Descripción del problema

There were altogether five voiceless stops that could function as onsets in PT:

*p-, *t-, *c-, *k-, and *q-. Except for the palatal *c- and the uvular *q-, these PT stops are kept intact in all modern varieties. The glottal stop is *ʔ- is grouped with the glottalized/implosive consonants because it always pattern with them with respect to tonal splits and mergers. The etyma that go back to these PT voiceless stops all have tones in the first series.

3.6.1.1 *p-

PT voiceless labial stops are preserved as /p-/ without change in all attested modern Tai varieties. Etyma that go back to this PT initial show tones in the first series, which indicate that this PT phoneme was voiceless. PT *p- in the current reconstruction corresponds to Li’s *p- (1977: 61-63). Examples of PT etyma with *p- are given in Table 3-17.

102 Table 3-17 Etyma with PT *p-

Gloss PT SI LC Y Others

‘parent’s older sister’ *pa:^C pa:^C1 pa:^C1 pa:^C1

‘mouth’ *pa:k^D pa:k^DL1 pa:k^DL1 pa:k^DL1

‘year’ *pi:^A pi:^A1 pi:^A1 pi:^A1

‘eight’ *pe:t^D pɛ:t^DL1 pe:t^DL1 pet^DL1

‘to peel’ *po:k^D pɔ:k^DL1 po:k^DL1 pok^DL1

3.6.1.2 *t-

PT voiceless alveolar stops are reflected as /t-/ in all attested modern Tai varieties. Etyma that go back to this PT initial show tones in the first series, which indicate that this PT phoneme was voiceless. It is also reconstructed as *t- in Li (1977:

97-102). Examples of PT etyma with *t- are given in Table 3-18.

Table 3-18 Etyma with PT *t-

Gloss PT SI LC Y Others

‘to scoop’ *tak^D tak^DS1 tak^DS1 tak^DS1

‘low’ *tam^B tam^B1 tam^B1 tam^B1

‘door’ *tu:^A tu:^A1 tu:^A1 tu^A1

‘to drop’ *tok^D tok^DS1 tuk^DS1 tok^DS1

‘to nibble’ *to:t^D tɔ:t^DL1 to:t^DL1 tot^DL1

3.6.1.3 *c-

The reflexes of the PT voiceless palatal stop in modern varieties differ considerably. In most SWT and CT dialects and Saek, it is preserved as a palatal stop

103

/c-/, which is usually phonetically affricated [tɕ-]. Some examples of dialects that have this conservative reflex are Siamese, Lao, Black Tai, Aiton, Lungchow, Lungming, Western Nung, etc. In many dialects, however, it has become a true affricate /ts-/.

Some modern dialects that show this reflex include Tai Ya, Debao, Shangsi, Chongzuo, Qinzhou, Fusui, Wenma, Liujiang, Rong’an, etc. Many Shan dialects as well as many NT varieties have gone one step further and turn the affricate into a fricative, either /s-/ or /ɕ-/. Southern Shan, Tai Mao, Po-ai, Yay, Longsheng, and Hechi are examples of varieties that show /s-/, while Wuming, Tiandong, Lingyue, and Du’an represent dialects that show /ɕ-/. Li (1977: 164-167) reconstructs an affricate *tɕ-³⁶ (see §3.2). Examples of PT etyma with *c- are given in Table 3-19.

Table 3-19 Etyma with PT *c-

Gloss PT SI LC Y Others

‘breath, heart’ *caɰ^A caj^A1 caɰ^A1 sɯ^A1

‘to kiss’ *cup^D cu:p^DL1 cup^DS1 Rong’an /tsup^DS1/

‘to sink’ *cɤm^A com^A1 sam Rong’an /tsam^A1/

‘insipid’ *cɯ:t^D cɯ:t^DL1 Rong’an /tsit^DS1/

‘seven’ *cet^D cet^DS1 cit^DS1 sat^DS1 Rong’an /tsat^DS1/

3.6.1.4 *k-

PT voiceless velar stops are reflected as /k-/ in all attested modern Tai varieties. Etyma that go back to this PT initial show tones in the first series, which indicate that this PT phoneme was voiceless. It is also reconstructed as *k- in Li (1977: 186-192). Examples of PT etyma with *k- are given in Table 3-20.

36 *č- in Li’s notation

104 Table 3-20 Etyma with PT *k-

Gloss PT SI LC Y Others

‘crow’ *ka:^A ka:^A1 ka:^A1 Wuming /ka:^A1/

‘to take a bite’ *kat^D kat^DS1 kat^DS1 kat^DS1

‘old (for living being)’ *ke:^B kɛ:^B1 ke:^B1 ce^B1

‘frog’ *kɤp^D kop^DS1 kup^DS1 kap^DS1

‘to hug’ *ko:t^D kɔ:t^DL2 ko:t^DL2 kot^DL2

For ‘crow’, Yay and most other NT dialects has /ʔa^A1/. This form is probably not related to PT *ka:^A, but most likely a case of onomatopoeia. Yay regularly palatalized velar consonants preceding front vowels³⁷, thus showing /ce^B1/ for ‘old (for people)’.

3.6.1.5 *q-

The PT voiceless uvular stop is reflected either as /kʰ-/, /x-/, /h-/, or /k-/ in different varieties. In CT, it is generally reflected as /kʰ-/ as in Lungchow, Lungming, Debao, Chongzuo, Daxin, etc. In a few CT dialects including Shangsi, Yongnan, Fusui, Qinzhou, and Long’an, as well as all NT dialects, i.e. Yay, Wuming, Bouyei, Longsheng, etc., however, this PT onset merged with *k- to give modern /k-/. Note that *q- merged into *k- in Yay and became palatalized in front of front vowels. PT

*q- remains *q- in PSWT but later became affricated to *χ- (Pittayaporn 2008b; to appear-b). This *χ- is now reflected as /kʰ-/ in Siamese, Lao, and Black Tai, and /x-/

in some Shan dialects such as Dehong. Only in a handful of SWT dialects is *q- kept

37 PT uvular consonants merged with the velar consonants in time to participate in this change (see §3.6.1.5).

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distinct from *kʰ-, which is the PSWT reflex of PT *C̬.k- and *C̬.q-. For example, in White Tai, PSWT *q- is reflected as /x-/ and PSWT *kʰ- as /kʰ-/. In contrast, the Kapong dialect of Phu Thai shows /h-/ for *q- but /kʰ-/ for PSWT *kʰ- (< PT *C̬.k- and *C̬.q-). Refer to §3.3 and §3.4 for discussion. Table 3-21 presents examples of etyma reconstructed with PT *q-. Etyma with PT *q- are reconstructed with *kʰ- or

*x- in Li (1977: 192-197, 208-214).

Table 3-21 Etyma with PT *q-

Gloss PT SI LC Y Others

‘to kill’ *qa:^C kʰa:^C1 kʰa:^C1 ka:^C1 Kapong /ha:/

‘torn’ *qa:t^D kʰa:t^DL1 kʰa:t^DL1 ka:t^DL1 Kapong /ha:t^DL1/

‘horn’ *qaw^A kʰaw^A1 kaw^A1 Kapong /haw^A1/

‘needle’ *qem^A kʰem^A1 kʰim^A1 cim^A1

‘arm’ *qe:n^A kʰɛ:n^A1 kʰe:n^A1 cen^A1 Kapong /hɛ:n^A1/