23 - Tibeto-Burman prefixed *r-

Summary

Prefixed *r-, of uncertain function, appears in a number of noun roots, and must also be reconstructed for a few verb roots. It is preserved in Tibetan, Kachin, Bodo-Garo, Mikir (ar-), and occasionally elsewhere; note especially Magari ar-, as in arghan ‘wasp’, arkin ‘fingernail’, armin ‘name’, but l∂wat ‘leech’ < *r-pat. Kachin usually has l∂- for *r- in verb roots (and in l∂tsa < *r-gya ‘100’), but n-∼niŋ-∼num- in noun roots. Noun roots with prefixed *r- include the following:

1. TB *r-ka ‘earth’: Nung r∂ga, K nga (n-ga).

2. TB *r-saŋ ‘lizard’: T rtsaŋs-pa, K nsaŋ.

3. TB *r-ka·m ‘edge, precipice’: K ngam (n-gam)∼niŋgam, G rikam.

4. TB *r-gu·ŋ ‘edge; shin’: K nguŋ (n-guŋ), G rikiŋ, Dimasa ruguŋ, Mikir arkoŋ.

5. TB *r-luŋ ‘stone’: K nluŋ, Mikir arloŋ.

6. TB *r-miŋ ‘name’: Magari armin, Gyarung -rmi, Rangkhol ermiŋ.

7. TB *r-may ‘tail’: Digaro l∂mi∼l∂miŋ, Aka ∂rim < *∂rmi, K nmai, Dimasa khermai∼bermai, Aimol r∂mai, Mikir arme.

8. TB *r-ni(y)∼*r-ni(y) ‘gums’: T rnil, Dimasa ha-rni G wa-riŋ < *wa-rni (in comp. with ‘tooth’).

9. TB *r-pat ‘leech’: Magari ∂wat, B krwat < *k-rwat, G ruat, Rangkhol ervot, Angari Naga reva.

(441) K nwa∼niŋwa, G rua, Dimasa roa ‘ax’ (TB *r-wa).