Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 June 2013
The present paper discusses the synchronic status and the origin of the semi-vowels /j/ and /w/ in Old Tibetan on the basis of modern Tibetan languages and other Sino-Tibetan languages, in particular Rgyalrong and Lolo-Burmese.
I would like to thank Nathan Hill, Gwendolyn Hyslop, Jackson T.S. Sun and Bettina Zeisler for useful comments on this paper. I remain responsible for any remaining mistakes. Situ data is from Huang and Sun (2000), Japhug from personal fieldwork (Jacques 2008) and Tangut from Li (1997). The transcription of Old Tibetan is given here according to the system presented in Jacques (2012). The names of the sound laws follow Hill's (2011a) terminology.