Tibetan evidence for Nungish metathesis

• Main Author: DeLancey, Scott
• Other Authors: University of Oregon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179189
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

LaPolla (1987), in a valuable etymological investigation of Nungish, identifies two clear cases (LEECH and DREAM) and two possible cases (BRAID and AXE) where Nungish has metathesized an earlier prefix + C.1 Sun (1986:14) identifies four cases of metathesis in Nungish (and other languages), DREAM, FORGET, NAME, and PLOW. In this note I will present several more sets, involving comparisons between Nungish and Tibetan, which demonstrate a fairly prevalent process of metathesis in the development of Nungish. To the sets presented by LaPolla and Sun we can add four secure etymologies: BLADDER, TRIUMPH, ARROW, and DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. I will also discuss a few other sets where there is some reason to think we may be dealing with metathesis along with some other complicating processes.