Vol. 18:1 (2017) ► pp.116–140
Proto‑Tai reconstruction of ‘maternal grandmother’ revisited
*na:jA , *ta:jA or *ta:jB ?
The word ‘maternal grandmother’ presents irregular modern forms in Tai languages. It is ta:jB1 in most Northern Tai (NT) varieties, ta:jA1 in most Central Tai (CT) varieties, na:jA2 in most Southwestern Tai (SWT) varieties, and ja:jA2 in Standard Thai. Li (1971) reconstructs the proto-form of this word as *na:jA , positing that the later forms changed by analogy with semantically similar words. This paper discusses two alternative hypotheses *ta:jA and *ta:jB , and argues that the proto-form was *ta:jB . The analysis indicates that the sound changes of this word in Tai languages are caused by the “contamination” in kinship terms with paired semantic contents in CT/SWT, and by dissimilation from the otherwise homophonous word ‘to die’ in SWT. As a result, the proto-form of ‘maternal grandmother’ *ta:jB is preserved in the vast majority of NT and a cluster of CT. In most CT/SWT the original *B tone changed to *A tone, and then in SWT the initial *t- underwent further change to *n- in order to avoid homophony with the taboo word ‘to die’. This issue of homophony arose only in this branch due to the merger of *t- and *tr- (or *p.t-). This proto-form *ta:jB is supported by historical evidence and other non-Tai languages in the Daic family. Other exceptional irregularities in some CT languages are also discussed as they are crucial to the determination of the *ta:jB hypothesis. Analogous examples from several Tai varieties also support the occurrence of aberrant development due to taboo avoidance.
Article outline
- 1.Background
- 2.Alternative explanations: Proto‑Tai * ta:jA and ta:jB
- 3.Evidence from the historical record and other Daic languages
- 4.Further discussion on kinship terms contaminations: determining the tone change direction between *ta:jA and *ta:jB
- 5.Further discussion on phonological change due to taboo avoidance: more analogous cases in some Tai varieties
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
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References
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.18.1.04lia