October 8, 2019: a paper on the origins of Kra-Dai tones is now published (here). It represents my current understanding of the formation of Kra-Dai tones and supersedes the present three posts. There are more data in the paper, especially on the Austronesian final consonant I note as *X; there are also some significant differences between the present posts and the paper. Thus, although it is clear that the word ‘excrement’, ususally reconstructed as *Caqi, ended in some kind of guttural fricative, it contains too many irregularities, possibly euphemistically motivated (as noted by Wolff), both in Austronesian and Kra-Dai, to identify that fricative. Therefore in the published paper I retreat from my suggestion that *Caqi ‘excrement’ was really *Caqix. I suggest instead that final *-x was the value of Tsuchida’s *-H2, thus converging with Blust’s proposal, but on completely different grounds (pages 7-9).
In two recent posts I discussed the origins of the Kra-Dai tones C (here) and B (here). Here I discuss tone A.
Kra-Dai A-category words correspond primarily to Austronesian words ending in sonorants (vowels, semi-vowels, nasals, liquids). This was already pointed out by Ostapirat (2005). Examples:
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Buyang (Li 1999)
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PHlai(Os)
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PTai(Pi)
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PAN
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PMP
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eye
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ma0 ta54 < A1
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*ata A
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*p.taː A
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*maCa
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*mata
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eight
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ma0 ðu312 < A2
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*aRu A
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——
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——
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*walu
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seven
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tu312 < A2
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*ʔtu A
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——
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——
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*pitu
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bear (n.)
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ta0 mɛ312 < A2
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*mui A
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*ʰmwɯj A
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*Cumay
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——
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to kill |
ma0 tɛ54 < A1
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——
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——
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*paCay
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*patay
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fire
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pui54 < A1
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*api A
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*wɤj A
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*[]apuy
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*[]apuy
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moon
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ʔdaːn31 < A1°
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*ɲa:n A
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*ɓlɯən A
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*bulaN
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*bulan
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six
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nam54 < A1
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*(ə)num A
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——
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——
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*ʔenem
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to eat
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ka:n54 < A1
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——
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*kɯɲ A
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*kaen
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*kaen
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Note that the numerals in the Tai branch are Chinese loanwords.
A second source of Kra-Dai category-A words is in PAN *-H2 (see: LINK for Tsuchida’s *-H2)
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Buyang (Li 1999)
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PHlai(Os)
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PTai(Pi)
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PAN
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PMP
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louse
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qa0 tu54 < A1
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*utu A
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*traw A
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*kuCuH2
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*kutuh
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ear |
ta0 ða312 < A2 |
*ilai A |
*krwɯː A |
*CaliŋaH2 or *CaŋilaH2 |
*taliŋah |
three |
tu54 < A1 |
*utu C !
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——
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*tu-tuluH2 |
*tu-tuluh |
Tone C in the Hlai word for ‘three’ may be the result of list analogy: it is part of a series of four consecutive numerals in tone C: *cɨ C ‘one’, *alau C ‘two’, *utu C ‘three’, *atəu C ‘four’.
To recapitulate, these sources are found for the Kra-Dai tone categories:
Tone A (this post): AN words ending in sonorants (vowels, semi-vowels, liquids, nasals); PAN words ending in *H2.
Tone B (here): PAN words ending in *-R [ʁ]; other PAN-related B-category words are believed to have had *-X [χ].
Tone C (here): PAN words ending in *H1 [h]; at least one other source, possibly *-x (‘excrement’).
The probable phonetic values of these categories in Proto-Kra-Dai wer:
Category A: ending in vowels, semi-vowels, liquids, nasals;
Category B: ending *-X;
Category C: ending in *-h.
By the time of contatct with Chinese, beginning c. 200 BCE, final *-h had changed to a glottal stop.
References
Benedict, Paul K. 1975. Austro-Thai: language and culture. New Haven: HRAF Press.
Gedney, William J. 1978. Speculations on early Tai tones. Paper presented at the 11th ICSTLL, U. of Arizona, Oct. 1978.
Haudricourt, André-Georges. 1954a. De l’origine des tons du vietnamien. Journal Asiatique 1954, 242: 69-82.
Haudricourt, André-Georges. 1954b. Comment reconstruire le chinois archaique. Word 10, 2-3: 351-64.
Li Jinfang. 1999. Buyang Yu Yanjiu. Beijing: Zhongyang Minzu Daxue.
Mei Tsu-lin. 1970. Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the Rising tone. Harvard Journal of Asian Studies 30, 86-110.
Norquest, Peter K. 2013. A revised inventory of Proto Austronesian consonants: Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic Evidence. Mon-Khmer Studies 42: 102-126.
Ostapirat, Weera. 2000. Proto-Kra. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 23.1.
Ostapirat, W. 2004. Proto-Hlai sound system and lexicons. in: Ying-ching Lin, Fang-min Hsu, Chun-chih Lee, Jackson T.S. Sun, Hsiu-fang Yang and Dah-an Ho (eds), Studies in Sino-Tibetan languages, papers in honor of Professor Hwang-cherng Gong on his seventieth birthday, 121-175. Nankang: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Ostapirat, Weera. 2005. Kra-Dai and Austronesian: notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution. In: L. Sagart, R. Blench and A. Sanchez-Mazas (eds) The peopling of East Asia: Putting together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics, 109-133. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The phonology of proto-Tai. Unpublished Cornell U. dissertation.
Sagart, Laurent. 2004. The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai-Kadai. Oceanic Linguistics 43,2: 411-444.
Sagart, L. 2005. Tai-Kadai as a subgroup of Austronesian. In L. Sagart, R. Blench and A. Sanchez-Mazas (eds) The peopling of East Asia: Putting together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics 177-181. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Sagart, Laurent. 2008. the expansion of setaria farmers in east asia: a linguistic and archaeological model. In Sanchez-Mazas A, Blench R, Ross M, Peiros I, Lin M, eds. Past human migrations in East Asia: matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics, 133-157. Routledge Studies in the Early History of Asia, London: Routledge.
Tsuchida, Shigeru. 1976. Reconstruction of Proto-Tsouic phonology. Tokyo: Study of languages and cultures of Asia and Africa monograph series N° 5.
Wolff, John U. 2010. Proto-Austronesian phonology with glossary. 2 vols. Ithaca: Cornell Southeast Asia program publications.