Tsezian etymology :

Proto-Tsezian: *s:V- (~s-,z-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: an interrogative stem

Bezhta: suḳo

Gunzib: suḳu

Comments: The root is present only in PGB (NB: Gin. se 'what' comes from *š:i). The direct base of it had been influenced by PGB *suḳu 'man, person' and coincided with it phonetically. The pure stem is, however, preserved in the oblique base Gunz. si- ('what'), se- ('who') (cf. also su-rba 'why'). Cf. also the derived Bezht. pronoun suḳo-nazu 'all' ("whoever").

North Caucasian etymology :

Proto-North Caucasian: *s_āj

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: interrogative pronoun (what)

Proto-Nakh: *sṭē-n-

Proto-Avaro-Andian: *s:u-n-

Proto-Tsezian: *s(:)V- (~z-)

Proto-Lak: s:a-

Proto-Dargwa: *s(:)e

Proto-West Caucasian: *sA (~ *š-)

Notes: The common NC inanimate interrogative pronoun. Its usage in most EC language shows that it was originally used only as the oblique base.

    See Trubetzkoy 1930, 274, Абдоков 1983, 139.

Nakh etymology :

Proto-Nakh: *sṭē-n-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: what (interrogative pronoun)

Chechen: stē(n)-

Ingush: se

Batsbi: sṭen-

Comments: The basic form is ergative: Chech. sten, Ing. se, Bacb. sṭẽ (cf. also Cheb. stjē̃, Shar., Khild. sjẽ etc.). For the vowel length cf. also Chech. gen. stēna-n; sten-ga 'where' etc.

Avar-Andian etymology :

Protoform: *s:u-n-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 what (obl. base) 2 who, what (obl. base)

Avar: s:un- 1

Chadakolob: sun- 1

Akhvakh: s:un- 1,2

Lak etymology :

Lak root: s:a-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: what (obl. base)

Lak form: s:a-

Comments: Cf. gen./erg. s:a-l, dat. s:a-n etc.

Dargwa etymology :

Proto-Dargwa: *s(:)e

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: what

Akusha: se

Chiragh: ce

Comments: The Chir. form has a secondary affricate (either under influence of ča 'who', or under influence of Lak. ci 'what'), thus the intensity of PD *s(:)- can not be established.

Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology :

Proto-West-Caucasian: *sA (~ *š-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: what

Adyghe: sǝd(ā)

Kabardian: sǝt

Ubykh: sa

Comments: PAK *sǝ- (the Bzhed. and Shaps. variant śǝ-d is still unexplained). The second part of the stem (Ad. -d, Kab. -t) raises some problems. In Kab. -t could have been obtained under influence of xa-t 'who' (q.v.); thus we should probably reconstruct *-dA for PAK. The precise nature of this *-dA is not clear (perhaps it reflects the PWC demonstrative *da).

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *sV (*sV́-jV)

Meaning: interrogative stem

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

North Caucasian: *s_āj

Sino-Tibetan: *su (~-o(w))

Yenisseian: *ʔa(ʔ)s- / *sV(ʔ)-

Burushaski: *-sa- / *-se

Basque: *se, *se-r

Comments and references : HGC 23, MCGD 10-11, BCD 32. PY may also correspond to PNC *š_i.

Sino-Tibetan etymology :

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *su ( ~ -ǝw, -iw)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: who, interrogative pronoun

Tibetan: su who?

Burmese: ǝsu who, LB *su

Lepcha: šu who, what

Kiranti: *su

Comments: PG *su who; Kham sū̀; Kanauri su. Sh. 135; Luce 35.

Kiranti etymology :

Proto-Kiranti: *su

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Meaning: who

Sunwar: 'su

Tulung: sü

Kaling: sü (CSDF 'sü)

Limbu: ā-sāt (?<*ā-su-āt)

Kulung: as-

Yamphu: asa:

Kulung dictionary :

Entry: as-e

Kiranti etymology: Kiranti etymology

Grammar: pron.

Meaning: who (abs)

Nepali: ko.

Yamphu dictionary :

Entry: asa:

Kiranti etymology: Kiranti etymology

Grammar: interrog.

Meaning: who; asäʔ ergative

Comments: as.ät.te i:s.w.e? (who.ERG.ISF say.о3.FCT) Who said that? asa:.ji.de? (who.NS.ISF) Who are there? asa:.de häŋ? (who.ISF you) Who are you?

Nepali: ko

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *ʔas- / *sV-

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: interrogative stem

Ket: aks (Донн.) "what?"; akśej⁵, akśejśaŋ⁵ 'why', aśeś⁵ 'which', aśka⁶ 'when'

Yug: assa (Донн.) "what?"; (Кастр.) assa id., ases "what a"; asesaŋ⁵ / asejsaŋ⁵ 'why', asejs³ 'which', asera⁵ 'who (of a woman)', āskej¹ / āskejsit¹ 'when'

Kottish: šina, šena, g. šinai "what"; ašix 'which, who'

Comments: ССЕ 183-184. Pump. (Срсл.) jasgej 'when' is in reality Yug. Werner 1, 66.

Burushaski etymology :

Common Burushaski: *-sa- / *-se

Sino-Caucasian Etymology: Sino-Caucasian Etymology

Meaning: 1 what, which 2 why

Yasin: bé-sa, bé-se 2

Hunza: bé-sa-n 1, bé-se 2

Nagar: bé-sa-n 1, bé-se 2

Basque etymology :

Proto-Basque: *se-r

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: what

Bizkaian: zer, ze

Gipuzkoan: zer, ze

High Navarrese: zer, ze

Low Navarrese: zer

Salazarese: zer

Lapurdian: zer

Baztanese: zer

Aezkoan: zer

Zuberoan: zer, ze

Roncalese: zer

Comments: The short form *se is used in certain situations (see Azkue). From this stem *se- other interrogative forms are derived, such as (c) zein 'which', ze-la 'how', etc.

Long-range etymologies :

Borean (approx.) : CV

Meaning : who

Eurasiatic : *CV

Sino-Caucasian : *sV (*sV́-jV)

Austric : PAN *sai 'who', MY *ći what etc.

Amerind (misc.) : *si 'interrogative' (R 401)

Nostratic etymology :

Eurasiatic: *CV

Meaning: what

Altaic: ? Jap. *tá who

Eskimo-Aleut: *ca-ŋu- (-ra, -na)

Chukchee-Kamchatkan: Chuk. *še-q what, Itelm. *sa-q 'what for'

Comments: Basically a Siberian root.

Altaic etymology :

Proto-Altaic: ? *ta- ~ *ča

Nostratic: Nostratic

Meaning: who

Russian meaning: кто

Japanese: *tá

Comments: An isolated Japanese pronominal stem. [Cf. the PA demonstrative ??]

Japanese etymology :

Proto-Japanese: *tá

Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology

Meaning: who

Russian meaning: кто

Old Japanese: ta(re)

Middle Japanese: tá(ré)

Tokyo: dáre

Kyoto: dáré

Kagoshima: dái

Nase: tàrú

Shuri: tā́

Hateruma: tā̀

Yonakuni: tā́

Eskimo etymology :

Proto-Eskimo: *ca-ŋu- (-ra, -na)

Nostratic etymology: Nostratic etymology

Meaning: interrog. pron. "what", "what to do"

Russian meaning: вопр. мест. "что", "что делать"

Proto-Yupik: *ca-ŋu-ra (-na), *ca-

Proto-Inupik: *cu-na, cu-a, *cu-(r-)

Comments: Cf. PCh *šǝn, *šeq- id. < KCh *'nǝ-qǝ.

Comparative Eskimo Dictionary: 90

Yupik etymology :

Proto-Yupik: *ca-ŋú-ra (-na), *ca-

Eskimo etymology: Eskimo etymology

Meaning: interrog. pron. what 1, why 2, what to do 3

Russian Meaning: вопр. мест. что 1, почему, зачем 2, что делать 3

Sirenik: saŋǝ̄́ca (saŋǝ́cij pl., sam rel., sáŋǝn instr.) 1, saŋā́mi 2, sacǝ́qǝχtǝ́χ 3

Chaplino: saŋwá (saŋwat, sāt pl., sam rel.) 1, saŋámi 2

Naukan: súná (sat pl., sam, saɣ rel.) 1, sími, sáŋʁanun, sámǝŋ 2, sanāqa, sāqa 3

Alutiiq Alaskan Yupik: cacaq, ca- 1, cin 2, ca- 3

Chugach (Birket-Smith): caca 1, cacaq 'thing'

Central Alaskan Yupik: ca- (cat pl., cam rel.) 1, cīn 2, ca- 3, castun 'how'

Nunivak (Peripheral): tcauna* 1, tcaʎʎiox* 3, caluni 2

Comparative Eskimo Dictionary: 90

Inupik etymology :

Proto-Inupik: *cu-na, cu-a, *cu-(r-)

Eskimo etymology: Eskimo etymology

Meaning: interrog. pron. what 1, why 2, what to do 3

Russian meaning: вопр. мест. что 1, почему, зачем 2, что делать 3

Seward Peninsula Inupik: suna (sut pl., sum rel.), suami 2, su- 3

SPI Dialects: Imaq súna (sutkō pl., sum rel.) 1, sōmi 2, súraʁā 3, W suna*, sua* 1

North Alaskan Inupik: suna (sut pl., sum rel.) 1, su- 3

NAI Dialects: B, Ingl suna*, sua* 1, Qaw, Mal sua 1

Western Canadian Inupik: suna 1, su- 3

WCI Dialects: Cor x́una*, hu(n)a*, M su(n)a*, Cop hunat pl. 1, Sig sut pl. 1

Eastern Canadian Inupik: suna, sua (sunait pl.) 1, su- 3

Greenlandic Inupik: suna (sūt pl., sūm rel.), so*, suna* 1, su- 2

Comparative Eskimo Dictionary: 90

Chukchee-Kamchatkan etymology :

Proto-Chukchee-Kamchatkan: *'nǝ-qǝ

Nostratic etymology: Nostratic etymology

Meaning (Rus.): вопр. местоимение что

Proto-Chukchee-Koryak: *šeq, *šǝn-

Proto-Itelmen: *'ăŋqa

Comments: Ср. камч. *sa-q 'что за, какой' (479).

Chukchee-Koryak etymology :

Proto-Chukchee-Koryak: *šǝn, *šeq-

Chukchee-Kamchatkan etymology: Chukchee-Kamchatkan etymology

Meaning (Rus.): вопрос. мест. "что"

Chukchee: rʔɛnut sg., rʔɛnutet pl., rʔɛ́-, rɛ́q-

Koryak: jǝ̀nnǝ, jeq- (I), jǝn-

Palan: tǝ̀nnǝ/e, taq- (I)

Alutor: tinɣa, taq-

Itelmen etymology :

Proto-Itelmen: *'ăŋqa

Chukchee-Kamchatkan etymology: Chukchee-Kamchatkan etymology

Meaning (Rus.): мест. вопр. что

Itelmen: 'ăŋqa

Itelmen meaning: что (чем, каким образом; почему, зачем; зачем, для чего) 1, что-то 2, столько 3

South Itelmen: nakoj (skizɨzkik) 1, 'ańka-zkak 2

South Itelmen meaning (Latin): quid (olet) 1, ideerat, defuit 2

South Itelmen meaning (Polish): co (pachnie) 1, nie byɫ, nie byɫo 2

Austric etymology :

Proto-Austric: *ʔcV(j)

Meaning: what, who

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

Proto-Austroasiatic: *cV

Austroasiatic meaning: what

Miao-Yao parallels: *ći^B what

Proto-Austronesian: *[s]aji

Austronesian meaning: who

Proto-Thai: *saŋ^A what

Austro-Asiatic etymology :

Proto-Austro-Asiatic: cV

Meaning: what

Austric etymology: Austric etymology

Proto-Bahnaric: TAR cɛ

Proto-Vietic: *ʒi

Proto-Palaungic: PRDE *si

Proto-Khmu: *cV-

Bahnar etymology :

Proto-Bahnaric:

Meaning: what

Austro-Asiatic etymology: Austro-Asiatic etymology

Proto-Northwest-Bahnaric: TAR cɛ

Viet-Muong etymology :

Proto-Viet-Muong: *ʒi

Meaning: what

Austro-Asiatic etymology: Austro-Asiatic etymology

Vietnamese: gì

Thomon: ci.43

Tum: ci.45

Palaung-Wa etymology :

Proto-Palaung-Wa:

Austro-Asiatic etymology: Austro-Asiatic etymology

Proto-De'ang: *si

De'ang etymology :

Proto-De'ang: *si

Meaning: what, who

Palaung-Wa etymology: Palaung-Wa etymology

De'ang: si

Rumai: si.55

Total pages generated Pages generated by this script 227348 4463851	Help
StarLing database server Powered by CGI scripts Copyright 1998-2003 by S. Starostin Copyright 1998-2003 by G. Bronnikov Copyright 2005-2014 by Phil Krylov