IE Vocabulary in Old Chinese PDF

SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS
Number 7 January, 1988
Indo-European Vocabulary in Old Chinese

A New Thesis on the Emergence of Chinese Language
and Civilization in the Late Neolithic Age
by
Tsung-tung Chang
Victor H. Mair, Editor

Sino-Platonic Papers
Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA
vmair@sas.upenn.edu
www.sino-platonic.org
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_______________________________________________
C o n t e n t s
Recent developments i n t h e f i e l d of h i s t o r i c a l l i n g u i s t i c s 1
Monosyllabic s t r u c t u r e of Chinese words and Indo-European s t e m s 3
Tonal a c c e n t s o f Middle Chinese 3
P r e l i m i n a r i e s on t h e comparison of consonants an? vowels 4
Some IE s t e m s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o Chinese words o f e n t e r i n g t o n e 5
Middle Chinese t o n e s and f i n a l consonants of I E s t e m s 8
Some I E s t e m s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o Chinese words of r i s i n g t o n e 9
Some IE s t e m s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o Chinese words o f v a n i s h i n g t o n e 12
Some IE s t e m s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o Chinese words o f l e v e l t o n e 17
R e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f Middle Chinese vocalism a c c o r d i n g t o Yiin -ch i n g 26
Old Chinese v o c a l i s m 29
Vocalic correspondences between Chinese and I E 30
I n i t i a l s o f Old Chinese 31
I n i t i a l consonant c l u s t e r s i n Old Chinese as s e e n from IE-sterns 31
Proximity o f Chinese t o Germanic 32
R e l a t i o n of Old Chinese t o neighboring languages 33
Emergence o f Chinese Empire and language i n t h e Middle of
t h e t h i r d millennium B.C. 35
Appendix
Abbrevations
Bibliography
Rhyme Tables o f E a r l y Middle Chinese ( 6 0 0 )
Rhyme Tables o f E a r l y Mandarin ( 13 0 0 )
Word Index, E n g l i s h
Piny i n
Indo-European Vocabulary i n O l d Chinese. A New T h e s i s on t h e
m e r g e n c e of Chinese Language and C i v i l i z a t i o n i n t h e L a t e
Neolithic Age*
Tsung-tung Chang, U n i v e r s i t y of F r a n k f u r t , West Germany
I n 1786, j u s t o v e r two hundred y e a r s ago, comparative h i s t o r -

i c a l l i n g u i s t i c s w a s b o r n , when S i r W i l l i a m J o n e s (1746-1794)
d i s c o v e r e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between Old-Indian S a n s k r i t , Greek,
and L a t i n . S i n c e t h e n , t h e emerging Indo-European p h i l o l o g y h a s
thrown much l i g h t on t h e e a r l y h i s t o r y o f mankind i n E u r a s i a .
During t h e p a s t two hundred y e a r s , many s u g g e s t i o n s were a l s o

made i n r e g a r d t o r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f Indo-European t o o t h e r languages
such as S e m i t i c , A l t a i c , A u s t r o n e s i a n , Korean e t c , , b u t Indo-
E u r o p e a n i s t s commonly r e j e c t e d such a t t e m p t s f o r want of c o n v i n c i n g
e v i d e n c e . A s t o C h i n e s e , Joseph Edkins was t h e f i r s t t o advance
t h e t h e s i s of i t s p r o x i m i t y t o Indo-European. I n h i s work China's
P l a c e i n P h i l o l o g y . An A t t e m p t t o show that the Language of Europe and A s i a
have a Conrmon O r i g i n ( 187 1)
he p r e s e n t e d a number of Chinese words
s i m i l a r t o t h o s e o f Indo-European.
I n h i s t i m e , E d k i n s ' t h e s i s seemed b o l d and e x t r a v a g a n t . But

t o d a y , more t h a n a hundred y e a r s l a t e r , w e a r e i n a much b e t t e r
p o s i t i o n t o c a r r y o u t a comprehensive and well-founded comparative
s t u d y . S i n c e the end o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , many S i n o l o g i s t s
have been engaged i n r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e mediaeval and a r c h a i c
r e a d i n g s of Chinese c h a r a c t e r s . Among them, Karlgren (1889-1978)
was t h e most s u c c e s s f u l , and i n 1 9 4 0 h e p u b l i s h e d a comprehensive
p h o n o l o g i c a l and e t y m o l o g i c a l d i c t i o n a r y e n t i t l e d ~ i a m m a t a s e r i c a .
I n t h e meantime, t h e Indo-Europeanists A l o i s Walde (1869-1924) and
J u l i u s Pokorny (1887-1970) w e r e d e v o t i n g themselves t o t h e c o m p i l a t i o n
of a u s e f u l e t y m o l o g i c a l d i c t i o n a r y . The r e s u l t was t h e I n d o g e r m a -
n i s c h e s E t y m o l o g i s c h e s W o r t e r b u c h by Pokorny ( 1 959) which provides
a s o l i d b a s i s f o r o u r l e x i c a l comparisons.
* T h i s s t u d y i s a much expanded v e r s i o n of t h e paper I read a t

t h e XXXII I n t e r n a t i o n a l Congress f o r Asian and N o r t h African
S t u d i e s on August 28, 1986 i n Hamburg (Germany) .
Tsung-tung Chang, "Indo-European Vocabulary in Old Chinese"
Soon thereafter, some Sinoloqists made use .-of the two dictiona-
ries by ~arlgrenand Pokorny to compare Chinese and Indo-European
words. In 1967, an unaffiliated German scholar, Jan Ulenbrook,
published an article "Einige Ubereinstimmungen zwischen dem
Chinesischen und dem Indogermanischen", in which he claimed
that 57 words are related. Shortly afterwards, Tor Ulving of
the University of GBteborg, Sweden, wrote a review of this
article framing the title as a question: "Indo-European elements
in Chinese?" While working on his thesis on word families in
Chinese, Ulving compiled for his own use two dictionaries:
"Archaic Chinese - English" and "English - Archaic Chinese",
and discovered thereby 238 Chinese words similar to Indo-Euro-
pean roots. In spite of this considerable number of word equiva-
lents, however, Mr. Ulving became discouraged and, as he told me in
his letter of April, 1986, has given up his researches in this
field.
The skepticism, common among Indo-Europeanists in regard to

comparative studies with other languages, is largely based on
the dogmatic opinion that only morphology is relevant but not
vocabulary. Since the typology of Chinese seems to preclude
a cognate relation to Indo-European, they are inclined to dis-
card any lexical correspondences as merely accidental or ono-
matopoetic. Besides, prehistorical contacts and mixtures between
these languages seem not conceivable, as the Indo-Europeans are
supposed to have originated in Northern Europe or at best in the
Central Asian steppe, thousands of miles away from East Asia.
Hence, any research into a relationship between Old Chinese and
Indo-European languages would be but futile from the outset.
Yet there are also opposing views among Indo-Europeanists.

Investigations into Germanic languages and the oldest Indo-Euro-
pean language, Hittite, led some of them to a critical revision
of the prevailing conception about a Proto-Indo-European. Hermann
Hirt (1934) for instance states: "Inflexion of Indo-European
languages is due to a relatively late development, and its correct
comprehension can be achieved only by proceeding from the time of
Sino-Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988)
non-inflexion." And Carl Karstien (1936) holds the opinion that

"Chinese corresponds most ideally to the hypothetic prototype of
Indo-European."
Regarding vocabulary, there are striking similarities in the mono-
syllabic structure of the basic words. In modern German and English,
all the words of everyday speech are monosyllabic and their stereo-
typical structure is :
initial consonant ( s ) + vowel (s) + final consonant (s) .
The same word structure is valid for Chinese as well. It is funda-
mentally different from the disyllabic structure of Altaic words and
from the triconsonantal-disyllabic structure of Semitic words.
Characteristic of the monosyllabic word structure is, besides, the
complexity of the syllable nucleus, which consists of different
vowels and vowel clusters in contrast to the monophthongal vocalism
of polysyllabic words.
Another objection raised to comparisons between Chinese and Indo-
European is the existence of tonal accents in Chinese. Since most
modern Indo-European languages have only expiratory accents,
Chinese is considered to be a highly exotic language. Yet, even in
Chinese, the use of tonal accents as a means of lexical differenti-
ation is a result of comparatively recent development in the long
history of Chinese language, the earliest monuments of which date
back to 1300 B.C. (cf, Chang 1970, p.21). Unknown to Old Chinese, the
existence of tonal accents was for the first time mentioned in the
5th century by Shen Yiieh (441-513).
In Middle Chinese (Mch.) there were four tone categories:

A Ping-sheng , a level tone (which developed into Mandarin
tone 1 or 2) .
B Shang-sheng k , a rising tone (Mandarin tone 3) .
C Ch'ii-sheng , a vanishing, i.e. falling tone (Mandarin tone 4) .
D Ju-sheng A , an entering tone with a staccato effect, the word
being abruptly stopped by a final consonant -p,
-t, -k. (In Early Mandarin the words of this tone
lost their final consonant and were distributed
among the tones 2, 3 and 4, respectively according
to the phonation of initials) .
In Middle Chinese, words of the entering tone were the only group
which still preserved the final stops and therefore a close syllabic
structure. So they are most appropriate for convincing comparisons
with monosyllabic Indo-European word stems.
Tsung-tung Chang, "Indo-EuropeanVocabulary in Old Chinese"
The f i n a l s t o p s -p, - t r -k of t h e e n t e r i n g t o n e are nowadays

s t i l l e x t a n t i n d a i l y speech of s e v e r a l d i a l e c t s i n South China
as w e l l a s i n Chinese borrowings i n J a p a n e s e , Vietnamese and
Korean. A s a s p e a k e r o f a Taiwan d i a l e c t o f Minnan o r i g i n , I c o u l d
n
immediately i d e n t i f y some Indo-European s t e m s w i t h c o r r e s p o n d i n g
Chinese words. B e s i d e s , t h e command of Japanese and German w a s a l -
s o a g r e a t help f o r t h i s study.
I n t h e f o l l o w i n g l i s t s I have chosen a number o f Indo-European

s t e m s which are p h o n e t i c a l l y and s e m a n t i c a l l y e q u i v a l e n t t o Chinese
words. Correspondences i n i n i t i a l and f i n a l consonants r e f e r t o
t h e p o i n t s of a r t i c u l a t i o n , t h u s w e have e q u a t i o n s :
IE l a b i a l s = Old Chinese l a b i a l s , I E d e n t a l s = d e n t a l s ,
IE 1, r = d e n t a l s ( c f . p. 3 1 ) ; @, i ( f i n a l and m e d i a l )
IE v e l a r s = v e l a r s and l a r y n g e a l s ,
and occasionally ( t h e s o - c a l l e d "satemu-forms)
IE v e l a r s = d e n t a l s i b i l a n t s and a f f r i c a t e s .
Regarding t h e manner of a r t i c u l a t i o n , t h e r e are no r e g u l a r c o r r e s -

pondences between Indo-European and Chinese consonants l i k e G r i m m ' s
law which i s v a l i d among Indo-European d i a l e c t s t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t .
But t h i s i s n o t a s t o n i s h i n g , s i n c e i n Old Chinese t h e a l t e r n a t i o n
of i n i t i a l s i n v o i c i n g w a s a c o n v e n t i o n a l means o f c r e a t i n g new words
from one b a s i c form.
The r u l e s of v o c a l i c correpondences among Indo-European d i a l e c t s
a r e q u i t e complex. Vowels permanent1 change t h e i r q u a l i t i e s from
wi,?hIn one l a n "age
one language t o a n o t h e r , and from t u n e t o tlme,a%so, a s i s w e l l
known from t h e h i s t o r y of E n g l i s h p r o n u n c i a t i o n s . G e n e r a l l y , t h e
vocalism o f Old Greek i s t a k e n a s t h e s t a n d a r d f o r Proto-Indo-
European. Old Chinese vowels corresponds n e a r l y ( c f . p. 30), b u t
t h e d e t a i l s a b o u t t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of Middle and Old C h i n e s e
vocalism w i l l be t r e a t e d l a t e r (pp. 2 6 - 3 0 ) . For t h e moment, it i s
n e c e s s a r y t o n o t i c e i n advance t h a t t h e s t e m of a b l a u t i n g Germanic
v e r b s i s t h e form of p r e t e r i t e or noun, r a t h e r t h a n t h a t o f i n f i n i -
t i v e as assumed h i t h e r t o . T h e r e f o r e , i n some c a s e s I must s l i g h t l y
modify t h e b a s i c vowel o f v e r b a l stems g i v e n i n Pokorny, i n o r d e r
t o g e t b e t t e r b a s i s f o r comparison. A s Old Chinese v e r b s w e r e non-
f l e x i o n a l , t h e y might p r o b a b l y have p r e s e r v e d t h e o r i g i n a l vowel
t h e best.
Sitw -Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988)
Indo-European s t e m s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o Chinese words o f e n t e r i n g t o n e :
) Pokorny
page stem
meaning and
word examples
/ Ach. / Mch. Nch.
loo bhug b e l l y , nhd. Bauch 1 P U ~ pjuk fu: 3

ags.bTic, ahd.bGht
.
mhd bEch , schwed .buk,
dan bu. 1 1 111*
t o bask i n t h e sun
g r . ( P ~ # ' w ,a h a - b a h h a n ,
ags.bacan,b5c,aisl.baka
buk
1 I
phu :
3
7
phu :
"1
3
117 bheidh t o i n s i s t , t o bi,d, pi: pi:
t o b i d e , g r TI.
g o t . b i d j a n , ahd.mhd.
b i t t e n , a g s *biddan,
as .bidd jan, e n q l .to b i d
.
t o c l a s p (nhd klammern) klap keap kea
3
ags . c l y p p a n , a f r i e s . 5% 39 I1
kleppa, e n g l - c l a s p
4
371 gnet t o knead, nhd .kneten , p e t niet nie
.
ahd k n e t a n , a g s .cnedan
4% 23 I V
/ IVI
.
3
cheek (nhd. K i e f e r ) kep kiep kie
a g s . c e a f e , rnengl.chavel/ 39
1 393
586
god
kot
cot, hole
an.kot, ags .cot
khu :
4
3
400 glag lau

- --
408 ghobh t o give, donation ki: 3

g o t . g i b a n , a h d . geban,
g o t . g i b a , a h d . geba,
mhd. gabe , nhd.gabe
554 kalb t o helpi t o cooperate 2

xie
got. hilpa,
as. a g s . h e l p a n
ahd. h e l f a n , e n g l . h e l p
- --
2
xie 1
610 kob hap, happen, s u ' i t a b l e xo:
a g s . gehoep " s u i t a b l e "
.
schwed hapa s i g
''it happens"
1 61 6 kost (bone, r i b I kot ku: 3
skr. k8stf lat. costa,
f r z . c6te " r i b "
labg. k o s t , p o l n . koi%
i "bone"
I
-
. - - -
* Arabic and Roman numbers i n d i c a t e t h e Rhyme g r o u p and Grade respec-

t i v e l y ( c f . Rhyme Tables o f E a r l y Middle Chinese i n Appendix, p . 43)
A l i s t o f a b b r i v a t i o n s may b e found a t t h e end of t h e p a p e r (pp.40)
Tsung-tung Chang, ''Indo-EuropeanVocabulary in Old Chinese"
Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch.

page stem wokd examples
2
645 kWad what? fiuat fizt XO: xY:
ai .kad, lat-quid,
ahd-hwaz, anohvat, 2
as-hwat, ags-hwwt 45 24 RI he
l u e4 4
684 lend little, miserable leut luet lje:
as olGtr luttil,
ahd ,luzil, mhd .liitzelr 4
ags. lytel st;' 24RIII lie
690 lobh leaf lop iap- ie4 - ie4
got-lauf, ahd-loub, 4
ags .leaf, nhd .Laub 40IV Ye
694 mad mast, to fatten mat moat muo mu04
ahd .mhd .mnd .mast, 4
ags .moest % 24RI mo
735 mort to die, death mot mot mu :. muo4
a t lat.mors,
ahd-mord, mhd.mort,
ag.sYais1 .mord 18RI mo4
4
762 nak to drown- ( ertr inken) nak niek ni: ni:
ai .nassti, av .nas-, lat . 4
nex, "accidental death" . 35 IV ni
'
few (diinn, wenig) 2 2
843 pauk : bzk bak Pau2 pao2
1st-pagcus, ahd-£oh, PO: Pot2
fao, fo, as.fa, ags-fea 31 1 bao
float, nhdl FloD buat 2
837 plod blot fa:
ahd .mhd .vloz, ags .flGot 22QIII fa5
fa
@:'
856 regt right, nhd. richtig,
ahd .mhd ,as .rat,
zeak
A
zjak fii2
,
ags .riht e 4 2 I11 shi2
I
1
859 rist to tear, to slit- list liet lie lie4 !
I
ahd-r'izan, mhd .rizen,
.9.2.6. slid . nhd .r.e.i.Ben, schleiBen 21 IV lie4
877 sag to seek, nhd.sucheg S& s5k sau 3 SUO
3
got-sdkjan, aisl.s@kja,
ahd.~uohh n, ags .sZTecan, &
e 3
as.sskian, mnd .&ken 31 I SUO .
+ 1
Pokorny meaning and Mch . Nch. Ch.

page stem word examples
880 sap .
sap, nhd Saft
lat-sapa, aisl-safi,
I ahd.saf, sapf, ags.saep,

. I
+
mhd saf ,saft
913 sup
i1 .
soup,.. nhd Suppe ,ai supa-
ahd.s~f,souf,sopha,soffa
.
P sop
sie
921 skid to shit, nhd. schei0en h a t siet
I ahd.scxzan, ags-scxtan,
.
aisl skrta 21 IV 1 xie
4
922 skip
I rudder, ship
gr. 6kLriul: lat.scxpio,
tsiap tsiap
I got .aisl .ags .skip,

.
ahd scif 40 IV
935 skrek
I inclined, nhd-schrag -
.
tseak
.
mhd schraege, nd schrege #lJ I
931
963
skop
sleubh
I to scoop, nhd.sch6pfen
ahd-scaf, scepfen
to slip into zleup ziup
ki:
got.slLupan, ahd sliofan.

ags .slupanr nhd .schlupfe 38 IV
1013 tog roof, house, nhd .Dach dgk
gr. 6 ~ E f i 5 , d t o s ,
ahd.dah, aisl.$ak,
ags.cfoec, engl-thatch %
1017 stig to g o u p , nhd-steigen, tiak
got .steigan, aisl .stxga,
ahd .ags.stTgan bb! -
1024
1032
sturd
stouk
to rush at, nhd-sturzen dut
. .
ahd sturZen, mhd stiirzen
.
sturzen, mnd .mnl storten
engl-start
arrowheaa, nhd .stuck,
bret.stuclhr
I dot
18 RI
tsuk -yT
tsu: tsu:
anord.stykkz, as-stukki,
.
ahd stucki, mhd stiicke. 1 I
1058
183
tek
dgg
1 to take, nhd .bekommen,
aisl.@iggia, dSn.tigge,
ags .dicg an, as .tiqqian
got-tEkan, engl.take
tak I tak
.
Tsung-tung Chang "Indo-EuropeanVocabulary in Old Chinese"
For f u r t h e r p r o g r e s s i n i n t e r l i n g u a l comparison, it i s
e s s e n t i a l t o t r a c e o u t t h e l o s t f i n a l c o n s o n a n t s of Chinese
words w i t h l e v e l , r i s i n g and v a n i s h i n g t o n e s . E a r l y a t t h e be-
g i n n i n g of h i s p h o n e t i c a l s t u d y of Old Chinese, Kwgren (1923,
pp. 2 8 ) a l r e a d y came t o t h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e Middle Chinese
words of r i s i n g and v a n i s h i n g t o n e s e n d i n g i n -i o r -u must
o r i g i n a l l y have had a f i n a l consonant -g o r -d ( o c c a s i o n a l l y
a l s o -b), b u t he d i d n o t go s o f a r a s t o a s c r i b e -g t o a l l words
w i t h r i s i n g t o n e . I n Grammata S e r i c a (1940) h e i n t r o d u c e d f u r t h e r
-r ( p . 2 5 ) and -g ( p e 34 and 39) f o r t h e two groups o f words w i t h
l e v e l t o n e . Tung T'ung-ho (1948) t h e n reproached Karfgren w i t h
methodological i n c o n s i s t a n c y and r e s t o r e d -g f o r a l l Middle Chinese
words ending i n -0 and -u, l e a v i n g o n l y one group of open sflables
-a as p e r m i s s i b l e f o r Old Chinese. I n d o i n g s o , Tung u n f o r t u n a t e l y
r u l e d o u t a p o s s i b l e d e f i n i t e r e l a t i o n between Middle Chinese
t o n e s and Old Chinese f i n a l consonants and l e d t h e whole s t u d y
i n t o a deadend ( c f . Chang 1986, pp. 5 3 ) . Meanwhile P u l l e y b l a n k
(1962 and 1 9 8 3 ) , among o t h e r l e a r n e d s c h o l a r s , had l o n g been i n -
v e s t i g a t i n g s y s t e m a t i c a l l y t h e e a r l y Chinese t r a n s c r i p t i o n s of
I n d i c Buddhist terms and A s i a t i c l o c a l names i n o r d e r t o o b t a i n
"independent e v i d e n c e " f o r merely t h e o r e t i c a l l y r e c o n s t r u c t e d
o l d p r o n u n c i a t i o n s . With numerous examples he succeeded i n con-
f i r m i n g t h a t Middle Chinese words of v a n i s h i n g t o n e had a den-
t a l f i n a l (1962, p. 21 5 ) , and t h o s e o f r i s i n g t o n e a v e l a r f i n a l
( p. 225) i n t h e e a r l y c e n t u r i e s A.C. These correspondences
which have been p a r t i a l l y a t t e s t e d by t h e rhyming of Old Chinese
p o e t r y , can now a l s o be proved by Indo-European synonymous s t e m s .
Thus t h e f o l l o w i n g e q u a t i o n s may be p o s i t e d :
a. Mch. v a n i s h i n g t o n e < Ach. -d, -s = I E -s o r d e n t a l s

" ( o c c a s i o n a l l y ) < Ach. -b = .IE labials
" (cf.p.16) < Ach. -g = IE v e l a r s
b. Mch. r i s i n g t o n e < Ach. -g = I E velars

< Ach. -g = I E -u, -0 (occasionally)
c. Mch. level tone < Ach. -@ = IE -@

< Ach. -@, -i= IE -r, -1
(cf. pp. 24) < Ach. -u = IE velars
(cf. pp. 24) < Ach. -g = IE velars
< Ach. -u = IE labials (occasionally)
In the following list a number of Indo-European stems are

given which correspond to Chinese words of rising tone:
Pokorny
page stem
meaning and
word examples
i ~ c h . Mch. 1 Nch.
I
Ch.
,I
I II
,
4*
pu: pu:.4
1, %
107 bhog book,nhd.Buch; to book bo:g lbou :
ahd.buoh, as.afries . 4
aqs-an. bi5k !,2RI /bu4

141 bhrg castle, nhd. Burg po :g ! pau pau 3
~ p a 3o
0
gr. T T ~ Q J ~ S ~ i i
latoburgus "tower", 1 I
! !
got-baurgs "city,tower" a
I I
engloboroughtburrow, ; I
3
local names -bury I 25 I a bao
188 deik topointat/to, ' taig :$Cjaik t ~ 2 :te~i.:3
nhd. zeigen , gr tfs6kb'ih . I
I
,
lat.dzc6, ahd.zeigGn, 3
I
mhd. zeiqen,aqs.teon 6 I11 I zhi
188 doik toe, nhd Zehe .
lat. digitus "finger, ,
3
toe", ahd.zGha,
aqs. t-Zhe, tZ
213 drk
L
glance (nhd- Blick)
ai. df6- "glance", I
gr. d<pk O A A ~n to see, i
to glance" 2% 12.1 *
4* 4
227 dregh idle, lazy, nhd. trage, dag daiA taj tai
ahd.trXgi, mhd-traege,
as.trXg , mnd trach , . d
I
.
mnl traqhe ,El 13 I 1 dai4
257 dhrogh way, trail do:g dad [tau4* itao4 , ,
.
norw (dialect) drog
"trail of animals, I
I
valley", I
russ. doroga, !
poln. droga "way",
r
(hebr. d-r-q) I IS 1251 i
1
( dao
4
* In Early Mandarin,Middle Chinese rising tone changed not into

third, but into fourth tone, if the initial was voiced.

522
P
kak be capable of, can hag k h ~ :kho:
~ khY: 3
accepta9ler
ai-kaknoti "can",
aisl-hagr "suitable",
.
mhd behagen"acceptablem TiJ 27 I ke
3
.
kau-t. 3
Ic
597 keuk bright, shining, kag ,k kao3
# #
ai .%cati, sucyati % 25 I gao
fiaug hauL xau4 4
xaoq
@ 25 I hao
keug kieuL kjau 3 $?jap3
, @ 251V
658 log to gather
gr.~l'~, lat-legs
q.
camp, nhd. Lager

I %@S
659 ' logh
ags-lagu, rnnd-lach,
engl-law, ahd.luog &- SRIII
I
667 leig body ,corpse,(nhd.Leiche) lhaig theiL thi:
got .leik, aisl .lik,
ahd.lih, mhd-lih,
engl."lychV in lych-gate f% 13IV ti3
687 leugh to tempt, nhd-locken, leug jiu iu3 jou4
ahdolochon, lucchen,
I lockon, aisl. lokka
.
ags .loccian, mnl locken,
.
I
3'5 4
! mhd liicken 37 IV YOU
688 louk lea, open field 1o:g iaL ie ie3
ahd.16hrmnd.lbh,
ags-leah, lit-laukas,
nhd-lokal names: -1oh B 291V ye3
700 mork horse mag me* ma: ma: 3
ir .marc, ahd .marah,
ags-mearh, aisl-marr Is 29 I1 ma 3
(mongl.morj, -rg>-rj as in Scandinavian languages)
748 merg a
,
sea/laker nhd .Meer
ags -merece, aisl .merki,
3
aksl.rnorje 113 I hai3

'
Pokorny meaning and Ach. ,Mch. Nch. Ch.

page .stem word examples
799 polg folk, nhd.Volk, bog bod pu:
4
pu: 4
ahd.ags.folc,
aisl. ,dan.,schwed .folk,
.
poln. polk, (hebr p-l-g) 12 I bu 4
845 preg impudent, nhd-frech, peag pjai

b
pi:
3
pi: 3
got. (faihu-)friks,
"greedy after money" ,
aisl-frekr, ags-frecc,
ahd .freh "greedy" 6 III bi3
898 sikW to see, sight ziag zjaib rg:4
got-saihvan,aisl.sjZ J4i:
as.ahd. sehan, nhd-sehen 4
ahd.mhd.siht, nhd.Sicht #B 6111 shi
3
938 kreuk -
backbone, nhd.Rlickgrat, liog ljo:' leu3 ly:
aisl-hryggr,ags-hrycg,
ahd .(h)rukki,
engl .ridge $!$ a I 1 I11 1ii 3
965 slzk plum, sloe sliag ljaik li: li:3
ahd.slEha, mhd.slehe,
ags.slZh, nhd.Schlehe,
poln.'sliwka, russ.sliva 8111 li3
1032 treg dreg(s)l tseag tseaik tt,:3 ts2: 3
gr. reat;, - f o 5 ,
251 dhregh mhd.mnd.drec,
ags.&eax, schwed.track,
nhd .Dreck (=Bodensatz) @ 8 11 zi3
L A
It is fascinating to see that the velar final stop lost over

1500 years ago in Chinese is in most cases still preserved and
pronounced in ~erman,English,etc. even today. Furthermore, we find
that in Modern Chinese some European proper names such as Hamburg -
and Marx (=Markus) 5a
%f are meaningfully well transcribed .
The common word "p1u.m"~among Chinese.,German and Slavic lan-
guages is very instructive as positive evidence against tne
Western Theory prevailing among Indo-Europeanists who would
have limited the original homeland of Indo-Europeans to a small
zone of Middle Europe with beech and birch trees ("Buche und
Birke", cf. Kilian pp.36).
The f o l l o w i n g l i s t w i l l show t h a t t h e Indo-European s t e m s

which s e m a n t i c a l l y a n d p h o n e t i c a l l y c o r r e s p o n d t o C h i n e s e words
w i t h v a n i s h i n g t o n e have i n most cases a d e n t a l f i n a l a n d some-
t i m e s -b o r -p. S e v e r a l words l i k e % (392/405) and a (864/891)
r e f e r t o stems w i t h a d e n t a l , as w e l l a s t h o s e w i t h a l a b i a l
final.
>

page s t e m .word examples
4
14 5 .
b h r u - t t o b o i l , nhd b r o d e l n pud pui* fi: fei
a i s l . a g s .bro&, ahd . p r o t ,
b a i r .brod, e n g l . b r o t h 4
"Briihe" @ 1OR111 fei
4
155 t o split, t o burst
b h *l d pod phoa* phuo4 phuo
gr.~fid-7~
mhd . p l a t z e n , b l a t z e n ,
nhd . p l a t Z e n
169 bhorst t o b u r s t , nhd-bersten 4
( h e b r . p - r - t z " t o t e a r " ) $6 28.R I PO
phui* 4
171 b h r u s t b r e a s t , nhd.Brust pud fi: fei
g o t .ahd .mhd . b r u s t
a n . b r j o s t , a g s .brEost
837 plut a k s l .plugta,apr . p l a u t i 4
aruss.plju6a "lung" 10 R I I 7 fei
207 drd
0
.
t o d e f y , nhd t r o t z e n tod tau tau tou
4
mhd . t r a t z e n , t r e t z e n
mnd.trot, mhd.traz
I7 4
nhd.Trotz " d e f i a n c e " 37 I dou
23 1 duisk between, nhd zwischen. tuais tseik tsi:
4
Wi:
4
.
as .twisk, n l tusschen 4
engl .betwixt B% 15 I V ji
4
392 gerbh t o carve, n h d - k e r b e n keb k h e i a khi: 4 tqhi:
gr .rfa~u
.
ahd k e r b a n , ags . c e o r f a n
I
405 gred t o carve, nhd-kritzeln ked 4
ahd . k r i z z d n ,
mhd . k r i t z e n a 13 Iv qi
4 4
41 2 ghans g o o s e , nhd .Gans, gans 9eanh ean jen
.
a i hahsd-h , g r X$V, .
l a t . a n s e r , ahd .gans, RE 4
a g s .gBs, a i s l .gas 23 I1 yan.
* i
Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch- Ch.

page s t e m word examples
431 ghland glint, to glint, gland lank lan lan4

.
nhd Glanz , g l a n z e n
ahd -mhd . g l a n z , g l e n z e n 'm 23 I lan
4
ditto sland t s h a a tshan4 tshan4

(Satem-form, cf.p.4) '& 23 I c a n4
kead 4
436 ghelt p r i c e , t o be worth keak kea fFia4
a i s l .g j a l d , a g s . g i e l d ,
ahd .mhd . g e l t , nhd -Geld, 4
gelten 4@! 2 9 11 ji a
huai* 4 4
445 ghorst nasty, nhd-garstig goad xuaj xuaj
m i r - g o i r t , mhd.mnd.garst;
l i t . q r a s & "nasty person" . I
516 kad t o f a l l , ai.sad-,
l a t -cad6
627 kuat t o t u r n sour
4
l a t .cXseus " c h e e s e " 14RII huai
453 ghost stranger , outside goad 905j* u a j u a i4
lat.hostis
g o t . g a s t s , ahd .as , g a s t I
a g s . q i e s t , e n q l .quest 1w a i 4
16RI I
The C h i n e s e c h a r a c t e r h a s 3 = fi "moon" a s p h o n e t i c
and shows t h a t a s t r a n g e r must s t a y o u t s i d e a t n i g h t .
488 gWhaid a i r , w t a t h e r kaid k h j i k ~ k h i :ItEhi:

~ 4'
l e t t .gaiss "air,weatherv I
l i t - g a i s a s "gleam of
I
l i g h t i n t h e sky" R 9 I11 I qi 4
526 kanth ridge, shore

'mnd-kantCe], nhd .Kante,
gand cJan * an an
4
af r z .cant E+ 23 I an
4
4 4
579 kerdh herd,, h e r i t a g e , d e s c e n t fied ~ e i * xi: ~ i :
.
a i dargha-, a p e r s .&ard
g o t . h a i r d a , ahd .her t a
.
a g s h e o r d , nhd .Herde % 1 3 IV xi
4
4
666 lod lazy, l a t e , nhd.laB 1 l;j* laj lai
g r .a$ J E ~ v l a,t . l a s s u s
g o t . l a t s , as . l a t ,
I jags . l o e t , ahd. l a z @ 15 1 I lai
4
696 inogd maid, ( a c h . jounger s i s t e r ) mod moi /mmi4 mei4

g o t .magabsf ahd .magad,
a s .magath , nhd .Magd,
Madchen r ags-moeg
1 4 ~ 1 / mei
4

'
819 purd . £art, to £art P U ~ pfiui&' fi:4 fei4

gr.7ied$, ahd-furz
mhd.vurz, nhd.Furz, lORIII 4
furzen, ags-feortan . fei
4 4
819 perd fart,,to fart,lat.pedo pad phai% phi: phi:
gr. 7 ~ s e d i , - r r c e J o ~ ~ . r ~ .
ahd-ferzan,aisl.freta 4
pezd ahd .fir=, aisl-frets 6 IV pi
4 4
820 porkt fright, to be fearful of pogd pheak pha: pha:
ahd .as .forhta,
ags .fyrhtu, nhd.Furcht,
got .faurhts, ahd .as.
ags .forht, nhd .furchtsam 'm 29 I1 pa4
884 selbh self, nhd.selbst, zaib dzai* ~ 4
t ~ k :ts2:
selb (er), got. silba,
anord.sj&l£r, ags.self,
.
ahd selb
891 seit since, nhd.seit zaid
.
ahd s I d , mhd s1t, . 4
ags.si&, aisl.siz , I2 6 IV
i
zi
892 sidh to rsach one'^ aim tsiad t ~ d . :tek:
~ 44
886 sbd
I .
ai sadhati, sidhyati
seat, chair, nhd .Sit2

1 3
zoad
f.Fjai*
6 III
dm&* tsuo4
zhi
tsuo4
1
cf
ai-sddas-,gr. ~ 6 0 ~ 4
ais~saetr,lit.s6stas E 28 RI ZUO
908 sent to send, to present seand 4 4

tsianhsin f~in
got-sandjan, aisl.senda
ahdosenten,agsmsendan
nhd-senden, dan-send @ 17 IV 4
jin
926 slid slit 4
dziad dzia* tsk:4 tsi.:
aisl.slit, ahd-sliz,
mhd .sliz, nhd-Schlitz 4 IV 4
zi
950 skoth scathe, nhd Schade (n) . fiod 4
xa j xa j
4
got. skabis , aisl skadi
ags. scada, ahd. scado -
. j
s 15 I ,hai
4
#
>
Sino-PlatonicPapers, 7 (January, 1988)
Pokorny
page stem
meaning and
1 word examples
Ach . Mch. Nch. Ic~.
656 slab sleep, nhd. Schlaf zuab
ahd .mhd .sl'df, as. slap
ags .slZep, got .slSps
1048 syap .
ai svdpiti, svepati zuab 1
lat.sGpi6, aisl-sofa
ags-swefan I shui 4
1047 suendh
rl
to dwindle, nhd. schwin- suand ( son*
den, Schwund
.
ahd swintan, mhd swin- .
den, ags-swindan
1048 suent quick
n
aisl.svinnr, mhd-swinde,
swint, geschwinde,
.
nhd geschwind 18 RIV
strong, sound
got.swin~s. aisl.svinnr,
afries-sund, ahd-gisunt,
as.gisund, ags.gesund,
.
nhd gesund 18 R I V
besom, broom, to sweep

1
ai. svapu, aisl.s6fl
- - - - - - --
zuab zuei * suai4 suei4
isl.s6pa, engl-sweep 16 RIV 4

hu i
-
1050 suerth sword, (ach. axe of suei2.

A
sovereign)"
.
ahd .mhd swert ,
as .afries.swerd,
.
ags sweord, nhd .Schwert
- -- -- -
-
16 RIV
1112 uald reign, power uaid uai*
A
aisl.vald, afries .wald,
as .giwalt, ags .geweald,
ahd-giwalt, nhd.Gewalt,
Gc 7 RIII 4
aksl. vlastb wei
want 1 wish, nhd .Wunsch P
J uan3i
ahd.wunsc, mhd.mnd. I
wunsch,. ags .*sc '. yiian4
* Its archaic form &
in the oracle inscriptions (1300 B.c.) is a
drawing of an axe for slaughtering victims (cf. Chang 1970,p.135).
A g r e a t number o f words w i t h v a n i s h i n g t o n e , however, w e r e

d e r i v e d from Old Chinese words w i t h f i n a l -g, as evidenced by
Indo-European stems i n t h e f o l l o w i n g l i s t . I t i s a well-known
f a c t t h a t i n E a r l y Mandarin t h e words of Mch. r i s i n g t o n e a l l
changed i n t o v a n i s h i n g t o n e if t h e i r i n i t i a l s were v o i c e d o r a
vowel ( c f . p.9") . I n many cases t h i s t o n a l s h i f t must have been
on the way e a r l y be£ o r e t h e s i x t h c e n t u r y , s i n c e words l i k e @ ,
and @ a r e e n t e r e d i n t h e c h t i e h - y i i n a l r e a d y w i t h two r e a d -
i n g s i n both r i s i n g and v a n i s h i n g t o n e ( c f . Chou Tsu-mo 1983,
p . 67 and 7 1 ) .
Pokorny meaning and IAch. Mc~. N c ~ . ch.

page stem words examples
4 4
74 aug a g a i n a1so;nhd. auch lo:g ju: -k iu j ou
g r . & -rl
u , got.auk,ahd.ouh,
mhd. ouch, a s . an1 .dk ,
i
I
aqs.eak, enql-eke x 37111 you
4
220 dok t o con-duct , t o l e a d 1do:g dau 3 tau t a o4 , 3

l a t .diic5, ( a l a t . d o u c ~ ,
) I
l a t - d u x , ahd-herizogo,
a s - h e r i t o g o , nhd.Herzog i
" l e a d e r of army" @ 25 I dao 3
I
240 dhogWh d a y , nhd. Tag ldog 'tijug t . u 4 ttou4
got.dags, a i s l . d a g r , I
a h d - t a c , ags.doeg,
P1. d e q o r , as dag ; 37111 zhou
4
276 dhrogh t o deceive , deception

ahd-triogan, gitrog
'dzog ~ ~ e a kItp:
I
4 tea :
a s . bidriogan , gidrog !
engl-betray, t r i c k 3F /,,,I zha 4
I
657 leg .
l e a k , t o l e a k ,nhd l e c k
I
lau* lau I
lOu4
.
anord l e k a , ags hlec , . ;l 4 '
i n n d . l a k , mhd.lechen , 37 I lou
I
669 l e i k W ' t o bestow, t o g r a n t p i g lai& l a j4 l a j4

g o t . l e i h v a n ,ahd. l i h a n ,
a q s - l i o n , enql.loan 13 I 4
lai
1076 trk
0
t h ( o ) rough, nhd. durch ,dog
ahd. durch , a g s durh. 1 thau* ithaul thou4
tou4
I
1371
I
1 4
1: I
1117 wog :awake, nhd. wachen bog
I i
lat-vegeo,
got-wakan, a i s l . v a k a , A u:4
4
I as-wakon, ahd-wahhon IgE
1
!12~1
As to the words of the Middle Chinese level tone the following

Indo-European correspondences may be given :
,
39 an preposition: on oan uen? ien jen 2
got-ana, as.an, ags.on,
21 RIV 2
ahd.ana, an, nhd-an '% Yan
1 21 bhol cup 1 bowl, nhd .Belle poi puai 1 pei
1
aisl .bolli, ags .bollat 1

804,4pol mhd.bolle; ai.pZla $5 1 4 RI be i
2 2
136 bhera bear, nhd. Bar peia p j i a T phi: phi:
ai .bhalla-h, ahd .bero,
ags.b&ra, rnhd.b$r,
mnd.b@rer bare @ 4 111 pi
2
1 97 dlongh . long dl% qja37 tthaY2

mpers.drang, npers.
.
dirang , lat longus,
got-laggs, an.langr
.
ahd ags .nhd lang. E 31 I11 chang
2
214 drou tree, wood tou pjou? tku' tp:I

av.dXuru, gr .hTP,
alb*dru, got.triu,
ags.trEow, as.trio 8k 12 111 z hu
1
263 dhEn town (-ton in local dun don ? thun2 thun2

names)
air. diin "castle" a 18 RI tun
2
aisl.ags.tGn "town" tun tshon tshunl tshunl
.
nhd Zaun
iM- 18 R I ~ cun1
1
278 dor door, ( A c h . gate of city) to: tou tu: tu:
got .dadr , ahd .tor,
as.dor,dur, ags-dor
g r . f ~ +,&1at.forum
~~ @$ 12RI du1
355 ger to turn, g r . r ~ l o ~ " e n dkuei.

" kui? kusil kueil
639 kWel afries-kEra, as.kErian,
kierian, ahd keran, . 1O R I I I gui1
mhd .keren, nhd .kehren
639 kWel to turn, g r - ~ i x h 6uai hoi xuaiL xueiL
1140 we1 ai, vglati, gr.c;ahh
ahd. mhd. wellan, ags. a 14 RI hu i2
wael "swirl" I
Y
-l

. 1
355 gZ to sing, song ka: k~:? ko: kY:
%;
.,
.gXyati, -ti
thx song, ver
"sing"-
sell
530 kar to praise
ai-carkati "to praise", 1
khr6 "singer" . 27 I ge
2
361 gleu bal1,clew
P I
ai-glZu-h, npers.gu1GJ.e
ahd-kliuwa, kliwz,
ags .cl<ewen, engl .clew ' 37 111 qiu 2.
1
367 glby sister of husbanc kou kou7 ku: ku:
gr .ydaghs , lat.gl6s
serb.s&ova, russ.zokovka B 12 RI gu
1
-- -- - - - --
- 2-
hau fiau7 xau xao2
ai.h&ate, av-zavaiti,
aksl .zoup,z%vati,
russ zvat .
535 kau to howl, nhd -heulen
C
ai.kauti, gr-kw-kuw,
mhd-hiulen, mnd.meng1- 2
hiilen 25 1 hao
-
473 ghau to boast fiau fiau? xau' xao2
2
gr kd v ~d'b~ccjc 55 25 I hao
447 theu to pour keu kieu? kjaul f ~ j a1o

1
gr %Lq)h & 25 IV jiao
CI
deposit neu $jeuT jau2 jao2

grA)(dfi , older dialect
2
XOU; x6w "to deposit" 25 111 Yao
449 ghau watershed, nhd. Gau kau kau? kau' kao1
got-gawi, ahd.gawi,
'I
CI
*
mhd.gou,giru,gcu, mnd.gB
$ 25 I gao
gheu- watershed, district tseu* fFju? lu)t tfou 1
*"satem"-Form (cf.p. 4) 1
37 I11 zhou
485 CJ~OU cow gOU ju? iu njou 2
aieg&uh, arrn.k0v,~r./30?s,
.
lat b6s ,bovis , ahd chuo ,.
as.k6, ags.afries.cd,
nhd .Kuh, (Taiwan gu :) - 137 11, I lniG2
t
Sino-Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 198 8)

T.
520 koil hale, whole hoi khoi khuail xuei1

gotohails, aisl.heil1,
ahd-mhd-heil,ags.h51r
@ 1
nhd .heil 14 RI hui
535 kau to hew, nhd .hauen hau kheau? kheau1 $F jao1
ahd.hguwan, ags.hEawan,
lit .kauti 1
@ 25 11 qiao
1
537 kol hollow, nhd-hohl ho: hjo: xeul GY :
ahd .mhd .as .ass.hol
1
593 kou 1at.cavus from * couos @ 1 1 111 XU
-
-
I
1 1
544 kol hill hoi k h j u y khiu q~hjou
1
ags -hyll , lat. collis 37111. qiu
544 kolm rock , holm horn porn q. eam2 ien2
gr.ko$o y d y , lat.columen,
culmen, as.mnd.engl.holm, 2
nhd .Holm 40 I1 Yen
hame (part of a harness) fiom fieom 2
555 kom xeam2 qien
.
mnl .h h e , nnl haam,
westmd-Hamen, nhd-dia- 2
lect Ham, Hamen 40 I1 xian
Lam 2
556 kem to hum 3jamF jam2 jin
. . .
mhd nhd meng 1 hummen
Ps- 38111 yin
2
to strive , industrious 2
564 kon gon gjon? khin2 F~hin
lat .c6nor , -Zri
gr. E l k o u f w a 19 I11 qin
2
1 1
565 knk hunger, nhd .Hunger hoS3 hos3y xuang xua9
anord.hungr,ags.hungor,
.
ahd hungar ; 1it kanka.
"pain" a 32 RI huang
1
2 2
582 kor to mix, to blend fioa fioa? xuo xy :
av-sar-, gr. k ~ e i w
.
an.hr@ra, ags hrEran,
.
ahd (h)ruoren a 28 RI he
2
583 kor hair, rough 60: fiau? hau2 xao

2
ahd.as .aisl.hgr,ags.haEr,
nhd.Haar, an.sk~r
.
I
2
lett sari @ s125 I hao
1
Tsung-tung Chang,"Indo-European Vocabulary in Old Chinese"

2 2
644 kwa who? what? hua : xo: xy :
ai.k&,ka, av.kUrkZ
"who?", got.hva "what",
.
apr ka, mengl .aengl hws , .
m 27 I he
2
engl .who +
--
2 1
644 kWei
-
where? whither? why?
gr .att . F l , ion-kf),
Z
fie fiei? xi: ~ i :
.
dor T E ~ 131, xi
1
euei2
who? which?
lat.quis"who?", qui
zuai
(Satem-
z juai?
J,ai 2
"which?" ahd. (h)wer, form) .

. .
as huZ mhd swer , 2
'ir-cia,nhd.wer 7 RIII shui
1 1
647 kWu where? whither? hu: ?OUT u: u:
ai .kc, av .kE, lat .qub,
ahd.(h)war,wS, mhd-wb, 1
nhd.w6, ags-bar % 1 2 RI wu
m
648 kWu how? why? 2 2

Fiu: FiouF xu: xu:
ags .hu, afries .hut
mnd.wti, engl.how; 2
lat .qu6 "why" &El 1 2 RI hu
2
716 mol to grindr mill moa moz? mu0 muo
lat.mol5, -erer mola
got .ahd .malan, mhd .maln
aisl .mala, nhd .mahlen E 28 RI mo 2
731 mang fraud, vagabond rneaff rnuag2 ma9:/
i
rnSy
lat.mang5, 1it.manga; ma9
I
apr .manga CE 3 5 I1 mang
736 mbra witch mo: 2
nbjouT W U : ~ u:
aisl.ahd.mara, ags.mare,
.
nhd .Mahr , skr -ks1 .mora a 1 2 I11 wu2
734 mor to defame mo: mbjou wu: 2 u:
2
russ .mar4ju, lit .m&ginu' % 1 2 111 wu 2

755 nZu ship.(ach.also "rudder") ndau 9qjeu7qjau 2 2
.
ai nau-, arm.nav
iaO
gr-VdcS,r g d s , lat-
navis,nau-, air-ndu,
aisl .nGr 2
25 I11 a
rao
- i
2
772 o preposition: on, at, to, o: ?jop eu 1 Y=
E 1 1 1 I11 YU* II
Pokorny meaning -and Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch.

788 pan. flag, cloth, rag pan phuan?' fan1 fan1
g r . ~ F v o 5 ,lat-pannus,
got.fana, ahd.as.fano, i
afries-fona, ags-fana, i
nhd. Fahne - 22RIII fan1
1
801
8 17
pol
por
to fly
gr. ~ & l ) rJ "to swing"
russ.-ksl.perq,pbrati,
pariti "to fly"
poi
%!
puif Ifi:
10 ~ 1 1 1
I1fei
feil
1
803 pela fell, skin beia 2

phi:2 iphi:.
bjia?
gr.flt A ~ S , lat.pellis,
ahd.fe1, ags-fell,
mhd-vell, aisl.fjal1 E's 4 111 pi
2
803 plo membrane plo pjou? fu: fu: 1

kr. E~l-TinoIJ305
lit.pl&vg, sloven.pl~va
aisl.t~l, fqlva
C ' $ 12111 ful
835 pleu to float biau bju? fu: fu:2
gr. ~ 2 V)L:
6 2
aksl .plujp IF 37111 fu
837 plou boat, float biou bjou? fu: fu: 2
ai-plava, russ.plov
+
bai
12111 fu 2
844 prHi tonurse, tocultivate boif phuai2 phei2
I
ai.priyayats
aksl .prgj~ $3 2
14 RI pei
884 so SO, as, if zo: 2 ~ u 2:
o a e u
lat.si from so
.
got swa , swE ,
ahd.as.rnhd.sS, nl.20,
engl.norw.so fm 11111 ru 2
907 songWh voice, nhd.Sang 5i3 F j a ~ Tliagl @a9'
gr. Auv7/
(*songyha)
got. saggws,
ahd.as,ags.dan.sang, 1
anord.songr, engl-song 35111 sheng
I
Tsung-tung Chang, "Indo-EuropeanVocabulary in Old Chineset'
I
rn
907 sen old,(before, in front scan sienr sienl ~ i e 1n
of), former
.
ai sada- , av.hana- , 2 3 IV xian 1
g r . % ~ ~ ,s latosenex,
air-sen "old" -WU
zeen dzient tshienz*hienz
2 3 IV
I
qian
1
913 sfin son, (achegrandsonand 'suan son? sun sun1

heir)
4
ai.sZnn, av.hunu-s,
nhd.Sohn, got.sunus,
aisl.sunr,ahd.ags.sunn,
mhd.su(o)n, sEn
a 18 R I sun .
1
915 siti to sew together, to re- siu siu? siu" sjou1

pair,
ai-sivyati,lat.su6.-ere,
got.siujan,aisl.syja,
1
ahd. siuwan,ags.si (o)wian @ 3 7 IV xiu
927 skal Zga: 2 2
shall, nhd. sollen I)jiaS i: i:
got-skulan,ahd-sculan, 2
aengl .sceal
scolan., 4 I11 yi
927 s ~ o l guilt, nhd.Schuld ko: kou? ku: ku: 1
ags.scyld, ahd.a$sl.
skuld, slit-skola 12RI gu l
951 sk'o hu;? xuel 1
shoe, nhd.Schuh hoa ?Ye:
got. sk*~, aisl sk5r
mhd.schuoch, as.skbh,
.
ags.scab, dZn.Schwed.sko 1
28RIII xue
. .
1003 sreu to flow, river sleu ljuy liu' ljou2
c /
ai,.sravati, gr. e Lw :
I
(330 erei)
b o o s , &eTs , aksl.struja,
lett.strZve, lat rivus, . 2
afz.riu, span-rio 3 7 I11 1iu
1009 steu to steer, nhd.steuern tsau tshauq tshau tshao1
ahd.stiurren, aisl.styra,
as.stxeran, ags. styran % 1
25 I cao
1036 strenk string, nhd.Strang zea~) ?jat)? j'jq2 ta32

gr. 6 ~ e ~ ~ 1 ' c,i a q
.
mir sreng , ahd mhd..
stranc, ags-streng 4 2 I11 sheng2
.
- -
Pokorny meaning and Mch

page stem word Examples
1037 stronk strong and severe tss3
ahd. strengi,mhd. strenge, zhuan
as.fries.strang , ags.
strong, anord.strangr, tsa9 -1 zhuang
1039 sour Isalted, sour Iso:
aisl.siirr,ahd.mhd.mnd.
ags.norw.dan.schwed. sur 1
lit.siiras, nhd. sauer ju
34 1 sun 1 ahd.mhd.sin,
to be, real, true 1 san tJ'inl tean1
nhd-Sein,
ai. san,got.sunja "truth" I @ zhen
1
1 067 tongh to bend a bow

av .Jang
1 1067 tenk court (of justice) tea3 thie9'f'

nhd.Ding, also as local
names, aisl .Ping,
ags.ding, as.thing, ahd.
ding, dan.ting,
aengl-thing "assembly"
1 10 72 treu
I ahd
sorrow dreary
I dzeu
.draa, aisl .prs E
ags.brea, Etrawu
11 147 wan
1 contented with ,to reside Iuan
1171 waris lwas, stem form of verb

i to be,dan.var "was",
voere "is", got.wisan,
ahd.wesan, nhd.war,wSnre
ua:
.I F
5 RIII
- wanak 1 king
I(cf.Heubeck,
p.26,65)
gr-Linear B inscription
wa-na-ka
&i v d E ,
= wanaks,
att.2 v d < "king"
* 1 wang
A group of words with Middle Chinese level tone was supposed

origrnally to have had a velar final as suggested by the sound com-
ponent % of the characters. The hitherto merely theoretical
reconstruction of -g for these words by Karlgren (1940, 1957)
and Tung T'ung-ho (1944) can now be confirmed by Indo-European
stems given in the following list:
Pokorny
page stem
meaning and
word examples
7AC~.
I
r
M C ~ . Nch. ~ h .
J
I
100 bok pack, pouch, to pack poug peau? pau I
an.poki, got,puggs,
ags .pohha, mnd ,packe,
pak, engl .pack,nhd .Pack . 25 11 bao 1
1
I
113 bhEg to bake, to roast, boug beau? phau2 @ao2
!to fg. I
gr . e w f ~ , aisl-baka, 1I
.
fries .bzk, ags bacan,bsc , i
ahd-bahhan, backan,
. .
mhd nhd backen 25 I1 Pa0
2 t
i
i
798 pOkW to cook, cook boug beau+ phauL phao2 ,
ai .p&cati, avOpac*iti,
[ .
gr &&I, serb .p6e 1,
, lat.coqu6 (>ahd.kochCn, ,
j . h
1 523
1
kakha
nhd kochen)
1 flexed stick
in the form - ka:
of plow (nhd. Knie-
25 I1
k : kho:'
Pa02
khy:' '
'
stiel), bough !
ai.saha, rnir.ge'c,, I
nir*g&ag, got-hsha,
lit-&aka, slav.socha 27 I ke1 I
I
589 keug to squat, nhd-hocken

aisl .~Gka,mhd .hGchen,
:kio(g) kjo? keu WY:' I
, serb.cu&ati 'EEL 11111; jul
r
4
589 kzk high,nhd.hoch !lco:(g) kau? kaul kao1 .

I got-hauhs,aisl0h6r,hZr,
ags-hsah, ahd.as,hoh,
schwed-hog,d&n.hdi, I
engl. high 25 I is gao

1
'
1
589 keuk hill .hi0(g khj o q xeu ~y :
ahd.houg, mhd-houc,
anord-haugr,engl.(local
names with -how) @ +& 1 1 111
1
XU
I

1
537 k5g hook, nhd. haken koug kauy kaul kou
ahd.hako, haggo,
mhd. hagge, hake,
a g s . hoc 6% 37 I qou 1
669 likW t o remain, liu lju? liu l i o u2
g r . ~ O L I T S,O l a t - r e l i -
cuos " l e f t o v e r " ,
: 1 i t . l i k t i " t o remain"
I t i s obvious t h a t t h e words c i t e d above and some o t h e r s had

l o s t t h e i r v e l a r f i n a l i n any c a s e b e f o r e t h e g e n e r a l s h i f t from
Old Chinese t o t h e Middle Chinese t o n e language d u r i n g t h e f o u r t h
and f i f t h c e n t u r i e s . The e x a c t d a t i n g of t h e l o s s , however, must
b e done f o r each word i n d i v i d u a l l y on t h e b a s i s of i t s rhyming
i n t h e p o e t i c l i t e r a t u r e of d i f f e r e n t t i m e s . Words l i k e and
@ rhyme i n t h e s h i h - c h i n g e x c l u s i v e l y w i t h t h o s e of Middle
Chinese l e v e l t o n e . Hence t h e y were w i t h o u t doubt open s y l l a b l e s
a l r e a d y a t t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e f i r s t millennium B.C. Words l i k e
,
L
and 4~ , rhyming i n t h e s h i h - c h i n g and c h l u - t z k s@
w i t h t h e words of l a t e r r i s i n g as w e l l as l e v e l t o n e , w e r e j u s t
a b o u t t o l o s e t h e i r v e l a r f i n a l i n t h e f i r s t millennium B.C.,
whereas , , , and $4 , l o s t it s u r e l y a s l a t e a s
d u r i n g t h e s h i f t t o Middle Chinese.
Adhering t o t h e t h e s i s of t h e c l o s e d s y l l a b i c system of Old
Chinese, P u l l e y b l a n k ( 1 9 6 2 , pp. 2 1 1 ) proposed t o r e s t o r e g e n e r a l l y
a v o i c e d l a r y n g a l [fi] a s t h e l o s t f i n a l consonant of t h e l e v e l
t o n e which s h o u l d a l s o a c c o u n t f o r t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p of some l e v e l
t o n e words t o v e l a r f i n a l . But t h i s i s u n n e c e s s a r y i n my o p i n i o n ,
s i n c e t h e most Indo-European stems and Germanic words correspond-
i n g t o Chinese l e v e l t o n e words have e i t h e r open s y l l a b l e , o r end
i n a r e s o n a n t ( - r , -1, -m, -n, - n g ) , as a l r e a d y shown i n the list
above (pp. 17-23).
26 Tsung-tung Chang,"Indo-EuropeanVocabulary in Old Chinese"
It should be n o t e d t h a t t h e p h o n e t i c r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s i n t h i s
p a p e r d i f f e r from t h o s e of Karlgren and o t h e r s c h o l a r s mainly i n
r e g a r d t o vocalism ( c f . Rhyme Tables i n Appendix). A s t o Middle
C n i n e s e , my r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s a r e based upon t h e Y i i n - c h i n g % @ ,
i n which rhymes and headwords of homophone groupsp% a r e t a k e n
from t h e rhyme d i c t i o n a r y K u a n g - yiin %. (1007) and a r r a n g e d system-
a t i c a l l y i n 43 t a b l e s . A s t h e ~ u a n g - y i i n i s merely an e n l a r g e d v e r -
s i o n of t h e c h i i e h - y i i n (compiled i n 6 0 l ) , t h e Y u n - c h i n 9 may be
c o n s i d e r e d t o be a p h o n e t i c framework which r e f l e c t s t h e s t a n d a r d
p r o n u n c i a t i o n of E a r l y Middle Chinese ( 6 0 0 ) , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e un-
c e r t a i n d a t e and unknown o r i g i n of t h i s book ( i t s o l d e s t a v a i l a b l e
copy i s an e d i t i o n of 1 1 6 1 ) .
Each rhyme t a b l e i n t h e Y c n - c h i n g i s d i v i d e d i n t o t h e f o u r t o n e
c a t e g o r i e s and,within each t o n e , t h e headwords of homophone g r o u p s
are e n t e r e d i n f o u r s e p a r a t e rows, o b v i o u s l y t o show some d i f f e r -
e n t a t i o n s w i t h i n t h e same rhyme group. The Chinese term f o r t h e s e
rows i s s, c a l l e d " D i v i s i o n " by Karlgren and "Grade" by P u l l e y b l a n k
. .
( c f 1986, - p . 7 3 ) I n a d d i t i o n , each t a b l e i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d as
"unrounded" , & "rounded" o r &a - "a combination of rounded and
unrounded".
K a r l g r e n (1954, p.250) i n f e r r e d t h e Grades c o r r e c t l y a s a g r a d u a l
r i s i n g of vowels and r e s t o r e d medium j- f o r Grade 111, i- f o r Grade
I V , ju- f o r Grade R I11 and i u - f o r Grade R IV-But he found no medials
f o r Grade 11, Grade R I and Grade R 11. I n o r d e r t o a d h e r e t o t h e
f u l l p a t t e r n o f d i s t i n c t i o n s i n t h e system of f o u r Grades, h e re-
s o r t e d t o t h e v a r i a t i o n of t h e q u a l i t y o f p r i n c i p a l vowels Grade
by Grade and p o s i t e d t h u s a l t o g e t h e r 14 vowels f o r Middle Chinese.
I t i s h a r d l y c r e d i b l e t h a t such s l i g h t v o c a l i c nuances were p r a c t i -
c a b l e i n d a i l y communication, t h e less s o s i n c e languages w i t h
more t h a n n i n e b a s i c vowels a r e q u i t e uncommon i n t h e world ( c f .
C r o t h e r s , p.119). No wonder t h a t h i s v o c a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s s c a r c e l y
f i t t h e a c t u a l rhyme p a t t e r n o f p o e t r y i n Middle and Old Chinese.
I n a monograph of 1982, I a t t e m p t e d t o a n a l y s e t h e rhyming i n t h e
t e x t s o f p h i l o s o p h e r Chuang-tzu 8 % ((about 300 B. C. ) by u s i n g t h e
d i c t i o n a r y of Chou Fa-kao ( 1 9 7 4 ) , i n which t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s of
K a r l g r e n , Tung T'ung-ho and Chou a r e c o l l o c a t e d . The d i s a p p o i n t i n g
r e s u l t t h e r e b y h a s g i v e n m e r e a s o n f o r p e r s o n a l engagement i n t h e
f i e l d o f h i s t o r i c a l phonology and p h o n e t i c s .
Thus K a r l g r e n ' s scheme o f Middle Chinese rhymes, though f o l l o w e d

by almost a l l s c h o l a r s , needs t o be s u b s t a n t i a l l y improved. I pro-
pose t h e f o l l o w i n g r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s :
a . Grade I1 a i s composed of rhyme simplex (=Grade I )
and medial e-, which g i v e s r i s e t o p a l a t a l i z a t i o n of i n i t i a l
d e n t a l s and s i b i l a n t s , b u t n o t v e l a r s .
Medial e- w a s , as e v i d e n c e d by t r a n s c r i p t i o n s i n hP1ags-pa
s c r i p t , s t i l l e x t a n t i n E a r l y Mandarin ( c f . Appendix, p.50) and
was used i n d i s t i n c t i o n from i-, e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r v e l a r i n i t i a l s ;
e a 2 ( < 2 9 11) # je ( > 2 9 111, I V )
e a j & ( 4 3 , 1511) # i: ( < I 3 111, I V ; 15 I V )
e&u&&(<25 11) # jau ((25 111, I V )
ean E(<21,23 11) # i e n % ( t 2 1 , 23 111, IV)
*
rn (40 11) # i e m &
( t 4 0 111, I V )
After l a b i a l s , medial e- w a s dropped i n E a r l y Mandarin, s o t h a t
Grade I1 merged w i t h Grade I. A f t e r d e n t a l s and s i b i l a n t s Grade
I1 merged w i t h Grade I o r Grade 111. I n Sino-Japanese Go'on
r e a d i n g s Middle Chinese /ea/ i s c o n t r a c t e d t o / e : / , whereas i n
c o l l o q u i a l Taiwanese d i a l e c t s of Minnan o r i g i n , / e a / became e i t h e r
/e:/ o r / a : / .
b. Grade I11 h a s a m e d i a l j-, as proposed by K a r l g r e n , which g i v e s
r i s e t o p a l a t a l i z a t i o n of i n i t i a l d e n t a l s and s i b i l a n t s , b u t n o t
v e l a r s . The vowel o r vowel c l u s t e r s of Grade I11 remain mostly
i d e n t i c a l w i t h t h o s e o f Grade I and 11. But i n groups 13, 25,
and 2 3 , t h e main vowel /a/ i s r a i s e d t o /e/.
c . Grade I V c o n t a i n s / i / e i t h e r i n t h e f i r s t o r i n t h e l a s t p o s i t i o n
o f i t s vowel c l u s t e r s . T h i s accounts p a r t l y f o r t h e n o n - p a l a t a l i -
z a t i o n of i n i t i a l d e n t a l s and s i b i l a n t s . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Grade
the
I V i s t h e f r o n t i n g of,main vowel; t h u s i n groups 1 3 , 15, 25, 35, 21,
23, and 39, t h e main vowel / a / i s f r o n t e d t o / e / , whereas i n group
4 0 /o/ i s f r o n t e d t o /a/.
d. Grade R(ounded) I - i s composed o f medial o- p l u s rhyme
simplex ( = Grade I ) . Exceptions are Grade 14R I and 1 8 R I where
/ o / became the main vowel, a s well a s Grade 1 2 R I and 2 R I where
t h e simplex /ou/ i s p l a c e d because of o-. The r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of
t h e medial o- f o r Grade R I i s , though h i t h e r t o never proposed
by s c h o l a r s , r e a s o n a b l e and c o h e r e n t , s i n c e t h i s grade must have
28 Tsung-tung Chang, "Indo-EuropeanVocabulary in Old Chinese"
had a rounded medial vowel which is lower than u- of Grades

R 11, R 111, and R IV. In Early Mandarin, or probably already
at Late T'ang, the medial o- was raised and merged with u-.
But in Sino-Vietnamese readings o- is amply preserved as Grade
R I (and occasionally also as Grade 11, but this is not in
accordance with the rule). For example:
28 R/oa/: f l
I khoa (but 3 qua) , ngoa, a
hda ,?& dba
14 R I
/oi/: khbi rtx khhi, h8i, s'
lbi, @ b6i
16 R/oaj/: 5
I ngoai, a t81, @ h6i
18 R/on/: 3
I h6n, @ thhdn
/ot/: met, $: t$t, .i4 c6t
24 R I /oan/: .fB h o h , @ toan (but q u a )
/oat/: doat, hoot (but mat)
32 R I /o;g/: hdang, hoang (but quang, ubng)
/o;k/: khodch (but $# quich)
43 R I /oa~/: a hosng (but & quhg)
/oak/: hoec (but q~6~c)
The Middle Chinese pronunciations on/ot of Grade 18R I are
preserved also in Sino-Japanese readings.
e. Grade R I1 is composed of medial u- plus rhyme simplex. After

sibilants and dentals it has medial cluster eu- which gives
rise to palatalization of initials.
f. Grade R I11 also has medial u-, and only after sibilants and
dentals the medial cluster ju- as proposed by Karlgren. In my
opinion, the medial u- was a sufficient cause to give rise to
dentilabialization of bilabials during the Late T'ang. The main
vowels of Grade R 111 are identical with those of Grade 111.
g. Grade R IV has medial u-, but not iu- as proposed by Karlgren.
It is composed of medial u- plus Grade IV. In groups 5R, 26R, 36R,
18R, 22R, and 24R, medial u- replaces medial i- of Grade IV.
The non-palatalization'of dentals and sibilants in Grade R IV
can be accounted for with medial u-.
Sino-Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988) 29
According t o my r e c o n s t r u c t i o n E a r l y Middle Chinese h a s t h e
f o l l o w i n g seven vowels: i u
e a o
a 5
A l l vowels e x c e p t a r e n o t autonomous b u t must o c c u r i n corn-
b i n a t i o n w i t h o t h e r vowels o r f i n a l s , a s i s r e f l e c t e d i n t h e ab-
s e n c e of t h e simplex i n t h e rhyme g r o u p s 2 9 , 9, and 1 1 , whereas
s i m p l e u must be s u p p o r t e d by a i n Grade 37 I .
S h o r t i , used as medial o r f i n a l , i s w r i t t e n j i n t h i s p a p e r . /A/
= [ a ] , i s a h y b r i d phoneme between /a/ and / o / , as e x t a n t i n Swe-
d i s h , Norwegian, Danish e t c . . The r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of /b/ i s n e c e s s a r y
f o r rhyme group 2 7 ( # 2 9 ) , 3 and 31 ( # 1 , 2 , 33, 3 5 ) . A s shown
i n t h e Appendix ( p . 4 9 ) , Middle Chinese h a s immense numbers of
d i - and t r i p h t h o n g s w i t h medial e-, j-, i- and w i t h f i n a l s -i,
- j , -u which have emerged p a r t i a l l y as compensation f o r l o s t f i -
n a l s t o p s . S i m i l a r developments of vowel c l u s t e r s a r e r e f l e c t e d
i n w r i t t e n monuments o f Old Saxon, Old E n g l i s h , Danish, Old French
etc. s e v e r a l c e n t u r i e s l a t e r , b u t may have occured synchroni-
c a l l y . t o Chinese d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d of g r e a t m i g r a t i o n of n o r t h e r n
tribes.
Old Chinese h a s t h e same seven b a s i c vowels. /s/ is a l s o in-

d i s p e n s a b l e f o r t h e rhyme group ( = mch. 31) which i n Old Chi-
n e s e p o e t r y mostly rhymes i n s i d e t h e group, b u t o c c a s i o n a l l y
c o n t a c t s t h e group a 9 ( = mch. 33, 35) a s w e l l as t h e group 03
( = rnch. 1 , 2 ) . The c o r r e s p o n d i n g v o w e l i n Indo-European a l s o vat-
i l l a t e s , and i s w r i t t e n / o / i n some d i a l e c t s , b u t /a/ i n o t h e r s
.
( c f t h e word .
" l o n g " , p . 17, N r . 197) /a/ i s t h e n e u t r a l vowel
which c a n i n t e r c h a n g e w i t h a l l o t h e r vowels. The h i g h vowels i ,
e , u o c c u r f r e q u e n t l y i n company w i t h a . The autonomous /a/ i n Old
Chinese became mostly /ai/, /i3/, / e i / e t c . i n Middle Chinese, and
l a t e r / i / , /A/ i n E a r l y Mandarin. T h i s a f f i n i t y of /a/ and /i/ h a s
i t s p a r a l l e l i n Old I n d i c where, t h e Proto-Indo-European /a/ changed
t o / i / ( c f . Lehmann 1 9 5 5 , p. 9 7 ) .
On t h e b a s i s of t h e word examples g i v e n i n t h i s p a p e r , we may

p o s i t t h e f o l l o w i n g v o c a l i c correspondences between Indo-European
and O l d Chinese:
0
IE a = 3, a, i f oa, o IE ai = air a: IE au = au, au, a, 0:
IE e = e, a, ea IE ei = ai, ei IE eu = eu , au, io
IE o = o f oaf oaf i,ou IE oi = oi, ai, ou IE ou = ou, 0:
IE i = ia, i IE iu = iu, io
The initials of Early Middle Chinese are well documented by

the 30 characters1' chosen by the late T'ang monk Shou-wen'? ?a
(cf. Chou Tsu-mo p. 796, 957). They are:
labials: P 3? ph b M m 4
dentals :
palatals : B t * d , Brp+ 4
velars :
postdentals: ts tsh @ ddz i s 8 z 5
palatals : Re! * % %h % F m F 4
laryngeals: % B% h I!S fi @% 9 4 / total 30
It is noteworthy that the existence of phonemic laryngeals,
which has been rejected for Proto-Indo-European for more than fifty
years (cf. Lehmann 1955, p. 22, note 1; Szemerknyi p. 116), is
well evidenced for Middle Chinese with four initials. Beside the
consonants given above, Karlgren (1940, P o 1 6 ) ~
Li-Fang-kui (1982,
p . 7) anu Pulleyblank (1984, p. 191,232) would restore series of
supradental initials for Grade I1 and thus expand the number of
Middle Chinese initials to 36, 37, and 42 respectively. But this
is wrong and unnecessary, since the distinctive feature of Grade I1
is accounted for with medial e- (cf. p. 27 above). In my opinion,
the retroflex initials have emerged not in Middle Chinese, nor in
Early Mandarin, but as late as in Early Ch'ing, in consideration
of the fact that all dialects except Modern Mandarin are at pre-
sent still lacking retroflexes. In this respect the Szechwan dia-
lect is most instructive, as it has typical Early Mandarin finals,
but no.retroflex initials. All initials of Middle Chinese are
monophonematic, The absence of consonant clusters is since then
typical of Chinese.
1) In Late T'ang and Early Sung (9th century to 1125) the inven-
tory of initials was enlarged to 36 with labiodentals f 3k, fh & ,
v s, labiofricative /& , an6 palatals I+ $& , , as tabu-
lated in the foreword oz Y u n - c h i n g .
Sirw-Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988)
For Old Chinese w e may r e s t o r e t h e f o l l o w i n g simple i n i t i a l

consonants:
Probably v o i c e l e s s a s p i r a t e s ph, t h , k h , t s h w e r e s t i l l a b s e n t in
Old Chinese t o be developed l a t e r from p , l h , h , t s . The f i n a l
-9 was an a l l o p h o n e of n , followed by a v e l a r consonant. I n i -
tial 9- may have emerged o n l y i n Middle Chinese from g o r fi i n an
environment of i , 5 , o r n a s a l fina1s:Li Fang-kui ( p . 2 1 ) s u g g e s t s
t h e r e s t o r a t i o n of i n i t i a l s /hm/, / h l / , / h n g j , /hngwj f o r Old Chinese
as v o i c l e s s c o u n t e r p a r t s of /mi, / l / , / n g / , /ngw/. But i n rny o p i n i o n
t h e r e w e r e p r e s e n t o n l y / m h / and / l h / , which are evidenced by
Indo-European stems c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e Chinese words hai3 &
and ti3 ( c f . p . 1 0 , N r . 748 and 6 6 7 ) . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Old
Chinese consonantism i s t h e absence of r- i n i t i a l which changes
mostly t o 1-, z-, d-, h-, whereas t h e l a r y n g e a l s h- and 6- s u g g e s t
an ininmte r e l a t i o n s h i p t o Germanic i n i t i a l h-.
The e x i s t e n c e of i n i t i a l consonant c l u s t e r s i n 016 Chinese i s

suggested by t h e f a c t t h a t s e r i e s of words whose sound i s r e p r e -
s e n t e d by t h e same g r a p h i c component o c c a s i o n a l l y have i n i t i a l s
which d i f f e r from each o t h e r i n p o i n t s of a r t i c u l a t i o n . I n many
c a s e s , Indo-European words c a n throw l i g h t upon t h i s enigma,
s i n c e t h e y p r e s e r v e d consonant c l u s t e r s much b e t t e r t h a n Chinese.
I n t h i s paper I c o n f i n e myself t o two examples:
The c h a r a c t e r f o r t h e word l i u
2
a m r i v e r , t o flow" h a s t h e
sound grapheme b
* , as i n t h e word shu 1 & "comb, t o comb".
The p u r e l y t h e o r e t i c a l r e c o n s t u c t i o n o f consonant c l u s t e r / s l - /
f o r t h i s grapheme c a n now be evidenced by t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g Indo-
European s t e m s r e u = " r i v e r , t o flow" ( c f . above p . 2 2 , Pokorny
1003).
Secondly, t h e I n d o - ~ u r o p e a n s t e m smTk, Proto-German smZh
(Pokorny p . 9 6 6 , Kluge p . 6 6 a "schmach") w i t h t h e meaning " s m a l l ,
l i t t l e " c a n a c c o u n t f o r t h e a l t e r n a t i v e i n i t i a l s of s- and m-
f o r a series of Chinese words with t h e graphemes I]\ and + which
a l s o have the same b a s i c meaning "small, l i t t l e " :
s- : I]\ x i a o3 , 9 shao3 t 4
4 3
miao 3
3
m- : $
>
I miao , j$ miao , [V!, miao , $.
Furthermore, t h e b i s y l l a b i c Chinese word ! f miao3-xiao 3

" t i n y " can now be i n t e r p r e t e d a s a r e d u p l i c a t i o n o f k h e s t e m smZh,
whereby t h e consonant c l u s t e r s m - i s d i v i d e d i n t o simple i n i t i a l s
m- and s- t o be a t t a c h e d t o each s y l l a b l e . I n t h i s way many Chi-
n e s e b i s y l l a b i c words can be e t y m o l o g i c a l l y e x p l a i n e d by Indo-
European stems w i t h i n i t i a l consonant c l u s t e r s .
O u r knowledge of r e g u l a r p h o n e t i c correspondences between
Old Chinese and Indo-European opens immense p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r
l e x i c a l comparison. I n t h e l a s t f o u r y e a r s I have t r a c e d o u t
a b o u t 1500 cognate words which would c o n s t i t u t e r o u g h l y two
t h i r d s of t h e b a s i c vocabulary i n Old Chinese. The common words
a r e t o be found i n a l l s p h e r e s of l i f e i n c l u d i n g k i n s h i p , a n i -
mals, p l a n t s , hydrography, l a n d s c a p e , p a r t s of t h e body, a c t i o n s ,
e m o t i o n a l e x p r e s s i o n s , p o l i t i c s and r e l i g i o n , and even f u n c t i o n
words such a s pronouns and p r e p o s i t i o n s , a s p a r t l y shown i n t h e
l i s t s of t h i s paper.
Among Indo-European d i a l e c t s , Germanic languages seems t o
have been mostly a k i n t o Old Chinese i n c o n s i d e r a t i o n of t h e
following points:
a . Among Indo-European d i a l e c t s , Germanic p r e s e r v e d t h e l a r g e s t
number of c o g n a t e words a l s o t o be found i n Chinese.
b. Germanic and Chinese belong t o t h e group of s o - c a l l e d c e n t u m
l a n g u a g e s , i n which a l l Proto-Indo-European v e l a r s remain ve-
l a r ~( w i t h o n l y a few e x c e p t i o n a l v a r i a n t s i n Chinese, c f .
p. 1 8 , 449; p. 18, 4 4 9 ; p. 20, 6 4 4 ) .
c . The i n i t i a l / h / i n Germanic c o r r e s p o n d s mostly t o /h/ and / h /
been
i n Old Chinese. Though Germanic / h / h a s h i t h e r t ~ ~ l n t e r p r e t e d
as a s h i f t from Indo-European /k/, it must have e x i s t e d a l -
r e a d y i n Proto-Indo-European, s i n c e i n t e r r o g a t i v e s b o t h i n
Germanic and Chinese have l a r y n g e a l i n i t i a l s ( c f p. 6 , 645; .
p. 20, 644, 647, 648) .
d. I n comparison w i t h S a n s k r i t , Greek and L a t i n , Chinese and
n o r t h e r n Germanic languages a r e poor i n grammatical c a t e g o r i e s
such a s c a s e , g e n d e r , number, t e n s e , mood e t c . I would s u r - C
m i s e g e n e r a l l y t h a t t h e d a i l y speech of Germanic Peoples might

have had a much s i m p l e r grammar t h a n t h a t s u g g e s t e d by t h e e a r l i e s t
Germanic l i t e r a t u r e which c o n s i s t s w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n s of b i b l i c a l
t r a n s l a t i o n s from Greek o r L a t i n . German p r o v e r b s and idioms a r e
f o r m u l a t e d w i t h o u t i n d i c a t i o n s of c a s e , gender and number, l i k e
Sino-PlafonicPapers, 7 (January, 1988)
" m i t Kind und Kegel", "schwarz auf weiB", " a l t und jung".
Moreover, when t h e Franks s e t t l e d i n France as c o n q u e r o r s ,
t h e complex d e c l i n a t i o n system of Vulgar L a t i n c o l l a p s e d
and Old French emerged w i t h o u t c a s e and number. This h i s t o -
r i c a l f a c t may s u g g e s t t h a t t h e Germans o r i g i n a l l y spoke a
language w i t h o u t d e c l i n a t i o n s .
With Old Chinese a s e v i d e n c e , w e may conclude t h a t t h e G e r m a n i c
group of Indo-European w a s c o n s e r v a t i v e i n i t s p h o n e t i c a l and
grammatical developments because o f i t s p e r i p h e r a l n o r t h e r n l o c a -
t i o n , f a r from t h e e a r l y h i g h c i v i l i z a t i o n s i n t h e Near E a s t where
Hamitic and S e m i t i c were spoken. On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e c o m p l i c a t e d
c o n j u g a t i o n system i n Greek, L a t i n and Southern Germanic might have
emerged l a t e r under t h e i n f l u e n c e of a r i c h modal and temporal s y s -
t e m of A l t a i c t r i b e s , w i t h whom Indo-Europeans had coexisted f o r
thousands of y e a r s i n C e n t r a l Asia and i n whose company t h e y e m i -
g r a t e d i n t o Europe.
Chinese i s grammatically q u i t e d i f f e r e n t from i t s neighbouring
languages of a g g l u t i n a t i v e t y p e , such as Mongolian, Manchu, T u r k i s h ,
Korean and J a p a n e s e , and h a s a l m o s t no b a s i c words i n common w i t h
them, whereas numerous borrowings from Chinese i n t h e s e languages a r e
w e l l i d e n t i f i a b l e . A s t o t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p of Chinese t o T i b e t a n ,
t h i s i s a dead-end branch o f comparative l i n g u i s t i c s where some
" S i n o - T i b e t a n i s t s " have d e v o t e d t h e i r whole l i f e i n v a i n a t t e m p t s t o
prove t h e p r e v a i l i n g h y p o t h e s i s of a Sino-Tibetan language f a m i l y .
R e c e n t l y , Colbin (1986) p u b l i s h e d a l i s t i n which he h a s c o l l o c a t e d
489 Sino-Tibetan r o o t s mainly suggested by Paul K . B e n e d i c t , Nicho-
l a s C. Bodman, Axel S c h i i s s l e r and o t h e r s ( s e e I n t r o d u c t i o n p. 8 ) .
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , " S i n o - T i b e t a n i s t s " a l l o w t h e m s e l v e s t o o g r e a t freedom
when doing p h o n e t i c and s e m a n t i c comparison. Moreover, a l a r g e
number of words a r e claimed t o be common Sino-Tibetan, though t h e y
are n o t t o be found i n T i b e t a n vocabulary a t a l l ( f o r i n s t a n c e t h e
word cow, c f . Coblin p. 5 2 , c a t t l e / o x ) . Thus o n l y a b o u t a t h i r d
of t h e words l i s t e d by C o b l i n may be a c c e p t e d a s common Sino-Tibetan.
I t i s u n l i k e l y that t h e r e had e v e r e x i s t e d a "Sino-Tibetan" a s a
common mother language of Chinese and Tibetan, s i n c e :
a . T i b e t a n i s s y n t a c t i c a l l y an a g g l u t i n a t i v e language l i k e Mongolian .
and Japanese. I t u s e s c a s e s u f f i x e s and h a s n e i t h e r p r e p o s i t i o n s
nor c o n j u n c t i o n s a t t h e head of s e n t e n c e s as i s t h e c a s e i n Chinese
and i n Indo-European.
34 Tsung-tung Chang, "Indo-EuropeanVocabuliny in Old Chinese"
b. Though T i b e t a n word s t e m s are mostly monosyllabic a s i n Chinese
and Indo-European, t h e y a r e r i c h i n i n i t i a l consonant c l u s t e r s
l i k e P o l i s h and poor i n vowel c l u s t e r s a s o p p o s i t e t o t h o s e o f
Middle Chinese and Germanic. Among t h e words common f o r C h i n e s e
and T i b e t a n , t h e r e a r e many Indo-European s t e m s . I n comparison
w i t h Old Chinese, however, t h e Tibetan words a r e l a c k i n g f i n a l
s t o p s and t h e r e f o r e r a t h e r akin t o t h o s e o f Tocharian. A s T i b e t
i s l o c a t e d i n t h e neighbourhood of Southern S i n k i a n g , it .is ra-
t h e r p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e s e words o r i g i n a t e d from t h e r e .
c . I t i s n o t d e n i a b l e t h a t t h e r e i s a s m a l l s t o c k o f Sino-Tibetan
common vocabulary which i s a b s e n t i n Indo-European. But w e must
i n v e s t i g a t e whether such T i b e t a n words a r e borrowings from Bur-
mese o r from Old Chinese.
d . I n t h e T'ang p e r i o d , when China and T i b e t e s t a b l i s h e d t h e f i r s t
d i p l o m a t i c r e l a t i o ~ ~ n o b o deyv e r n o t i c e d any common v o c a b u l a r y
o r gramrner of t h e two l a n g u a g e s .
I n t h e f i n a l a n a l y s i s , I would s u r m i s e t h a t T i b e t a n may h a v e emer-
ged as a mixed language w i t h an a b o r i g i n a l and Proto-Indo-European
s u b s t r a t u m and an A l t a i c s u p e r s t r a t u m .
The a d j a c e n t languages i n t h e s o u t h , such a s T h a i , Vietnamese,

Miao and s o o n , have similar p h o n e t i c a l f e a t u r e s a n d an e q u a l l y
simple grammer l i k e Chinese. However, d i r e c t o r a l communication
w i t h t h e s e t r i b e s seems t o n e v e r have been p o s s i b l e from t h e v e r y
beginning o f Chinese h i s t o r y , c e r t a i n l y because of g r e a t d i f f e r e n -
c e s i n d a i l y vocabulary as e x i s t i n g a t t h e p r e s e n t t i m e . M s . Mano-
maivibool ( 1 9 7 5 ) , by well-founded p h o n e t i c comparisons, i d e n t i f i e d
621 Thai words as r e l a t e d t o Chinese. But t h i s Sino-Thai common vo-
c a b u l a r y , t o o , b r i s t l e s w i t h Indo-European s t e m s - . I n my o p i n i o n
t h e s e s o u t h e r n tribes were once t h e abor4gines o f Northern China,
and immigrated t o t h e s o u t h because t h e y were n o t w i l l i n g t o be-
come s u b j e c t s of t h e Chinese Empire e s t a b l i s h e d by Indo-European
conquerors. N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e y c o u l d n o t e s c a p e s i n c e t h e n t h e i n -
f l u e n c e of Chinese l a n g u a g e s and c i v i l i z a t i o n . Thus, i n many cases
it w i l l be d i f f i c u l t t o a s c e r t a i n whether a T h a i word i s o f Sino-Thai
common o r i g i n , o r a l a t e borrowing from Chinese.
Sim-Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988) 35
Considering a l l t h e s e l i n g u i s t i c f a c t s , t h e t h e s i s p r e s e n t s
i t s e l f t h a t Old Chinese emerged a s a mixed l a n g u a g e , though spoken
w i t h Proto-Chinese n a t i v e t o n g u e , u s i n g mainly t h e Proto-Indo-
European idiom which seems t o have s t r e t c h e d from Mongolia t o
Europe d u r i n g t h e t h i r d millennium B.C. i n t h e n o r t h e r n p a r t o f .
t h e t e m p e r a t e zone.
H i s t o r i c a l l y t h e emergence of Old Chinese s h o u l d be connected
w i t h t h e founding of t h e Chinese Empire by Huang-ti ,,'t h e
Yellow Emperor, w i t h whom t h e Chinese s t i l l i d e n t i f y themselves
today. According t o Chinese h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , he was t h e founder of
t h e f i r s t s t a t e of China as w e l l a s i t s h i g h c i v i l i z a t i o n . The
S h i h - c h i ( R e c o r d s of t h e Grand H i s t o r i a n ) i n f o r m s u s i n i t s f i r s t
c h a p t e r t h a t towards t h e end o f t h e r u l e o f t h e c l a n of Shen-nung
$$I (Divine Farmer) , Northern China w a s ravaged by war. Huang-ti
d e f e a t e d Yen-ti & fi (God o f Flame C l e a r i n g ) and Ch ' ih-yu ft
(Great F o o l ) , t h u s becoming emperor of China. I t i s noteworthy
t h a t t h e d e c i s i v e b a t t l e t o o k p l a c e i n Chuo-lu (Deer F o r d ) ,
on t h e t h o r o u g h f a r e between t h e p r e s e n t Peking and I n n e r Mongolia.
H u a n g - t i ' s name was Hsiian-yiian @f which means "wagon s h a f t " .
A f t e r h i s enthronement, he o r d e r e d r o a d s t o be b u i l t , and was
p e r p e t u a l l y on t h e move w i t h t r e k s of c a r r i a g e s . A t n i g h t he s l e p t
i n a b a r r i c a d e of wagons. H e had no i n t e r e s t i n w a l l e d towns,
s o o n l y one c i t y was b u i l t a t t h e bow of Chuo-lu. A l l of t h i s i n -
d i c a t e s h i s o r i g i n from a stock-breeding t r i b e i n I n n e r Mongolia.
With i n t r o d u c t i o n of h o r s e - o r oxen-pulled wagons, t r a n s p o r t and
t r a f f i c i n Northern China was r e v o l u t i o n i z e d . Only on t h i s new t e c h -
n i c a l b a s i s d i d t h e founding of a s t a t e w i t h c e n t r a l government be-
come f e a s i b l e and f u n c t i o n a l . T h i s emperor must have had an ap-
p e a r a n c e of n o r t h e r n w h i t e p e o p l e , as t h e e p i t h e t "Huang-ti" can
e t y m o l o g i c a l l y be i n t e r p r e t e d a s "blond heavenly god" ( c f . Word
l i s t p. 3 7 ) .
Huang-ti i s mentioned a l s o as t h e founder of Chinese language
in t h e ~ i - c h im g ((Book of R i t e s ) . I n t h e Chapter 23 c h i - f a $$$%
( R u l e s o f S a c r i f i c e s ) , which g i v e s t h e r e a s o n s f o r worship of
a n c i e n t s o v e r e i g n s and h e r o e s , w e r e a d : "Huang-ti gave hundreds
o f t h i n g s t h e i r r i g h t names, i n o r d e r t o i l l u m i n e t h e people
a b o u t t h e common goods. And Chuan-hsii was able t o c a r r y on h i s
work." ~ ~ i f & ? g @ , ~ ~ ~ # ~ . ~ ~ ~ f i ~ 1 & ~
T h i s p o i n t s o u t t h e m e r i t of Huang-ti f o r t h e s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n
of Chinese language, which took a l o n g t i m e and was c o n t i n u e d by
h i s grandson and s u c c e s o r Chuan-nsu. The a b o r i g i n a l people had
t h u s t o l e a r n new f o r e i g n words from t h e emperors. Probably t h e r e -
by t h e Proto-Indo-European vocabulary became dominant i n Old
Chinese.
The r u l e of Huang-ti i s t r a d i t i o n a l l y d a t e d back t o t h e 2 7 t h
c e n t u r y B.C. S u b . t r a c t i n g 200 o r 3 0 0 y e a r s a s h y p e r b o l i c p r e d a t i n g ,
w e may assume t h a t t h e founding of t h e f i r s t Chinese empire took
p l a c e a t t h e l a t e s t a t a b o u t 2400 B.C. T h i s would c o i n c i d e w i t h t h e
a r c h a e o l o g i c a l d a t a of t h e beginning c l a s s i c a l Lung-shan c u l t u r e
(2400-2000 B.C.) i n t h e e a s t e r n v a l l e y s o f Northern China, which
i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a g r e a t l e a p i n s t o c k - b r e e d i n g , Not o n l y p i g s ,
p o u l t r y and dogs a s i n t h e p r e c e d i n g n e o l i t h i c c u l t u r e s , b u t a l s o
sheep, c a t t l e and h o r s e s w e r e domesticated. Above a l l , c a t t l e and
h o r s e s were i m p o r t a n t f o r t h e i r usage i n t r a n s p o r t s e r v i c e and
w a r f a r e , and f o r improved p r o t e i n supply f o r t h e w a r r i o r s . The
m i x t u r e of a g r i c u l t u r e and stock-breeding t h u s l a i d a sound
economic b a s i s , on which a g r e a t empire c o u l d f u n c t i o n and be
m a i n t a i n e d . The c o n c e n t r a t e d u s e o f new economic r e s o u r c e s t h r o u g h
t h e s t a t e i m p e l l e d i n t u r n t h e f u r t h e r development of Chinese
c u l t u r e t o become one of t h e l e a d i n g c i v i l i z a t i o n s i n t h e a n c i e n t
world.
My t h e s i s t a k e s f o r g r a n t e d t h a t t h e c u l t u r e i n t h e northern
s t e p p e was once s u p e r i o r t o t h a t o f Northern China. I t i s con-
c e i v a b l e t h a t a t t h e beginning of t h e t h i r d millennium B m C -,
Inner. Mongolia (40-42°N) was w a r m e r and damper t h a n i n later times
and t h u s more f e r t i l e t h a n Northern China (34-40° N) because
of more s u n s h i n e h o u r s i n summer. The f a v o u r a b l e c l i m a t i c c o n -
d i t i o n s t h e r e must have r e s u l t e d i n a r i c h e r economy and h i g h e r
c i v i l i z a t i o n t h a n i n t h e contemporaneous Northern China. T h i s
d i f f e r e n t i a l may be a t t e s t e d by r e c e n t a r c h a e o l o g i c a l f i n d i n g s . For
i n s t a n c e , t h e lower s t r a t u m c u l t u r e of H s i a - c h i a - t i e n gzj#j m@%+fL
i n Ch'ih-feng j$ , d a t e d 2410: 140 B.C., a l r e a d y had a h i g h
c h a l c o l i t h i c c u l t u r e w i t h d o m e s t i c a t e d sheep and c a t t l e , as w e l l
as s m a l l - s i z e bronze c a s t i n g s . B e s i d e s , i t s p o t t e r y had forms and
d e c o r , which seem t o be t h e p r o t o t y p e s of Shang p o t t e r y and bronze
( c f . Liu Kuan-min pp. 339 and c o l o u r p l a t e I X ) ,
Word List: Buang-ti and Names of Animals

rl
-3
t
i Pokorny meaning and

page stem word examples Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch .
564 konak golden ( > honey, because hoig fiosq? ma9* xua32
of color) I
germ. ai.kZ%cana- ,gr.k ~ 3 ~ 0 3 ,
huna (n)ga aisl.hunang,ags.hunig,
(Kluge 315 ahd.honag,hoang, engl.
Honig ) honey, nhd.Honig "f 1 32RI ( huang2
185 de-:O god. of Heaven deag tei* ti: ti:4
.
ai dgvg-h "god", devi
"goddess", lat deus , .
divus, ags.Tig "Mars",
ahd,Zio Ti?. 13 IV di4
700 mork horse mag mea 'ma: ma: 3
.
ir .marc, cymr etc ,march
ahd-marah, ags-mearh, .
aisl.marr,nhd.Wihre ,e 29 I1 ' ma3
1
448 gheul horse (ch-horseof keu kjouq lkeu1 ~ G :Y
2 years)
mhd-gul, nhd.Gau1
.
ndl guil I@ 12 111 jul
- per(e)d (Ch.horse for riding, bait bait pi:2 pi: 4
perhaps a mule)
.
(cf Kluge nhd.Pferd "horse",
p. 543, lat.verEdus, ahd-pfarit,
Wadler
p.363) '
mhd.phart,aqs.perid
hebr .pered "mule" ,%* ,, I, bi4
482 gWou cow, nhd.Kuh, cf.p.18 gOU u iu2 njou2
ai.gduh, gr.att.@oGs,
lat.bSs, ahd-chuo, 9 37 I11 niu2
632 kuk dog kug kauk kau kou3
.
n~pers salc, npers sag, .
tach. AB ku ,I@ 37 I g0u3
632 kun-k dog, nhd.Hund , hound huan (g)khuenk khuen3 tFhyan3
gr.kd~v,k ~ d s , f
lat.canis , toch.A.0bl.kon fi; 24 RIV quan3
.
1
841 pork pig, (pork) Peg pea? pa:' pa:
lat.porcus,
ahd. far (a)h,
1 ags .fearh %Q 2911 ba'
ttu: 1
1
1038 SU(O) I sow, nhd.SLU (, to(g) j o t[eul
! av.hii, gr.ds, u o s ,
! lat.sus, suis,
ahd. ags sii, .
aisl.s~r,toch.B suwo
:
I 1092 trog I lat.troia, air-torc, 1
I
4
: acorn.torch, bret. tourch 1 1 I11 &
' c.
'
z hu
Tsung-tung Chang,"Indo-European Vocabulary in Old Chineset'
Pokorny
page stem
meaning and
word examples
Ach . Mch . Nch . Ch . t
1038 suwin swine, nhd.Schwein duan don? thun thun2

.
got.swein,ags ahd swin . 18 RI tun2
1038 suk swine, sow, nhd. Sau sag ?jiaL p:3 II 5iz3
ags-sugu, as.suga,
nhd.schwabisch: suge I B 4111 j shi3-
859 roik roe louk luk lu: 4 lu:4
ahd-re'h, ags.rZha,rSege
.
nhd Reh , Ricke Efz 1 I lu4
409 ghaid goat, nhd.Geil3 ka:t kjat kie3 2
got-gaits, ahd.geiz,
ags.gZt, as.gEt , #& 21 111 1i tFil
I
jie
517 kog goat ko g kouk ku:3 I
ku: 3
abg.koza "she-goat"; a
ags-hecen, mnd.h8ken,
mndl.hoekijn "kid" 12 RI i1 9u3
384 grZ crow, nhd Krahe. ho: ?ea? ea I jal
ahd-kraja, krEiwa,Krghe
and.krX; ags-crZwa, i
28 1
, crZwe, cr3 29 I1 Ya
I 1 -
383 granug crane, nhd Xranig. fiauk fisk 2
xau2/ xau2
ahd-kranuh, ags.cranoc, xo:
.
rnnd kranek @ 31 I he' 4
412 ghans goose, cf.p.12 s@ pan ean4 jen4
991 sparg sparrow, nhd-sperling s& tsiik tshjau3 F ~ h j a3o
ahd-sperk, sperch,spirch
gr.persona1 name = S siag3/ -
I ~ ~ o ~ llsperlingll
y l n 1 ~ ~ 31 IV que
416 gh&u fish, to fish glo/gio 3joT eu2 2
Y:
gr. i x ~ g ~ 4,q lit.~uvis,
ghiu
A
lett. zuvs zivs % 1 1 I11 yii2
531 kark crayfish, crab fiog e j xeaj4 pje4
ai-karka-h, latecancer,
norw.roeke,aksl.rak~ ; g 15 I1 xie4
2
752 m u n ,;m:,u;squito, muon lmuonT wun2 wun2
@ i20 RIII wen
608 sknid ;louse 5nhd.Laus)- sit seat ~:1
J ~ Z e4C
I g r - ~ o u c q ,mire sned
1 .
: ags hnitu, ahd. (h)niz ,
I
136 bhera
.
: nhd Nisse
bear,nhd. BHr,cf.p.l7 9'

1711
peia,R€*pjiaF lphi:
,I !1shi1
iphi:2
> 4
The Shang Dynasty t o o bears s t r o n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s of

stock-breeding n o b i l i t y ( c f . Chang 1970, pp.79 and p.266 f o o t n o t e ) .
S i n c e t h e language r e f l e c t e d i n i t s o r a c u l a r i n s c r i p t i o n s d i d n o t
d i f f e r from t h a t o f c l a s s i c a l l i t e r a t u r e o f t h e f i r s t millennium
B . C . , we may s t a t e t h a t t h e dominance of Indo-European vocabulary
i n Chinese was a l r e a d y c o n s o l i d a t e d i n t h e second h a l f of t h e
second millennium B.C.
Probably s i n c e t h e middle of t h e t h i r d millennium B.C., unfa-
v o r a b l e c l i m a t i c changes took p l a c e i n Northern E u r a s i a and caused
p e r p e t u a l waves o f southword e m i g r a t i o n o f s t o c k - f a r m e r s . P a r a l l e l
t o t h e emergence o f the Chinese Empire and t h e Chinese language i n
E a s t Asia, t h e r e w e r e a l s o i n v a s i o n s o f Indo-European w a r r i o r s t o
t h e Agean and A d r i a t i c a r e a , t o S y r o - P a l e s t i n a and even t o Egypt
around 2500-2200 B.C. ( c f . Gimbutas 1970, pp. 1 9 1 ) .
I am w r i t i n g a n e x t e n s i v e work in German on t h e h i s t o r y o f
Chinese language and i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p t o Proto-Indo-European,
and a m a l s o c o m p i l i n g a Sino-Indo-European Etymological D i c t i o n a r y
w i t h more t h a n 1500 e n t r i e s . But t h i s w i l l t a k e two o r t h r e e
more y e a r s f o r c o m p l e t i o n . So I a c c e p t e d w i t h g r e a t p l e a s u r e
t h e k i n d invitation o f P r o f e s s o r V i c t o r H. Mair t o p u b l i s h
t h i s paper i n E n g l i s h as a p r e l i m i n a r y r e p o r t f o r S i n o l o g i c a l
and l i n g u i s t i c c o l l e a g u e s . I should l i k e t o thank him f o r a l l
o f h i s e d i t o r i a l e f f o r t s and a l s o f o r s t y l i s t i c r e v i s i o n s , which
a r e indispensable, s i n c e I a m not a n a t i v e speaker of English.
Needless t o s a y , I a l o n e a m r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e e r r o r s t h a t may
y e t remain.
A b b r e v i a t i o n s (1)
These are in common use among German Indo-Europeanists and taken
from the Indogermanisches E t y m o l o g i s c h e s W i i r t e r b u c h by Pokorny
and the E t y m o l o g i s c h e s W o r t e r b u c h der Deutschen S p r a c h e by Kluge
Abbreviations for Chinese languages are of my own creation.
Abbr . German Enqlish
a- alt- old
abg . altbulgarisch Old Bulgarian (9-12th century)
ach . altchinesisch Old Chinese (1300 B.C.-316)
ae(ng1.). altenglisch Old English (700-1100)
afries. altfriesisch Old Friesian (till 1500)
afrz. altfranzosisch Old French (9913th c.)
ags . anglosachsisch Anglo-Saxon ( = Old English)
ahd . althochdeutsch Old High German (740-1100)
ai. altindisch Old Indic (Vedic and Sanskrit)
air. altirisch Old Irish
aisl. altisl2indisch Old Icelandic (9-16th c.)
aksl. altkirchenslavisch Old Church Slavic (9-12th c.)
an. /
anord. altnordisch Old Nordian (700-1530)
apr . altpreuSisch Old Prussian (till 16th c.)
aruss . altrussisch Old Russian (11th c.)
as. altsachsisch Old Saxon (9912th c.)
av . avestisch Avestan
bret . bretonisch Celtic of Basse Bretagne, France
ch. chinesisch Modern Mandarin (Peking 1913)

corn. cornisch Celtic of Cornwall
cymr . kymrisch Celtic of Wales
d-. danisch Danish
engl . englisch English (since -1500)
frz. franzosisch French

Sim-Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988)
~ b b r e v i a t i o n s( 2 )
got. gotisch Gothic (4th c. )

gr* griechisch Greek
att. attisch Attic
ion, ionisch Ionic
hebr . hebraisch Hebrew

hitt. hettitisch Hittite (2nd Millennium B.C.)
idg., IE indogermanisch Indo-European

ir. irisch Irish
ksl. kirchenslavisch Church Slavic
lat. lateinisch Latin

lett. lettisch Latvian (since 16th c . )
lit. litauisch Lithuanian (since 16th c. )
m- mittel- middle
mch . mittelchinesisch Middle Chinese (589-1126)
mengl . mittelenglisch Middle English (1100-1500)
mhd . mittelhochdeutsch Middle High German (1100-1350)
mir . mittelirisch Middle Irish
mnd . mittelniederdeutsch Middle Low German (1346th c.)
mongl . mongolisch Mongolian
mpers . mittelpersisch ...
Middle Persian ( 3rd c B C )
n- neu- new
nch . neuchinesisch Early Mandarin (1 3th c.)
nd niederdeutsch Low 'German
nhd . neuhochdeutsch New High German (1350- )
nir. neuirisch New Irish
nl. niederlandisch Dutch
Tsung-tug Chang, "Indo-EuropeanVdcabulary in Old Chinese"
A b b r e v i a t i o n s (3)
P1. plural plural

poln. polnisch Polish
Prat. Prateritum preterite (past tense)
russ. russisch Russian
schwed . schwedisch Swedish

sem. semitisch Semitic
serb. serbisch Serbian
skr. sanskr it Sanskrit (4th c. B.C. )
slav. slavisch Slavic

span. spanisch Spain
B i b l i o q r a p h y (1)
Chang , Tsung-tung % @. %
1970 Der K u l t d e r S h a n g - D y n a s t i e irn S p i e g e l d e r Orakel-
inschriften. E i n e paldographische Studie zur Religion
i m a r c h a i s c h e n C h i n a , Wiesbaden : Otto Harrassowitz
1972 "Die Bildungsregeln und Strukturen der altchinesischen

Schriftzeichen" in: M i i n c h e n e r S t u d i e n z u r S p r a c h w i s s e n -
s c h a f t Heft 3 0 , Muchen: R. Kitzinger
1982 Metaph y s i k , Erkenntnis und P r a k t i s c h e P h i l o s o p h i e i m

Chuang-Tzu. Zur Neu-Interpretation und s y s t e m a t i s c h e n
Darstellung der klassischen chinesischen Philosophie,
Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann
1986 "Zur Herkunft der mittelchinesischen Tonkategorie.
Eine Untersuchung aufgrund der Reimung im Shih-ching
und des Indogermanischen Wortschatzes im archaischen
Chinesisch" in: G a n z a l l m a h l i c h , F e s t s c h r i f t fur
G u n t h e r D e b o n , Heidelberg: Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt
Chou, Fa-kao a &

1974 A P r o n o u n c i n g D i c t i o n a r y o f Chinese C h a r a c t e r s i n
A r c h a i c and A n c i e n t Chinese, Mandarin and Cantonese,
Hongkong: The Chinese University Press
Chou, Tsu-mo a
1983 @fhRm#Ws [ ~ e m n a n t so f t h e R h y m e L e x i c o n s
f r o m the T ' a n g a n d t h e Five D y n a s t i e s ] ,
Peking : Chung-hua shu-chii fSi3
Ch 'u-tz ' u @
1979 @$ 51 [ A Concordance t o Ch Iu-tz l u ] ,
ed. by Takeji, Sadao ~ * B & f ,i 2nd. ed.,
Kyoto : ~hEbunshuppansha I+ ft ttj jJj &
Coblin, Weldon South
1986 A Sinologist ' s Handlist o f Sino-Tibetan Lexical
C o m p a r i s o n s , Nettetal (Germany): Steyler Verlag
B i b l i o g r a p h y (2)
C r o t h e r s , John
1978 "Typology and U n i v e r s a l s of Vowel Systems"
i n : Joseph H . Greenberg ( e d . ) , U n i v e r s a l s o f Human
Languages, Vol. 2 , pp. 93-152
Edkins , Joseph
1871 C h i n a ' s P l a c e i n P h i l o l o g y . An A t t e m p t t o s h o w t h a t
t h e L a n g u a g e s o f E u r o p e a n d A s i a h a v e a common O r i g i n ,
London: Triibner & Co.
Gimbutas , M a r i ja
1970 "Proto-Indo-European C u l t u r e : The Kurgan C u l t u r e d u r i n g
t h e F i f t h , F o u r t h , and Third M i l l e n n i a B.C."
i n : I n d o - E u r o p e a n a n d I n d o - E u r o p e a n s e d . b y George .
Cardona e t a l , P h i l a d e l p h i a : U n i v e r s i t y of Pennsylvania
P r e s s , pp. 155-197
Heubeck , A l f r e d
1966 Aus d e r W e l t d e r f r u h g r i e c h i s c h e n L i n e a r t a f e l n ,
G8ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
H i r t , Hermann
1934 H a n d b u c h d e s U r g e r m a n i s c h e n , Vole 111, p . V I I ,
H e i d e l b e r g : Karl Winters Universitatsbuchhandlung
K a r l g r e n , Bernhard
1923 A n a l y t i c D i c t i o n a r y o f Chinese a n d S i n o - J a p a n e s e ,
P a r i s , R e p r i n t T a i p e i 1970
1940 G r a m m a t a S e r i c a , Stockholm
1957 G r a m m a t a S e r i c a R e c e n s a , Stockholm
1970 Compendium o f P h o n e t i c s i n A n c i e n t and A r c h a i c C h i n e s e ,
Goteborg [ R e p r i n t of B u l l e t i n No. 20 of BMFEA Stockholm] :
Elanders B o k t r y c k e r i Aktiebolag
Karstien; C a r l
1936 "Indogermanisch und Germanisch" i n : F e s t s c h r i f t fur
Hermann H i r t , Vo1. 11, pp. 297-327, Heidelberg
K i l i a n , Lothar
1983 Z u m U r s p r u n g d e r I n d o g e r m a n e n . F o r s c h u n g e n a u s
Linguistik, P r a h i s t o r i e und A n t h r o p o l o g i e ,
Bonn: D r . Rudolf H a b e l t GmbH
Kluge, F r i e d r i c h
1975 E t y m o l o g i s c h e s W o r t e r b u c h d e r D e u t s c h e n S p r a c h e
[1883], 2 1 s t E d i t i o n , B e r l i n and New York: Walter d e G r u y t e r
~ u a n ~ - ~ i i n [ ~ n l a r g e d~h y m e b o o k ] ,
R e p r i n t of t h e Sung-Edition
%* of 1007, e d . by Chou Tsu-mo rfig@* ,
Peking 1958: Chung-hua shu-chu
Lehmann, Winfred P .
1955 P r o t o - I n d o - E u r o p e a n P h o n o l o g y
Austin: The U n i v e r s i t y of Texas P r e s s
1970 " L i n g u i s t i c S t r u c t u r e as Diacritic Evidence on
Proto-Culture" i n : I n d o - E u r o p e a n a n d I n d o - E u r o p e a n s
e d . b y George Cardona e t a l , P h i l a d e l p h i a : U n i v e r s i t y
of Pennsylvania P r e s s , pp. 1-10,
1985 "Indogermanisch-Germanisch-Deutsch: Genealogische
Einordnung und Vorgeschichte d e s Deutschen" i n :
S p r a c h g e s c h i c h t e ed. by Werner Besch e t a l , B e r l i n
and N e w York: Walter de G r u y t e r , pp. 949-962
Lewin, Bruno
1983 "Korean and Indo-German. E a r l i e r German T h e o r i e s a b o u t
t h e R e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e Korean Languages"
i n : K o r e a J o u r n a l , V01. 23, NO. 11 (Nov. 1983)
L i Fang-kui
1982
*2 @
@% [ ~ e s e a r c ho n A r c h a i c ~ h o n e t i c s,]
Peking: Commercial Press
Li-chi @% SBOO~ of ~ i t e s ] w
, i t h Glossaries of Cheng Hsiian
2 *a , f r o m t h e E d i t i o n of Szu-pu pei-yao @%
Liu , Kuan-min 8fl .
3@ W 2 fE "
1984
Northern Steppe] in: ** [Bronze Culture of the
@%&&Tf% a@%
[ ~ r c h a e o l o g i c a lD i s c o v e r i e s and I n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n New
china], edited by the Archaeological Institute of
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pp. 339-350 and
colored plates IX, Peking: Wen-wu Press 2 @J tt] &
Luo, Ch1ang-P'eiand Ts'ai Mei-piao B%%,sg%e%

1959 A ~ ; ~ ! E % % z R ~ she ' P h a g s - p a S c r i p t and
C h i n e s e l a n g u a g e o f t h e M o n g o l i a n p e r i o d ] , Peking:
Academia Sinica Press
Manomaivibool, Prapin
1975 A Study o f Sino-Thai Lexical Correspondences
(Dissertation Ph.D., University of Washington)
Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International
Mayrhofer, Manfred
1978 Sanskrit-Grammatik m i t sprachvergl eichenden Erklarungen,
Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
Pokorny, Julius
1959 Indogermanisches Etymologisches Worterbuch,
Bern und Miinchen: Francke Verlag
Pulleyblank, Edwin G.
1962 "The Consonantal System of Old Chinese"
in: A s i a M a j o r , Vo1. IX, Part I and 11, pp. 58-144,
206-265
196533 "Close-open Ablaut in Sino-Tibetan"
in: L i n g u a 14, pp. 230-240
1966 "Chinese and Indo-Europeans"
in: J o u r n a l o f t h e R o y a l A s i a t i c S o c i e t y , pp. 9-39
(In this paper Pulleyblank conjectures a very intimate
relationship between Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European,
but did not go so far as to start lexical comparisons.)
1983 "Stages i n t h e t r a n s c r i p t i o n o f I n d i a n words i n

Chinese from Han t o Tang"
in: Sprachen d e s Buddhismus i n Z e n t r a l a s i e n , e d . by
Klaus Rohrborn and Wolfgang Veenker, pp. 73-102,
Wiesbaden: H a r r a s s o w i t z
1984 Middle C h i n e s e : A S t u d y i n h i s t o r i c a l phonology,
Vancouver: U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia Press
9
~ h i - ~ h i [ ~ e c o r d so f t h e Grand ~ i s t o r i a n ]
1959 ed. by Szu-ma C h l i e n 3JeB (145-86 B.C.), punctuated
e d i t i o n of Ku Chieh-kang @ Rl , Peking : Chung-hua
shu-chii
Shih-=hing ifg BOO^ o f poetry]

1934 A Concordance t o S h i h - c h i n g % % 51 %$ , ed. by
Harvard-Yenching I n s t i t u t e , Peking
Ting , Pang-hsin T gE
1975 C h i n e s e Phonology of t h e Wei-Chin p e r i o d : @ 7Zi Et %
% R e c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e f i n a l s a s r e f l e c t e d i n p o e t r y
T a i p e i : I n s t i t u t e of H i s t o r y and P h i l o l o g y , Academia
S i n i c a , S p e c i a l p u b l i c a t i o n s No. 6 5
Tdd6, Akiyasu &BS~#

1957 [ o n C h i n e s e phonology] ,
Tokys: K6nan s h o y i n
Tung T ' ung-ho W

1944 k&gf.%% [ p h o n e t i c Tables for Archaic
Chinese. A raft], R e p r i n t T a i p e i 1975
.
.i.
. *
1953 *k!daas [A P h o n e t i c H i s t o r y o f C h i n e s e ~ a n g u a g e l,
R e p r i n t T a i p e i 1978
Ueda M a n n e n . See under Weda, Mannen.
Ulenbrook, Jan
1967 " E i n i g e Ubereinstimmungen zwischen dem Chinesischen und
dem Indogermanischen" i n : Anthropos N r . 6 2 , pp- 533-551
B i b l i o g r a p h y (6)
Ulving, Tor
1968 "Indo-European Elements i n Chinese?"
i n : A n t h r o p o s N r . 63/64, 1968/69, pp. 943-951
Wadler, Arnold
1 9 3 5 Der T u r m von B a b e l . U r g e m e i n s c h a f t d e r S p r a c h e .
[Paris 1935?] R e p r i n t Wiesbaden: F o u r i e r Verlag
(Though I do n o t s h a r e t h e o p t i m i s t i c view of a s i n g l e
o r i g i n f o r a l l languages i n t h e world, I have g a i n e d much
from t h i s book with i t s numerous examples from Hebrew and
Semitic languages and i n s t r u c t i v e h i n t s on p h o n e t i c
comparisons.)
Wang L i 3 2
1957 @%eE he H i s t o r y of C h i n e s e l a n g u a g e . A raft]
Peking: K'e-hsiieh chlu-pan-she $** ffl @f
1985 ~~~~~ r he H i s t o r y o f C h i n e s e P r o n u n c i a t i o n ] ,
Peking: Chinese Academy of S o c i a l S c i e n c e Press
Weda, Mannen k @ % % et a1
1940 D a i j i t e n [A b i g d i c t i o n a r y of Chinese c h a r a c t e r s ] ,
Tokyo : H eibo nsha
(Go-on and kan-on r e a d i n g s a r e taken from t h i s d i c t i o n a r y . )
Yang Nai-szu fit JP\

@i
lg8I ~ ~ ~ $ f 2 3 $ %
he P h o n e t i c S y s t e m of t h e C h u n g - y u a n
in-gun], Peking: Chinese Academy of S o c i a l Science P r e s s
Y i i e h - H a n tz I u - t i e n & [ ~ i e t n a m e s e - ~ h i n e s de i c t i o n a r y ]
1966 e d . by Ho d e n g e t a l , Peking: Commercial P r e s s
(Sino-Vietnamese r e a d i n g s c i t e d i n t h i s paper are t a k e n
from t h e appendix of this d i c t i o n a r y : )
Y u n - c h i n g $S @ h he Mirror of ~ h y r n e s ]
A Japanese E d i t i o n of 1 5 6 4 , R e p r i n t Shanghai 1955:
Commercial P r e s s
~ z e m e r g n y i ,Oswald
1980 E i n f u h r u n g i n d i e V e r g l e i c h e n d e S p r a c h w i s s e n s c h a f t ,
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche B u c h g e s e l l s c h a f t
Rhymes o f E a r l y Mandarin (Nch. 1 3 0 0 )

reconstructed according t o t h e c h u n g - y u a n - y i n - y u n (1324)
and the p h o n e t i c a l t r a n s c r i p t i o n i n t h e ~ e n g - k u - t z u - y i i n ( 1 3 0 8 )
P
Rhyme g r o u p with medial to-

N r . Name Simplex e- i-, j- u- tal
I 0: 0:&&%147 - j 0 & 6 ~ g - 1 4 9 ~ 0 3 j i f i j d 150 3
13 #j & a: a:&&a153 ea k~ 151 I - ua&# is9

I
3
14
$& e: - - 1- je$$-%l61 u e
-3- ~ ~ ~ i 2 6' 4
t:jiggiQs8I - -
1
3 it: 1
4
g& i: i: 'S$&j&92 ( - - - 1
1- 1
I I
II " ai i f , 99
- uai&/iQ 100 z
6 % aj aj%$&i131eajqa 11s - uaj +$d 118 1 3
11
=. -=.
au au%$$ 1361 eI
a u ~ ~ ~ jau,#$@
1 4 0 uau: 137 I
I
4
16
l i ; f ~a u a u ~ ~ ~ f $ i 7 z l
- i~ fijg 174 - 2
, u: u: $#g&103 e u ( , z ~l o ?l -
h *-
- 3 !
open s y l l a b i c 9 4 4 6 23
1 U3 eu9&&&
W - - 2
u3!#34gq?77 80
eeag;s@j 84
- ua3j$+xas 3
2 , i ~ @ j a9 ja9$+9$~82
- ia~$iii~7~a~#~~170
w
I
15
J&%" 3, iat,e&.$ 166 3 a
" e3 7 - 1 ie) X, 171 u e g h q 171 2
7
4
y.
an !an 6% 120 - 1 ' $ . ~1 2 1 ; -
in 2
'I ~ 1241 - I-
I
X un ~ u n + h x 123 e u n i g
1
4
2
B an l a n s ~ ~ 1 2eanfoj$fi
6 1281- juan$j&l 129 3
#+& I
- - I
i-
+~?g:, on ;on%@-&130 !
1
1 0 % ~e n !- - [ i e n k z 132 uen%$ 134 j 2

am - - (
17
(%$ am&+ 178 im (94179 l 2
&(@ - I
18
E@am a m 39?
$q 181 eam 183
I- 2
! 19 %&@e m - - k
iem$m&~85 - I
J
with n a s a l I i
+
final :9
I
5 16 I 25 I
Italic numerals r e f e r t o Yang Nai-szu 1981
Sin0 -Platonic Papers, 7 (January, 1988)
I n d e x o f W o r d E x a m p l e s
The f i r s t number r e f e r s t o t h e page i n t h i s p a p e r , t h e second t o
t h a t i n Pokorny.
E n g l i s h I n d e x
a i r , wqher c o t , hole
a l s o , a g a i n , and
arrowhead c o u r t (of j u s t i c e ) 23,1067
COW 18,482
awake
crane 38,383
backbone, r i d g e
crayfish, crab 38,531
t o bake
crow 38,384
t o bask i n t h e sun
t o be, r e a l , t r u e
day
bear t o defy
belly t o defame
t o bend a bow deposit
b e t w i x t , between
t o d i e , death
t o boast
dog, hound
body, corpse
door
to boil
d r e a r y , sorrow
bone, r i b
dregs
book, t o book
bowl, cup t o drown
t o dwindle
breast
end
b r i g h t , shining
to fall
t o burst
fart
t o c a l l , cry f e l l , skin
few
camp
fish
can
flag, cloth
t o carve
t o float
castle float
cheek
t o flow, r i v e r
t o clasp
t o fly
clew, b a l l
t o conduct, l e a d folk
contented w i t h
t o cook
f r a u d , vagabund 20,731 idle 9,227

fright 14,820 impudent 11,845
inclined 7,935
t o gather 10,658
i n d u s t r i o u s , t o s t r i v e 19,564
t o give, donation 5,408
to insist 5,117
glance, t o glance 9,213
glimt , t o glimt 13,431 king
t o go up 7,1017 t o knead 5,3.7 1
goat 38,409
517 lazy, late
god o f heaven l e a , open f i e l d 10,688
golden leaf 6,690
leak 16,657
g n a t , mosquito
little 6,657
goose
31,966
guilt
t o l o a n , bestow, g r a n t 16,669
hair long 17,197
h a l e , whole louse 38,608
hames
hap, happen
mast, t o f a t t e n
help, t o help
membrane
herd, heritage
milk, curd
t o hew
m i l l , t o grind
high
t o mix, t o b l e n d
hill
nasty
hollow t o hurse, c u l t i v a t e
holm, r o c k o l d , former
hook on
horse outside
pack, t o pack
t o hum p i g , pork
plow, f l e x e d stick
hunger
plum, sloe
how? why?
t o point
t o pour 18,447
t o praise son
p r e p o s i t i o n (at, t o ) sorrow
p r i c e , t o be work sour, salted
quick sound
a t o reach SOW
reign
sparrow
@ t o remain
to split
t o reside
t o squat
r i d g e , shore
t o stear
right
string
roe
strong
t o rush a t , s t a r t
t o sweep, broom 15,1049
sap, SOUP swine 38,1038
sword 15,1050
scathe
t o scoop t o take
sea, lake
s e a r c h , t o seek t h a t c h , r o o f , house 7,1013
seat t o tempt 10,687
self toe 9,188
P
t o send town ( - t o n ) 17,263
severe t r a i l , way 9,257
1
t o sew, repair t r e e , wood 17,214

shall tricky, t o b e t r a y 16,276
s h i p , rudder through 16,1076
t o turn
shit, to shit
t o t u r n sour 13,627
shoe
s i g h t , t o see v o i c e , song 21,907
since want, wish 15,1147
t o s i n g , song watershed, d i s t r i c t . l 8 , 4 4 9
sleep what?
slit
where?
to s l i t
who? 20,644
t o s l i p into
witch 20,736
sister of husband
was ( h a v i n g b e e n ) 23,117 1
S O , as, i f
P i n y i n I n d e x
an1 5F
an4
bal 56 1
bao fg gao &
bao2 @
bao3
beil fi
bi3 gei3 %
b i4 a. goul $$!I
bi4 ,!&- 9ou3 44
bu4 a gul s
bu4 % gul #ti
can4 @ gu3
3 fi
e
caol gu Sx
1
%
ce4 fl1 gui
2
chang h a i3 RE
4
thou
1
B h a i4 %!5
is
tun
d a i4 -
jpj haoZ l a i4 M
lai B
l a n 4m
dao 4 g hao2
4 l a o 42iif
dao hao4
9
lei3#! R
he2 lei3 &
he2
he2 @J!
a li3 +
lie4 %
he2 4
lie
he4
hu2 8
4
huai
B!
huangl
fei4 tB huang 2
fei
4 h u i l 8jt ma3 8 6
2
hui mang2 @
mei 8
h u i4 2zt
ji2 ZR rniao 3
WW&
miao4 &9
mo2
2
shui
shui4
ni #it
la
n i e 4 tr
2 yaoL #j
niu +
ye3 93
ye4 3%
y i ZS
yin2 6
you4
you4 X
y*2 f i
yii2 R
yiian 4
wang' E zha4 %
wei2 B zhai2 %
wei4 @ zhangl @
wen
2 #& zhenl
wul z zhi1
ti-
wu2
w2 B zhi3 IE
4 A zhi3
wu jg *lE
zhi %
zhi4
qiu E zhoul
qiu St$' xi'
quan 3 2 xian1 #
xian2 85
xiao 3 /J\ 31,966 zhuangl
xie2 5,554 zhuang 4 a
xie4 @ 38,531 zi @
xie4 7,921
xiu" 22,915
4 z i4 B
Editor's Note: Tsung-tung Chang holds doctorate degrees in

economics and in ~ i n o l o g y ; He 1 s the author of Der Kult der
Shang-Dynastie im Spiegel der Orakelinschriften: Eine pallographische
Studie zur Religion im archaischen China (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrasso-
wltz, 1 9 / 0 ) and Metaphysik, Erkenntnis und Praktische Philosophie
i m Chuang-Tzu: 2ur Neu-Interpretation und systematischen Darstelllung
der klassischen chinesischen Philoso~hie (Frankfurt am Main:
Vittorio ~lostermann, 1982).
Since June 2006, all new issues of Sino-Platonic Papers have been published
electronically on the Web and are accessible to readers at no charge. Back issues
are also being released periodically in e-editions, also free. For a complete catalog
of Sino-Platonic Papers, with links to free issues, visit the SPP Web site.
www.sino-platonic.org

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SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS

Number 7 January, 1988

Indo-European Vocabulary in Old Chinese

Victor H. Mair, Editor

Although the chief focus of Sino-Platonic Papers is on the intercultural relations of

The only style-sheet we honor is that of consistency. Where possible, we prefer

Submissions are regularly sent out to be refereed and extensive editorial

Sino-Platonic Papers is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-

Tsung-tung Chang, U n i v e r s i t y of F r a n k f u r t , West Germany

I n 1786, j u s t o v e r two hundred y e a r s ago, comparative h i s t o r -

During t h e p a s t two hundred y e a r s , many s u g g e s t i o n s were a l s o

I n h i s t i m e , E d k i n s ' t h e s i s seemed b o l d and e x t r a v a g a n t . But

* T h i s s t u d y i s a much expanded v e r s i o n of t h e paper I read a t

The skepticism, common among Indo-Europeanists in regard to

Yet there are also opposing views among Indo-Europeanists.

non-inflexion." And Carl Karstien (1936) holds the opinion that

In Middle Chinese (Mch.) there were four tone categories:

The f i n a l s t o p s -p, - t r -k of t h e e n t e r i n g t o n e are nowadays

I n t h e f o l l o w i n g l i s t s I have chosen a number o f Indo-European

Regarding t h e manner of a r t i c u l a t i o n , t h e r e are no r e g u l a r c o r r e s -

Indo-European s t e m s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o Chinese words o f e n t e r i n g t o n e :

loo bhug b e l l y , nhd. Bauch 1 P U ~ pjuk fu: 3

400 glag lau

408 ghobh t o give, donation ki: 3

554 kalb t o helpi t o cooperate 2

* Arabic and Roman numbers i n d i c a t e t h e Rhyme g r o u p and Grade respec-

Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch.

Pokorny meaning and Mch . Nch. Ch.

I ahd.saf, sapf, ags.saep,

I got .aisl .ags .skip,

got.slLupan, ahd sliofan.

a. Mch. v a n i s h i n g t o n e < Ach. -d, -s = I E -s o r d e n t a l s

b. Mch. r i s i n g t o n e < Ach. -g = I E velars

c. Mch. level tone < Ach. -@ = IE -@

In the following list a number of Indo-European stems are

aqs-an. bi5k !,2RI /bu4

* In Early Mandarin,Middle Chinese rising tone changed not into

Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch.

camp, nhd. Lager

aksl.rnorje 113 I hai3

Pokorny meaning and Ach. ,Mch. Nch. Ch.

845 preg impudent, nhd-frech, peag pjai

It is fascinating to see that the velar final stop lost over

The f o l l o w i n g l i s t w i l l show t h a t t h e Indo-European s t e m s

Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch.

Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch- Ch.

431 ghland glint, to glint, gland lank lan lan4

ditto sland t s h a a tshan4 tshan4

488 gWhaid a i r , w t a t h e r kaid k h j i k ~ k h i :ItEhi:

526 kanth ridge, shore

696 inogd maid, ( a c h . jounger s i s t e r ) mod moi /mmi4 mei4

Pokorny meaning and Ach. Mch. Nch. Ch.

819 purd . £art, to £art P U ~ pfiui&' fi:4 fei4

seat, chair, nhd .Sit2

908 sent to send, to present seand 4 4

besom, broom, to sweep

zuab zuei * suai4 suei4

isl.s6pa, engl-sweep 16 RIV 4

1050 suerth sword, (ach. axe of suei2.

A g r e a t number o f words w i t h v a n i s h i n g t o n e , however, w e r e

Pokorny meaning and IAch. Mc~. N c ~ . ch.

220 dok t o con-duct , t o l e a d 1do:g dau 3 tau t a o4 , 3

276 dhrogh t o deceive , deception