Proto-Sino-Tibetan (PST) is the linguistic reconstruction of the Sino-Tibetan proto-language and the common ancestor of all languages in it, including the Sinitic languages, the Tibetic languages, Yi, Bai, Burmese, Karen, Tangut, and Naga. Paul K. Benedict (1972) placed a particular emphasis on Old Chinese, Classical Tibetan, Jingpho, Written Burmese, Garo, and Mizo in his discussion of Proto-Sino-Tibetan.
While Proto-Sino-Tibetan is commonly considered to have two direct descendants, Proto-Sinitic and Proto-Tibeto-Burman, in recent years several scholars have argued that this was not well-substantiated, and have taken to calling the group "Trans-Himalayan". In this case, Proto-Tibeto-Burman may be considered as equivalent to Proto-Sino-Tibetan if Sinitic is indeed not the first branch to split from Proto-Sino-Tibetan.
Features Proto-Sino-Tibetan is believed to have been an agglutinative language with an elaborate system of morphological markers. Reconstructed features include prefixes such as the causative s-, the intransitive m-, the miscellaneous b-, d-, g-, and r-, suffixes -s, -t, and -n, and a set of conditioning factors that resulted in the development of tone in most languages of the family. The existence of such an elaborate system of inflectional changes in Proto-Sino-Tibetan makes the language distinctive from some of its modern descendants, such as the Sinitic languages, which have mostly or completely become analytic.
Proto-Sino-Tibetan, like Old Chinese, also included numerous consonant clusters, and was not a tonal language.
Phonology Benedict (1972) The table below shows consonant phonemes reconstructed by Benedict.
Consonants Labial Dent./Alv. Post-alv./Pal. Velar Nasal m n ŋ Plosive p b t d c k g Fricative s z ʒ h Approximant w l j (w) Rhotic r
Peiros & Starostin (1996) The reconstruction by Peiros & Starostin suggests a much more complex consonant inventory. The phonemes in brackets are reconstructions that are considered dubious.
Consonants Labial Dent./Alv. Post-alv./Pal. Velar Uvular Laryngeal Nasal m n ń ŋ Plosive p bpʰ (bʰ) t dtʰ (dʰ) k gkʰ (gʰ) (q) (ɢ)(qʰ) (ɢʰ) ʔ Affricate c ʒ (ƛ)cʰ (ʒʰ) ć ʒ́ćʰ ʒ́ʰ Fricative s ś x ɣ (χ) Approximant w l j (w) Rhotic r
Hill (2019) The following tables show the reconstruction of Proto-Sino-Tibetan phonemes by Nathan Hill (2019).
Consonants Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Labiovelar Uvular Labiouvular Glottal Nasal
Plosive
Affricate
Fricatives
*()
Approximant
Rhotic
The consonants can take coda position, as well as the cluster . While Hill does not reconstruct as an initial consonant due to Baxter and Sagart's Old Chinese reconstruction lacking such a phoneme, he mentions that Jacques and Schuessler suggest a initial for some Old Chinese words due to potential Tibetan or Rgyalrongic cognates.
Vowels Front Central Back Close
Mid
Open
Hill also claims that his reconstruction is incomplete, as it does not account for Tibetic palatalization, proto-Burmish preglottalization, Sinitic aspirates, and the Sinitic type A and B distinction of syllables.
Sound changes Hill (2019) The sound correspondences cited by Hill (2019) are as follows. Hill bases his correspondences to Old Chinese off of the Baxter-Sagart reconstruction, and thus that reconstruction will be used in the following correspondence tables.
Initials Note that many cognate sets with initials between Old Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese agree in every phoneme in a given word except for whether an initial consonant is voiced or not. Jacques explains these discrepancies as at least partially triggered by pre-syllables that were lost or decayed on the way to Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese.
+ Expected initial correspondences in Hill (2019) Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Tibetan Written Burmese *p- *p- p- p- *t- *t- t- t- *k- *k- k- k- *kʷ- *kʷ- k- ? *b- *b- b- p- *d- *d- d- t- *g- *g- g- g- *q- *q- k(h)- (lost) *ɢ- *ɢ- g- ? *ɢʷ- *ɢʷ- g- w- *ts- *ts- ts(h)- ch- *dz- *dz- (d)z- c-
Vowels + Vowel correspondences of vowels in Hill (2019) Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Tibetan Written Burmese*a*aa oa*e*ee i aa*i*iii*o*oowa*u*uuu o*uw*uuui uiw*ə*əaa*əw*ouu*əj*əja ~ ei
Finals + Final correspondences according to Hill (2019) Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Tibetan Written Burmese *-p *-p -b -p *-t *-t -d -t *-k *-k -g -k *-kə *-k (lost) (lost) *-q *-ʔ -g -k *-ʔ *-ʔ (lost) (lost) *-m *-m -m -m *-n *-n -n -n -ñ(ñ) *-ŋ *-ŋ -ng -ng *-l *-j -l (lost) *-r *-r -r (lost) *-rl *-r -l (lost)
Gong Huangcheng (2003)
Final consonant changes In Gong Huangcheng's reconstruction of the Proto-Sino-Tibetan language, the finals *-p, *-t, *-k, *-m, *-n, and *-ŋ in Proto-Sino-Tibetan remained in Proto-Sinitic and Proto-Tibeto-Burman. However, in Old Chinese, the finals *-k and *-ŋ that came after the close vowel *-i- underwent an irregular change of *-k＞*-t and *-ŋ ＞*-n. In Proto-Tibeto-Burman, *-kw and *-ŋw underwent a sound change to become *-k and *-ŋ respectively, while in Old Chinese those finals remained until Middle Chinese, where the finals underwent the same sound change.
Furthermore, in Proto-Tibeto-Burman, the finals *-g, *-gw, and *-d underwent the following changes: *-d＞*-y *-gw＞*-w *-g＞*-w when it follows the vowel *-u- *-g＞*-∅ when it follows the vowel *a and *-a-.
Example of sound changes Voiceless plosive finals +Proto-Sino-TibetanOld Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei)Proto-Tibeto-Burman*-p*-jəp *kjəp*ka·p *khrjəp*krap *(g-)rjəp*g-ryap*-jap *tsjap*tsyap*-jup *njəp*nup~ *nip*-t*-iat *priat*b-r-gyat *r-siat*g-sat*-uat *hluat*g-lwat*-jit *·jit*it*-k*-ək *lək*lak*-jək *tjək*tak *sjək*sak *N-ljək*(m-)lyak *s-ljəks*(s-)lyak*-ik *tsik＞*tsit*tsik *·iks, *·jiks*ik*-jik *srjik＞*srjit*s-rik*-juk *khjuk*guk~kuk*-kw*-əkw *dəkw*duk~*tuk*-jəkw *phjəkw, *bjəkw*pu·k~*buk *drjəkw*d-ruk
Nasal finals +Proto-Sino-TibetanOld Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei)Proto-Tibeto-Burman*-m*-əm *gəm*gam *gəm*gam*-jəm *·jəmx*am *ljəm*la[·]m*-jim *khjamx “pit”*kim*-um *səm*g-sum*-jum *ljəm*lum*-n*-an *kan*kan*-jin *sjin*m-sin*-ng*-jəng *mjəngs*mang *tjəng*tang*-jang *phjangx*pang *grjang*grang *ngrjang*ngang*-ing *bling*bling~pling*-jing *ning＞*nin*ning *mjing*r-ming *srjing*sring *sjing＞*sjin*sing *njing＞*njin*s-ning*-ngw*-jəngw *kjəngw *gung
Voiced plosive finals +Proto-Sino-TibetanOld Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei)Proto-Tibeto-Burman*-b*-əb *njəb＞*njəgw*nəw*-d*-əd *smjədx*məy*-ad *padx/s*pwa·y *tads*tay *kwadx*kwa·y *ngadx*ngay *lad*lay*-id *sjids*b-liy *-jid *pjidx*piy *sbjids*biy *krjidx*kriy *skhljidx*kliy *sjidx*siy *-g*-əg *məgx*ma*-jəg *bjəgx*ba, *bak *tsjəgx*tsa *dzjəg*m-dza *dzjəgs*za *njəgx*r-na~*g-na *ngwjəg*ngwa*-ag *pagx*pa *khagx*ka *ngag*nga *ngagx*l-nga~*b-nga *gwag*gwa*-jag *pjagx*r-pwa *pjag*(p)wa *bjagx*pa *mjag*ma *ngjag*ngya *dzjag*dza *njagx*na*-ug *khugx*kuw *khugs*r-kuw*-jug *m(r)jugs*(r-)muw *khjug*(s-)kuw *njugx*nuw*-gw*-əgw *pəgwx*puw *bəgwx*buw*-jəgw *kjəgw*kuw *kjəgwx*d-kuw *gjəgwx*kuw*-agw *gagw*m/s-gaw *gagws*gaw *ngagw*r-ngaw *sagw*sa·w*-jagw/ *phjagw*pyaw
Liquid finals +Proto-Sino-TibetanOld Chinese (Li Fang-Kuei)Proto-Tibeto-Burman*-l*-al *kan*m-kal*-ul *pən*bul~*pul*-jul *ngjən*(d)-ngul *mjən*s-brul*-jal *brjal*bal*-il *silx*(m-)s(y)il*-r*-ar *s-bars*bwar *bar, *par*pwa:r*-jar *pjans*par *sjan*sar*-uar *suan*swa·r*-jur *pjər*pur~*pir
Vocabulary Words which do not have reliable Sinitic parallels are accompanied by a (TB).
Social terms English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart) I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff Person (in general) *mĭ *mi *mi[ŋ] Male *pă *pʷa *p(r)aʔ Female *mǝw *mow *mˤoʔ (or məʔ) Name (of a person) *miǝŋ *miŋ *C.meŋ
Natural phenomena English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart) I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff Earth *ƛăy *ley ~ *lǝy *[l]ˤej-s Stone *ƛɨāŋ ~ *ƛɨāk *luŋ ~ *luk *[r]ˤok Sand *srāy *sa *sˤraj Fire *mēyH *mey *[qʷʰ]ˤəjʔ Smoke *gʰiw *kǝw *qʰu[n] Water *tujʔ *t(w)i(y) *s.turʔ Rain *(r-)qʰʷăH *rwa ~ *wa *C.ɢʷ(r)aʔ Sun *nĭy *nǝy *C.nik Moon (TB) *(s-)lăH *la N/A Star *(s-)q(ʰ)ār *kar *m-qˤaʔ Night *yăH *ya *[ɢ]Ak-s Tree *sĭŋ *siŋ ~ *sik *[s]i[n] Leaf *lăp *lap *l[a]p Plant root *bʰūl *bul ~ *pul *C.pˤə[n]ʔ
Qualitative features of an object English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart) I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff Black, dark (TB) *nǝk *nak *m̥ˤək White wār *hwār *[b]ˤar Big *tayH *tay *lˤa[t]-s Cold *(k-)răŋ ~ *(k-)răk *glak ~ *glaŋ ~ *graŋ *C.raŋ Warm *lɨm *lim ~ *lum *luŋ Long (TB) *rĭŋ *riŋ N/A New *cʰăr *sar *s[a]r
Verb stems English Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart) I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff To eat *ʒʰa *dzya *dzaɁ To drink *dʰɨn ~ *dʰɨŋ *daŋ ~ *doŋ To bite/chew *wā *wa To die *sĭy(H) *sǝy *sijʔ To know, to think *siǝH *syey *[s]i[t] To hear (TB) *tʰa(s) *ta N/A To sleep *mĭyH *mwǝy *mi[t]-s To stand *ryǝp *r(y)ap *k.rәp To sit *tūŋ ~ *tūk *duŋ ~ *duk ~ *tuŋ ~ *tuk *dro(ʔ)-s Give *pĭy *bǝy *pi[k]‑s
Numbers Number Reconstruction by Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart) Old Tibetan Old Burmese I. Peiros & S. Starostin J. Matisoff 1 *dyiǝk *dik ~ *t(y)ik ~ *t(y)ak *ʔi[t], *tek gcig ac, tac 2 *nĭy *ni *ni[j]-s gnyis nhac < *nhik 3 *sɨm *sum *s.rum gsum sumḥ 4 *lĭy *lǝy *s.li[j]-s bzhi liy 5 *ŋāH *ŋa *C.ŋˤaʔ lnga ṅāḥ 6 *rŭk *ruk *k.ruk drug khrok < *khruk 7 *(s-)nĭt *ni *[tsʰ]i[t] N/A khu-nac 8 *ryēt *gyat ~ *ryat ~ *rit *pˤret brgyad rhac < rhyat 9 *kwɨH *gǝw ~ *kǝw *[k]uʔ dgu kuiḥ 10 *k(ʰ)ĭp *g(y)ip *t.[g]әp N/A kip 100 *(p-)ryā *gya *pˤrak brgya ryā
See also Proto-Tibeto-Burman language Cishan culture Yangshao culture
References
Further reading