Preinitial denasalisation and palatal fortition in Khroskyabs and the Gyalrongic word for ‘man’

Abstract

There are four distinct forms conveying the meaning of ‘human, person, man’ across Gyalrongic languages. The default type (Japhug tɯ-rme), the rounded type (Khroskyabs vɟú), the Stau type (Geshiza vdzi) and the uvular type (Geletuo taˈʁap). Except for the default type, which has cognates in many other Sino-Tibetan languages, the origins of the other types are to date obscure and understudied. This paper first studies the phenomena of preinitial denasalisation and palatal fortition in the history of Khroskyabs, and then puts forward etymological solutions to the rounded and Stau types based on these sound changes. Both types are historical compounds with the first element related to the default type. The second element of the rounded type is cognate with Tangut lụʶ¹ ‘man’, and the second element of the Stau type is cognate with Proto-Loloish *tsaŋ¹ ‘man’ (Bradley 1979).