Tsezian etymology : List with all references

Proto-North Caucasian: *=āhV

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: small, little

Proto-Nakh: *=awi-n ( ~ -ā-)

Proto-Avaro-Andian: *daha- ( ~ o)

Proto-Tsezian: *=ihV

Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. In Av.-And. d- is a historical prefix. Cf. also Hurr. χai-annǝ 'little' (see Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 62).

Nakh etymology :

Proto-Nakh: *=awi-n ( ~ -ā-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 light (in weight) 2 cheap

Chechen: =aj-n 1,2

Ingush: =aj 1

Batsbi: =awĩ 1

Avar-Andian etymology :

Protoform: *daha- (~ o)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 small 2 few

Avar: dáha-b 2

Chadakolob: dáha-b 1,2

Chamalal: dah 2

Tindi: dahar 2

Comments: Avar > Tsez. dahaw, Gin. dah 'few', Bezht., Gunz. dahab id.

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *=ā́hV

Meaning: small, young

North Caucasian: *=āhV

Sino-Tibetan: *ɣāwH ( ~ *ʔ-)

Yenisseian: *b-eʔjiŋ

Comments and references : From ST cf. alternatively *jāŋ 1428.

Sino-Tibetan etymology :

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *ɣāwH ( ~ *ʔ-)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: young

Chinese: 夭 *ʔāwʔ young, young age.

Tibetan: -gu / -'u young (of animals), sign of diminutives.

Chinese characters :

Character: 夭

Modern (Beijing) reading: yāo

Preclassic Old Chinese: ʔaw

Classic Old Chinese: ʔaw

Western Han Chinese: ʔaw

Eastern Han Chinese: ʔaw

Early Postclassic Chinese: ʔew

Middle Postclassic Chinese: ʔew

Late Postclassic Chinese: ʔew

Middle Chinese: ʔew

English meaning : be delicate, slender

Russian meaning[s]: 1) пышный, разросшийся; 2) юный; нежный; свежий; [yǎo] 1) хилый; согнутый; 2) умереть в молодости

Shuowen gloss: 屈也.從大.象形.凡夭之屬皆從夭. [494]

Comments: Used also in the binome 夭紹 *ʔaw-d(h)awʔ 'beautiful'. Also read *ʔawʔ, MC ʔéw(FQ 於兆), Pek. yǎo 'to kill prematurely'. Since Late Zhou the meaning 'be beautiful; consider beautiful, love' was usually written by the character 妖. The latter also means 'ghostly, supernatural': whether it is just a semantic development of the original meaning or an independent word is not quite clear.

Since Late Zhou the character is also attested with a reading *ʔāwʔ, MC ʔấw (FQ 烏皓), Pek. ǎo 'young, young age' (possibly related to *ʔawʔ 'kill prematurely' = 'kill in a young age').

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Radical: 37

Four-angle index: 5007

Karlgren code: 1141 a-c

Vietnamese reading: yêu

Shijing occurrences: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 32.1_

bigchina-reading,bigchina-ochn,bigchina-cchn,bigchina-wchn,bigchina-echn,bigchina-epchn,bigchina-mpchn,bigchina-lpchn,bigchina-mchn,bigchina-meaning,bigchina-oshanin,bigchina-shuowen,bigchina-comment,bigchina-stibet,bigchina-radical,bigchina-oshval,bigchina-karlgren,bigchina-viet,bigchina-shijing,

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *beʔjiŋ (~ w-)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: light

Ket: bejiŋ⁵

Yug: bejiŋ⁵

Comments: ССЕ 208. Let us also note Ket. beńśiŋ⁵ "lung" - a transparent compound of *beʔjiŋ + *seŋ lit. "light liver". Therefore a comparison with Sam. *wäjŋ- 'breath, soul' and, moreover, with an unattested *wäjŋ-sVn 'smth. with which one breathes' (Helimsky КС 240) is completely groundless. Werner 1, 120.