Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-na ~ s-naːr
Proto-Sino-Tibetan
Etymology
- Proto-Sino-Tibetan: ?
- Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *s-na ⪤ *s-naːr (Matisoff, STEDT); *s-na (LaPolla, 1987; French, 1983; Benedict, 1972)
A convincing Chinese comparandum appears to be lacking. The Chinese word for "nose" 鼻 (bí) (bí < OC *m-bit-s, "nose; to smell; loop handle, handling loop (of a utensil); origin, basis") < 自 (zì < OC *S.bit-s, "nose > self (?); to follow") is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bi (“nose”). Zhou Jixu has proposed that Chinese 紐, 鈕/纽, 钮 (niǔ < OC *n‹r›uʔ, "(*protruding part?) > knot (used as handle), button, fastener; origin, basis"), 䶊, 衄 (nǜ < OC *nuk, njuk, "nose bleeding") (all containing the phonetic component 丑 (chǒu) (chǒu < OC *n̥ruʔ)) are reflexes of this root. The connection between "knot" and "nose" is also seen in Korean 코 (ko, "nose; snivel; tip, cap; stitch, link, knot").
Note that Proto-Sino-Tibetan has the same root *na for "ear" and "nose", distinguishing their meanings only with prefixes ("ear": *r/g-na). A parallelism exists in Chinese 聞/闻 (wén < OC *mun, "to smell; to hear").
Compare Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”) (possibly < **sna ("nose")) and various nose-related words in English: snout, snort, sniff, snuff, sniffle, snuffle, snivel, snore, sneer, snitch, sneeze, snot, etc. These resemblances suggest onomatopoeic origin rather than cognacy; the sn- of sneeze and snore is, in fact, secondary.
Descendants
Derived terms
- *s-nap (“snot”)
See also
- *m/s-nam (“to smell”)
- *b-suŋ ~ b-saŋ (“smell, scent, fragrant”)