21 - Tibeto-Burman prefixes (general)

Summary

Two general points must be borne in mind as the prefixed elements (s-, r-, b-, g-, d-, m-) are reviewed: (a) these elements are peculiarly subject to replacement or loss, (b) they frequently, as unstressed units, exhibit phonetic shifts differing from those that obtain for phonemes within roots. Thus, Kachin has r- for TB *r- in root-initial position, -n for TB *-r in root-final position, and either l∂- or n-∼niŋ-∼num- for TB prefixed *r-. The general TB root *r-pat ‘leech’, however, is represented by K wot rather than *l∂wot or *nwot; cf. also T pad-ma (with significant lack of aspiration, suggesting a lost prefix), Nung d∂phat <*d-pat∼ph∂phat < *m-pat, Miri t∂pat <*d-pat, Digaro k∂pe <*g-pat (cf. B krwat), Mikir iŋphat < *m-pat, Lakher tś∂va < *d-wat (the *d- prefix here is of relatively late origin). Prefix variation of this kind has already been pointed out in connection with the numerals, and is characteristic of TB roots as a whole. This fact suggests that TB prefixes remained separable and largely functional well into the proto-TB period, and that the rigid schematicizations found in modern TB languages have been developed secondarily.

The development of prefixes in the several TB nuclear groups has been as follows:

Tibetan-Kanauri: Prefixes well preserved in Tibetan, although sometimes treated as root-initials, as in dom <*d-wam ‘bear’. Gyarung likewise has a full set of prefixes, with significant differences from the Tibetan set (Wolfenden, JRAS, 1936).