Proto-Altaic: *t`i̯ŏ̀so
Meaning: help, benefit
Russian meaning: помощь, польза
Comments: Within Jpn. the form is analysed as a compound *ta 'hand' + *suka- 'help', which is probably a folk etymology in view of the external evidence; cf. especially Kor. thas which points to *tasVh- = Jpn. *tàsùkà-. Not quite clear is the position of several forms: WMong. tos- 'to receive, encounter' (maybe, following Clark 1980, 41 < Turk. *dūĺ- 'to meet' - although the latter is certainly borrowed as WMong. tus- 'to hit upon, fall to one's share', so this would be a somewhat unusual etymological doublet); Manchu tusu- 'to marry, celebrate marriage' (could be a Mong. loanword, but the semantics is strikingly different). Finally there is MKor. tā̆sk- 'to love, like'. This evidence suggests a possibility of a separate PA root *t`oso (*t`osu) 'to present to the guest, to celebrate'; but a possibility of later interdialectal loans of the reflexes of *t`i̯ŏ̀so should also be considered.
