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Chinese characters :

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Character:
Modern (Beijing) reading: jiǎn
Preclassic Old Chinese: ćenʔ
Classic Old Chinese: cén
Western Han Chinese: cján
Eastern Han Chinese: cján
Early Postclassic Chinese: cjén
Middle Postclassic Chinese: cjén
Late Postclassic Chinese: cjén
Middle Chinese: cjén
English meaning : to clip
Russian meaning[s]: см.
Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology
Radical: 124
Four-angle index: 3340
Karlgren code: 0245 i
Shijing occurrences: 16.1, 16.2, 16.3
bigchina-reading,bigchina-ochn,bigchina-cchn,bigchina-wchn,bigchina-echn,bigchina-epchn,bigchina-mpchn,bigchina-lpchn,bigchina-mchn,bigchina-meaning,bigchina-oshanin,bigchina-stibet,bigchina-radical,bigchina-oshval,bigchina-karlgren,bigchina-shijing,

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Sino-Tibetan etymology :

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Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *ćĕnH
Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology
Meaning: clip, cut
Chinese: *ćenʔ clip; cut, strip.
Tibetan: ćhan a pair of scissors.
Lushai: čan cut up; share; portion.
Comments: Luce 53. Cf. Yamphu cemma (cen-) 'to chop, cut'.
stibet-prnum,stibet-meaning,stibet-chin,stibet-tib,stibet-lush,stibet-comments,

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Sino-Caucasian etymology :

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Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *ćVnV
Meaning: to cut, sickle
North Caucasian: *ćVnV
Sino-Tibetan: *ćĕnH
sccet-meaning,sccet-cauc,sccet-stib,

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North Caucasian etymology :

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Proto-North Caucasian: *ćVnV
Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology
Meaning: sickle
Proto-Avaro-Andian: *ničo
Proto-Tsezian: *niš:u ( ~ -š-)
Proto-Lezghian: *čin
Proto-Khinalug: čin
Proto-West Caucasian: *čanǝ (~č:-,c-,c:-)
Notes: The Ub.-EC correspondence is quite probable (although the vocalism is not quite clear). Av.-And.-Tsezian languages reflect a metathesized variant *nVćV.

    A suffixed form of the same root can be reconstructed for PNC as *ćVnV-ḳwV 'a k. of sickle, scythe'. It is reflected in PEC as *č̣inVḳwV (with assimilation), and in PWC as *čʷVmVgV. Cf. for PEC: Av. Chad. č̣iníḳ, And. (Khaidakov) č̣iniḳ, Bezht. Tlad. č̣iniḳ, Khosh. c̣iniḳ, Gunz. č̣iniḳ (PTs *č̣iniḳ), Lak. č̣iniḳ, Darg. Chir. č̣inaḳ 'scythe', PL *č̣inaḳʷ (Ag. č̣ineḳʷ, Lezg. Khl. č̣anag 'sickle', Rut. č̣inaḳʷ, Tsakh. č̣inaḳ, Arch. č̣iniḳʷ 'scythe'). Some of these forms may be borrowed from neighbour languages, but at least the PL form and either Av. or Lak. are probably genuine and go back to PEC. For PWC cf.: PAT *čǝbǝgV (Abkh. a-čbǝ́ga, Abaz. čbǝg), PAK *č́amáǵǝ (Ad. š́amaǯ́, Kab. šamaǯ), Ub. č́amáǵ. The Ub. form is probably borrowed from Ad., but the PAT and PAK forms are genuine cognates.

    Osset. cäväg 'scythe' is explained by Abayev (1, 306) as a derivate from cävyn 'to beat' (which itself is etymologically obscure, see ibid.); therefore he regards the WC forms as borrowed from Ossetian, and this hypothesis is accepted by Shagirov 2, 137. However, the Ossetian source can not explain many phonetic features of its Caucasian counterparts (in particular, nasalisation present in most NC forms). It seems to us much more reasonable to suppose that the Ossetian form itself was borrowed from a Caucasian source (cf., e.g., PAT *čǝbǝgV with secondary denasalisation). Later it was, in its turn, borrowed in some EC languages: cf. Cham. čag (Gig. čagi), God. čogi 'scythe' - forms that are absolutely irregular compared to other EC forms, and can be easily derived from a source like Proto-Ossetian *čavag. See Starostin 1985, 81.

caucet-prnum,caucet-meaning,caucet-aand,caucet-cez,caucet-lezg,caucet-khin,caucet-abad,caucet-comment,

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Avar-Andian etymology :

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Protoform: *ničo
North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology
Meaning: 1 sickle 2 dagger 3 scythe
Andian language: ničo 3
Akhvakh: niča 1
Chamalal: niša 1,2
Tindi: niča 1,2
Karata: niča 1
Botlikh: niča 1,2
Godoberi: niča 1
Comments: Cf. also Cham. Gig. niča id.
aandet-prnum,aandet-meaning,aandet-and,aandet-akv,aandet-chm,aandet-tnd,aandet-krt,aandet-btl,aandet-gdb,aandet-comment,

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Tsezian etymology :

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Proto-Tsezian: *niš:u ( ~ -š-)
North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology
Meaning: sickle
Tsezi: nešu
Ginukh: nešu
Inkhokvari: nišu
Comments: PTsKh *nišu. It is interesting to note Khvarsh. (Radzhibov) niču id. - obviously a modification of *nišu under the influence of PA *ničo (q.v.).
cezet-prnum,cezet-meaning,cezet-cez,cezet-gin,cezet-inh,cezet-comment,

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Lezghian etymology :

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Proto-Lezghian: *čin
North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology
Meaning: sickle
Tsakhur: čin (Mishl.)
Kryz: čin
Budukh: čin
Comment: 3d class in all languages. Obl. base *činɨ- (cf. Tsakh. činɨ-).
lezget-prnum,lezget-meaning,lezget-cak,lezget-krz,lezget-bud,lezget-comment,

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Khinalug etymology :

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Khinalug root: čin
North Caucasian etymology: 1647
Meaning: sickle
Khinalug form: čin
Comments: May be borrowed from Kryz. čin.
khinet-prnum,khinet-meaning,khinet-khi,khinet-comment,

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Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology :

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Proto-West-Caucasian: *čanǝ (~č:-,c-,c:-)
North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology
Meaning: sabre
Ubykh: canǝ́
Comments: Attested only in Ub., but having probable EC parallels.
abadet-prnum,abadet-meaning,abadet-ubk,abadet-comment,

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