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MORPHOLOGY
OF THE TIBETAN LANGUAGE
MORPHOLOGY
OF THE TIBETAN LANGUAGE
A CONTRIBUTION TO
COMPARATIVE INDOSINOLOGY
Y
HANS NORDEWIN VON KOERBER, PH. D.
SOMKT1MK ntOFKSHOR UK ORIENTAL LINUCIST1CH IN TUB lINHKItBlTV OF AMO\, CHINA ;
1'KOKKSSOK OF OH1KNTAL STUDIES IN THK UNIVERSITY OF SOUT1IKRN RAMFUltMA, LO8 AMJKI.K8}
HONORARY CURATOR OF ORIENTAL AHf OF TUG U)H ANOKKKH Ml'HEl'M
S1EMUEU OF THK UOYAI, ASIATIC HOUKTY OF OKKAT HHITAIN AND HtULANU
SUTTONHOUSE
LOS ANGELES SAN FRANCISCO
iLTTONHOTBE PUBL18HKB8
I'HINTKD FOR Sl'TTONHOI'SK
J. J. AUGUHTIN, OLi;CK8TADT AM) HAMUUHO
PK1NTKD IN OKRMANV
To
Dr. Franz Nikolaus Finck
much beloved friend and teacher
this book is dedicated
in token of affection and gratitude
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Introduction IX
Preliminary Notes XI
I. Roots, Stems, Words 18
II. Origin of Word-Classes 9118
A. Tenuis 9
B. Ablaut 20
C. Ya Itags and Ra Itags 36
D. Aspirates 40
E. Formative Elements 46
a) Inseparable Prefixes and Suffixes 46
1) Guttural Suffixes 47
2) Dental Suffixes 49
3) Labial Suffixes 51
4) The Suffixes /, r, and h 53
5) Guttural Prefixes 59
6) Dental Prefix d and Sibilant 8 62
7) Labial Prefixes 70
8) The Prefixes I and r 72
b) Separable Formative Elements 77
1) Suffix 8 77
2) Prefix b, Prefixes g and d, Tense Formation
of verbs with initial guttural, labial and
dental consonants 70
3) Prefix h 105
4) Analysis of individual words in the guttural,
dental, and labial groups 112
III. Palatalization in Word Formation through the Agency
of Ya btags 119177
A. Introduction 119
B. Imminution of the Initial Sound 126
C. Tense Formation 131
D. Tense Formation of Verbs with Imminution of the
Initial Sound '. 146
VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pa*o
E. Verbs with Initial Assibilized Dental Sound .. .. 157
F. Tense Formation of Verbs with Initial Assibilized
Dental Sound 159
G. Initial Imminution of Assibilized Dentals 169
H. Tense Formation of Verbs with Initial Simple
Dental Sibilants 170
IV. Palatalization in Word Formation through the Agency
of Ra blags 178 19C
V. Words with La btags 191 19S
VI. Roots and Stems of the Palatal Groups with Word
Analysis of the Palatal Groups 200207
VII. Wa zur .. ." 208 21S
Appendices :
Table of Word-Classes
List of Tibetan Roots
The "A" in Tibetan
Glossary
Index
INTRODUCTION.
"Morphology of tho Tibetan Language" is one of the fruits which
ripened while I was a prisoner-of-war at Ahmednagar (British Tndia).
The five and one half years which I spent there gave me a rich
opportunity rarely accorded to any foreigner to make special studies
in the field of the morphological development of the mono-
syllabic languages. My original intention, at the suggestion of
Dr. F. O. Schrader, Adyar Library, Madras (now Professor of Sanskrit
in Kiel, Germany), was to undertake an investigation of the
Tibetan verbal system. I soon found myself, however, in the
course of the undertaking nolens volens forced to compile a compre-
hensive Morphology of the Tibetan Language, for I dis-
covered that the Tibetan verbal system could be made intelligible
only by a complete exposition of the morphology of the language itself.
It is now my pleasure to present the fruition of my intensive labors.
Only a very limited literature was at my disposal in the prisoner's
camp, comprising so far as the Tibetan is concerned the following
works: Chandra Das, Tibetan-English Dictionary; Jaschke,
Tibetan Grammar; Hannah, Grammar of the Tibetan
Language; Amundsen, Primer of Standard Tibetan, and a few
Tibetan texts, among them Taranatha and Milaraspa. In the
course of a correspondence, limited by the assiduity of the war censors,
with Dr. Johann van Manen, Adyar Library, Madras (now Secretary
of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta), a few recent publica-
tions were brought to my attention, which were, however, not access-
ible to me during the time of my imprisonment. After I had already
laid the foundations for a large part of the work (February, 1917), I
received from Dr. Berthold Laufer, Field Museum, Chicago, among
other things, his monograph Bird Divination amongst the
Tibetans, which I found stimulating; however, as will become
evident in the course of my presentation, I differ occasionally with
Dr. Laufer. In order to arrive at tangible results I devoted about ten
months exclusively to the formal compilation of list after list, table
after table, out of which I could slowly read the morphological signifi-
X INTRODUCTION
cance. An abundance of time permitted me to bring all the words
listed in Chandra Das under the scholar's microscope and to view them
in their various aspects. Consequently, I hope that nothing has
escaped my attention. So that the immense number of lists may be
made accessible to others, I have in preparation a Dictionary of
Tibetan Roots and their Development, which will, in so far as
it is scientifically possible, include crossreferences to associated words
in other monosyllabic languages.
After our repatriation in the summer of 1920, I had at hand for
the first time since I began this work, the indispensable, if modest,
scholarly treatises on the subject, which, however, offered me practi-
cally nothing new. I gave particular attention to Conrady's Eine
Indochinesische Kausativ-Denominativbildung, with which
I am largely at variance.
Consequent upon the extraordinarily difficult conditions after the
war in Europe, immediate publication of my study was out of the
question. And as my regular work in the Dutch Indies, China, and the
Philippine Islands, occupied me for years to the exclusion of other
interests, the actual typesetting has had to be postponed until a more
auspicious moment.
I am happy now to be able to print the "Morphology of the Tibetan
Language." I wish to acknowledge the contributions of other recent
scholars in this field, whose work, however, has not been closely
enough associated with mine to modify in any way my original theories.
This work presents not only a morphology, which considers and ex-
plains exhaustively all the characteristics of the Tibetan language,
but also, as Conrady formulated it in a marginal note on an earlier
German version, a "discovery which shows fundamentally new paths
to the entire study of Indosinitics."
In this place I should like to express my gratitude to Miss Carol
F. Hovious, M. A., Mr. O. E. Becker, M. A., and to Dr. Mary Sinclair
Crawford, Professor of French, all of the University of Southern
California, for their ready assistance in translating from the German
original and for their unceasing concern in the tedious labour of proof
reading, without which the final publication of this book would not
have been possible.
HANS NOBDEWIN VON KOERBER.
Los Angeles, January 20, 1930.
PRELIMINARY NOTES.
In this work as in my forthcoming Dictionary of Tibetan
Roots and their Development the following system of transcrip-
tion is used:
Tj" p* ZT|"
k kh g y
IS thS dz ny
& * EC"
ts ths dz
r / y > A 10
Intentionally I transcribed the aspirates <5>" and ^5" by the letters
thS and to suffice*:
fr-dom(-8) pa "to
g-tam pa "to fill
tham pa "full,
nom pa "to be
assemble, co-
up, make
complete
satisfied"
me together"
full"
Belonging to y*da (3) to become connected, tied together*:
s-dom pa "to
8-stem pa "to
them pa "series,
nom pa "to par-
bind, to fas-
shut or fasten
set"
take of"
ten"
(a door)"
Belonging to ^da (4) to appear in a place > to move forward*:
h-don pa "to dis-
b-ton pa "to ex-
ihon pa to be
miss"
pel, drive
expelled* =
forth"
"to come
out" (DTLF)
I. BOOTS, STEMS, WORDS
Media | Tenuis | Tennis Aspirata |
Belonging to ^da (5) to be transferred)) :
Nasal
h-deg-s pa "to
tlteg pa "vehic-
shift, to remo-
le" (DTLF)
ve"
b-dog pa "to take
g-tog pa "to
thog "property"
r-nag-s "ready
possession of"
grab, to pluck"
money"
(JTED)
b-tay ba "to gi-
g-nay ba "to
ve, to send"
permit,allow"
Belonging to jda J6J to extend* (horizontally) :
dar ba "to be dif-
g-tor ba "to
h-thor ba"to be
fused, to be
scatter, to
strewn, to be
spread"
strew"
scattered"
Belonging to ]'*da (10) to become light (shine)*:
b-de "splendour,
l-ta ba to cause
m-no ba "to
prosperity"
to become
think over,
(DTLF)
light (in one's
to ponder"
own interest)*
= "to look
for, to search
for"
Belonging to jda (11) to decay, vanish*:
h-dey ba "to va- 1
they po "lame"
nay ba "humi-
nish"
liated"
(JTED)
l-dad pa "to con-
m-nad m-nad
taminate"
"calumny"
dam pa "deceas-
nembu "doubt"
ed"
l-darn l-dem "du-
h-thom "to be
bious, uncer-
confused,
tain" (JTED)
puzzled"
8-tor ba "to lo-
nor ba "to err"
se" (DTLF)
dal "slow"
thai ba "to elap-
se, to be pas-
sed"
m-nal "sleep"
r-nal "rest"
I. BOOTS, STEMS, WORDS
Media | Tennis | Tenuis Aspirata |
Belonging to ]/*du (6) passion, agony, pain:
Nasal
h-dul la "to ta-
me"
l-r-tul ba
conquer"
thul "taming,
conquest"
(JTED)
Group III. (Labial initial sound).
Belonging to ]/ba (1) to arch:
h-boy ba "round-
ness, rotundi-
ty", arching
Belonging to ]/*ba (2) to swell, increase*:
lay ba ' 'store-
house, store-
room* '
r-moy-s pa
round head-
edncss, and
therefore stu-
pidity* =
"stupidity,
ignorance"
(DTLF)
may ba "to be
much"
Belonging to ^*ba (3) to swell, increase)) (in the metaphorical
sense) :
r-lad pa "to in-
cite, to insti-
gate"
h-bar ba "to be-
come ignited"
s-lar la "to kind-
le, inflame"
s-par la "to ex-
cite, incite"
phor ba "to ra-
ve" (JTED)
r-med pa "to in-
quire, to stu-
<>y"
d-mod pa "to
swear, to af-
firm"
Belonging to f*ba (4) to decrease*:
s-boy ba "to ab-
stain from"
s-poy la "to
abandon, re-
nounce"
phay ba "to use
economy, to
be thrifty"
1. ROOTS, STEMS, WOBDS
Media | Tenuis | Tenuis Aspirata | Nasal
Belonging to ^*ba (6) to appear, to become visible*:
h-barba "to blos-
aom"
s-par ba "to
raise, promo-
te"
h-pharba"tobe
raised, be ele-
vated"
Belonging to y*bu (2) heap, pile*:
buy-8 "a
heap"
large
d-puy pa "a
heap"
phuy po "bund-
le"
Belonging to ^*bu (4) to proceed from > to move towards*:
h-bur ha "to
swell up, rise"
s-pur ba "to
make fly,
scare up"
h-phur ba "to
fly"
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES.
A. TENUIS.
2. A. The very earliest means of building up or evolving a root
or a stem consisted in the transformation of the initial media
to a tenuis, as a result of which medial transitives,
causatives and completives, and denominatives and
deverbatives developed; this was apparently a weak, tentative
endeavour at a definite formation, but the attempt diverged in
various directions. The significance of this old tenuis forma-
tion for the morphological development of the Tibetan
speech is fundamental to a comprehension of further
formations.
In the examples given below, the meaning of the prefixes may in
this connection be left entirely out of consideration. Later, their
meaning will be made clear. They have nothing to do with the tenuis
formation, with ablaut, etc. Conrady likewise sees in the prefix less
perfect tense the fundamental form in tense formation (cf.
ICDB, p. 19). Irrespective of whether or not the initial sound may
really with justice be suspected of having had a prefix, it is necessary
to assume in the study of the Tibetan historical period that a prefixless
initial sound 1 was the "basic form" of all words.
Conrady gives the following examples in his causative series
(p. 3-18):
gab pa
goypo
grib
nams
nil ba
"to conceal oneself" : s-gab pa
"a lump, clod" : s-goy ba
"shade" : a-grib pa
"soul, mind" : s-nam pa
"to trickle down, fall : s-nil ba
in drops"
"to cover",
"to make balls of
dough,"
"to obscure,"
"to think, consi-
der,"
"to break, down,
destroy,"
1 Prefixless words with voiced initial sound must be, according to Conrady,
(p. 65) adjectives or nouns without verbal capacity; cf. also DTK.
10 II. ORIGIN OF WORD-CLASSES
nog pa "soiled, dirtied" : r-nog pa "to trouble, to stir
up,"
bug pa "a hole, crack" : s-bug pa "to penetrate, per-
forate,"
myurba "quickly" : s-myurba "to be quick, in a
hurry,"
or
h-gul ba "to move, quake" : s-gul ba "to move, put in
motion,"
h-gyur ba "to change" (intrans.): s-gyur ba "to change, trans-
form,"
h-grol ba "fo be released from" : s-grol ba "to set free, to li-
berate,"
h-dum pa "to be reconciled : s-dum pa "to make agree,"
with"
It-bag pa "to defile, pollute : s-bag pa "to defile, pollute,"
oneself"
h-brelba "to adhere together, : s-brel ba "to stitch together"
to meet together"
These examples leave no doubt that the grammatical changes are
due to the influence of prefixes. In other cases ablaut, which almost
certainly served a definite purpose, enters in, as Conrady's examples
given below demonstrate:
gad mo "a laughing, laughter" : r-god pa "to laugh,"
grog jta "noise, talk" : s-grog pa "to call, shout,"
rial ba "to lie down, to sleep" : s-nol ba "to lay anything
down,"
dam "root of the concept: : s-dom pa "to bind, fasten,"
to bind"
or
m-nam pa "like, equal" : s-nom pa "to treat impartial-
iy,"
m-nam pa "to smell of" : s-nom pa "to smell some-
thing",
h-bay ba "to be soaked" : s-boy ba "to soak, to drench"
Causatives could, therefore, be built up either through prefixes or
through ablaut. When in addition to these there appears (as the
further examples in Conrady, p. Off. (ICDB) show) the transformation
of the initial media into a tenuis, we have a third means by which the
II. ORIGIN OP WORD-CLASSES
11
causative may have been brought about. As my further studies will
show, prefixes as well as ablaut, and the transformation of media into
tennis are responsible for the formation of causatives. Let us first
turn to a consideration of the tennis. Through the change of the media
into a tenuis the following formations result:
Ex.:
1) Medial Transitives
r-dol ba
based on
based on j*ga(2):
based on
based on l/+ga(6):
h-tkol ba 1
m-thol ba 1
( *grab pa
\ grab-s
based on
Ex.:
"to come forth, to make its
appearance"
"to confess" to cause so-
mething to appear (in one's
own interest)))
to plan, to design, from which
"preparation, arrangement"
I b-krab pa "to choose or select from among
many"
"to ascend, climb up"
"to amass, pile up = to be
avaricious" = to cause so-
mething to rise up in one's
own interest = accumulate))
"to hide, conceal"
"to hide in the ground, to bury"
the at)laut change to 'V has nothing
to do with the formation of medial
transitives, cf. 4, etc.
{ h-dzat) pa "to sneak, creep privily"
\ h-th&aJ> pa "to conceal, keep secret" (for
oneself)
2) Causatives (in the usual sense) 2
? ba "to go, to proceed"
r-tseg pa
( s-goy ba
\ 8-kuy ba
i. j i/T-Tix ,/:r/^\ f b'fay ba to 8' to P rocced
based on }da(4) or }da(5):{ t . , , tt , .,,
[g-toy ba to cause to go = to send
1 The appearance of tho aspirate is due to thp prefixes h and m (cf . 8 at tho
end). Tho aspirate produces, as is shown in the paragraph referred to above,
not only phonetic, but also grammatical changes.
' The transitive character of tho initial jfc-sound appeared also to Conrady
sufficiently assured (IODB pp. 60 and 67).
12
II. ORIGIN OF WORD-GLASSES
"to ascend, climb up"
"to amass" (in a general sense)
"to drop, drip"
to cause to drop* = "to press
out"
"to melt"
to cause to melt* = "to
squeeze"
"to catch fire, to become
ignited"
"to excite, incite"
"to fall to pieces, collapse"
"to break or pull down"
"to come forth, to come up"
"to pierce, to perforate"
"to sneak, creep privily"
"to conceal"
"to come together, to assemble"
"to gather, to collect"
"to be separated from"
"to separate"
J h-bri ba "to diminish, grow less"
\ h-phri ba "to diminish"
( h-dzag pa "to drop, to drip"
\ h-thsag pa to cause to drop = "to press
out", etc., etc.
3) Completive s 1 , a name under which are brought together three
frequently overlapping verb classes denoting more or less the comple-
tion or perfection of an action.
(a) Iteratives or Continuatives, denoting either an action
composed of frequently repeated sub-actions or the duration of an
action.
based on j*ga(5)a,:
rv-wrcy ^*
I r-toegr pa
(h-dzag pa
\b-tsag pa
based on ^*ba(4):
based on ]/*gu:
r A-$fo 6a
1 gr-^ 60
r J-6ar ba
based on |/*6a(3):
[ s-par ba
based on ]/da(ll):
( r-dib pa
\ r-tib pa
based on j*da(9)\
( r-dol ba
{ r-tol ba
based on ]/*ga(6):
(h-d*abpa
\h-th8abpa
based on J/tfV(l):
( h-du ba
\ h-thu ba
based on f*ba(5)~:
( h-bral ba
\ It.-nnh'irn.l ha.
based on l/*bu(6):
based on
Ex.:
based on
J h-dom-8 pa "to demonstrate, explain"
\ h-tham pa "to scold, to blame"
Ablaut in contrast to the intransitive
h-thom pa.
1 Class (3) cannot always be clearly distinguished from class (1); similarly
classes (a) and (b) are often hard to differentiate.
II. ORIGIN OF WORD-CLASSES 13
"to move, put in motion"
n. ; r- f W^l ba "to move, put in moti
based on y*gfo(13): { , . , < to ^ sufficient"
1 thay po (also pa?) "enduring, able to
stand fatigue"
o bend back, t
A U1 ,
o double down,
/*j /-r f b-dog pa "to take possession of"
based on y*rfa(5): 1 ^ tCA , , ,
to grab, pluck"
/ , -- f l-deb pa "to bend back, turn round"
based on ]/*rfa(2): {,.. tt , A U1 , ,
pa to double down, turn in"
(c) Resultatives, indicating the consequences of an action.
Ex.:
( s-gom pa "to meditate, contemplate
based on l/*ga(2): \ systematically"
I h-khum pa "to comprehend" (v. Ablaut)
/* ---- r f s-grun pa "to contend with"
based on y*ya(10): \ , tl . ,
* x I s-krun pa to produce
, ---- ( 8-bon ba "to abstain from"
based on y*6a(4): { J ,
I *-po; 60 to
, _
abandon = to renounce,
reject"
f fe-6ar ba "to blossom, to bloom"
, -
based on y*fea(6): , , lfx ,
v ; - "to be promoted"
14
II. ORIGIN OF WORD-CLASSES
based on jbu(5):
( h-dzug pa "to put into, to plant (KTED)"
1 g-t$ug-s pa "planted, cultivated"
based on i*ga(3):
4) Denominatives and Deverbatives, denoting verb forms
deriving from substantives and substantive forms deriving from verbs.
Ex.:
J r-dze "lord, master"
\ h-fhSe ba "to attest" to make oneself
an authority))
"friend, relation"
"to love, to show affection"
"sense or signification of
anything"
"to show, indicate"
arched "oval, cylindric"
"to excavate, undermine"
"heap, bulk"
"to assemble, collect" (KTED)
"to hide"
"a cover, shelter"
"to burn with, to glare (in
reference to passion)"
"excess in worldly or religious
matters"
f s-bay-s pa "to abstain from" (JTKD)
"renunciation of everything"
"to use care, diligence"
"assiduity"
"to crumble, to fall to pieces"
"a phantom"
based on
l/*ga(3):
{m-dzah ba
b-r-lse ba
{don
based on
Yda~(l)~:
8-ton pa
based on
F'te(Ij7
( h-dzoy po
based on
}'*bu(2):
( buy -s
\ d-puy ba
based on
}'*ga(fi)~.
{gab pa
b-kab
( h-bar ba
based on ^*ba(3):
based on
based on
based on y'
Compare also:
based on ^
h-phar ba
\ s-pay-s po
( b-zab pa
\ b-zob pa
J h-brul ba
\ s-prul pa
"clothes, clothing"
"skin, leather" (JTED)
( b-go ba
\ ko ba
Note: It should be noticed here that one and the same means,
namely, the suffix -ay a-, is used in old Sanskrit to build up causative
and completive forms. In the classical period of the Sanskrit speech a
causative could be built from every root by means of this suffix.
In the preceding period, according to Whitney's calculation, a third
of all forms with -aya- were not causatives, but rather intensities,
iteratives, and continuatives, as the following examples show:
II. ORIGIN OF WORD-CLASSES 15
, stana-, in most cases stanaya- "to thunder" (iterative)
fdnath, &nath-i or dnatkaya- "to pierce" (intensive)
^vadh, vodka- or vadhaya- "to beat, kill, destroy" (intensive)
ipat, pata- "to fall, fly," pataya- "to fly, fly rapidly" (as an
intensification of the act of flying, or perhaps as a repetition
of wing strokes = "to flap"; in Tibetan the other way
round: "to fly" -= "to rise up quickly"); on the other hand
pataya- "to let fall, let fly."
]/rac, racaya- "to manufacture, to compose"
irah, raha- "to separate", rahaya- "to abandon, to quit" (possibly
in the sense of "to put away from oneself")
The jntransitives with initial tenuis aspirate listed by Conrady
under the causative scries (pp. 13 17) are in my opinion not intransi-
tives, simply because they have an intransitive meaning and begin
with tenuis aspirate, as Conrady would have us believe. They are
rather, as a result of aspiration, intransitives or passives belonging
to transitives with initial tennis sound. As a result of the transforma-
tion of the media into the tenuis, these transitives with initial
tenuis sound developed from intransitives with initial media
(Of. 8 below.) Conrady (pp. 21, 54, ICDB) turns his attention next
to the original initial sounds of a great many intransitives. I reached
the overwhelming conviction that only the media and the initial
sounds, developed from them (as found, for instance, in the palatal
series and the assibilized dental scries), are the original initial
sounds of the intransitives. (The nasal initial sound is in a limited
way (cf. 1) sometimes also the "original" initial sound of the in-
transitive.) Conrady arrives at this conclusion only in the case of the
two initial mediae g and d. Of the first of these, the initial (/-sound,
he says, p. 55: " dass dem Intransitivum offenbar das g-, weil
so gut wie niemals in fraglos transitiven Formen vorkommend,
als echter Anlaut zusteht." To the k- and kh- initial sounds he rightly
gives the grammatical function of forming causatives. For a further
discussion of the aspiration of 'the initial tenuis sound in transitives
cf. 59 ff. To complete this, I should like to anticipate and state in
this place that in the above case the aspiration is due tophonetical
reasons only because of the still present prefix h-, which had already
disappeared in very rare cases. The initial sound kh- is in and for
itself in no case an old transitive formation as Conrady (p. 71) thinks.
(Cf. 8 below.) The second initial sound discussed by Conrady is d
16 II. OBIOIN OF WORD CLASSES
with its subsequent derivatives d and 2, all three of which are older as
intransitive formations than the corresponding transitives with initial
t, th, t$, JU, and S (p. 71).
In this connection I should like also to discuss briefly another point
in Conrady. In his ICDB on page 85 he comes to the conclusion, "daft
die tonlosen und tonlosen aspirierten Laute der tibetischen Schrift-
sprache iiberhaupt erst sekundare Laute sind," and (p. 84), that "in
der Tat die Tenues aspiratae wie selbstverstandlich die Tenuis und
tonlosen unaspirierten Anlaute in der ganzen Causativbildung aus
den prafixhaften TOnenden herzuleiten sind." All the examples given
on pp. 79 83 cannot, even "durch den schOnen Parallelismus,"
convert me to "his conclusions. Let us take the following examples
from Conrady:
s-goy ba "to make round koy "curved, excavated"
balls"
8-gor mo "round" (ball, globe) kor "round"
s-gren mo "naked" b-kren pa "poor, indigent"
b-s-gag pa "to hinder" b-kag pa "hindrance"
s-goy ba "to frighten" b-koy ba "to threaten"
s-grol ba "to deliver" b-kral ba "to explain, ex-
pound"
s-gab pa "to hide, conceal" b-kab pa "to hide," etc.
According to my belief, the tenuis did not develop phonetically
in one way or another out of the media with prefixes, but the tenuis
formation is, as can no longer be disputed, a second and later formation
coequal with the initial media sound in semasiological and grammatical
power. The tenuis, therefore, as Conrady rightly perceived, is a
secondary development and capable of being augmented by further
new formative elements (prefixes, suffixes, etc.). Thus a sort of
pleonasm results from the many double forms (or parallel forms),
which retain the goal-giving power of the formative elements. As
a result we have before us forms with identical aims resulting from
different stages of development. The examples given in 1 illustrate
the point sufficiently, although they are meager, selected from a great
multitude of others that compose the DTR, which I hope shortly to
publish. Let us compare
gog pa "to crumble off, to scale off (of the plaster of a
wall)"
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES 17
( kog pa "to splinter off, to chip"
with] khag po "bad, spoiled, rotten"
[h-khog-spa "decrepit, very infirm from old age"
or compare
buy-s "bulk, heap"
with ( *** * " to pile up "
1 phuy po "a bundle"
or compare
dal "slow, leisurely"
{id pa to make vanish, make disappear, therefore
also "an instrument for burning"
thai ba "to elapse, be passed, to change from".
These comparisons make the purpose of the original initial sound
changes very obvious. Intentionally altering the initial sound for the
purpose of reaching a definite goal gives to the individual words their
spiritual backbone which is maintained even though other formative
elements from other stages of development are added.
Compare:
h-gum pa "to die"
w . th (b-fampa "to kill"
I h-khum pa "to shrink"
or
d-gur "crooked, curved"
(b-kur ba to crook, to bend (oneself ) = to carry, to
with ! convey"
I h-khur ba "to carry"
The two forms b-kur ba and h-khur ba have exactly the same value.
The aspirate is phonetically required by the prefix h which, as the
sign of the present tense, is interchangeable with the "separable"
prefix b (cf. 2462).
Opposites such as s-grog pa "to bind, to tie": b-tag-s pa "to tie to,
to connect," and r-gyud pa "to connect together, to string up":
g-tSud pa "to twine, twist" or r-dzod pa "to say" : Sod pa "to say, tell,"
which Conrady adduces on pp. 80 and 82 to prove that the tenuis
and tenuis aspirate developed from sonants with prefixes, lie on an
entirely different road of development. In the first case we are dealing
with a sound shift (cf. 120), in the second and third cases with a
degeneration of initial sound (cf. 79), in no case, however, with
parallel forms or even with a saltatory or leaping sound change, which
18 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
is unknown in Tibetan. We can speak here only of a gradual sound
development. When we recognize, then, that the change of the
initial sound plays an important, in fact, the most important, role in
Tibetan of historical times, arid that to this change is added the
miraculous building-energy of the formative elements, it is difficult
to imagine, how, phonetically, the change from sg-: kh-: k- (etc.) was
effected, and how the speech then once more fell back upon using those
means of word building which it might have considered outworn and
cumbersome. For, the initial tenuis sounds combine with the same
prefixes as the initial mediae, a combination from which the simple
initial tenues are said to have arisen, according to Conrady. So far
as I can gather; previous investigators have assumed that tenuis and
tenuis aspirate arose from the tone system. Opposed to the prefixless,
always deep-toned initial media sound in the Tibetan of Central Tibet
stand always those which are high-pitched, namely those with
initial tenuis sound and those with an initial sound made up of prefix
and media. The two latter are of equal value in the tone system.
In the most ancient of the Tibetan dialects (West-Tibetan) the tone
system is just now coming into being. It follows from Conrady'a
theories that the tone system must once have existed in this oldest
dialect and then have disappeared, a supposition which we, in the
light of our knowledge, cannot possibly entertain. Conrady (p. 100,
ICDB) perceived the difficulty and confessed himself facing a riddle
which he could not solve. We are, indeed, confronted with a problem
of the highest importance to the entire science devoted to the in-
vestigation of the monosyllabic languages, and one with which we must
grapple in an entirely different way. The lines of approach to the
question are laid down in this morphology.
So far as sound development and sound change in Tibetan are
concerned, a sound change involving grammatical change
plays a gigantic role, that is, a sound change which in contrast to the
gradual or saltatory sound development exists for the purpose of
differentiating meaning. The gradual sound development I have just
touched upon above. The so called saltatory or leaping sound develop-
ment or sound change is foreign to the Tibetan. To discover it in the
"massenhaften und in jeder Beziehung ubereinstimmenden Parallel-
formen von Prefix -f- Media- resp. iiberhaupt tonenden und tenuis-
resp. Tenuis aspirata- oder tonlosem Anlaut" seems to me unjustifiable.
Such a supposition leads straight to the dilemma in which Tibetology
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES 19
finds itself when faced with the huge multitude of parallel forms. Wo
pose the questions: Do these parallel forms really have exactly the
same meaning ? Do they not seem to have been created to express
wider or finer shades of meaning ? Thus h-du ba means simply "to
collect," but thu-ba only "to gather flowers"; h-gag "obstacle" in the
widest sense, but kag "disturbance, damage, danger," kkag "section,
division," etc. (In the other monosyllabic speeches may be found a
great many similarly instructive examples. We need but compare the
^ *
Siamese <3
"sound of laughter," khak fijfl] "group laughter"; dim 1 [?1JJJ "to
<3
pierce," thim 2 [y\l\] "to pierce with a stick," and so forth.) We are
under no necessity here of explaining such forms by means of prefixes
which have fallen away, particularly where the prefixes in their widest
compass are still preserved (as in Tibetan). And if two parallel forms
are identical in meaning, it is more probable that we have one and the
same word from two different dialects.
On the basis of the facts at hand, I also recognize a regular sound
shift, and, indeed, like Conrady, two of them: a spontaneous and a
coalescent sound development; only I see evidence of the sponta-
neous sound development (as the first sound shift) not in the free
transformation of the media into mediae aspirates, (through a
simple strengthening of the aspiration), but rather into the tenuis.
I doubt very much, if the Tibetan was originally agglutinating (cf.
Conrady p. 70). It was rather root-isolating, and accomplished, to my
rnind, the word-and form-building in the "beginning" also in a
dynamic fashion. Agglutination and inflection, which in classical Tibetan
appear with the dynamic simple articulating formation, are develop-
ments of later periods. If dynamic formations are not found in other
languages, 1 at least not in such an impressive measure as appears to be
l ) Dynamic formations, that is intentional sound alternations for the purpose
of changing meaning, may also he found in other languages, although not yet
perceived and acknowledged as suoh by philologists. I think, first of all, of the
Dravidian languages, which Conrady also mentions on p. 72. Ho maintained
that causative formation through a purely mechanical change of tho initial
consonants was impossible. Nevertheless, we find such dynamic formations as
Tamil agu "to become," akku "to make": nirambu "to become full," nirappu
"to fill." A different form exists likewise, as in Tibetan with certain verbs,
especially to differentiate the present and preterit tenses, e.g., nagugireii "I
laugh," nakjken "I laughed" (cf. Tib. h-geg-s pa, b-kag, etc); only we must take
20 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
in Tibetan, have we then a right because of their singularity to diminish
their importance on the basis of "philological attainments"? The
hypothesis (provisionally arrived at by analogies, cf. ICDB, p. 91)
that the media which formerly began a stem went over to media
aspirate through the disappearance of the prefixes which had become
spirant, and that the media aspirate then split into a tenuis and tenuis
aspirate, seems to me for the Tibetan of the historical and perhaps
even earlier times no longer tenable. If we assume, on the contrary,
a direct evolution (through intentional sound alternation for the
purpose of a changing meaning) of the tenuis and tenuis aspirate
parallel with that of the unaspirate media, the great "riddle" of the
Tibetan language is solved, and a free road lies before us.
B. ABLAUT.
3. Ablaut is a further aid to word building which belongs to the
very oldest development of the Tibetan language. It is also instrumen-
tal in forming medial transitives, causatives, completives,
denominatives and deverbatives as well as in changing sub-
ject! ves into objectives. Ablaut is an older manifestation than
any of the other formative elements which we shall discuss later, as
is immediately apparent from a consideration of the root, for example
in
a) roots which have the same initial sound:
based on i*ga (9) : to extend, spread (horizontally)))
go "room, space" = ((extension, breadth*
ga na] f(
} "where
ga ruj
based on y*gra(10): to increase, extend (in the metaphorical
sense)*
Tea "the, all the, the very"
ko "the same"
into consideration that necessarily the change manifests itself in Tibetan only
with the initial root sound, in Dravidian only with the final root sound,
because in the Tibetan there existed no final tennis, and in the Dravidian no
initial media. In Dravidian nominal "transitives" are formed as a result of the
transformation of the media into the tennis; thus, for example, a substantive
becomes an adjective or attribute adjective. I owe these examples to Dr. F. Otto
Schroder of Kiel, who concedes for the Dravidian languages a dynamic, i. e.
intentional, sound alternation for the purpose of changing meaning.
H. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES
21
based on ^ga(12): to decrease, vanish*
ka ba "a particular faculty acquired by a mystic
process in which the appetites, hunger,
thirst, etc., are suppressed"
r-ke ba "lean, meager"
ko in ko thai "cinders, ashes"
to walk forward, proceed, go to
"opening, outlet"
"door, entrance"
to become light, to dawn* (physically and
symbolically)
"delight, joy"
"happiness, welfare"
"now, just, at present" (in a strongly de-
monstrative sense)
"now, just"
"that, that one"
"this, this one"
to arrive at, reach to
"a stone" (cf. m-dah "arrow")
diminutive of r-do = "small stone, pebble"
"a pawn, pledge"
"a pawn, pledge, bail," "present" (Schlag-
inweit)
"end, margin, limits"
"a span from the tip of a thumb to the tip
of the middle finger when extended" =
from one end to the other
to be added, to be appended))
"a short cord or rope"
"to belong, appertain to"
"register, catalogue"
based on
s-ge
s-go
based on J/ga~(i3):
d-gah ba
d-ge ba
based on ]/da(l):
da
de
do_
based on ]/*da~(2} I :
r-do
r-de
g-tah ma
g-te pa
m-thah
m-tho
based on f*da(3):
tha (gu)
the ba
tho
b) roots which substitute one initial sound for another of the same
class (guttural, dental, labial, etc):
based on f*ga(2): head (intellectual)
go ba "to understand, perceive (mentally)"
b-kah "word, speech"
kha "language, conversation"
ya "I," that which is individual within me
22 n. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES
based on ^*gcT(3): head (in the meaning of "chieftain")
go "chieftain, chief"
kko "king"
8-ya ba "to be the first"
based on l/*da (6) : to extend, spread* (horizontally)
b-do ba "to spread, diffuse"
b-r-ta ba "to expand, grow wide"
na "meadow, pasture land"
ne ma "meadow," etc.
Through ablaut the following classes developed:
1) Medial Transitives 1
.- f r-ten pa "to adhere to, lean on"
based on j*da(2): \ t . , L ,
[r-ton pa to place confidence in a per-
son, rely on"
,- ( h-deg-s pa "to shift, to remove"
based on \da(5): {' . , . ,
[ b-dog pa to take possession of
based on jda (5) : {
based on j*ga (14)
dab pa "to give" (DTLF)
r-deb pa "to exchange, change"
f h-grag-s pa "to bind"
\ h-grog-8 pa "to associate with"
,- -- - ( h-khel ba "to pack on, load"
based on }*ga (13): I i ,,,,,, 1
( n-khol ba to make a person a slave
( = to enslave)
2) Causatives (in the usual sense).
f h-bab pa "to move downward, descend"
' '
based on . .. . x . ,
I h-beb(-s) pa to cause to descend, cause to
fall down"
1 The same note holds good for the prefixes in this section as for those in the
tennis-group : for the present the prefixes may be ignored . Their significance is
readily perceived from reading 14 22, and 59. Should I be accused of
overlooking for example in the opposites nad "sickness* and g-nod pa "to cause
sickness" the causative effect of the prefix g, which is supposed to be the real
carrier of the grammatical change, I can but refer the accuser to 14, in which
g is identified as an iterative. This is not an arbitrary assumption of mine.
The weight of countless examples in Tibetan convinced me that this was true
for g. Just by the weight of those countless examples found in Tibetan I suc-
ceeded in finding an explanation for the meaning and function also of all the
other prefixes and suffixes an explanation which is not at all arbitrary.
I have found not one single instance in which g has a causative function.
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
23
( s-gay ba
"to rise, get up"
"to raise, lift"
"to become full"
i /i 7^T~ I ~y % * r j WUr w wov/wiiic .
based on y*gra(8): i , A rM1
I #-0e#-s pa to fill up"
/; ( *-0B* pa "to split, crack (intransitive)
based on }*ga(\l):{ ' tt . ... ,
I fy-ge* pa to split, cleave,
based on ^*ba (5) : \ \ , .
pa
based on
based on
based on
based on
based on
to send forth"
3) Oompletives.
(a) Iteratives or Continuatives.
( h-dam pa "to pick out, to choose" 1
'
--
y*ga(3):
, , , . . ,
[ h-dom pa to select, to induce
}/*rfa ( 10)a:{j;;
i/^-7^7 f b -* am V 1 " to Ponder"
\ sem-8 pa "to think, fancy, imagine" 1
'-tarn pa "to appoint, commission"
"to talk, to speak"
"to be bound, tied"
"to classify"
"bound fast"
s-dom pa "to add together, sum up"
(b) Intensives.
g-tom pa
-tag-s pa
'-tog-8 pa
based
based
based
based
based
on y*da(2):
on y*ba (4)7
on J^a(4):
on y'*6o~(3)7
\ l-teb pa
( pay pa
\ s-poy ba
( h-dey ba
\ h-doy ba
( d-pag-8 pa
\d-pog pa
( b-kal ba
{ b-kol ba
"to fold, lay together"
"to double down (carefully), to
turn in"
"to abandon"
"renounce, reject"
"to go, depart"
"to go, proceed"
"to measure, estimate"(JTED)
"to measure, apportion"
"to load, put a load on"
"to bind to service"
on ]/*ga (13):
based on }/*6a(3):
based on
(c) Resultatives.
f h-phyar ba "to excite, waken"
\ h-phyor ba "to speak deliriously"
f h-phrag pa "to envy, grudge" (KTED)
{ h-pkrog pa "to rob, to run away with"
24 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
f h-deb-a pa "to offer"
based on yoaioi: t , , ,,, .
' [ r-dob pa to give
u j ,yj ,Vx ' f M40-* ? "to remove"
based on *to (5): << to t^ pO88ession of
u j /i^-^x- lff' de y( ba ) "(to be) certain, confident"
based on lf*da (3): | ^ 6o ^ .
nerahip"
4) Denominatives and Deverbatives.
,- - ( nod "sickness"
based on Vda(ll): \ , t ^ . .
I g-nodpa "to cause sickness"
/ -----
based on f* (1):
(prefix g has nothing to do with the
causative; it is iterative.)
f m-thsan "name" = heading
based on fda (3) : |
"to assign, classify"
_ . ,_ ( s-kyar ba "again and again"
based on y*ga(lO):{ . , *
I 8-kyor ba to repeat
i j /*i ,^r (byad "shape, form"
based on y*fca 3): i , , Objectives.
i_ j ,/ 7TTT- fs-kam pa "to be dry"
based on }ga (12): { . ttj . , ' A
x ' \-fcow pa "to be thirsty"
. , /i, r /--- - f h-khey-8 pa "to be full, replete"
based on }*ga (7) y*flra (8):< , ., , , . . , ,. ,
I fy-khoy ba to draw in one s limbs,
to squat"
4. a) The ablaut has a further function in distinguishing the
transitive tenuis-form of a verb with initial media from
the intransitive tenuis-form. This important fact has been
already shown in two examples in 2, 3 a. Eight other examples
follow :
/ -f r-dzod pa "to say, recite"
based on V*rfa(10)a:{ , J1LJf ,^ . y \ . _ ., 4 ,
I h-fhSad pa to explain with ablaut, bo-
cause
thsod pa "to be decided" is intransitive.
f s-gyen pa "to be on the move"
based on V*ga(I3):{ . 0 ba "to fulfil, to fill up"
\ s-kuy ba "to hide in the ground, to
bury"
{d-gar ba "to confine"
gar "camp"
gur "tent" (along with m-khar "a
nobleman's seat, castle")
hkhor ba "to circumambulate, walk all
round"
h-khur ba "to carry, drag"
f h-khyar ba "to err, go astray"
| h-khyur ba "to be engulfed, swallowed"
(JTED)
h-kham pa "to fall down senseless"
h-khum pa "to shrink"
h-khol ba "to become insensible, to be
asleep"
h-khul ba "to be uneasy about some-
thing"
f h-khyog pa "to carry"
\ h-khyug pa "to run, move swiftly" be-
longs to h-kyu ba "to run
away"
r-ka a person or circumstance
causing a separation or
turning aside
r-ku ba "part, section"
r-ku ba "to steal"
28 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
Compare also
(khay "house"
based on }*ga(Q): { ,, tt , , .....
r y v ' I Mw# "hole, little cave
i_ j ,/* T^T- f *-ky pa "to pour out"
based on }*ga(9): 1 A A i, * 3
pa "to strew salt on food, or
ashes on snow"
. . ,- - khog "the interior, inside"
based on y*gra(6): .. IIA , . ,. L ,
r * v ' J &% pa "trunk of the body"
khug ma "little bag, small sack"
khod ' Surface"
khud "any makeshift cloth, wrap-
per"
"round"
u , ,/i- /~x-
based on y*gra(7): . . . .
I '-^w 1 hunchbacked
Note. The ablaut change to u seems also to have a diacritical effect.
Since roots identical in sound formed, with the help of the formative
elements, a great number of words with identical sounds, the intro-
duction of an ablaut change to u in the vowel series a, e, o became
necessary in order to avoid confusion. However, even this means
proved to be very unsatisfactory. From ^*ga (2) is formed, for
instance, s-gom pa "to fancy, imagine." For the derivative idea "to be
drawn up, to be contracted" we should expect the form *8-kom pa.
We find, however, s-kum pa, since the form s-kom pa signifies "thirst,
thirsty" and is built up on another root. The same is true of gruy po
"very intelligent, clever," from which is derived, s-gruy ba "to invent,
feign," (based on ]/* u appears stronger than that from a > e; compare
for instance r-doy "stone," to which belongs the diminutive r-daj! The same
peculiarity OCCUIH without doubt in the following examples: h-dam pa "to
select"; h-deni pa "to prove, examine"; h-dotn pti "to select induce," or l-tag pa
"the upper part of a thing": teg pa "to load, paek up"; tog "point, extreme
end," or m-khas pa "to be learned, wise": m-khcs pa "to hit the proper thing
(in selecting)" (DTED): h-khos pa "mighty, of great influence" or b-s-kos
"chosen, selected," and others.
2 This ablaut change in forming tenses became systematized and binding to
an astonishingly high degree and shows very few irregularities. That ablaut
belonged above all to the very oldest means of word formation is open to no
doubt, and certainly it had already played a very definite role in tenso forming
in the root -isolating period of Tibetan. It seems to be absolutely certain that it
became more constant as the language began to signify tenso by means of affixes.
And as the tense affixes got more arid more the upper hand, the regularity of
ablaut change in tense building was gradually shattered, so that we have today
an almost hopeless situation in tense formation. The Tibetan grammarians
began as early as the middle ages to borrow a verb system or an averbo from
tho Indian grammar, therefore, the many "parallel forms."
32 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
B) We can distinguish verbs with ablaut and without. The
group without ablaut comprises those which
1. end in a vowel only,
2. show strengthening of the vowel in the present (a > e or o),
3. have the stem vowel u,
4. have the stem vowel t and do not end in n.
Examples:
h-dah la h-das "to go beyond"
r-dze ba b-r-dzes b-r-dze b-r-dzes "to barter, exchange"
h-deg-8 pa b-teg-s g-deg theg "to raise, lift"
h-bog-s pa phog d-log phog "to bestow, impart"
h-byed pa ' phye(-s) d-bye phye(-s) "to open, separate"
h-th&iy ba b-tSiy-s b-lsiy h-1h$iy-8 "to bind, tie up"
h-dzug pa b-tSug g-zug thtotg "to put into," and
others.
To the verbs with ablaut belong those of the vowel series , , o,
which may be divided into the following classes:
a) Verbs with a in the present and no consonantal mutation of
the initial sound.
Examples:
a a a o
Itaba b-lias b-lla Ito-s "to see, perceive"
s-kyag pa b-s-kyag-s b-a-kyag s-kyog "to spend, lay out"
h-thsag pa h-toag-s b-tsay thsog "to press out," etc.
[3) Verbs with e, in the present and with consonantal mutation
of the initial sound.
Examples :
e a a o
h-geg-s pa b-kag d-gag khog "to hinder"
h-deb-s pa b-talj g-dab thob "to throw"
h-beb-s pa phab d-bab phob "to throw down," etc.
y) Verbs with o in the present and no consonantal mutation of
the initial sound, i. e., with media throughout or with tenuis
throughout (tennis aspirate).
Examples :
o a a o
g-toy ba b-tay g-tay thoy "to give"
s-koy ba b-s-kay-s b-s-kay koy "to fulfill"
h-dzog pa b-zag g-zag zog "to put, place," etc.
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES 33
The vowels e and o in the present tense of verbs in the groups (3
and y weaken to a in the perfect and future, as already observed above.
The imperative in the groups a, (3, y is formed almost without exception
with o.
S) A small group of verbs occupy a special place; namely verbs
with the stem vowel i and final n, which change i to u in all tenses.
Examples :
i u u u
h-dzin pa b-zuy g-zuy zuy "to lay hold of, seize"
h-byin pa phyuy d-byuy phyuy "to expel, drive out"
In this case a simple change of the vowel and a mixing of two verbs
identical in meaning seem to be involved. In Ladakhi, forms such a
biy-ste and phiy-s are more often used than byuy and phyuy and others
similar. In this case u as a weakening of i would be conceivable; if,
however, i were a "strengthened" form of it which is scarcely
imaginable we should have to have the same i in the imperative.
e) A change of the final sound occurs in connection with the
ablaut. All ablaut-less verbs in n retain n unchanged.
Examples:
h-don pa b-ton g-don thon "to drive out, expel"
s-ten pa b-s-ten b-s-ten s-ten "to adhere to," etc.
All verbs with ablaut, on the contrary, change final n into y.
Examples :
h-dren pa dray-8 dray droy-s "to draw, pull"
h-byin pa phyuy d-byuy phyuy "to omit, send forth"
h-phen pa h-phay-s h-phay phoy "to throw, fling"
len pa b-lay-s b-lay loy "to take, accept"
Note. After the forms with ya btags, ra btaga, and with the form-
ative elements (prefixes and suffixes) had laid a solid foundation for the
language, ablaut then turned in new directions. These features belong
likewise to this chapter. I present herewith my most important
observations which are systematic, or at least copious.
1) Verbs with the stem vowel a change a > o or o > e through
palatalization with ya blags and ra btaga.
Examples :
h-pho ba "to change place, move oneself away"
phyed pa "to change"
34 H. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
goy "the above," upright
h-grey ba "to stand"
kray and kroy "standing, upright"
2) Verbs with u change occasionally to o in order to form substantives
and adjectives (cf. also 4).
Examples :
b-Sur ba "to singe"
b-zob "the burning, singeing" (DTLF)
r-yyuQ P<*> "racing"
m-gyog-s "quick, lively"
thsud pa f 'to dig"
(cf. h-khyud pa "to glide in or into")
g-zob "spade, shovel"
h-brub pa "to overflow, gush forth"
h-brum pa "a pock or pustule," that which is swollen up
r-lom pa "a boasting, vanity"
(an anlautsreduzierung of the second grade,
cf. 122).
3) Verbs with a, e, o change frequently to i, when they are palatalized
by ya btags.
Examples:
based on ]/da (4) : to appear in a place > to move
forward
along with Ma ba: "to go away, to leave"
we have m-th&i ba "to come, to go (elegant)"
based on ^da (11): to be transformed > to decay, vanish))
along with h-dzad pa "to disappear gradually" (DTLF)
we have h-thSi ba "to die"
based on \*ba (6): to appear, become apparent))
along with men "pomp, splendour, magnificence"
and phyog-s pa "to become visible," etc.
we have byin "pomp, splendour, magnificence"
based on ]f*ga (6): head (in the meaning of "enveloping,
enfolding")
along with s-kyab-8 "protection, defence"
and s-kyob pa "to defend, protect," etc.
we have a-kyib-s "a place giving shelter"
H. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES 35
In addition to these compare also the following analogous words:
gyam "a shelter, recess in a rock" h-khyed pa "to be sufficient"
khyim "house, residence" h-phyid pa "to suffice"
h-byon pa "to go, come"
h-byin pa "to let go, let free"
1-tSa "excrements (animals)" s-pyon pa "to arrive"
l-t&i ba "dung" phyin pa "to arrive," etc.
Ablaut change to i forms in such a case also substantives, and
possibly adjectives and adverbs.
Examples :
s-kyor ba "to repeat"
phyir "again, once more"
h-thM pa "to hide, conceal"
thSib pa "encompassing, covering all"
s-kyed pa "to bring forth, give birth to"
g-zis ka "one's native place"
nyal ba "to sleep"
g-nyid "the sleep"
1 1 "to rejoice,
J to be glad"
d-gyes pa '
m-nyes pa J
Sis "good luck, fortune, bliss"
4) Verbs with a, e, o change the vowels frequently to i, when they
are palatalized by ra blags:
Examples :
s-grol ba "to wind up" (JTED) s-prod pa 1 "to send a mes-
s-gril ba "to roll up" s-priy ba / sage, send word"
5) The change from a, e, or o to i occurs occasionally in the transition
of the compound palatals to assibilized dentals.
6) Verbs with the vowel i, which had been palatalized by ya btags
and ra btags sometimes form substantives through ablaut change to a,
or o (or e).
Examples :
s-byin pa "to give" h-gril ba "to be twisted"
yon pa "a present" gral "a rope, cord"
7) Verbs with the vowel u frequently change to i through palatal-
ization with ya btags and ra btags.
36
H. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
h-dul ba
h-dzun pa
h-dzil ba
d-buy
g-zuy
h-dziy
Examples:
based on
along with
and
we have
based on
along with
and
we have
based on
along with h-bru
and s-prug pa
we have h-briy
based on f*bu(4):
along with h-brug pa
and h-brub pa
we have h-brim pa
and perhaps s-priy ba
passion, agony, pain*
"to subdue"
"to subdue"
"to subdue"
"to become opened (flower), to blos-
som"
"middle"
"middle, centre"
"middle," etc.
"to become opened (flower), to blos-
som"
"grain, corn, seed"
"splitting, opening"
"middle"
to apf>ear in a place > to move
forward*
"to overflow, gush forth"
"to overflow, gush forth"
"to distribute, deal out"
"to give information, send word"
To determine definite rules governing ablaut in the building up of
new forms in this connection would be a fruitless undertaking.
C. Ya btags and ra btags.
6. A). In general a root which has been palatalized by ya btags
remains unchanged in meaning. In only a few cases is ya-btags
responsible for the formation of causa tives and completives, or of
deverbatives.
Examples :
1) Causatives (in the ordinary sense)
> ba 1 "to overflow out of a vessel"
/o ba "to transfer water from one
vessel to another"
1 to h-bo ba "to pour out" cf. Table of Word Classes, sub 4.
. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES
37
based on
f h-gad pa
): {* ,
[h-gyed pa
ba "to come again and again"
s-kyor ba "to do something repeatedly
= to repeat"
"to laugh"
to make laugh = "to give a
banquet"
2) Completives.
a) Iteratives.
u j ,/*!. m f %-pho t><* "to change place, migrate"
based on y*0a(4): < , . , ... , ,
1 I h-phyo ba "to roam about"
b) Intensives.
(" d-goy-8 pa "to think, ponder," to bela-
based on f*ga(2): \
gyoy po
based on /*^a(6):
' w v '
c) Besultatives.
bour one's brains
"difficult to understand,"
to break one's head
"to cover, conceal"
b-(s-)kyab pa "to defend, protect"
f h-bad pa
" to endeavour, exert oneself "
, / I n-UlM* 'fJUt tU UllUCiVUUl, CA.OJ.I; UllCEK/lJ.
based on y*ba(3): {' ^ _ A ' .
( byed pa to manufacture; to cause
f h-phog pa "to influence"
I phyog-s pa "to diverge, turn; to make
evident"
based on y*ta(3):
3) Deverbatives.
based on y*bu~(2):
Compare also:
{ & lew
based on y*ga (7) : < ,
* v ' \s-kyar
d-puy ba "to assemble, to collect"
(KTED)
phyuy ba "the excess or overflow of a
thing in a vessel"
{kho "king, lama"
khyo "husband, man"
f ker ba "to raise, lift"
\ kyer ba "upright, straight"
f s-gam "trunk, box"
\ gyam "shelter, refuge"
f s-kog(-8)pa ' 'a hard covering, rind, bark"
\ s-kyog-8 "a spoon, ladle"
"anything round"
"thehollowof the handfilled"
38
H. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES
B) Ba btags forms causatives, completives, denominatives,
and deverbatives.
Examples :
1) Oausatives (only two in number).
based on
based on j*bu (6)
2) Completives.
a) Iteratives.
( h-phag pa "to be uplifted or raised"
\ h-phrag pa "to stir up, spur (a horse,
etc.)"
"to be effaced"
- IWyi
' \h-bri
i ba
ba
based on ]/*6n(8): I . P " ** .
I h-phru ba
based on }bu (1):
h-btul pa
s-briid pa
b) Intensives (very numerous).
based on Vqa (12)
"to diminish"
"to press"
"to press = squash, cru sh'
(JTED)
"to blow (either with the
mouth)"
"to be blown (by the wind)"
"to stir, poke up (fire)"
"to be uneasy"
"to be insane, deranged"
, f bab-s (pa) "to take, seize"
based on }'*ba (5): {,,.. . , ,
x ' [ h-brab pa to catch at su
suddenly.
snatch"
c) Resultatives.
f fa-l)Qri f)(l
based on \*ba (4)
based on ]/*ga "(2)
\ d-brog pa
{8-go ba
s-gro ba
"to grow loose"
"to forget"
"to bid, command"
"to debate, discuss" (as the
result of the command)
"to fancy, imagine"
"to publish, proclaim"
| s-gom pa
\ h-gram pa
3) Denominatives and Deverbatives.
f bay "messenger, runner"
based on y*ba(6): \ , J 6
\ h-bray ba
S ~ ge>0
"to go after, follow"
"above, on top"
"to erect, put up"
"to send, dispatch"
"tax, tribute, duty"
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
39
based on
Compare also:
based on i*ga (3)7
based on ]/*ga (6) :
J m-gon po
\ m-gron
s-go po
s-gro ba
"to place together, collect"
"largeness, bulk," and many
others.
"master, lord"
"object of invocation
(Buddh.)"
"outward looks, bodily
appearance"
"a leather or hide bag for
keeping barley-flour, peas,
etc."
7. We have thus seen that certain formations may be obtained
through the tennis. The ablaut produces the same results in
those cases where the use of tennis is not possible. Ablaut
may also occur in verbs with initial media so that two forms with
almost the same meaning result. Since through ya btags and ra btags
two verb forms with almost identical meanings are formed, these two
means of creating words must be considered as agents for the increase
of the number of words rather than for the number of concepts. When
from one stem there still exist forms of various kinds, these forms offer
a good bird's-eye view of the multiplicity of those forms which belong
to the oldest period of the speech, even before the numerous other
means of word forming such as Lautverschleifung, LautvcrscMdmng t
Anlautsverkilmmerung, etc., created a new era of the language. Two
examples may suffice to illustrate the aggregated means of word
building mentioned in 2 6:
1) Deriving from y*ba (3):
stem *bag to swell up (intr.), represented by
bag-s "slowly, gradually, step by step"; in ad-
dition to this the tennis stem:
*pag to swell up (trans.), from which is formed
by the aspirate (cf. 8) the intransitive
h-phag pa "to be erected, be raised." From this alilaut
produces the transitive
h-phog pa "to influence" = to encourage. In ad-
dition to this we have
d-pag-s pa "to measure, fathom" (JTED)
d-pog pa "to measure, apportion"
40 H. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
phyog-s pa "to diverge, to turn; to make evident"
(aspiration is due to prefix h-, which has
dropped; cf. 8)
h-phrag pa "to stir up, spur (a horse, etc.)." Further-
more:
bog-s "profit" and
s-pog-s "gain, profit"
2) Deriving from j*ga (6) :
stem gay "husk, shell"
s-goy ba "to hide, conceal" (denominative to gay,
produced by ablaut, prefix s is intensive
(cf. 17))
khay JM "house, building, residence," the interior,*
made by man, therefore tenuis; tcnuis
aspirate: the thing in itself, 1.
khoy(-s) "the innermost, middle" (ablaut intensive)
khuy "cave, hole" (afjlaut change to u diminutive)
s-kuy la "to hide in the ground" denominative for-
mation to khuy by means of prefix s-
(s. 16).
s-yyoy ba "to hide, conceal"
s-kyoy ba "to guard, protect" (tenuis intensive)
h-khyoy ba "to guard, protect" (aspiration due to pre-
fix h- s. 8)
groy "house ; village, hamlet" (infix r is causative
and ablaut intensive or vice versa:
pleonasm).
D. ASPIRATES.
8. A) Intransitives and passives are formed from in-
transitives through tenuis aspirate, that is, as well from verbs
with initial media as from those with initial tenuis.
Examples :
a) Intransitives from transitives with initial tenuis.
( g-tSu ba "to turn round (like the
based on l/*ga (14): ! twisting of a screw)"
\h-thsuba "to be twisted, distorted"
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
41
I h-th&un pa
J s-kyur ba
\ h-khyur ba
( 8-kyol ba 1
based on T/*ga(13): I s-kyd ba J
[ h-khyol ba
,- - (d-kyuba
based on }*gu: < , ,, .
[ h-khyu ba
based on ,/*M5):
ba
"to augment, multiply"
"to be augmented, increase"
"to tame"
"to be tamed, subdued"
"to throw (away), let loose"
"to be separated, be aban-
doned"
"to carry, carry away"
"to be carried, be brought"
"to wring out, filter"
to be wrought, be filtered*
= "to run away"
"to change, alter"
"to move away, change pla-
( s-prod pa "to pay"
\ h-phrod pa "to be given, be offered"
b) Intransitives from transitives with initial media
f h-gey-s pa "to fill up, satisfy"
[ h-khey-8 pa
f s-grol ba
based on
based on ]/*ga(ll):
based on
based on J*ga(2):
based on
based on
based on
based on }fbu (5):
"to be full, be filled"
"to set free"
\ h-khrol ba "to be set free"
( h-dzom-s pa "to conquer, subdue"
\ h-th&om-s pa "to be conquered, be sub-
dued"
( h-god pa "to plan, design"
\ h-khod pa "to be set down, to be put"
to be designed))
( r-gyor ba "to kill"
j khyor ba "to become dizzy"
( h-khyor ba "to reel, stagger"
f r-dzod pa "to pronounce, proclaim"
| thSod pa "to be proclaimed, be de-
cided"
J h-byin pa "to let go, set free"
| phyin pa "to set out, depart"
i h-dzud pa "to put, insert"
I h-thsud pa "to be put inside of"
42 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
The building up of intransitives and passives from transitives is
always and solely the function of tenuis aspirate 1 . If from transi-
tives with initial media sound are formed intransitives or passives
through the aspiration of the tenuis, it is to be observed that the
aspiration is possible only with the tenuis. If there is also aspiration
in the formation of medial transitives, causatives, completives, etc.,
it is not the aspiration, but the tenuis itself which has formed the
kind of verb in question. The aspirate was necessary in such cases on
phonetic grounds only because of the prefix h-. Very occasional
words have lost the prefix h-, obviously as the result of carelessness.
Laufer finds in the prefix h- the sign of the passive and future (Bird
Divination, p. 99). Upon the basis of my theories I am forced to
take exception with him. There are only three cases, in which in-
transitives or passives are formed through the prefix h-, because the
transitive is already aspirated! Those three cases are namely:
,-- - ( Mad pa "to separate, to free"
based on yda(4): {,",., . , . , . .,,,
r l ' [ h-thSad pa "to be separated, cut off"
--- f Maria "to fulfill, finish"
based on y*fca(3): t ,",.. , <4J . , f . . , , , . ,,,
1 \ h-thgar ba "to be finished, completed"
u j ,/r vrr
based on }bu (5) : < , JL , A , . <4A
v ' - to be dug = "to enter, get
into"
B) It has already been said that the aspirate often expresses the
thing in itself, the action in itself, or the condition in
itself. From a great many the following examples may be selected:
based on ]/gra(12): khag i*> "bad, spoiled, rotten"
based on J/*ga(13): khag "means, resource"
khal "a caravan"
khral "tax, tribute"
based on J/*ga(16)\>: kha "word, speech, conversation"
th&a "word, sound, news"
thSod jxi "determined, decided"
based on ]/*gra(16)a: khoy ba "entertainment during the
day" (KTED)
kham pa "fox colored, brownish"
1 In Burmese, for example, transitives arc formed from intransitives directly
by aspiration. Cf. Lonsdale, Burmese Grammar and Analysis, 246, and
Judson, Burmese Grammar, 106.
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
43
based on /* s-myi gu "a pen of any kind" along with
8-myig ma "bamboo, reed"; *s-myug bu "a pen" > s-myu gu "a pen"
and the form s-myug ma, still used to-day in the same sense. Compare
also beg ge be ge "measles."
y. This suffix indicates emphasis, intensity.
Examples :
*du ba
based on ^*du (6) :
based on
__
based on ^*ga(2):
based on j*ga(2):
passion, agony, pain,
from which
(g-)duy ba "to be pained, be tor-
mented"
(r-)duy ba "to beat, strike"
(r-)gyu ba "to walk or move in a
line" (ITED)
(b-) (r-)gyuy(-s) pa "the marrow in the back-
bone"
goba "to perceive mentally,
understand"
(d-)goy(-a) pa "to think, consider"
ya
yay
based on f*da(W)b: (l-)taba
(m-)thor) ba
based on ^bu (1): (h)buba
(d-)buy
"I," that which is in-
dividual within me,
from which
"character, disposition,"
I-ness
"to see," from which
"to see, view"
"to open, unfold (flo-
wer)," from which
"middle"
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
based on
(h- )bru ' 'seed , grain, ' ' from which
gray po "the corn seed that is
not rotten" (as to the
change of the initial
sound, cf. 130131)
(h-)bu "worm, insect", from
which
buy ba "a humming and singing
insect"
2) Dental Suffixes (d, n\ (a))
d. This suffix forms donominative-causatives.
(6-) hah "word, speech, command,"
from which
"to plan, arrange"
"chieftain," from which
"to rule, govern"
"lord, master"
"to venerate, revere"
original meaning: "to be laid
out in a line," from which
"to fasten to, tie together"
"deed, action," from which
"to do, make"
toarch (cf . (d-)bah fto"cave")
from which
"a tassel, tuft," that which
has been made arched
"to perceive mentally, under-
stand," from which
"to plan, design"
"to open, unfold (flowers),"
from which
(h-) bud pa "to blow with the mouth,"
to cause to unfold
(b-) kod pa 1
(b-) kad pa J
based
on ]/V"(3):
go
(h-) god pa
(r-) dze
(r-) dzfd pa
based
on 1/V~(14):
(r-) gyu ba
(r-) gyud pa
based
on l/*ba (3) :
bya
byed pa
based
on iba(\)\
*bah ba
(s-) bod pa
based
on l/*ga(2):
goba
(h-) god pa
based
on ibu(\)i
(h-) bu ba
50
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
n. This suffix produces both the personae agendi belonging to
the causative formed by suffix d and the abstract or concrete
noun belonging to the causative formation. Deverbatives
may be produced by the same means.
Examples :
based on ^*ga (3)7
based on ]ba (1):
based on ^bu (1)1
based on ]*da (2):
based on ^*ga (2)7
go ba "to be a chieftain" (cf. b-kod
f pa "to nominate," from
which
(m-)gon po "lord, master"
*ba ba to arch, wherefrom
ben "large pitcher"
(h-)bu ba "to open, to unfold," from
which
byin "pomp, splendour, magnifi-
cence"
*da ba to arrive at, reach to, from
which
don "aim, goal"
(b-)kah "word, speech, command"
(cognate to b-kod pa "to
plan, design")
(m-)khan po "teacher, professor, head of
a monastery"
(s-)yo ba "to design, to intend"
(m-)yon pa "manifestation; to be evi-
dent"
(r-)ku ba "to steal"
(r-)kun ma "thief"
(b-)go ba "to part, divide" (cognate to
b-god pa "to divide, se-
parate")
(d-)gon pa "wilderness, solitary place"
To this group belongs also the suffix , which developed from d
and carries with it the meaning of the transitive-perfect ("to have
been caused") or more rarely of the intransitive-perfect ("to have
become"), for example: b-s-kos "elected," r-tsi-s "counting, reckon-
ing*" g-ff&~* "dear, beloved, precious," r-dze-8 "tucked up, trussed
up," m-khea pa "learned, wise," thSas "dress, form, shape" and count-
based on fya (
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
51
less others 1 . In transcribing some of the examples I have separated
the s from the rest of the word and in some not for the following
reason: If the suffix is "inseparable" or stem-building (cf. 21), it
should not be set off in the transcription, c. g., b-s-kos is the perfect of
s-kod pa "to choose, elect." If, however, the suffix s is "separable," it
is desirable to set it off from the rest of the word, e.g., r-tei-s "counting,
reckoning," g-tSe-s "dear, beloved," and others. These are the perfects
of r-tsi ba "to count, reckon" and g-tje ba "to love, venerate." A
special chapter will later be devoted to this perfect suffix s (s. 23).
My investigations have been made quite independent of Conrady's
and, as one sees, I have arrived at much clearer results, for he writes
in his TCDB: "auch d scheint sich im Tibetischen als Suffix zu finden,"
for which he gives three examples (cf. p. 45).
3) Labial Suffixes (/>, m).
12. 6. This suffix shows purpose, an approaching of tho goal,
perfection.
Examples :
bo ba
based on
(4) :
based on |/*f/a():
based on }*ga (6) :
(h-)bab pa
(b-)go ba
(h-)geb(-s)pa
(s-)gyoy ba
(h-)dzaJj pa
based on ]f*ga (6) : ko ba
(b-)kab pa
"to overflow out of a ves-
sel," from which
"to move downward"
"to put on something, to
cover," from which
"to cover, to conceal"
"to conceal, hide," from
which
"to sneak, slink" (cf. for-
mation of the fourth de-
gree by means of ya
blags, 71)
"hide, leather made of the
yag's skin"
"to cover"
1 tho suffix a may form nominn nctionis in some cases:
h-gro bn "to go" lob -pa "to learn"
h-groa "gait, manner of walking" lob-s "tho learning"
(bltig pa "to found"
bluy-a ma "the cast metal"
and others, cf. Conrady, ICDB p. 43.
)
52
II. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES
based on j*ga (8): (s-}ka ba
(b-s-)ka
khyab pa
based on ^ga(lO): (a-)gro ba
based on idd (5)":
(s-)grob
(b-)dah ba
based on ^bu (5) :
(r-)dob pal
(g-)dab pa)
(h-)bu
(h-)bub(-s pa
"thick" (of fluids)
"to fill, penetrate"
"to augment = to exag-
gerate"
"haughtiness, arrogance"
"to carry away," from
which
"to give"
"bug, insect," from which
"to put on a roof" = to
build (make) an arch
(cf. (h-)bug(-a) pa "to 'hollow out")
based on i*du (2) :
*daba
(r-)dab pa
(h-)dzu ba
(m-)dzyJb mo
(h)-bu ba
*h-bub pa
to reach to > to become
equalized, wherefrom
"to fold, pile one upon
another"
"to catch at, seize on,"
from which
"claw, paw" 1
"to open, blossom, unfold,"
from which
to unfold, develop)) in the
aspect of aim, perfection,
from which comes the
form of the perfect tense
bvb(-s) "entirely, com-
pletely"
" m. This suffix always indicates the aspectus actionis perfectae.
It also forms at times substantives related to the word forms
built up with the suffix b. (resultatives).
Examples :
based on i*du (2): (h-)du ba "to assemble, accumulate,"
from which
(h-)dum pa "to be reconciled with; con-
cord"
1 *dzub pa would mean "to grasp" in the sense of nearing perfection, or "to
grasp," when the gra sping was bound up with a definite purpose. Through
prefix m it becomes a property of man's body (cf. prefix m, 19).
. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
53
based on ^*du (6) : ihu bo
(h-)thum(-a)
go ba
(*-)9) Q O OS) O
mute spirant: 3f (h) y\ (h) o accomplished only
through the suffix h. And that the Tibetans originally knew no long syllables is
demonstrated by the fact that the inventor of the Tibetan alphabet, although
the Indian symbols for short i and u as well as those for long I and u were at his
disposal (cf. fiff, cRf, cF, ^T), never once availed himself of the Indian long I and u
in open syllables, and that when he encountered long syllables in Sanskrit and
Pali he felt it necessary to express them by the symbol for length (h) which
incidentally is equivalent in this place to the German h used to indicate long
vowels. For this reason, in accordance with F. O. Schrader "Siamese Mute 7t",
I give the name half-long to vowels of an open syllable in contrast to the
lengthened vowels and the short vowels of a closed syllable.
5*
56 II. ORIGIN OF WORD GLASSES
inherent in a consonant is written in Tibetan by another symbol W f
which, however, is spoken very short, or as Hannah says: "short,
hard, compact, and full, uttered forcibly" and becomes through this
explosive sound at the beginning of the syllable almost equivalent to
the spiritus lenis. This W like the I in Arabic, etc., serves as the basis
of the vowel symbols and thus represents through Si", W, ET, and
"N "\3
tT, ('i, 'u, 'o, and 'e) the half-long vowels i, u, o, and e. Since, however,
each open a inherent in an isolated consonant is half-long, the open
vowels i, u, o, and e, are in general half-long after consonants (true
only of classical Tibetan). In order to represent the isolated vowels
and the half-long jopen vowels after consonants as long, the letter
^ (h) is placed beneath the vowel base, e.g. : W, $t, W, 9f, ^T
Q, Q, ^ fS,
'ah (a), 'ih (I), f uh(u), 'oh (6), 'eh (e), or T lah (Id), ^ duh (du),
^
goh (go) etc. This ^ (h), the spiritus asper, is as a final vowel es-
pecially well adapted to vowel lengthening, since according to Hannah
"(^ (h) is a long, slow, and gentle emanation" in contrast to l^J
"uttered forcibly." Thus, the vowel is lengthened through a sort of
* 'exhalation." In order to indicate lengthening of the vowel inherent
in a consonant, the spiritus asper h is written as a subscription in
transcribing the Sanskrit (and Pali) a, since only Sanskrit (or Pali)
words require the subscription of h to produce the long vowels i, u, o, e,
and a few diphthongs. On the other hand h became a suffix, when the
lengthening of the final inherent a occurred in Tibetan words.
And here as has been generally supposed we are obviously not
dealing with the diacritical purpose referred to above. It is true that
words like d-gah (^]^*), m-yah (^^'), g-dah (^]^*), m-nah
^^P\), etc., could be read as dag, may, gad, man etc. On the other
hand, there was reason to add an h for diacritical reasons to the words
b-kah pip;), d-pah (^'), d-kah (*flfi), m-khah
m-thah (^^'), m-dzah (^^'), h-dzah (3^'), b-r-dah
etc., since words such as bak, dap, dak, with tennis suffix, or makh,
math with tenuis aspirate suffix, or madz, hadz with final,
assibilizcd dental or with final palatal are entirely foreign to
Tibetan. In those words the final h serves only to lengthen the
inherent a. And why was this a lengthened in certain words ? There
must be a reason for the lengthening of a vowel, and final h seems to
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
57
have served, like all other suffixes, as an agent to increase the number
of concepts, in order to express emphasis, perseverance, and such
like. Compare :
"sound, word; news" (basis)
"to draw up, prepare"
(action)
"to be the first, come first"
(basis)
"might, power, sway"(action)
based on j*ga(2):
based on ]f*ga (3JT:
brightness, light (cf. DTR)
(m-)yah
based on ]/*ga(lQ)a,: kha
(m-)khah "sky" (action)
based on )/*da (2) : da to reach to (basis)
(m-)dah "arrow," to obtain (action)
tha(na) "so far as, up to" (basis)
(m-)thah "end, limit," to put an end*
(action)
based on l/*da (3) : (s-)na bound, tied together* (basis)
"put together"
(m-)nah "to take an oath" (action)
based on ]/*da(ll): da to change into > decay
(basis)
(h-)dah ba "to pass away, go beyond"
(action)
Suffix h assists so to speak the determinative prefixes. If we
then find the suffix h in words like b-kah "word, speech," d-kah "hard,
difficult," g-tah ma "pawn," d-pah "fortitude," m-dzah bo "husband,
friend," h-dzah "rain-bow," g-dzah ma "a kind of helmet," h-dzah ba
"interest, rent," etc., a kind of pleonasm, discussed in 9, results.
Suffix h may play the same role in d-gah ba "joy, splendour,"
.g-dah ba "that is, that means," b-dah ba "to drive, chase away,"
h-bah bo "cave," d-bah "wave, billow," etc., that is to say, in words
where it was supposed to have only a diacritical use. In this case
Jaschke's term "newly invented" (s. above) may be applied to suffix h.
1 From another point of view h is to be considered as the "sign of the present
tfnso" (s. 59).
2 Prefix a is intensive (s. 17). Prefix m indicates reference to man (s. 19).
Consequently "emphasis" had to be given to the word in another way in order
to express the exercise of power, and this other way was the addition of final h.
The same is true of the next examples.
58 II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
Suffix h is never found with the other vowels, nor with ya btags,
ra btags, la btags, and wa zur for obvious reasons. (See the paragraphs
in question).
13b. From their division into guttural, dental, and labial suffixes,
etc., it is apparent that certain suffixes are related to each other, that
is the media with the nasal as g and y, b and m, d and n. There is also
a close connection between / and r. The guttural pair presents the
iterative or intensive aspect, the labial the aspect of purpose,
an approach to the goal, perfection. The dental pair presents
a causative aspect, since, as it appears, the nasal always brings the
aspect produced by the media even closer to perfection or indicates
the strongest stage of continuity. Let us take as an example
]/da (11) to change into > decay, vanish :
(h-)dah ba "to pass away, to die"
(m-)dag "glowing embers" - continual glowing, to be
consumed,)) very probably with regard to the dead
bodies consigned to the flames, to which the prefix
m refers (cf. 19)
(m-)day ba "place of cremation." Suffix y creates a stronger
effect than g and points to a longer period of
continuity
(h)-dad "funeral repast"
yl v , , ctf ! . ,, / suffix d causative,
(l-)dad pa "funeral anniversary J
external manifestation of the causing the dead
body to disappear (or to undergo a change)
(g-)don would be equivalent with destroyer; cf. the cor-
responding forms g-non pa "to subdue, suppress"
and s-ton he who causes the change = "autumn"
(b-r-)dalj pa "to sink, go down" approaching the end*
(suffix ft!)
dam pa "deceased, late" (entire completion, suffix ml)
b-dar ba "to grind" = to cause to dissolve (suffix r causative)
h-dal ba "to sink down, disappear" (suffix I continuativo)
b-dar ba is therefore causative to h-dal ba
A further example is f* da (3) to become connected, to become
joined*:
*(l-)da ba to become combined, appended,))
(l-)de "a prefixed tribal title of the earlier kings
of Tibet"
. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
59
(h-)dog-s pa "to bind, fasten,"
day "postposition for the comitative: with"
(suffix y acts also here stronger and more
continuously than the suffix g\)
(h-)ded pa "to follow, succeed" = to join oneself to
(l-)dan "belonging to, being in possession of" =
tied to, joined to,
(8-)deb pa "to fasten together, to unite,"
dam "bound fast"
dar "silk" = that which is spun, tied together*
(r causative),
there-
from (s-)tar ba
and (b-8-)nal ba
"to file on a string, to fasten to"
"to spin out, protract" (continuative)
Note. It seems to me that another interesting connection exists
between the suffixes d and m, since the word form with suffix d ex-
presses the idea of wish, or desire for something, while that with
suffix m indicates the idea of the completed act or the conse-
quences, in comparison with the suffix-less form.
Example :
thought
go ba "to under-
stand"
(b-)dah ba "to carry
away"
*du ba to have
pain
*ba ba to swell,
increase))
wish
(h-)god pa "to plan"
(b-)tad pa "to en-
trust"
(h-}thud pa "to sub-
jugate"
perf . b-tud pa
(h-)bad pa "to en-
deavour, exert"
action (result)
(h-)gram pa "to pro-
claim"
(l-)dom pa "alms"
(g-)tum pa "wild,
furious"
bam po "that which is
done"
to which belongs
d-pah "fortitude,
courage"
*b(r)u ba to in- (h-)brud pa "to fill
crease* up"
(8-)brum pa
nant"
Prefixes. 6) Guttural prefixes.
14. g. 1) Prefix g corresponds chiefly to the suffix g. It is therefore
iterative.
60
. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
Examples :
based on V*cfo(6): *du ba
passion, agony, pain, from
which
g-dug pa "mischievous, vicious, poison-
ous" (of. dug "poison";
thus g-dug pa is pleonastic)
g-duy ba "to be pained, to be torment-
ed"
h-dul ba "to tame, bring under right
discipline"
g-dul future of h-dul ba, thus itera-
tive.
"inclination, desire"
"to covet, to hanker after"
"excessive desire, lust"
"to till, cultivate"
future of this, also iterative
to extend, increase*
"to spread, diffuse"
"to stretch, open wide"
"to diffuse, encompass" (here
pleonasm : suffix / continua-
tive, prefix g iterative)
"to melt"
"to ladle water"
"to squeeze, strain"
"disease, affliction, torment"
"to be able to bear," and many
others.
Prefix g occurs with this meaning before 1$, ny, d, n, to, 2, z, y, &,
and 8.
2) Before gutturals and labials g changes with d.
Examples :
based on ]/*ga (2): go ba "to understand," from which
d-goy-s pa "to think, reflect," to strain
one's mind*
(d instead of g iterative; as
regards suffix 8 compare
later 23, 1)
based on ]/du~(5): du
g-du ba
g-duy ba
h-dul ba
g-dul
based on ^*da (6): *da ba
b-doba
g-day ba
g-dal ba
based on \*gu : h-d&u ba
h-lhSu ba
g-t8u ba
based on l/*du (6): zug
g-zug pa
II. ORIGIN OF WORD CLASSES
61
based on i*ga (3): d-lcri ba
based on j*da(10)a,:d-pyodpa "to investigate, to test by
reasoning"
"to conduct one's pupil from
one stage of learning to
another"
"to open, unfold," whence
"middle," that which opens
based on ybu(l): h-buba
d-buy
gradually*
based on j*bu (2): d-puy ba "to gather, collect," to con-
centrate))
"worm, insect," from which
"cavern, cavity" (pleonastic)
to whither, vanish*, from
which
"poor," withering away
based on \bu(5): h-bu
d-bug
based on j*bu(6): *bu ba
d-bul po
based on j*ga (3) : d-kon
(pleonasm)
"rare"
"thorn"
"steep or up hill"
based on ^*ga (5) : kan
d-kan
based on ^*
