Prefixes are of primary importance for Sino-Tibetan reconstruction, though they have left only the most indirect traces in Chinese. Sinologists are increasingly becoming aware of the possibility that a complex system of prefixes may account for morphological alternations within Chinese word families and for apparently aberrant phonetic series.
The first insightful treatment of Tibeto-Burman prefixes was Stuart N. Wolfenden’s Outlines of Tibeto-Burman Linguistic Morphology (1929). The Conspectus reconstructs seven prefixes for PTB: *s-, *m-, *a-, *r-, *b-, *g-, and *d-. Some of these are more important and have clearer semantic functions than others. For instance, *s- before a verb signaled causativity, transitivity, or outer-directedness; a distinct but homophonous element, derived from the full noun *sya ‘animal, meat,’ was frequently prefixed to names of animals. When placed before verb roots, the prefix *m- indicated stativity, intransitivity, reflexivity, or inner-directedness. The prefix *a- (better interpreted as *ʔa- or *ʔə-) had a variety of functions, including the marking of kin terms, vocatives, third-person subjects, and “bulk-providing” extensions of both nominal and verbal roots. Both *s- and *ʔ- frequently led to the devoicing or glottalization of a following root-initial consonant, while *m- often caused a secondary voicing of the Ci.
The historical morphophonemic effects of the prefixes has been complex. Besides affecting the voicing or aspiration of the root-initial consonant, the prefixes could metathesize (switch order) with it, palatalize it, drive it out entirely (a process known as prefix-preemption), fuse with it into a single segment, drop out altogether, or be substituted for by another prefix—and any of these activities could be accompanied by an effect on the syllable’s tone. Taking a hypothetical etymon *g-ya, a wide variety of reflexes would be possible. A daughter language could reflect the simple root-initial, as in ya (a situation known as prefix loss or prefix absence); the original prefix could remain roughly the same, perhaps “protected” from the Ci by a schwa, as in gəya and kəya (prefix preservation); the root could have allowed alternative prefixations at the proto-stage, or the daughter language could have innovated by substituting a new prefix for the old one, as in pəya, təya, or məya (prefix substitution or prefix alternation); the prefix could unite with the root-initial to form a single consonantal segment incorporating phonetic features of both, as in dža, ɕa, and dɮa (prefix fusion); a new prefix could be superadded to the older one, as in səgəya (reprefixation); or the prefix could drive out the Ci altogether, as in ga or ka (prefix preemption). Examples of prefix preemption include ‘seven’ (PTB *s-nis > Jingpo sənìt, but Lahu šɨ̄), ‘penis’ (PTB *m-ley > Lahu nī, but compare Written Burmese lî), ‘needle’ (PTB *[k/ʔ]-rap > Written Burmese ʔap), ‘lick’ (PTB *m-lyak > Akha myə̀ʔ), ‘put to sleep’ (PTB *s-yip > Written Burmese sip), ‘four’ (PTB *b-ləy > Maru bìt), and so on.
Rhymes
As in Chinese and English, PTB had more diphthongs (13) than pure vowels, or monophthongs (5). Except for *-a, far and away the most frequently attested vowel in the system, pure vowels in final position were relatively rare; *-a is usually preserved as such, though sometimes it becomes a back vowel /ɐ/, /ɔ/, /o/, or even /u/, as in Luquan (LQ) Yi (for example, ‘fern’ Proto-Lolo-Burmese *n-da1 > LQ nt’u and Lahu dà; ‘moon’ PLB *s-la3 > LQ ɳu22 and Lahu ha-pa; ‘many’ PLB *mra2 > LQ ɳu33 and Lahu mâ; ‘soul, spirit’ PLB *s-la1 > LQ ɳu11 and Lahu ɔ̀-ha). In Qiangic languages such as Pumi, Tosu, and Xixia, *-a sometimes becomes -i, as in ‘moon’ (PTB *s-(g)la > Pumi Dayang [PD] ʐí), ‘hundred’ (PTB *r-gya > PD ʃí), ‘salt’ (PTB *tsa > PD tshǐ), and ‘ill, hurt’ (PTB *na > PD ɳí).
The Conspectus tentatively sets up a contrast between a front and a back low vowel, PTB *-a and *-â. This putative contrast, which has not been accepted by other scholars, was intended to handle vocalic alternations in Tibetan verb morphology and to multiply possible “regular” correspondences with Chinese.
Vowel length is an inherently unstable feature in Tibeto-Burman. Contrasts in vowel length seem to have come and gone cyclically in the history of the family, with the effects of later changes largely obscuring the results of earlier developments. In any case, length contrasts are only to be found in syllables closed by a semivowel (i.e., falling diphthongs) or other final consonant.
Final consonants
Besides the semivowels, nine final consonants (-p, -t, -k, -m, -n, -ŋ, -r, -l, -s) are reconstructed for PTB. As is generally true of Southeast Asian languages, there is only a single series of (unreleased) final stops, with no voicing or manner contrast (although Tibetan orthography, like that of Thai, renders final stops with voiced letters). Unlike Mon-Khmer, Tibeto-Burman has never had final palatals (-c, -ñ) or final -h. A secondary final -ʔ occurs in many languages, deriving from *-p -t -k (as generally in Loloish and Karenic) and/or *-s (as in Lushai/Mizo). This final glottal stop is frequently reduced further, yielding a creakiness or glottalization of the syllable’s vocalic nucleus. Other secondary final consonants occasionally occur, especially in Qiangic, because of the reduction of the second syllable in compounds.
Creakiness or constriction of the vowel may also arise through the influence of one of the “glottogenic” prefixes (*s- or *ʔ-) or as an automatic concomitant of certain tones, as in Dàyáng Pumi, where some words under high tone are optionally pronounced with a noticeable final glottal stop (the symbol “~” indicates a variant): ‘face’ zíw ~ zíwʔ; ‘soybean’ ɳé ~ ɳéʔ; ‘invite to eat’ dzyú ~ dzyúʔ; and ‘sweat’ ʃtʃhí ~ ʃtʃhíʔ.
The loss of a *nasal final consonant often leads to nasalization of the vowel (as in, for example, Burmese and Pumi) or to a change in the vowel’s quality (as in Lahu, where *-am > -o, *-an > -e, and *-aŋ > -ɔ). Subphonemic vowel nasalization sometimes occurs in syllables with low vowels and Ø- (zero) or h- initials, according to a widespread phenomenon called rhinoglottophilia.
Many TB roots show variation between final homorganic (produced in the same position of articulation) stops and nasals (-k ~ -ŋ, -t ~ -n, and -p ~ -m). This alternational pattern is also frequent in Chinese. Other variational patterns to be found in closed syllables include *-u- ~ *-i- (especially in the environment of a labial initial or final) and *-ik ~ *-yak.
Final *-r, *-l, and *-s are relatively rare but occur in a number of well-established roots, including Proto-Tibeto-Burman *skar ‘star,’ *s-brul ‘snake,’ and *rus ‘bone.’