Comments:PKE 177, Martin 227 (Kor.-Jpn.). The accent variants in Jpn. are due to a confusion of PA *sắp`í 'stick' and *sī̀pe 'swamp vegetation' q. v. As opposed to *sèp`u 'long twig, rod' (q. v.) this root must have denoted twigs and branches used as firewood and also suitable for making fences (cf. Mong. sibeɣe 'fence' and OJ siba-gakji 'twig fence').
Comments:An expressive root, but nevertheless with satisfactory correspondences. Korean has a usual vowel reduction in two of the root's derivatives. Mong. *sabir- may be a result of partial contamination with *sĕpo 'throw, scatter' q. v.
Comments:A Western isogloss. Note some of the Turkic derivatives (Kum. sarqɨm 'thin flow', Tat. dial. sarqɨm 'thick whey left after pressing curds' etc., see ЭСТЯ 7) which may speak in favour of the original meaning 'to ooze, be filtered'. In this case the root may actually be derived from *sā̀rV 'to be rare, thinned out' (q. v.) (assuming that length in TM was secondarily shortened); cf. especially the common Western derivative *sār-k`V 'maw used for filtering / fermenting'.
Comments:Some evidence from Mong. (Bur. harig) seems to indicate that the root may be just *sara, with the old derivative *sar(a)-p`V reflected in most languages.
Comments:Martin 242, АПиПЯЯ 73, Doerfer MT 82. The root must have denoted a k. of stick used in agriculture, most probably digging stick or hoe, with a later transition to "plough", and in TM, exotically, to "eating stick" or "chopsticks". Mong. sabqa, because of the absent -r-, is most probably < Manchu, whereas the original root is preserved as *sorbi 'stick, staff' (although the -o-vowel here is a bit strange - *sarb- would be expected; perhaps we are actually dealing with a suffixed form like *sorbuji, with a secondary labialization < *sarbuji).
