŋ\klɛ`əŋ\ /, Palaung /mákaŋ2/, Wa /(pléʔ1)pʿak1/, Old Burmese /maŋklañ/, Shan /makkiŋ/ | Chin. 酸梅 suānméi (SV toanmuộI) VS mechua ~ me (Tamarindus indica) | M 梅 méi < MC moj < OC *mjə: | FQ 莫杯 | ***Tamarind trees can only found in tropical regions close to the southern hemisphere, but somehow the Vietnamese form seems to be derived from that word, which could be a mere coincidence and association since 梅 méi still used to denote other things, phonologically and etymologically Vietnamese cognates though, like 'mận' (plum), 'dâu' (berry), 'mai' (Japanese plum blossom, a kind of flower that appear on the Hong Kong's flag and it is used an emblem of the Taiwan's Airlines. |
| gừng | ginger | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tagaw/, /lagaw/, Danaw /kătsaŋ4/, Riang White /kɤsʿiaŋ-/, Black /kəsʿɛ`ŋ, Palaung /ʃiaŋ2/, /cʿo:ŋ2/, Wa /ʃi4kiŋ2/, Khasi /sying/ | Chin. 薑 jiāng (SV khương) QT 薑 jiāng < MC kaŋ < OC *kaŋ | ¶ j- ~ g- | ******The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to other forms except for the modern Mon forms,even though they are cited by Luce as the Danaw form sub-strata. |
| chè | tea | No Old Mon, mod. lak(pʿak), Danaw /mi:n2/, Riang White /myɛ`m\ /, Blak /mɛ`m\ /, Palaung /myɛ`m2/, Wa /lɑ2/, Burmese /lak/, /-phak/ | Chin. 茶 chá (SV trà) | M 茶 chá < MC ɖa < OC *ɫa: | Starostin: tea (Han). See notes to 荼. Viet. chè is colloquial; the regular Sino-Viet. form is trà | FQ 宅加 | ******The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate and sound similarly while others diverge greatly. This etymon might have an Yue origin since tea was a product of China South with its homebase had been in today's Fujian Province. |
| nghệ | turmeric | Curcama) (No Old Mon, mod. /mit/, Danaw /kʿămət2/, Riang White /rɤmit\ /, Black /rəmit\ /, Srê /rəmit/, Mnong Gar /rmut/ | Chin. 艾 ài, yì (SV nghệ, ngải) | M 艾 ài, yì < MC ŋaj < OC *ŋaj, *ŋɨaj | *****There is no doubt that both the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are cognate, but 艾 yì (SV nghệ) might not be native in ancient China. |
| kiệu | leeks | No Mon forms, Danaw /kʿnuʔ1/, Riang White /..kʿyu-/, Black /cʿu-/, Palaung /(ɗéu2)kau4/ | Chin. 韭 (韮) jǐu (SV cựu) | M 韭 (韮) jǐu < MC kǝw < OC *kruʔ | ¶ j- ~ h- | ****All forms listed here point to Chin. /jǐu/, which shows the same origin. The question is from which language these etyma have originated? |
| cà | aubergine | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿaɗoŋ/, Danaw /(plé1)lôn2/, Riang White /tɤr\luŋ\ /, Black /tər\luŋ\ / | Chin. 茄 qié (SV già) | M 茄 qié < MC ga < OC *ghiaj | QÐ: khe12, Hm: khe11 $; kio12; khe12, TrC: kie12, Pk: kia11, Th: ka32 | từ vaymượn trong tiếngHán | Starostin: The oldest attested meaning and reading is OC *kra:j, MC ka. (FQ 求迦), Mand. jia: 'lotus stalk' (Han); the meaning 'egg-fruit' is attested since Tsin. The MC reading ga is exceptional (-a normally does not occur after velars) and may be dialectal; thus the OC form for 'egg-fruit' could have been *ghaj. Viet. cà is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is già. For *gh- cf. Xiamen khe2. | ex. 茄子 qiézi (SV giàtử) ~ VS càtím 'eggplant' (Solanum melongena) ~ VS 'cà' (a bushy perennial plant belonging to the potato family) | *****All other forms are absent from Luce's list even though aubergine, brinjal, or eggplant are known native in southern regions while 茄 qié is a generic term which is cognate to V /cà/. |
| gòn | cotton (plant) | No Old Mon /tow/, Danaw /pʿɑi4/, Riang White and Black /pʿɑi-/, Wa /tɑ2/, Old Khmer /pa-ɪk/ (cotton cloth), Khasi /khynphad/ | Chin. 草棉 căomián (SV thảomiên) ~ > 'gòn' (?) \ @ 棉 mián ~ VS 'bông' via ¶ /m- ~ b-/ | ~ 棉 mián 'cotton, blanket, soft' (SV miên) VS 'mền' (blanket), 'mềm' (soft), 'mịn' | M 棉 mián ~ 綿 mián < MC mjen < OC *men | FQ 武延 | cf. 棉花 miánhuā ~ VS 'bôngvải' (cotton), 棉木 miánmù, 棉布 miánbù ~ VS 'vảibông' (cotton cloth), 木棉 mùmián ~ VS 'câygòn' (cotton plant) | *With the meaning 'cotton' the V words vary depending on what entity is specifically referred to. For example, for 'cotton' the V word is 'bôngvải', 'cotton plant' ~ 'câybônggòn', but for 'cotton cloth' the right compound should be 'áovải' or 'áobông' while 'cotton pad' is 'bônggòn'. |
| bôngsợi | cotton yarn, thread | Old Mon /tol/ (< Samskrit), Modern Mon /tow/, Danaw /lu1/, Riang White and Black /luʔ-/, Palaung /sɑŋ2/, /sen2/, Khasi /ksai/, Sanskrit /tūla/ | Chin. 棉線 miánxiàn (SV miêntuyến) ~ VS 'sợibông' | Chin. 棉 mián ~ VS 'bông', 線 xiàn VS 'sợi' (thread) | M 線 xiàn < MC sjɜn < OC *sars | *While there is no correlation in other languages and the Vietnamese form 'bông' once reduced from Chin. 棉 mián, then the compound 棉線 miánxiàn can give rise to Vietnamese as 'bôngsợi' and 'sợibông' in reverse order. |
| quảvả | fig tree (Ficus) | Old Mon /jrey/, Modern Mon /jrai/, Danaw /kăriʔ1/, Riang White /tjɤriʔ\ /, Black /tjəriʔ\ /, Palaung /tăruŋ2/ (F religiosa), Old Khmer /jray/, /jrai/, Sakai /wi/, Semang /sawet/, Malay /jawi-jawi/, Car Nicobarese /chăRi/ (banyan), Biat /rʿwi/, Bahar /jəri/, T'eng /jri/, Khasi /jri/ (=rubbei), Mundari /ãri/, /bari/ | Chin. 無花果 wúhuāguǒ (Ficus carica) ~ VS 'quảvả' \ @ 無 wú ~ 'vả' | *The only way to relate this compound 無花果 wúhuāguǒ is that 無花 wúhuā gives rise to the contracted 'vả' with the falling-out of the syllable /huā/ . |
| dâyleo | creeper | Old Mon /juk/, Modern Mon /juk/, Danaw /tseŋ2/, Riang White /tji:ŋ\ /, Black /tsi:ŋ\ /, Palaung /kăsaŋ2/, Wa /mɑ3/ (rope) | Chin. 攀緣 fànyuán (SV phanduyên) | M 緣 yuán, yùn (duyên, duyến) < MC jwen < OC *ɫonr | According to Starostin, hem (of robe) (L.Zhou) Cf. also a colloquial loan in Viet.: viền 'to hem, to border'. Also used for homonymous *L^on (-r) 'to go along, follow; reason, destination' and *L^on (-r) 'to climb a tree'. | *We can tentatively posit 緣 yuán for 'dây' while 攀 fàn could be cognate to 'leo' following the pattern /f- ~ l-/'. |
| gốc | stump of tree | Mid. Mon /daguiw/, Modern Mon /dʿaguiw/, Danaw /tɔŋ2ŋɔt4/, Riang White /tjɤl\ŋɤl\ /, Black /tsəl\ŋəl\ /, Palaung /ŋói2/, Wa /klUh5/, Old Burmese /ŋut/, Malay /tuŋgul/, Biat /yôkŋǒl/, Srê /təŋgu/, Bahnar /ŋâl/ | Chin. 樁 zhuāng and M 根 gēn < MC kæn < OC *kjə:n | *The author is unsure which Chinese etymon matches Viet. /gốc/ if that word was intended by Luce. |
| trời | sky | No Mon forms, Danaw /tăʔɑ:ŋ4/, Riang White and Blak /pléŋ-/, Palung /pléŋ2/, Wa /pak4pyaŋ2/ (above), Old Khmer /phliəŋ/ (=rain), Bahnar /pleñ/, Lemet /mpliñ/, T'eng /ləʿwaŋ/, K'mu /hravaŋ/, Kasi /bneng/ | Chin. 天 tiān (SV thiên) | M 天 tiān < MC thien < OC *thi:n | FQ 他前 | Note: 前 Hainanese /tai2/; for V 'trời', old Vietmuong /blời/. | See etymology in the following sections. | **While the Mon-Khmer /pl-/ initial suggests something like /tr-/,both Vietnamese and Chinese forms could also be cognate which differentiates from 日 rì. cf. 日 rì ~ VS 'giời' (sun), 'and 'ngày' (day). |
| đất | earth | Viet. /đất/, Old Mon /ti/, Modern Mon /kăté1/, Riang White /kɤtéʔ-/, Black /kətéʔ-/, Palaung /kăɗɑ'i2/, /kă ɗɔ'i2/, Wa /dɛ`3/, Old Khmer /ti/, Sakai /téh/, Semang /tok/, Nicobarese /mattrai/ (land), Biat /nēh/, Srê /tiăh/, Bahnar /tɛ`h/, P'u-man /tʿui/, T'eng /pětéh/, /pětéʔ/, K'mu /até/, Khasi /pyrthei/ (world), Mundari /otē/, Kurku /watē/ | Chin. 土 tǔ (SV thổ) VS đất 'soil' | M 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ) < MC dwo < OC *daʔ (Li Fang-Kuei : OC *dagx ). Also, 地 dì (SV địa) 'land' | ****It is interesting that almost all the listed forms are cognate to each other, including both Chinese forms. |
| trời, ngày | sun, day | Viet. /ngày/, Old Mon /tŋey/, Modern Mon /tŋai/, Danaw /tsʿɪ1/, Riang White /sʿɤŋyiʔ\ /, /sʿəniʔ-/, Palaung /săŋɑ'i2/, /săŋéi2/, Wa /ʃɪ4ŋɑiʔ3/, Old Khmer /tŋaɪ/, Sakai /těŋŋɪ/, Malay /hari/, Nicobarese /heŋ/, Shom Peng /hok-ŋīa/, Srê /ŋái/, /təŋăi/, P'man /nyi/, T'eng /səŋi/, K'mu /simyi/, Khasi /sngi/, War /juŋai/, Mudari /siŋgi/, /siŋ/, Gadaba /sĩi/ | Chin. 日 rì (SV nhật) VS ngày (day), giời, trời (sun) | M 日 rì < MC rit < OC *ɲit | According to Starostin : MC ɲit < OC *nit, Min forms: Xiamen tɕit8, lit8, Chaozhou zik8, Fuzhou nik8, Jianou ni8. | @ 日 rì ~ ngày / giời > trời | giời and M 'rì' have their corresponding initials gi- and r- as well as y-, close to nh-, j-, jh- and ng- in SV nhật, Cant. /jat/ and /jit/. | ****All Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to Vietnamese variants, but the intrigue thing is the Chinese form does not appear much different from others. |
| trăng | moon | Old Mon /kintu/, /garu/, /kăto1/, Riang White and Black /kiɛ`-/, Palaung /păkiɔr2/, Wa /kʿiʔ1/, Old Khmer /khe/, Nicobarese /kâhē/, Bahnar /kʿey/, Lemet /kʿé/, Mundari /ku:r/ (month), Gadaba /arkē/ | Chin. 月 yuè (SV nguyệt) VS 'trăng', 'giăng" | Also, 'trăng' ~> 'tháng' (month). For 'giăng', M 月 yuè < MC jwjat < AC *jwot (See etymology in the next chapter.) | ***While the V 'ngày' and 'giời' appear to be cognate to other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages, the V 'giăng, trăng, tháng' completely diverge from the same languages with the interchange /j-/ ~ /k-/, cf. 聽 tìng (SV thính) ~ VS 'nghe' (hear) ~ Hai. /ke1/. At the same time, the Chin. 月 yuè, that fits to the same pattern as that of 日 rì for V 'ngày' and 'giời', seems to fill in the symetric word for V 'giăng' ~ 'trăng' ~ 'tháng' (month). |
| sao | star | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /snaŋ/, Danaw /kălɑn2/, Riang White /sʿɤkmɤiñ\ /, /sʿəkməiñ\ /, Palaung /ʃi4múiñ2/, Bahnar /səŋlɔŋ/, Srê /səmañ/, T'eng /səlmiñ/, Lemet /sremeñ/, Khasi /khlur, War /shlashmen/ | Chin. 星 xīng (SV tinh) | M 星 xīng < MC sieŋ < OC *she:ŋ < se:ŋ | See etymology in the next chapter. | ****The appearance of both the V /sao/ and C /xīng/ is the closest sound as compared to other forms. |
| năm | year | Viet. /năm/, Old Mon and mod /cnām/, Danaw /nan2/, Riang White and Black /vwi:t\ /, Palaung /snam2/, Wa /num2/, Old Khmer /cnam/, Srê /sənam/, /nam/, Bahnar /hānam/, T'eng /num/, Khasi /snem/, Mundari /sirma/ | Chin. 年 nián (SV niên) | M 年 nián < MC nian < OC *ɲiɛn | ******V 'năm' is an absolute cognate with the Chin. 年 /nián/. This is a plausible case that those Mon-Khmer languages with the concept of the 'year' that is cognate to V 'năm' was probably a Vietnamese loanword. |
| mưa | rain | Viet. /mưa/, Old Mon /brey/, /gūr/, Modern Mon /brai/, /gū/, Danaw /kălé1/, Riang White /tjuŋ\ /, /klɛ-/, Black /tsuŋ\ /, /klɛ-/, Palaung /klɑ'i2/, /klɔ'i2/, Wa /lɛ`ʔ3préiʔ1/, Sakai /maniʾ/, Semang /mī/, Nicobarese /amīh/, Srê /miu/, Bahnar, Stieng /mi/, T'eng /kəma/, /yur/ (v.) | Chin. 雨 yǔ (SV vũ) | M 雨 yǔ < MC hʊ < OC *haʔ | FQ 王矩 | ¶ y-(v-) ~ m- | § 雲 yún (SV vân) mây, 舞 wǔ (vũ) múa, 無 wú (vô) mô | See etymology in the next chapter. | ***Even though most of them are cognate to V /mưa/, the Chinese form 雨 yǔ is still a strong case for its plausible pattern of sound changes /y-/ ~ /m-/. |
| cầuvồng | rainbow | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿamaŋ suŋ ɗāk/ (crossbeam drinks water), Danaw /pāyɔŋ2/, Riang White /tɑi-pɤr\ñuɑŋ\ /, Black /tɑi-pər\ñuɔŋ\ /, Palaung /plɑŋ3(kădu2)/, Wa /ʃi4yɔŋ2/, T'eng /dur-prʿyoŋ/ (rainbow dragon), Khasi /simpyllieng/ | M 彩虹 căihóng (SV tháihồng), Also: VS 'mốngchuồng' | M 虹 hóng < MC ɣuŋ < OC *gōŋ, *ghoŋs, *krōŋs | ***While V 'mốngchuồng' may not be the cognate but 'cầuvồng' could be with 彩虹 căihóng. Other forms in Mon-Khmer are not. |
| gió | wind | Old Mon /kyāl/, Modern Mon /kyā/, Danaw /kɔŋ4/, Riang White and Black /kur-/, Palaung /kʾu2/, Wa /m bɑ'ɯŋ2/, Old Khmer /khsal/, Biat /chial/, Srê /cal/, Bahnar /khnal/, Kʿmu /khur/ (storm), Mundari /hoẽo/, /hur-hur/ | Chin. (SV phong) ~ Also, VS giông 'windstorm' , with its doublet 颺 yáng (SV dương) | M 風 fēng < MC pjung < OC *pjɔm, *prɔm < PC **pryŋʷ, **prym | ****Unless to be proved otherwise, the V 'gió' and Chin. 風 fēng should be postulated as cognates. |
| nước | water | Viet. /nước/, Old Mon /dāk/, /dek/, Modern Mon /ɗāk/, Danaw /u:n4/, Riang White and Black /om-/, Palaung /om2/, /Um2/, /ɤm2/, /ɛm2/, Wa /rɔm2/, Old Khmer /dik/, Sakai /dak/, Nicobarese /dāk/, Biat /ɗak/, Srê /daʔ/, Bahar /ɗak/, Mundari /dāk/, Savara /dā/, /dāŋ/, Gadaba /dẫ/, Kurku /dā/, T'eng /ʔom/, Lemet /hon/, Khasi /om/ | Chin. 水 shuǐ 'water' (SV thuỷ) | M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ | ¶ sh- ~ th-, th- ~-t, t- ~ n- | ***In light of most of etyma apearing in the form /dak/, the Chin. 水 shuǐ an V /nước/ are also likely cognates, cf. 踏 tă SV đạp (tread) and 沓 dá SV đạp (full). |
| bọt | foam | Viet. /bọt/, No Old Mon, mod. /tʿaɓuih/, Danaw /lɑk4pUət5(u:n4)/, Riang White and Black /bus-?, Palaung /buh2/, Wa /m bɑi2/, Khmer /babuh/, Semang /cheʾbug/, /baʾbug/, Makay /bueh/, Biat /mʾbūh/, Mundari /moto/ | Chin. 泡 pào (SV pháo) | M 泡 pào < MC phaw < OC *phra:ws, phru:s | ****Beside those cognates in other languages, the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are lookalikes, too. |
| lửa | fire | Old Mon /pumat/, Modern Mon /pumat/, /ñɔn4/, Riang White and Black /ŋal\ /, Palaung /ŋɑ'i2/, /ŋɔ2/, Wa /ŋu2/, Nicobarese /heōe/, Lemet /ŋal/ Mundari /seŋgel/, Gadaba /suōl/, Kurku /siŋgēl/ | Chin. 火 huǒ (SV hoả) | M 火 huǒ < MC xwʌ < OC smjə:jʔ | ***The Chinese 火 huǒ and V /lửa/ look like the only cognates here if we cannot associate all other etyma with V /ngọn/, meaning 'tongue (of the flames)'. |
| bóng | shadow of living crature | Old Mon /sumdiŋ/, Modern Mon /samniŋ/, Danaw /tɔŋ2bui4/, Riang White and Black /poé-/, Palaung /rUm3/ (=shade), Wa /(kɔn)pɤi2/, Old Khmer /sramol/, Mundari /umbul/ | Chin. 影 yǐng (SV ảnh) | M 影 yǐng < MC ʔɑiŋ < OC *ʔraŋʔ | For ¶ y- ~ b-, cf. 照影 zhàoyǐng VS 'soibóng' (cast a shadow), 郵 yóu SV 'bưu' (postal), 由 yóu 'bởi' (by), 柚 yóu 'bưởi' (pomelo), 游 yóu 'bơi' (swim), 案 àn 'bàn' (table), 按 àn 'bấm' (press), etc. | ***The Chinese form is plausibly cognate to the V 'bóng' along side of some other Austroasiatic forms. |
| lỗ | hole, aperture | Old Mon /srūŋ/, Modern Mon /sruiŋ/, Danaw /kătu1/, /tu1/, Riang White /lu\ /, Black /lu\ /, /tuʔ-/, Palaung /kăɗéu2/, Wa /n dɑɯʔ3/, T'eng /həntu/ | Chin. 窿 lóng (SV lung) | QT 窿 lóng < MC lwəŋ < OC *lwəŋ | **Is the Chinese form /lóng/ is plausibly cognate to the V 'lỗ' along side of some other Austroasiatic forms or could it be a 瀆 dóu?. |
| đá | stone | Old Mon /tmoʾ/, Modern Mon /tmaʾ/, Riang White /sʿɤmoʔ\ /, Back /rə ʔaŋ-/, Palaung /mɑ'2/, Wa /ʃi4mɑʔ3/, Old Khmer /tmo/, Sakai /těmuh/, Malay /batu/, N Nicobarese /patu/, Stieng /tömau/, Bahnar /təmo/, P'u-man /muŋ/, etc. | Chin. 石 shí (SV thạch), also, VS 'tạ' /ta6/(measure unit equal to 100 kilograms) | M 石 shí, dàn < MC tsjak < OC *djak | According to Starostin, Min forms pointing to *ʒ́: Xiamen cioʔ8, Chaozhou cieʔ8, Fuzhou sioʔ8, Jianou ciɔ6. | cf. Tibetan: rdo. See more etymology inhe Sino-Tibetan connection chapter. | ***the Chinese form /shí/ agrees with the V 'đá' better than other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages if any. Most of the Sino-Tibetan forms have the vocalic contour of /da/. |
| sấm | thunderbolt, thunder | Viet. /sấm/, no Old Mon, Modern Mon /dʿaguiw/, /gatah/, Danaw /...tɔŋ4man2/, Riang White /(tɤkɤr-)tɤr\nam\ /, Black /(təkər-)tər\nam\ /, /sər\nam\ /, Palaung / kănam3/, /sănam1/, Wa /mwè2/, /ʃǐnum2/, Khmer /phgar/, Malay /tagar/, T'eng /həŋkǔr/, Cham /grom/, Bahar /grom/ | Chin. 霆 tíng (SV đình) | M 霆 tíng, dìng, tǐng, xiāo < MC dieŋ < OC *ɬhe:ŋ | Pulleyblank: LM tɦajŋ < EM dɛjŋ | ¶ d- ~ s- | **If all other Mon-Khmer forms can relate the V 'sấm' by way of the sound change pattern /d-(t-)/ ~> /s-/, then the Chinese form with the sound xiāo is notable. See also 雷 lěi (SV lôi) |
| than | charcoal | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿyah/, Danaw /tɔk4tsUət3/, Riang White /kɤr\tji:s-/, Black /kər\cʿas/, etc. | Chin. 炭 tàn (SV thán) | M 炭 tàn < MC thɒn < OC *tha:rs | ******No other Austroasiatic or Mon-Khmer forms are cognate with the V /than/ but only the C /tàn/. |
| sắt | iron | Old Mon /birsey/, Modern Mon /pasai/, Danaw /mɛ`4θi1/, Riang White and Vlack /hir-/, Palaung /hlɛ`k1/, Wa /riɛm2/, Malay /běsi/, Sakai /běsi/, Păo Karen /pʿasi/, Old Khmer /hir/ | Chin. 鐵 tiě (SV thiết) | M 鐵 tiě < MC thiet < OC *thjɛt | *****the Vietnamese forms 'sắt' is cognate to the C 鐵 tiě for sure. If the forms /-si/ ~ /hir/ forms in other languages are variants of the Chinese form then they must be loanwords. |
| bạc | silver | Viet. /tiền/, Old Mon /srañ/, Modern Mon /sran/, Danaw /rɤn2/, /hrɤn2/, Riang White /ron\ /, Black /ron\ /,/rUn\ /, Palaung /rɤŋ2/, Wa /mɑɯ2/, T'eng /srǐl/, (gold, silver), Kʿmu /srǐl/, /sěrin/ (gold), Darang /rǒn/, Katurr /ron/ | Chin. 白銀 báiyín (SV bạchngân), 錢 qián (SV tiền) | Viet. 'bạc' could be from 鉑 bó or an contraction of M 白銀 báiyín | M 白 bái, bó, bà, băi, zì < MC bɐk < OC *brak || M 錢 qián < MC tsjen < OC *ʑan | ***Luce listed all these lexicons as basic words, but, of course, all V forms are derived from the Chinese forms and if 'gold' is included the Vietnamese form is 'vàng', a contracted derivation of 黃金 huángjīn, which could be VS /vàng/ 鋆 yún (SV quân) 'gold', whereas V 'bạc' could be a parallel contracted of 白金 báijīn or 鉑 bó. |
| đồngbạc | rupee, tical | Old Mon /dinkel/, Modern Mon /dakew/, Danaw /(rɤn2)ăplɑʔ2/, Riang White /piɑ-/, Black /(ron)pyɑ-/, Palaung /byɑ2/, Wa /plɑh5/, T'eng /nia/ (money) | Chin. 銅板 tóngbăn (SV đồngbản) ~ VS 'đồngbạc' (monetary unit VNĐ 'piaster'), hence, 'đồng' | See the etymology of 'bạc' from 白 bái (SV 'bạch') | ***Of course, only the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate and have nothing to do with those in other languages. |
| giá | price | Old Mon /ŋūs/, Modern Mon /ŋuh/, Danaw /ŋɔt4/, Riang White and Black /laŋ-/, etc. | Chin. 價 jià (SV giá) | M 價 jià < MC ka < OC *krajʔs | *****Of course the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are the same having nothing to do with any other languages. |
| khuya | midnight | Old Mon /sgāl tney/, Modern Mon /sagā iai/, Danaw /chen4tsən4/, Riang White /kʿi:n-sʿɔm-/, Black /tən\kʿi:n-sʿɔm-/, Palaung /kădéi2hmɤ3/, /hmɤ3kădɑ'i2/, Wa /grəŋ4sɔm2/, Nicobarese /haròm/ (night), T'eng /pəsuòm/ (night) | Chin. 午夜 wǔyè (SV ngọdạ) where 午 wǔ ~> /khw-/ + 夜 yè /-ya/ => 'khuya' | M 午 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋa:ʔ || M 夜 (亱) yè, yì < MC jɑ < OC *lias, *liaks | cf. 月 yuè ~ SV 'nguyệt' (moon) | **If solely based on the defintition of 'midnight', the Vietnamese form is hardly to be cognate to any of all other forms, except for the possible contracted form of Chin. 午夜 wǔyè or even 夜 yè ~ SV 'khuya'. |
| muối | salt | Viet. /muối/, no Old Mon, Modern Mon /ɓuiw/, Danaw /tsʿɑ4/, Riang White and Black /sʿuɑk-/, Palaung /sɛ`1/, Wa /ki:h5/, Old Burmese /cʿɑ/ (salt), /jawak cʿɑ/ (sal ammoniac), Semang /siak/, Selung /selak, Lemet /siak/, Old Khmer /ampel/, Sakai /mʾpoit/, Semang /empoyd/, Stieng /bǒh/, Srê /boh/, Bahnar /bɔh/, Lemet /pelu/, Khasi /mlun/, Mundari /buluŋ/ | Chin. 硭 máng ~ phonetic 亡 wáng (vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | *OC 硭 亡 陽 亡 maŋ | ****Most of the forms in other language are cognate to the V 'muối' of which the Chin. 硭 máng means "unprocessed salt" -- cf. 忙 máng ~ VS 'mắc' (busy), 衁 huáng ~ VS 'máu' (blood) -- while there is another Chinese form 硝 xiāo (saltpeter) is closer to those words start with the nitials /s-/. |
| thôn | village | Viet. /tỉnh/, Old Mon /twañ/, Modern Mon /kwān/, Danaw /tăbo4/, Riang White and Black /pruʔ\ /, Palaung /re:u2/, Wa /yɑ'uŋ2/, Old Khmer /sruk/, T'eng /kūŋ/ | Chin. 村 cūn (SV thôn) Also VS 'xóm' | M 村 cūn < MC tʂon < OC *ʂu:n | ***Apparently the given Vietnamese form 'tỉnh' that Luce tried to match it with the Old Mon /twañ/, a cognate of /tăbo4/ (?), 'tỉnh' is still a Sino-Vietnamese sound of the Chin. 省 shěng that means 'province'. It is probably that was owing to an error of Luce's recorders perhaps through his informants whom he heavily had relied on in most of the cases. |
| nhà | house | Viet. /nhà/, Old Mon /sŋiʾ/, Modern Mon /sŋi/, Danaw /ña1/, Riang White and Black /kɑŋ\ /, Palaung /gɑŋ2/, Wa /ñéʔ3/, Semang /yi/, /eh/, /hēyaʾ/, Nicobarese /ñī/, Stieng, Alak, Kaseng /ñi/, Biat /ñīh/, Mnong Gar /hīh/, Bahnar /hñẽ/, /hnam/, Lemet /ña/ Khasi /ing/, War /sni/, Juang /iya/, Savana /siŋ/, T'eng /gaŋ/ | Chin. 家 jiā (SV gia) | M 家 jiā < MC ka < OC *kra: | ***Except for forms similar to Riang White and Black /kɑŋ\ /, Palaung /gɑŋ2/, this is an interesting case that all etyma in all languages look like being churned out from the same blender. |
| sạn | rest house | Old and Modern Mon /jrap/, Danaw /kărɔt2/, Riang White /sʿrɔp\ /, Black /tsərɔp\ /, Palaung /tjarɔp1/, Wa /brɔk3/, Sakai /cherup/ (crosspieces), karob / (bamboo bed), T'eng /jěrap (bed), Old Burmese /carap/, Pa8o Karen /tjărɔp/ | Chin. 棧 zhàn, chán (SV sạn, trăn, chăn, xiễn) < MC ʒan < OC *ʒhranʔ, *ʒhrans | According to Starostin, 棧 zhàn 'carriage box made of lath or bamboo'. Also read *ʒ́(h)rān-s, MC ʒ̣ạ̀nid. (MC also has an irregular variant ʒ̣ạ̈́n). A somewhat later meaning is 'flooring (on a mountain pass)', whence probably Viet. sàn 'floor, flooring'. Standard Sino-Viet. is sạn. | ex. 客棧 kèzhàn: SV 'kháchsạn' (inn, tarvern) | *The author is not quite sure what all these cited lexicons actually refer to, probably a 'guest-house', 'tarvern', 'inn' or something similar which is in agreement with the Chin. 棧 zhàn. All the phonetic appearance and words with the meaning 'bed' appear associated with the V 'sạp' (stall), though, or 'sàn' (platform on tilts), which loosely resembles a wooden or bamboo short-legged stall where people can sit or lie down to rest. |
| cột (?), trụ (?) | house post | Old Mon /jiñjuŋ/, Modern Mon /dayuŋ/, Danaw /kʿăraŋ2/, Riang White /kɤn\raŋ\ /, Black /kən\raŋ\ / | Chin. 棟 dòng (?) 'đà', 柱 zhú (?) 'cột' ~ 'trụ' | *The author is not sure what all these limited list of etyma are related to Vietnamese. |
| chày | pestle | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /ri/, Danaw /tsʿɔŋ1réʔ3/, Riang White /tɤn\rɛ'ʔ-/, Black /rɛ'ʔ-/, Palaung /ŋ2gɑ'i2/, /ŋ2géi2/, Wa /ŋrgriʔ3/, Khmer /aŋrai/, Sakai /rentik/, Biat /rʾnai/, Mnong Gar /rnɛ'/, Bahnar /adrih/, /adrey/, T'eng /kəndré/, /cəndré/, /ndre/, Khasi synrei/ | Chin. 杵 chǔ (SV xử) | M 杵 chǔ < MC tʂo < OC *thaʔ | ¶ ch- ~ d-(j-) | ***The V 'chày' and the C 杵 chǔ make a much more close a cognate than the rest. |
| cối | mortar (for rice) | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /ɓuik/, Danaw /tɑŋ2pôn4/, Riang White and Black /pal-/, Palaung /bar2/, Wa /po2/, Old Khmer /thpal, Biat /mʾpal/, Srê /mpal/, Bahnar /təpăl/ | Chin. 臼 jìu (SV cữu) | M 臼 jìu < MC gʌw < OC *guʔ | ****While all other Mon-Khmer forms do not look like having to do with the V /cối/, the Chin. /jìu/ definitely is. |
| nồi | pot | Old Mon /klas (< Sanskrit), /tumbāy/, /timbāy/, Modern Mon /tʿamāai/, Danaw /lɑ1/, Riang White and Black /kloʔ-/, Palaung /kaloʔ1/, Wa /ɔ2/ (=cooking pot), Sanskrit /kalasa/, Biat /glăh/, Khasi /khew/ | Chin. 豆 dòu (SV đậu) | modern M 豆 dòu = Viet. (hạt)đậu 'peas' | Viet. 'chậu, thau, nồi, nấu' ~ © M 豆 dòu < MC dow < OC *dho:s | According to Starostin: a dou vessel. A round vessel of clay or wood for serving solid food. Since Late Zhou the character is used for a homonymous word *d(h)o:s 'bean(s)'. | ***The V /nồi/ is cognate to the Chinese form 豆 dòu as conveyed with the old meaning of this original basic ideograph. |
| mui | ladle (wooden) | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /yăk/, Danaw /lah2/, Riang White and Black /lɑk-/, Palaung /lɑʔ1/, Wa /lɔk4duh5/, Old Khmer /hvek/ | Chin. 舀 yáo (SV), also, VS 'muỗng', 'môi' | M 舀 yăo < MC jiaw < OC *jiaw | ¶ y- ~ m- | ***It is interesting to see that the Modern Mon form reflects /yăk/ to match closely with the Chin. /yáo/. |
| gáo (?), gàu (?) | coconut water-dipper | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /gnā/, Danaw /...bui4/, Riang White and Black /boé-/, Palaung /bwé3/, /mwé2/, Wa /bUk3/ | Chin. (?) M 槔 gāo < MC kʌw < OC *ku: | ***Both Vietnamese and Chinese appear cognate to 'gáo' or 'gàu' than other forms that could mean something else like V "múc" (to scoop). |
| chổi | broom (to sweep) | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tamah/, /twah/, Danaw /tɔn2pʿyé4/, /tăpʿyé4/, Riang White /tɤn\pi:s-/, /pi:s/, Black /tən\pi:s-/, /pi:s/, Palaung /kăɓih3/, /ɓih3/, /ɓiχ3/, Wa /bi:h5/, Khmer /ampos/, /os/, Sakai /sapu/, Besisi /tampoys/, Malay /sapu/, Mundari /jonoʔ/, /joʔ/, etc. | Chin. 帚 zhǒu (SV chửu) | M 帚 zhǒu < MC tʂǝw < OC *tuʔ | FQ 之九 | ***Except for the Danaw form that sound like V 'tạpdề' (mop?, apron?) and the Mundari forms with /jonoʔ/, /joʔ/ ('chổi' ?), all other forms do not seem to relate to V 'chổi' which is cognate to C 帚 zhǒu. |
| túi | shoulder-bag | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿuŋ/, Danaw /tăchi4/, Riang White /sʿɤki-/, Black /sʿəki-/ | Chin. 袋 dài (SV đại) | M 袋 dài < MC dɤj < OC *ɫhjə:ks | *****Another Chinese doublet 兜 dǒu could be accounted for the V etymon of /túi/. However, the limited list Luce cited for this item makes it hard to relate to a specific Vietnamese etymon. |
| mác | sword, long dah | Old Mon /snāk/, /snek/, Modern Mon /mra/, Danaw /vwiɛ`k4/, /nɛ`k3/ (knife), Riang White and Black /vwɑk\ /, Palaung /bUt1/ (=dah), Wa /vwɑie5/, Old Khmer /pranāk/, Old Burmese /sanlyak/, S. Karen /naʔ/, Khasi /wait (=dah), /waitlam/ (sword) | Chin. 矛 máo (SV mâu) | M 矛 máo < MC mǝw < OC *mu | ****Except for the Mon and Danaw lexemes, the labial vocalism of most of these forms can only point to the V /m-/ for 'mác' (spear), which could be speculative. |
| liềm | sickle | No Old Mon form, mod. /not/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tsén4/, Riang White /tɤn\tjan\ /kə\tsan\ /, Wa /ʃívwɔk3/ | Chin. 鐮 lián (SV liêm) | M 鐮 (鎌) lián < MC lem < OC *rem | *****If this word is actually meant 'sickle' then only the Vietnamese and Chinese words are etymologicially related or cognates, to be exact. |
| kim | needle | Old Mon /tinliñ/, /tinleñ/, Modern Mon /taniŋ/, Danaw /tăkaʔ3/, Riang White /pɤl\ŋyéʔ/, /pən\lɑic\ /, Palaung /rɤ2/, Wa /rɤ/, Sakai /tenlait/, /penlaig/ (blowpipe dart), Biat /ŋʾlai/, T'eng /səkăm/ | Chin. 箴 zhēn (SV châm) ~ 針 zhēn (SV châm) ~ VS 'kim' (needle), 箭 jiàn (SV tiễn) VS 'tên' (arrow) | M 針 (鍼, 箴) zhēn < MC tʂim < OC *kim || M 箭 jiàn < MC 箭 tɕjɜn < OC *ɕens | FQ 子賤 | ****The vocalic /t-/ in some form points to V /tên/ while only the T'eng /səkăm/ is similar to the V /kim/. In both cases the Vietnamese etyma are derived from those of Chinese. |
| giáo | spear | Old Mon /bnas/, Modern Mon /bnuh/, Danaw /plyɛ`h2/, Riang White and Black /plɛs\ /, Palaung /liəh3/, /lɛ`ɑu3/, Wa /pliah5/, Old Khmer /noc (ʔ)/, Sakai /bulus/, Selung /bulɔ/, Javanese /bulus/ T'eng /blya/, K'mu /plek/ | Chin. 槊 shuò (SV sóc, sáo) | M 槊 shuò < MC ʂwawk < OC *ʂaɨwk | ¶ sh- ~ gi- | ***In Vietnamese there is the word 'giáo' that points to Chin. 槊 shuō and it seems that there is other word that sounds like any of other languages. |
| nỏ | bow, crossbow | Old and Modern Mon /tŋa/, Danaw /ɑk4/, Riang White and Black /ɑk-/, Palaung /kɑŋ3/, /kɑŋ3ɑʔ4/ (=catapult), Wa /ɑʔ1/ (=crossbow), Sakai /āg/, Stieng /ak/, Srê /a3/, Lemet /ak/, Mundari /aʔ/ | Chin. 弩 nú (SV nỗ), also, VS ná | M 弩 nǔ < noɔ < OC *nhāʔ | According to Starostin: Viet. ná is an archaic loanword; a somewhat later loan from the same source is Viet. nỏ id.; standard Sino-Viet. is nỗ̃. In Chinese the word is witnessed since Late Zhou (Zhouli), but already in Shujing we meet a word 砮 *n(h)āʔ, *n(h)ā, MC nó, no, Mand. nǔ, Viet. nỗ 'flint arrowhead' – which may be historically the same word. For *nh- cf. Xiamen lɔ6, Jianou noŋ8. | ******It has long been reckoned that the V /nỏ/ 'catapult' is derived from the Chin. 弩 nú which in turn originated from the Mon-Khmer languages. In the meanwhile the V /ná/ 'slingshot' is a direct cognate to them. In any cases they are all cognate to each other despite of the fact the initial /N-/ dropped from the /-aK/ forms and the Palaung forms /kɑŋ3/ and /kɑŋ3ɑʔ4/ alternately are cognate to 弓 gōng, SV 'cung' that means 'bow'. |
| cày | hoe, spade-blade | Old Mon /kwir/ (n.), /jik/ (v.), Modern Mon /kʿɑɓɑk/, Danaw /kɔplɑ1/, Riang White and Black /plɑ-/, Palaung /plɑ3/, Wa /kɔk4pyɑk1/ (=hoe-Blade) | Chin. 耟 jù (SV cự) | M 耟 jù < MC go < OC *ghaʔ | ***It appears that the Vietnamese forms /cày/ is much more cognate to the Chin. 耟 jù than to other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages. |
| xuồng | boat | Old Mon /dluŋ/, Modern Mon /gluŋ/, Danaw /tɔŋ2lui4/, Riang White /tjɤn\luaŋ\ /, Black /tsən\luaŋ\ /, Palaung /rɤ2/, Wa /rɤ2/,Srê, M'nong Gar /plǔŋ/, T'eng /cəlɔŋ/, Khasi /lieng/ | Chin. 船 chuán (SV thuyền) | For VS 'xuồng' as M 艟 chōng < MC tʂʊŋ < OC *thuŋ | According to Starostin: 艟 chōng, a k. of boat (Jin), was attested only within the die-sheng 朦艟 *mo:ŋ-thoŋ, thus the borrowed nature of Viet. xuồng is dubious. Hence, M 船 chuán < MC ʑwen < OC *lon even though modern 船 chuán means 'ship' in general, being more like a 'big ship'. | ****Except for the /rɤ2/ form, it is interesting to see that the Vietnamese form 'xuồng' corresponds to the /-l-/ forms, via /l- ~ s-/ sound changes, in other Mon-Khmer language which are plausibly cognate to that the Chinese form 船 /chuán/ or 艟 /chōng/ while SV /sung/ 'small canoe'. |
| trọc | bald | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿɑlat/, Danaw /klak3,1/, Riang White /klak-/, Black klɑk-/ | Chin. 禿 tū (SV thốc) ~> VS 'lóc' (?) | M 禿 (秃) tū < MC thuk < OC *slho:k | ****There is no doubt that V 'trọc' and C 禿 tū are cognate, but it is interesting to see the the other Mon-Khmer forms that show the pattern /kl-/ which usually appears in Vietnamese as /tr-/. It is plausibly to posit 'lóc' as in redulplicative word 'trọclóc' in Vietnamese. |
| đắng | bitter | Viet. /đắng/, no Old Mon, mod. /kɑtɑŋ/, Danaw /tsɑŋ4/, Riang White /tjiaŋʔ-/, Black /tsaŋ-/, Palaung /saŋ2/, Wa /soŋ2/, Khmer /hāŋ/, Sakai /kědetn/, Besisi /kědeg/, Nicobarese /tēak/, Srê /rəhiaŋ/, /bətaŋ/ Stieng, Bahnar /tāŋ/, Khasi /kthang/ | Chin. 辛(苦) qīn(kǔ) SV tân(khổ)) ~ VS 'đắng(cay)' | M 辛 xīn < MC sjin < OC *sin | According to Starostin: the 8th of the Heavenly Stems. Used also for a homonymous *sin 'be bitter, pungent, painful'. | ***The V for is clearly cognate to those of Mon-Khmer forms, but what appears in Chinese is notable. Unless we reinstate an illogical logics that if the Vietnamese form shares the Austroasiatic ethymolgy with its languages then the Chinese form is not cognate to that of Vietnamese. |
| lãng | deaf | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /sɗuiŋ/, Danaw /klət3,1/, Riang White /lu:t-/, Black /lut-/, Palaung /lUt1/, Wa /lət3/, T'eng /səlut/, Khasi /kyllut/ | Chin. 聾 lóng (SV lung) | M 聾 lóng < MC luŋ < OC *rho:ŋ | ex. 耳聾 ěrlóng ~ VS 'lãngtai' (hearing-impaired) | ****All the forms with the voclism /l-/ appear loosely cognate to the Vietnamese form 'lãng' derived from the Chin. 聾 lóng except for the Modern Mon as /sɗuiŋ/ which somewhat resembles V 'điếc' <~ VS 'điếctai' 失聰 shīcōng ~ SV 'thấtthông' (deaf). |
| sâu | deep | Viet. /sâu/, Old Mon /jrūh/, Modern Mon /sjuih/, Danaw /kărúi2/, Riang White /tjɤruʔ\ /, Black /tsəruʔ\ /, Palaung /lɯk1/, Wa /rɯʔ2/, Old Khmer /jrau/, /jamrau/, Sakai /jěru/, Javarese /jěro/, Stieng /jorǔh/, Srê /juruh/, Bahnar /jěruʔ/, T'eng /jru/, Khasi /jylliew/ | Chin. 深 shēn (SV thâm) | M 深 shēn < MC ʂim < OC *ɫhjəm | ****With the resemblance of the mod. Mon /sjuih/ with V /sâu/, it is interesting to see all variants given they are from the same source except for the fact that V 'sâu' is cognate to the C 深 shēn. |
| á | dumb, speech-impaired | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /klau/, /lhau/, Danaw /ă4ʔa1/, Riang White /ɑʔ-/, Black /aʔ-/, Palaung /ré:u2/, /rɑ`ì/, Wa /n dɑuʔ3/, Old Burmese /a/, Srê /kloat/ | Chin. 啞 è, yă, yā (SV ách, á, nha), also, VS 'câm' | M 啞 è, yă, yā < MC ʔɑik < OC *ʔrāk | ¶ *ʔr- ~ k- | According to Starostin, also read (irregularly) MC ʔạik (FQ 於革) id.; during Late Zhou used for *ʔrāʔ, MC ʔạ́ (FQ 烏下), Pek. yǎ, Go e, Kan a 'mute' and *ʔrā(k)-s (MC ʔạ̀, FQ 衣嫁, Pek. yà) 'sigh (interjection)' | ****The V /á/ form, on the one hand, is in line with some of the Mon-Khmer languages and certainly cognate to the C 啞 yă which could not be excluded from the pool of etymologies just simply because the Vietnamese form closely matches those of the Austroasiatic languages. 'Câm' is posited here, on the other hand, which is only speculative due to its vocalism, but that world could also be derived from Viet. 'câm 喑 yīn SV /âm/ 'dumb/ or 'câm' 噤 jìn (SV cấm) 'mute'. |
| sớm | early | Old Mon /pras/ (=early), mod /prah/, Danaw /tsɑo2/, Riang White /tjɑu\ /, Black /tsɑ\ /, Palaung /sɑ'u2/, Wa /tjɑ'u2/, Archaic Chinese /*tsôg/, Burmese /co/, Shan /caw/ | Chin. 早 zăo (SV tảo) | M 早 zăo < MC tsaw < OC *tsaw | According to Starostin, 早 zăo < MC cʌw < OC *cūʔ < PST *cǝ̄w, cf. Burm. ćawh 'early', Kach. ǯau33 id. (see IST 54). | ****It looks like all these forms are cross linguistic family etyma. In reality, in Chin. there are many words for 'early'. The question is how come this basic concept is cognate to that of Old Chinese for those Mon-Khmer languages. |
| xa | far | Old Mon /jirŋey/, Modern Mon /sŋai/, Danaw /sʿɔŋ4ŋɑi4/, Riang White /sʿɤŋɑi\ /, /yɑn\ /, Palaung /sāŋɑ'i2/, /sāŋɔi2/, Wa /ʃi4ŋɑi2/, Khmer /cʿŋāy/, Sakai /nyaʾ/, Semang /měnjiʾ/, Nicobarese /ho-i/, Srê, Biat, Stieng /ŋai/, Bahnar /jəŋəi/, /ʃəŋai/, P'uman /ŋai/, T'eng /yaʔ/, /gyaʔ/, Lemet /sŋay/, Khasi /jngai/, War / ʃŋūi/, Mundari /sāŋīn/, Savara /saŋayi/, Gadaba /sāŋayi/, Kurku /sāŋgin/ | Chin. 遐 xiá (SV hà) | M 遐 xiá < MC ɠa < OC *ghra: | Kangxi: 【唐韻】胡加切【集韻】【韻會】【正韻】何加 切，𠀤音霞。【說文】遠也。 | ****the Vietnamese form 'xa' /sa1/ looks like cognate with those Mon-Khmer vocables that start with the phoneme /S-/ but their finals can only be related to something like V /xaxôi/ 'faraway'. The Chinese form /xiá/ is surely a cognate with the Vietnamese form 'xa'. |
| đầy | full | Old Mon /dak/, /piñ/, Modern Mon /peŋ/, Danaw /biɑk3/, Riang White /nɤk\ /, Black /nək\ /, Palaung /nUk1,3/, Wa /nɑuk3/, /nUk1/, Khmer /beñ/, Sakai /těbik/, | Chin. 沓 dá (SV 'đạp) | M 沓 dá, dà, tà < MC dʌp < OC *lhjə:p | **The Chinese /dá/ form is related etymologically to the V /đầy/ and only the Old Mon /dak/ appears cognate if those words with the pattern ¶ /n- ~ d-/ is discounted. |
| nặng | heavy | Old Mon /sjiŋ/, Modern Mon /sjuiŋ/, Danaw /kătsan2/, Riang White /kɤtjɛ`\ /, Black Riang White /kətjɛ`\ /, Palaung /tjian2/, Wa /ji:n2/, Old Khmer /jyeŋ/ (=weigh), T’eng /kətăm/, /tăm/ | Chin. 重 zhòng | M 重 zhòng, chóng (SV trọng, tru2ng) < MC ɖɔuŋ < OC *dhroŋʔ | ¶ zh- ~ n- : ex. 這 zhèi (giả) nầy, Hainanese /daŋ6/, Trc: taŋ22 | ****There is no doubt that the Chinese form /zhòng/ is cognate to the V /nặng/, so except for the Riang forms, all other Mon-Khmer forms are cognates also. How they are related to each other is another question. Could they be loanwords borrowed via the Vietnamese medium? |
| lâu | long (of time) | Old Mon /loʾ/, Modern Mon /lɑʾ/, Danaw /kʿămɛ` ʔ4/, Riang White /tjɤn\nɔʔ\ /, Black /tsən\nɔʔ\ | Chin. 久 jǐu (SV cửu) | M 久 jǐu < MC kjəw < OC *kwjəʔ | Dialect: Cant. /gau2/, coloquial /loj2/ or /nɔj2/ | ***While there is absence of other lexicons in the Mon-Khmer languages, the Mon forms represent what appears to be cognate to the Vietnamese form /lâu/, including that of the Cant. form as /nɔj2/ which can be related to the Chinese form as /jǐu/ in Mandarin. |
| mới | new | Viet. /mới/, Old Mon /tumi/, Modern Mon /tami/, Danaw /kʿɛ`ʔ4/, Riang White /tɤn\méʔ\ /, Black /tən\méʔ\, Palaung /kămɑ’i2/, Wa /kʿrɑuʔ1/, Old Khmer /tmī/, Sakai /bei, /pâi/, Besisi /ʾmpai/, Biat /mʾhe/, Srê /tərɛ/, M’nong, Gar /mhei/, P’u-man /u-hmui/, T’eng /hmé/, Khasi /thymmai/ | (1) Chin. 萌 (氓) méng (SV manh) | M 萌 (氓) méng < MC maijŋ < OC *mhreŋ (2) | Viet. 'mới' < Proto-Austro-Asiatic: pɤj,, Proto-Vietic: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Proto-Aslian: *pa:j, Proto-Vietmuong: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Tum: bǝɨj.212 || In the meanwhile, modern Chin is 新 xīn (SV tân) | M 新 xīn < MC sjin < OC *sin | cf. ‘mớitinh’ ~ ‘mớitoanh’ @&# V ‘mới 萌 méng’ + 'toanh 新 xīn (SV tân)’ (brand new) ~ 新鮮 xīnxiān (SV tântiên) VS ‘tươimới’ (fresh) | **The Vietnamese form ‘mới’ appears cognate to those of other Mon-Khmer languages; however, 萌 (氓) méng (SV manh) could give rise to 'mới' and we still cannot rule out once and for all the possibility of the C 新 /xīn/ form that has given rise to some other V forms as the compound words such as 'mớitoanh' or 'tươimới'. In addition there is a V word ‘cũ’ which a confirmed cognate with the C 舊 jìu (SV cựu) or ‘old’ served as a parallel to the opposite concept ‘mới’ (new). |
| tê | numb, pins and needles | No Mon forms, Danaw /kăñi:n4/, Riang White /kɤm\ri:m\ /, Black /kəm\ri:m\ /, Mundari /ruiam/ | Chin. 痺 bì (SV tì) | VS 'tê' | M 痺 (痹) bì < MC pji < OC *pits | ¶ b- ~ t- | *Except for those of the Vietnamese and Chinese, other forms listed by Luce are limited and show no cognates. |
| già | old (of person) | Old Mon /pjuʾ/, Modern Mon /byu/, Danaw /tʿɑo2/, Riang White /tʿɑu\ /, /tjaʔ-/, Black /tʿau-/, /tsɑ ʔ-/, Palaung /gat1/, Old Khmer /pju/, /pjuh/ | Chin. 耆 qí (SV kỳ, chỉ) | M 耆 (嗜) qí < MC gi < OC *grij | Modern M 老 lăo < MC ljəw < OC *hu:ʔ | According to Starostin: Protoform *gri. Meaning: old. 耆 *grij old; 祁 *grij great, large. Tibetan: bgre (p. bgres) to grow old. Burmese: krih be old. Comments: Sh. 50; Luce 10.| Sino-Tibetan old, aged. For *g- cf. Xiamen, Fuzhou ki2. | ****The same problem as the previous item, in this list only the Riang Black /tjaʔ-/ suggest something close to the V ‘già’ while Danaw /tʿɑo2/ and Riang White /tʿɑu\ / suggest the Chinese form 老 lăo (SV ‘lão’.) |
| cũ | old (of things) | Old Mon /tinrem/, Modern Mon /tarem/, Danaw /ătəik3,1/, Riang White /tri:m-/, Black /trim-/, Palaung /ăprim2/, Wa /pă4pri:m2/, /Srê /rām/, Lemet /prim/, Khasi /rim/, /larim/. | Chin. 舊 jìu (SV cựu) | M 舊 jìu < MC gjəw < OC *ghwjəs | According to Starostin, 舊 jìu 'be old, ancient' (not of people). Regular Sino-Viet. is cựu. Cf. also Viet. khú, khụ. 'very old'. The original meaning of the graph was probably 'owl', but this usage is actually attested only since Han. | ****In contrast to V ‘mới’, the ‘cũ’ is certainly cognate to the Chin. 舊 jìu, which appears to have nothing connected with other Mon-Khmer forms. |
| đỏ | red | Old Mon /birket/, /baket/, Modern Mon /baket/, Danaw /tsôn4/, Riang White and Black /roŋ\ /, Palaung /rén2/, Wa /rɑu5/, Khasi /saw/ | Chin. 彤 tóng (SV đồng) | M 彤 tóng < MC doŋ < OC *dhūŋ, *lhūŋ, *ɫhūŋ | ***In Chin. there are several words for ‘red’, but /tóng/ is the most likely cognate to VS 'đỏ' /do3/ \ 彤 tóng, SV đồng /doũ2/ ~> 'đỏ' /dɔ3/, cf. 痛 tòng (SV thống /t'oũ2/ ~> VS 'đau' /daw/ (pain). In the meanwhile, the Riang /roŋ\ / suggests something about V ‘hồng’ /hoũ2/ ~> 'hau' /haw1/ (pink) which is cognate to the Chin. 紅 hóng, also meaning ‘red’, VS 'hường' (pink). |
| chín | ripe, cooked | Viet. /chín/ cin- Aorist prefix?, modern Mon. /ɗu/, /cin/, Danaw /ătsɛ`n4/, Riang White /sʿɪ:n/, Black /sʿɪn/, Palaung /si:n2/, Wa /ʃi:n2/ (=cooked); /tɤm2/ (=ripe), Khmer /cʿăʔin/, Sakai /chêtn/, Besisi /machin/, Semang /inchen/, Nicobarese /ishɪan/, Srê /sǐn/, Mnong Gar /sɯm/, Bahnar /ʃim/, T'eng /sin/, Mundari /isin/. | Chin. 熟 shú (SV thuộc) ~ VS 'rục' (well cooked) | M 熟 shú, shóu (thục, thuộc) < MC tʂʊk < OC *dhuk | **It is apparent that the V 'chín' is cognate to other Mon-Khmer forms while the C shows a parallel in the initial phoneme only, which may point to something else similar in the Sino-Tibetan languages as in many cases such as 'rắn' (snake), 'lòng' (heart), 'năm' (number 5), etc. (See more in the Sino-Tibetan connection chapter) since in V there is the antonym 'sống' (live, raw) which is affirmatively cognate to the C 生 shēng (SV 'sanh') and 'tái' (uncooked). |
| cạn | shallow, low | Old Mon /sar/, Modern Mon /kɗā/, Danaw /saw/, Riang White and Black /dɛ`l-/ | Chin. 淺 qián (SV thiển) | M 淺 qiăn, qiān, jiăn, jiàn, cán, zàn (thiển, thê, tiên) < MC tsjɜn < OC *tsjanʔ | ****The only cognate forms that appear here are those of Vietnamese and Chinese etyma. |
| nhọn | sharp-pointed | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /ke/, Danaw /tɔŋ2pʿyak3,1/, Riang White /pait-/, paic-/, Palaung /pɑ‘i1/, Wa /pɔ’i3/ (to sharpen), T’eng /bat/ (to sharpen to a point), Khasi /beit/ (straight) | Chin. 尖 jiān (SV kiên) | M 尖 jiān < MC tɕjen < OC *tɕen | ***The Mon form suggests something that shows the sound change pattern /j-/ ~ /k-/ with the Chinese form which is cognate to the Vietnamese one. In the meanwhile the Riang and others somehow similar to the C 磨 which appears in Vietnamese as 'mài' /maj2/ (sharpen). |
| trợt | slippery | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /talit/, Danaw /khit3/, Riang White /li:ɪ-/, Balck /lɪɛ`-/ | Chin. 滑 huá, gǔ (SV hoạt, cốt) | M 滑 huá, gǔ < MC ɣwat < OC *grwət < PC **grūt | ***It is possible that both Vietnamese and Chinese forms are actually cognate with further investigation to be conducted in other ST forms. |
| chật | tight, taut | Old Mon /tinteŋ/ (?), Modern Mon /teŋ/, Danaw /kʿreŋ2/, Riang White /kʿre’ŋ\ /, Black /kre’ŋ\ /, Palaung /kʿyɛ3/, Wa / ʃi4ñɛ`3/, Khasi /pyrkhiŋ/, Shan /khiŋ/. | Chin. 窄 zhăi (SV trách, trạch) | M 窄 zhăi, zé < MC tʂaik < OC *ɕra:k | FQ 側伯 | ****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are obviously cognate with the frequent pattern of /tr-/ ~ /ch-/, hence, SV 'trạch' /trajk6/ ~> VS 'chật' /ʨəʔt6/ (Northern) ~ /ʨək6/ (Southern), while Mon-Khmer others appear to be dubious. |
| nầy | this | Old Mon /awoʾ/, /woʾ/, Modern Mon /naʾ/, Danaw /ni2/, Riang White and Black /ni\ /,Palaung /ări ŋ3/, Wa /ti;n2/, T’eng /gəni/, Khasi /kane/, Mundari /ne/, Shan /nai/, Sakai /hɔ/, Semang /öh/, Stieng /ou/, /âu/, Bahnar /ô/. | Chin. 那 nà (SV na) ‘that’ | M 那 nà, nuó, nèi < MC nʌ < OC *nha:r | According to Starostin, (Schuessler: perhaps: be rich.) In oldest texts the character is used only with the meaning 'to be rich' (sometimes within a compound 猗那 *?a:r-na:r id.). The pronominal meaning (at first only interrogative) appears only during Late Zhou - as a synonym for 奈 *n(h)a:ts 'so what?' (q.v.). Later, during Wei, the character is used for a (probably related) interrogative *n(h)a:/ > MC na^/, Mand. nuo^ (colloq. na^) 'how, what'. Finally, since Tang demonstrative usage is witnessed: MC na^\, Mand. nuo\ (colloq. na\) 'that'. The standard Sino-Viet. reading is nã; này may be an old loanword, or else may be just a rather universal pronominal stem (in Viet. cf. also nó 'he', no. 'other'). | ***For the exact word that means ‘this’ in C there is the word 這 zhè (SV giả) VS 'đây', or 'nầy', but to have this item in line with other Mon-Khmer forms, the C /nà/, which is cognate to V ‘nớ’ and ‘đó’, fits well into the sound change pattern. Usually demonstrative adjectives originated from the same roots could vary greatly, etymologically. |
| thẹn | to be ashamed, shy | Old Mon /twa/(?), Modern Mon /gwa/, Danaw /kăsʿɑ1/, Riang White /kɤsʿér-/, Black /kəsʿé ʔ -/, Palaung /sɔ’i2/, Wa /kɑɪc5/. | Chin. 慚 cán (SV tàm) | M 慚 cán < MC dʒʌm < OC *dʒham | ***the Vietnamese form is cognate to that of the Chinese form 慚 cán. However, it is interesting to note that in Vietnamese there are other words for ‘shame’, e.g., ‘mắccở’ (Chin. 愧咎 kuìjìu) and ‘cở’ that somehow is similar to other Mon-Khmer forms that start with /k-/ or /g-/ ans Viet. 'xấuhổ' (Chin. 慚愧 cánkuì) where 'xấu' ~ Mon-Khmer /-s-/ vocables. |
| hỏi | ask | Old Mon /smāñ/, Modern Mon /smān/, Danaw /mɑi2/, Riang White and Black /mɑiñ-/, Palaung /hmɑn2/, /hmɔn2/, Wa /mɑiñ2/, Sakai /səman/, Semang /semañ/, Nocobarese /hamâ/, Bahar /apiñ/, T’eng /mañ/, K’mu /mai/ Lemet /mañ/, Khasi /pan/. | Chin. 問 wèn (SV vấn) | M 問 wèn < MC mʊn, ʋjyn < OC *mun, *mhǝns | ¶ w- ~ h- | ***All forms are cognate. It is interesting to see that all other Mon-Khmer forms also reflect OC /*m-/ in their etyma, but the question remains whether if the Mon-Khmer forms were derived from the that of the Chinese or everything is just merely coincidental. |
| tắm | bathe | Viet. /tắm/, Old Mon /p-hūm/, Modern Mon /hum/, Danaw /θɔn4(u:n4)/, Riang White and Black /hu:n-(om-)/, Palaung /dɑ 2(ôm2)/, /həm2(rɔm2)/, Besisi /hum/, Srê, Stieng /um/, Bahnar /hum/, /pəhum/, T’eng /mum/, Khasi /sum/. | Chin. 洗 xǐ (SV tẩy) | M 洗 xǐ < MC siej < OC *sjə:rʔ | Dialect: Cant. /sajh/ || However, according to Starostin, Chin. 浸 jìn is probable source (M 浸 jìn, jīn < MC cjɨm < OC *cim, *cims) to overflow, soak, wet. ( In Mand. also read ji:n (pointing to a variant MC *cjim, OC *cim). The normal Sino-Vietnamese reading is tẩm; cf. also tắm 'to bathe, have a bath' (probably a colloquial loan from the same source). | ***All forms appear to be cognate to each other following the sound change patterns /h- ~ t-/. |
| cạp | bite | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kit/, Danaw /kiət3/, Riang White and Black /kak\ /, Palaung /gɑʔ3/, /gɑk3/, Wa /ki:t/, /kʿléat1/, Malay /gigit/. | Chin. 嗑 kè (SV hạp) | M 嗑 kè < MC kap < OC *kəp | ****All etyma appear to point to V 'cạp' or ‘cắn’. |
| vay | borrow (articles) | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /gleʾ/, Danaw /wɑi2/, Rieng White /yɯm-/, Black /vwɑi\ /, Palaung /kăvwɑi’2/, /kăvw ɔi’2/, Wa /vwɑi2/. | Chin. 借 jiè (SV tá) | M 借 jiè, jī < MC cjek, cja < OC *ciak, *ciaks | ***Except forthe modern Mon form, all other Mon-Khmer forms appear to be cognate to the V ‘vay’, which usually means ‘to borrow money’. In the meanwhile, in V there is another word ‘mượn’, possibly derived from the Chin. 賃 rèn (SV nhậm), to use in both cases of either ‘to borrow articles’ or ‘to borrow money’. |
| chôn | to bury | Old Mon /tip/, Modern Mon /tuip/, Danaw /plu4/, Riang White and Black /plu-/, Old Khmer /kap/, Sakai /tapn/, Semang /tam/, Malay /taman/, Bahar /tâp/, Biat /tǒp/, Srê /təp/, Khasi /tep/, Mundari /topa/, Nicobarese /olō/. | Chin. 葬 zàng (SV táng) | Also, VS /tang/ | M 葬 zàng < MC tsaŋ < OC *tsaŋ | ****While the V 'chôn' and the C 葬 zàng are cognate, all other forms also appear to show similar sound change patterns being cognates. |
| bế | to carry on back | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bā/, Danaw /bɔʔ4,2/, Riang White /pɑʔ\ /, Black /bɔʔ\ /, Palaung /bɑ‘u2/, Wa /puʔ1/, Mnong Gar /bɑʔ/, Khasi /bah/. | Chin. 抱 bāo (SV bão) VS 'bế', 'bồng' (to carry with one’s arm) | M 抱 bào, bāo, fóu, páo, póu < MC bʌw < OC *bhu:ʔ < PC **puək | cf. Hainanese /bong2/ 捧 pēng, SV 'phụng' (carry with both hands) | ****All the Mon-Khmer forms point to the V ‘bồng’ which is in turn cognate also to the C 抱 bāo. To mean ‘to carry on back’, the Vietnamese has the word ‘vác’ (for objects) which is cognate to the C 背 bèi (SV bối) and 負 fù (SV phụ). |
| chải | comb (wet) hair | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /grah/, Danaw /kiɛ`t3/, Riang White and Black /kɑs\/, Nicobarese el-kōat/ (comb), Mundari /nakiʔ/ | Chin. 梳 shǔ (SV sơ) | M 梳 shū, shù, shǔ < MC ʂjə < OC *sra | ¶ sh- ~ ch- | ***No correspondences in Luce’s limited list for this item. The Vietnamese and Chinese forms could possibly be cognate. |
| cắt | cut, cut down | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bāk/, /kut/, Danaw /mɔk2/, Riang White /mak\ /, Black /mɔk\ /, Wa /mUk3/, T’eng /bok/ | Chin. 割 gē (SV cát) | M 割 gē < MC kat < OC *ka:t | ****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognates for sure; however, in Luce's limited list for this item, except for the Modern Mon form /kut/, all other forms seem to suggest the word ‘phạt’ (via /b-/ and /m-/) in Vietnamese which is also certainly cognate to 伐 fá in Chinese. |
| chết | to die | Viet. /chết/, Old Mon /kcit/, Modern Mon /kʿyuit/, Danaw /pyi:n2/, Riang White and Black /yam-/, Palaung /yam2/, Wa /yUm2/, Khmer /khūc/, Stieng /chot/, Biat /khöt/, Srê /chət/, Mnong Gar /khət/, Bahnar /kəcǐt/, Khasi /jot/ (to perish), Mundari /gojoʔ/, Juang /goju/, Santali /gujuk/, T’eng /han/, K’mu /yăm/, Lemet /yam/, Khasi /iap/. | Chin. 死 sǐ (SV tử) | M 死 sǐ < MC sji < OC *sijʔ | **Even though most of the forms in Luce’s list for this item show correspondences to the Vietnamese articulation of ‘chết’, besides C 死 sǐ there are several other Chinese words cognate to V 'chết' in different contexts, e.g., 逝 shì (SV thệ), 折 zhé (SV chiết), 卒 zú (tốt, cf. VS 'chốt'), 陟 zhì (SV trắc), etc. Also, the Sino-Tibetan etyma are worth speculating. (See the next section on the Sino-Tibetan connections and Appendices for the case of ‘chết’.) |
| mộng | dream | Viet. /mộng/, Old Mon /appoʾ/(?), Modern Mon /lapaʾ/, Danaw (ti:n2)pɔ1/, Riang White /(yɛ`t-)rɤmuʔ\ /, Black /(yɛ`t-)rəmuʔ\ /, Palaung /m-bɑu2/, Wa /puʔ1/, Sakai /ěmpoʾ/, Semang /ʾmpāʾ/, Malay /mimpi/, Nicobarese /enfūa/, Stieng /mboi/, Srê /mbao/, Bahar /hapō/, /apō/, T’eng /mʾpo/, Kʿmu /kamu/, Khasi /phohsniew/, Mundari /kumu/. | Chin. 夢 mèng (SV mộng), also, VS ‘mơ’ | M 夢 mèng < MC mʊŋ < OC *mhjəŋs | *****There is no doubt that both Vietnamese and Chinese forms hereof are certainly cognate, but the other Mon-Khmer forms also show similarity in the sound change patterns that indicate they might also derived from the same source, probably as loanwords from VS ‘mơ’ rather thang Luce's 'mộng'. The point to make here is to show that this fundamentally basic word is all the same across many languages in different linguistic families, to which the Vietnamese form 'mơ' (alternate of 'mộng') appears to be cognate as well. |
| xơi | eat (rice) | Old Mon /ca(hāp)/, /ca/, Danaw /sué4/, Riang White and Black /sʿuam-/, Palaung /hɑm2/, /hɔm2/, Wa /sɔm2/, Old Khmer /cya/, Sakai /cha/, Semang /chiʾ/, Nicobarese /shâ/, Briat /chat/, Stieng, Srê, Bahnar /sa/, Khasi /bsa/ (to tend), Nicobarese /hâm/, Lemet /som/, Khasi /bam/, Mundari /jom/, Savara /jum/, Gadaba /sōm/, Kurku /jōm/. | Chin. 吃 chī (SV ngật, 食 shí (SV thực) | cf. 吃 (喫) chī, jí < MC ʔjet < OC *ʔrjət || M 食 (飼) shí < MC ʑik < OC *ljək | ****Both of the Chin 吃 chī and 食 shí are certainly cognate to the Vietnamese form ‘xơi’ but at the same time many forms provided in Luce’s list for this item also show similarities in sound change patterns which point to the same root. Again, the question is how come a basic word like ‘eat’ can be a loanword from one to another language? |
| bay | to fly | Old Mon /par/, Modern Mon /paw/, Danaw /pan4/, Riang White /pɤr-/, Black /pər-/, Palaung /kăpɛ`h3/, Wa /pu2/, Khmer /hör/, Semang /kěpuih/, Nicobarese /hēh/, Stieng /par/, Biat /mʾpăr/, Srê /par/, /gēpăr/, Bahnar /păr/, /təpăr/, P’uman /pʿwa/, T’eng /tɯr/, K’mu /tar/, Khasi /her/, Mundari /apit/. | Chin. 飛 fēi (SV phi) | M 飛 fēi < MC pwyj < OC *pjəj | FQ 甫微 | ****Except for a few exceptions, all forms are cognate to each other, including that of Chinese. (1) |
| lấy | get | Old Mon /goʾ/, Modern Mon /gwaʾ/, Danaw /byɛ`n4/, Riang White and Black /bɔn-/, Palaung /bɤn2/, Wa /bɔn2/, T’eng /buɔ`n/, Khasi /io/. | Chin. 拿 ná (SV nã) | M 拿 (拏) ná < MC na < OC *nhra: | Dialects: Nanchang lak41, Hakka : na11, Cant. na12, naa4, laa4 (coloquial: /lɔ12/) | ****The strange thing is the Mon and Khasi forms do not seem to be cognate to any other etyma in this limited list for the item while the C /ná/ and the V /lấy/, which are cognates, do not look like having anything to do with any other Mon-Khmer foms. (1) |
| rời | go out, issue | Old Mon /tīt/, Modern Mon /tit/, Danaw /lé2/, Riang White and Black /lɛ`\ /, Palaung /lih3/, Wa /lih5/, /lah5/, Biat /lôh/, Khasi /mih/. | Chin. 離 lí (SV li). Also, VS 'lìa' | M 離 lí < MC le < OC *raj, *rajs | ****The author could not relate those MK forms to a similar form in V but the C 離 /lí/ looks like it with a slight deviation in meaning which could possibly point to V /ra1/ or 出 chū in C, 'go out'. |
| nhai | grind (teeth) | No Mon forms, Danaw /tjət3/, Riang White /tɤr\kiɛt-/, Black /kriac-/, Palaung /kik2/, Wa /krɯt1/, Shan /kʿuit/. | Chin. 嚼 jué (SV tước) | M 嚼 jué, jiáo, jiào < MC ʒjak < OC *ʒhekʷ | ***While the Vietnamese form may be cognate to the Chinese form, all other Mon-Khmer forms in this limited list start with the initial /k-/ which looks like something related to the V ‘cắn’ (bite). |
| giết | kill | Viet. /giết/, Old Mon /kucit/, Modern Mon /gacun/, Danaw /pyi:n4/, Riang White /pyam-/, Black /pɪɛ`m-/, Palaung /ŋɑʔ3/, / ŋɔʔ3/, Wa /ñah5/, /ñéh5/, Srê /gəsət/, Hanar /kəchǐt/, T’eng /gut/, /pəhan, /pʿān/, Lemet /piam/, Khasi /pyniap/, /pynjot/ (to destroy/, Mundari /goěʔ/. | Chin. 殺 shā (SV sát) | M 殺 shā, shài, sà, shài, shì, xuē (SV sát, sái, tát) < MC ʂɑt, ʂaj < OC *sra:t, *sre:t *sra:ts | ****While there is no doubt that both Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to each other, but the similarities in the sound change patterns of a few other Mon-Khmer forms appear notable. |
| cười | laugh | Old and Modern Mon /gruŋ/, Danaw /kălit3/ Riang White / kăñɑʔ1/, Riang White /kɤñɑ s\ /, Black /ŋot\ /, Palaung /kăñ ɑ3/, Wa /ñah5/, /ñéh5/. | Chin. 笑 xiào (SV tiếu) | M 笑 xiào < MC sjew < OC *shaws | ****All Mon-Khmer forms look like cognates while the Vietnamese and Chinese. forms need some enumeration in order to equate the two etyma. |
| liếm | lick | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /klān/, Danaw /kăliɛ`t3/, Riang White /lia\ /, Black /liɛ`t\ /, Palaung /lɛ`t/, /lɑ’ʔ1/, Wa / liɛ`t3/, Khmer /līt/, Besisi /tělön/, Nicobarese /tulân/, Malay /jilat/, Khasi /jliah/. | Chin. 舔 tiăn (SV thiêm) | M 舔 tiăn < MC t’iem < OC *slem | According to Starostin, 舔 tiăn, to lick (Tang) Viet. 'liếm' must be an archaic loan (unless it is a chance coincidence); standard Sino-Viet. is thiêm. | Note: Zhou (zyxlj, p.250) MC t’iem < OC *t’ijəm < PC*lijəm, *liem. Dialaect Guangzhou (Cant.): li-m, TB *(s-)lyjəm ‘tongue’ | *****It is interesting so see that most of the listed forms are cognate to each other, including the Chinese one. (1) |
| giở | lift | Old Mon /yok/, /yuk/, mod. Yuik, Danaw /yəik2/, Riang White /yɔŋ\ /, Black /tsɔ\ /, /pʿrɔ-/, Palaung djUk1, Wa /yUk3/, Mnong Gar /yək/, Srê /yō/, K’mu /yôk/, Shan /yuk. | Chin. 舉 jǔ (SV cử) | M 舉 jǔ < MC kɔ < OC *klaʔ | According to Straostin, 舉 jǔ 'to rise, surge, start'; 'to lift, promote'. Viet. also has giơ 'to show, to raise': is it a colloquial loanword from the same source? Derived with a *k-prefix from *laʔ, see 舁. | ****The Vietnamese forms 'giở' and 'giơ' appear to be cognate to all forms from cross-linguistic families. (1) |
| khóc | mourn, cry | Old Mon /yām/, Modern Mon /yām/, Danaw /ñɑn2/, Riang White and Black /yɑm\ /, Palaung /yɑm2/, /yɪm2/, Old Khmer /yām/, Sakai /yabm/, Besisi /yām/, Semang /jām/, /jim/, Nicobarese /chīm/, Stieng, Srê /ñim/, Biat /ñim/, Bahar /ñem/, /ñum/, Pʿu-man /yaŋ/, T’eng /yam/, Lemet /yām/, K’mu /yâm/, Khasi /tām/, Mundari /iam/, Kurku /yam/. | Chin. 免 wèn (SV vấn), 哭 kù (SV khốc) | M 免 miăn, wèn < MC mian, men, mun < OC *marʔ, *mən, *mhərs | According to Starostin, 免 miăn, wèn, MC me/n is not quite regular (*m@/n would be normally expected). For *m- cf. Xiamen bian3, Chaozhou, Fuzhou mien|3, Jianou min|3. Also read *m(h)@r-s, MC mu\n, Mand. wèn 'to mourn, mourning'. || M 哭 kù < MC khuk < OC *kho:k || M 泣 qì < MC khip < OC *khrǝp | FQ 去急 (SV 'khấp') | ******While the V ‘khóc’ can be a word to mean both ‘to mourn' and 'cry’ which is cognate to both C 泣 qì (SV khấp) and 哭 kù (SV khốc) respectively, the other Vietnamese form 免 wèn (SV vấn 'mourning headdress') seems to fit well into the Mon-Khmer vocables similar to /yam/. (4) |
| há | open mouth | Viet. /há/, No Old Mon, Modern Mon /hā/, Danaw /hɑ1/, Riang White and Black /ɑŋ-/, Palaung /ɑŋ2/, Wa /ɑŋ2/, Khmer /hā/, Srê /hā/, Bahnar /ha/, Besisi /ɑŋ/, T’eng /ɑŋ/, Khasi /ang/. | Chin. 哈 hā (SV cáp, ha), 開 kāi (SV khai) | M 哈 hā, hă, hà, kā, hē, shà ~ phonetic M 合 hé (SV hợp, hiệp, cáp) < MC ɠɤp < OC *gjə:p || M 開 kāi < MC khɤj < OC *khjə:j | Dialect Cant. /hoi1/ | ****Except for the /ang/ form, all other forms are cognate to the V /há/, which include those of the C 開 kāi as /hoi1/ appearing in Cant. |
| nhức | be in pain | Old Mon /uñjey/, /ajey/, Modern Mon /yai/, Danaw /kătsu1/, Riang White and Black /sʿuʔ-/, Palaung /séu2/, Wa /sɑ’ɯʔ1/, Khmer /jnun/, /jnī/, Sakai /ŋi/, /nyi/, /ěnji/, Nicobarese /yē/, /tu/, Stieng, Srê /ji/, Bahnar /ji ʔ/, P’u-man /shu/, T’eng /cu/, /shu/, Lemet /so/, Khasi /suh/, Mundari /hasu/ | Chin. 熱 rè, also VS 'rát' (sore) | M 熱 rè < MC ɲet < OC *ɲet | ****All forms seem to cognate to the Vietnamese form /nhức/ including the Chinese form with the doublet form in V as 'rát' /rat7/. (2) |
| dệt | plait, weave | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tān/, /tut/, Danaw /tɑi4/, /tan2/, Riang White /taiñ-/, Balck /tiɑñ-/, Palaung /ɗak1/ (to weave), Wa /tiɑñ2/, Old Khmer /tāñ/, Malay /dědan/, Nicobarese /tain/, Stieng, Biat , Srê, Mnong Gar, Bahar, T’eng /tañ/, Khasi /thaiñ/, Mundari /teŋ/. | Chin. 織 zhí (SV chức) | M 織 zhī, zhí, zhì, chì (SV chức, chí, xí, thức) < MC tʂək, tʂɨ < OC *tjək, *tjəkh | ¶ zh- ~ j-(d-) | cf. 紙 zhǐ (SV chỉ) VS giấy (paper) | ****All those forms with the phonemic intials /t-/, /th-/, and /ɗ-/ seem to point to the V 'dệt' /jet8/ including that of the C form. |
| trồng | to plant (tree) | Old Mon /tal/, /til/, Modern Mon /tuiw/, Danaw tɑi4/, /tan2/, Riang White /pɤsʿɤm-/, Black /pək\sʿəm-/, Palaung /sam2/, Wa /tɑiñ2/, Shan /pʿukswam/. | Chin. 種 zhòng (SV chủng, VS giống) | M 種 zhǒng, zhòng < MC tʂouŋ < OC ouŋʔ | FQ 之隴 | MC reading: A: 通合三上腫章; B: 通合三去用章 | According to Starostin, 種 zhǒng, 'seeds'; 'cereals'. Also read *toŋʔ-s, MC couŋ (FQ 之用), Mand. 種 zhòng 'to sow'. The word also means 'kind, sort, race' (> 'seed'), which is reflected in a colloquial Viet. loanword (from another dialectal source) giống 'kind, sort; race, breed, strain' | ****It is no doubt that both the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are certainly cognate, not only in the meaning of 'to plant' but also 'seed, race, kind..' along with other meaning that the C 種 zhòng and zhǒng convey. It is also interesting to see that all other Mon-Khmer forms are also cognate, which substatiate the hypothesis of loanwords cross linguistic families. (See discussion at the end of the table.) |
| gặt | to reap (with sickle) | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /rat/, Danaw /vwəik4/, Riang White /vwəit\ /, Black /vwəic\ /, Palaung /sUk1/, Malay /kěrat/ (to cut), Srê /ros/, Biat /rek/. | Chin. 穫 huò (SV hoạch) VS ‘gặt’ | M 穫 huò, huà, hù < MC ɣwaik < OC *whrāk | FQ 胡麥 | ****If the Chinese form as 穫 huò and VS ‘gặt’ is equated, that is a picture perfect to correspond to the /v-/ forms that appear throughout. Still, the question is who has borrowed the word from whom given the fact that China South people were rice cultivators while China North wheat planters? |
| về | return, go home | Viet. /trở/, Old Mon /cow/, Modern Mon /cau/Danaw /yən2/, Riang White and Black /vwiŋ\ /, Palaung /vwi2 /, Wa /i:ŋ2/, Wa /vwɔk3/, T’eng /věk/, /rəvěk/. | Chin. 回 huí (SV hồi), 歸 guī (SV qui) | M 回 huí < MC ɠoj < OC *wjə:j < **PC **qwjə:l || M 歸 guī < MC kwyj < OC *kwɒj | ****It appears that V /trở/ – that cannot be used alone but with 'trởvề' to mean 'return' – is NOT the right word here as indicated by Luce, or by his informant for that matter, for ‘return’ or ‘go home’. In the meanwhile the V ‘về’ is certainly cognate to the Chin. 回 huí or, its doublet, 歸 guī (SV quy). However, except for the Mon forms, it is interesting to see how the Vietnamese form is to equate with other Mon-Khmer forms in different appearances. |
| cỡi | ride, mount | Old Mon /duk/, /dok/, Modern Mon /ɗuik/ , Danaw /tən4/, Riang White and Black /tutum/, Bahnar /tōk/. | Chin. 騎 qí (SV kỵ). Also VS 'cưỡi' | M 騎 qí < MC ge < OC *ghaj | FQ 渠羈 | *****The Vietnamese form is certainly cognate to that of the Chinese one while others in the Mon-Khmer languages seem to deviate a geat deal if they are cognates at all. (4) |
| hôi | to rot, putrid | Viet. /hôi/, no Old Mon, , Modern Mon /sa-uai/, Danaw /sʿɔŋ2ɤn4/, Riang White /kʿɤm/, Black /kʿəm-/, Palaung /am2/, Wa /tjuʔ1/, Old Khmer /sa-uy/, T’eng /həʔu/ (to smell bad), Mundari /soěa/, Srê /pəʔum/, Biat, Mnong Gar /ôm/. | Chin. 臭 chòu (SV xú) VS ‘hôi’ and ‘thúi’, 腐 fǔ (SV hủ) VS ‘hư’’ and ‘rữa’ | M 臭 chòu, xìu < MC ʨjəw < OC *khiws || M 腐 fǔ < MC bʊ, pu < OC *bhoʔ, *phu | *****While other Mon-Khmer forms vary differently, both of the Chinese forms are cognate to those of the Vietnamese. |
| gãi | scratch, scrape | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿarak/, Danaw /kʿrɛ` ʔ/, /kʿriət3/, Riang White /kiɪt\ /, Black /kɪt\ /, kʿré-/, Wa /tjéh5/, /tjɪh5/ (of thorns), Khmer /kōs/, Besisi /kawait/, Semang /kaid/, Malay /kais/, Nicobarese /takaic/, Stieng /kuac/, Bahnar /kac/. | Chin. 抓 zhuà (SV trảo) | M 抓 zhuā < MC tʂaw < OC *tʂaɨw | ****the Vietnamese form is cognate to that of the Chinese to mean 'scratch'. In the meanwhile other Mon-Khmer forms deviate differently. |
| gởi | send, conduct | Old Mon /pindoŋ/, Modern Mon /palăŋ/, Danaw /pʿu1/, Riang White and Black /pʿuʔ-/. | Chin. 寄 jì (SV ký) | M 寄 jì < MC kɛ < OC *kajs | ¶ j- ~ g- , ex. 雞 jī (SV kê) ~ VS 'gà' (chicken) | ****If the V ‘gởi’ and the Chin. 寄 jì are the same lexicons of what Luce meant here in his limited list for this item. (4) |
| lặn | to set (with the sun) | Old Mon /plit/, Modern Mon /pluit/, Danaw /kɔt2/, Riang White /kɤt-/, Black White /kət-/, /kut\/ (to enter), T’eng /gut/ (to enter). | Chin. 落 luò (SV lạc) | M 落 luò, lè, luō, lào, là < MC lak < OC *ra:k | ¶ -k ~ -n/-ng, ex. 腹 fú ~ SV 'phúc' /-k/ ~> VS 'bụng' /-ng/ (belly), 忙 máng /-ng/ ~ VS 'bận' /-n/ ~> 'mắc' /-k/ (busy) | ex. 日落 rìluò (SV nhậtlạc) ~ VS 'trờilặn' (sunset). | See next chapter on ST. | ****Only the Mon forms are cognate to the V /lặn/ while the Chinese form for this item point to /luò/. (2) |
| bắn | shoot' (with bow) | Viet /bắn/, Old Mon /pañ/, Modern Mon /pan/, Danaw /pəiŋ4/, Riang White and Black /pəiñ-/, Palaung /pɑiŋ2/, Wa /púiñ2/, Old Khmer /pañ/, Malay /panah/ (bow), Nicobarese /fɑiŋ/ (crossbow), Biat /pañ/, Mnong Gar /pɛñ/, Bahnar /pɛŋ/, T’eng /piñ/, Lemet /piŋ/. | Chin. 放 fàng (SV phóng) | M 放 fàng < MC pwoŋ < OC *paŋs | ****All forms are cognate including that of the Chinese. (2) |
| nằm | sleep, lie down | Old Mon /stīk/, Modern Mon /stik/, Danaw /ti:n2/, Riang White /yɛ`t-/, Black /yat-/, /yɛ`t-/, Palaung /iʔ1/, Wa /it1/, Khmer /tak/, Srê /jětek/, Nicobarese /teak/, Lemet /lit/, Khasi /thiah/, Mundari /gitiʔ/. | Chin. 躺 tăng (thảng) | M 躺 táng ~ phonetic. M 尚 shàng, cháng < MC ʂaŋ (ʂhaŋ) < OC *dʑɨaŋ | ¶ t- ~ n- | According to Starostin: Proto-Vietmuong: *ŋɨah, *ŋa:h, (lie) on one's back, Viet. 'ngửa' supine, backwards, Proto-Ruc: *ŋah.1, Ruc: C- taŋa:h.1 | ***The V ‘nằm’ and the Chin. ‘tăng’, which are cognate but only means ‘to lie down’, show similarity in sound change patterns that correspond to those of the Mon-Khmer forms. Other Vietnamese and Chin. cognate forms such as 臥 wò, SV 'ngoạ' ~ VS ‘ngủ’ (to sleep) but they deviate from other forms, where we are trying to find cognates for all languages under examination. |
| tẩm | soak | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bap/, Danaw /tən4/, Riang White and Black /tam-/, Khasi /pdem/ | Chin. 浸 jìn (SV tẩm) | M 浸 jìn, jīn < MC cjɨm < OC *cim, *cims | According to Starostin: to overflow, soak, wet. In Mand. also read ji:n (pointing to a variant MC *cjim, OC *cim). The normal Sino-Viet. reading is tẩm; cf. also tắm 'to bathe, have a bath' (probably a colloquial loan from the same source). | ****Obviously the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to other Mon-Khmer forms in this limited list by Luce except for the Modern Mon /bap/. |
| đâm | stab, pierce | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿapak/, Danaw /tat3/, Riang White /tɤ-/, Black /təs-/. | Chin. 捅 tǒng (SV đồng) | M 捅 tǒng ~ phonetic M 桶 tǒng < MC thʊŋ < OC *slho:ŋʔ | ******Obviously both Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate while those forms in Luce’s limited list for this item might not be if they are not related to V 'đục' 鑿 zào. (4) |
| giậtmình | be startled | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /takuit/, Danaw /kʿrôn2/, Riang White and Black /kʿran-/. | Chin. 吃驚 chījīng (SV ngậtkinh) / @ 吃 chī (SV ngật, VS 'giật'), 失 shì (SV thất) | M 吃 (喫) chī < MC ʔjet < OC *ʔrjət || M 驚 jīng < MC *kaijŋ < OC *kraŋ | ¶ j- ~ m- | ***The V ‘giậtmình’ and the C 吃驚 chījīng are definitely cognate while other forms in Luce's limited list for this item does not look like it. (4) |
| đói | starve | Old Mon /kanlor/ (=famine), Modern Mon /klow/, Danaw /ŋat2/, Riang White and Black/ ŋuat\ /, Old Burmese /ŋat/, Malay /kěbulor/ (famine). | Chin. 餒 něi (SV nỗi) | M 餒 (餧) něi, nèi < MC noj < OC *nhūjʔ | ¶ w- ~ đ- || cf. modern M 餓 è < MC ŋʌ < OC *ŋha:jʔ | ¶ w- ~ đ- | Cant. /ŋɔ/ | ***While the Vietnamese form /đói/ seems to deviate greatly, if not to be cognate to any of the forms at all, while the C 餓 è (SV ngạ) seems to be cognate to those of Mon-Khmer forms listed here except those of the Mon. (3) |
| trộm | burglarize | Old Mon /kumlec/, /kamlec/ (=thief), Modern Mon /klat/, Danaw /rat2/, Riang White and Black /raʔ\ /, Palaung /brɑ2/, Wa /brɛʔ3/, T’eng /luic/, /luêc/, Mundari /reʔ/. | Chin. 盜 dào (SV đạo) | M 盜 dào < MC dʌw < OC *dhaws | ***The V ‘trộm’ agrees with the C /taw4/, that is, they are plausibly cognate while both do not seem to have anything to do with other Mon-Khmer forms. |
| vuốt | to stroke | Viet. /vuốt/, Old Mon /aumpot/, /samput/, Modern Mon /spot/, Danaw /pʿyé4/, Riang White /puas-/, Balck /pruas-/, Palaung /puh3puh3/, Wa /mUh5/, Khmer /cpūt/, Malay /sapu/, Stieng /puōt/, /rəpuōt/, Srê /rəpoc/, Biat /rʾpōt/, Bahnar /pōt/, T’eng /puòt/ (to touch), Khasi /syrpud/. | Chin. 撫 fǔ (SV phủ, mô) | M 撫 fǔ (phủ, 摹 mô) < MC phʊ < OC *phaʔ | According to Staostin, 撫 fǔ accomodate oneself to, follow; manage, handle.The original meaning 'lay the hand on' (whence 'manage, accomodate') is attested somewhat later, during LZ | ****All forms seem to be cognate. |
| sưng | swell | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /guh/, Danaw /Uət3/, Riang White and Black /as-/, Palaung /ah3/, Wa /u1ah5/, Sakai /ki- âs, Srê /as/, T’eng /tərʔɛh/, Khasi /at/, /iar/. | Chin. 腫 zhǒng (SV thũng) | M 腫 zhǒng < MC tʂjwoŋ < OC *tjuŋ | ****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are certainly cognate to each other while other Mon-Khmer forms seem to show no relation. (1) |
| cột | tie, fasten | Old Mon /dak/, Modern Mon /dak/, Danaw /tôk1/, Riang White and Black /tuk-/, Palaung /ɗɤk1/, Wa /pyɔk1/, T’eng /tǔk/, Khasi /the. | Chin. 結 jié (SV kết) | M 結 jié < MC kiet < OC *ki:t | ****V /cột/ is certainly cognate to the C 結 jié which may or may not be related to other Mon-Khmer forms. |
| ói | vomit | No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿa-aʾ/, Danaw /ɔ:ʔ2/, Riang White and Black /hɔl-/, Palaung /hɤ2/, /hak1/, Wa /hɑ’2/, Nicobarese /oàu/, Srê /haʔ/. | Chin. 嘔 ǒu (SV ẩu). Also, VS 'ợ' (babble'), 'ộc' 'throw up' | M 嘔 ōu, ǒu, xū, yù, òu < MC ʔɤw < OC *ʔo:, *ʔo:ʔ | According to Starostin, 嘔 ǒu 'babble' (as a child) (LZ), also used for *ʔo:ʔ, MC ʔow, Pek. ǒu 'vomit'. | *****While V 'ói' /ɔj5/ is cognate to the C /ǒu/, some of the other Mon-Khmer forms seem to point to VS ‘khạc’ /k'ak8/ (spit) 咳 ké (VS 'ho' for 'cough') along with VS ‘nhổ’ (spit) that is from C 吐 tù and SV ‘thổ’, the word for ‘vomit’. |
| muốn | want, desire | Old Mon /mic/, Modern Mon /mik (gwaʾ)/, Danaw /tsʿɔŋ4/, Riang White and Black /sʿun-/, Palaung /sɤŋ2/, Wa /yUh5/, Bahnar /mɛt/, /kəmɛt/. | Chin. 願 yuàn (SV nguyện) VS muốn | M 愿 (願) yuàn < MC ŋwɒn < OC *ŋors | Note. VS 'muốn' is posited here based on its semantic connotatioaccompanied with the pattern /y- ~ m-/ | **While some other Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to each other and VS /mót/ (<~ 'muốn') as in 'mótđái' (want to pee), the Chinese form 願 yuàn may or may not be cognate to the V /muốn/ that appears to be derived from other Chinese sources as well, such as 願望 yuànwàng ~> VS 'mongmuốn' > 望 wàng (VS 'mong') > 'muốn', or modern Mandarin 想 xiăng. |
| ngáp | yawn | Viet. /ngáp/, no Old Mon, mod. /kʿa-āp/, Raing White /ŋɑp-/, /hɑp-/, Palaung /pʿɛ`m2ñɑ’u2/, Wa /ŋɑp3/, Khmer /sŋāp/, Malay /kuap/, Nicobarese /hiŋ-âp/, Biat /nʾgap/, Bahnar /hā-ap/, /gəŋɑp/,, T’eng /hŋɑp/, Khasi /saham/, Mundari /cahabʔ/, /cābr/. | Chin. 哈 hā | Colloqiual (Beijing): 哈欠 hāqiān (SV cápkhiếm) VS 'ngáp' <~ (contraction of) M 哈欠 hāqiān | M 哈 hā, hă, hà, kā, hē, shà ~ ht. M 合 hé (hợp, hiệp, cáp) < MC ɠɤp < OC *gjə:p | ****All forms are cognate, interestingly, including that of Chinese. (2) |
(1) The question is, like other etyma of the same nature, now raised whether or not they all were from the same root or it is just a mere coincidence?
(2) The point to make here is that when specialists see the patterns, they are forced to pick the closeness of phonetic appearance, as a result, the Chinese dialectal form tends to be suppressed despite of its cognacy presents a strong case that, like some other etyma, is plausibly cognate, which suggests something about a common root.
(3) The case that other Mon-Khmer forms that are cognate to a Chinese form while they are distanced from the Vietnamese form is rare, is that a mere coincidence?
(4) When the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to each other but not with the Mon-Khmer forms, the chance is that there exists none in Vietnamese related to the latter.
The wide range of lexical listings above compiled by Luce is cited here to show the Mon-Khmer strata that underline 245 basic words in Danaw, which is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by an ethnic group living in Burma. Many of them are mixed lexicons with loanwords across several linguistic families, though. The glossarial cases in the Mon-Khmer substratum similar to those in the Danaw language are what actually matters in our discussion here because they also appear to be plausible Vietnamese cognates. We can see that their vocabularies are the end result of interminglings of multiple languages at the same time because their speakers always lived in proximity with each other while still keeping their own characteristics and individuality.
As we can see in the list, even though the Vietnamese etyma – namely, those etymological items originally marked as "Viet. /vvvvvvv/" – appear to be provided by Luce only in selectively listed items, portions of them are clearly cognate to those vocables in different linguistic families, embracing all those languages either of the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer,Austronesian Malay, or Tibeto-Burmic Danaw. In the meanwhile, for those correspondences in the Mon-Khmer languages only, many of the Vietnamese basic words, interestingly, appear to prominently correspond to the Chinese elements at the same time. In any cases, altogether with Luce's list, which mirror exactly the same scenario where the basic word lists supplied by Wilson (1966) and Thomas (1966, p.194) (see the next chapter for both lists, respectively).
The list above is appropriately enough in the basic category; however, they are actually not limited only to the cited items. With several linguistic families in the region under investigation their combined etymologies, altogether they will amply provide a wide-range of fundamental words, which will make up a rich and valuable source of data for comparison, where, concerning those Mon-Khmer vocabularies, additional lists compiled by Thomas, Wilson, and Baker would fit in and complement each other's comparative lists for further cross-examination in Mon-Khmer cross-languages. At the same time, for several other cognates in other ST languages, further Chinese etyma will be provided in the next chapter to support Sino-Tibetan and Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer affiliated etymologies for such cases, for example, C 水 shuǐ (VS 'sông' for 'river') is cognate to Tibetan tchu, to say the very least, as apposed to the C 川 chuān (VS 'suối' for 'stream') and the indigenous 河 hé (SV hà, Mongol ghol) and 江 jiāng (SV 'giang', VS 'sông', formerly, 'kang', 'kung', 'kong') all for 'river', the former belonging to regions north of Yangtze while the latter south of it. (Terrien de Lacouperie. The Languages of China Before the Chinese. [London: 1887] Taiwan: 1966. p. 103 )