kʰə̆-

Pela

Etymology

Likely from an earlier form *kʰa with an uncertain tone, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ka (“which; like; deictic; interrogative”); a possible cognate is directly attested as Lhao Vo kho꞉ (“where”). If so, cognate with Old Chinese 何 (OC *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ), Tibetan ག་རེ (ga re, “what”), Nuosu ꇿ (kat), ꈀꇬ (kax go, “where”) and Lahu qhɔ̀ (“(Na dialect) where”). Compare Lhao Vo kho꞉ and Zaiwa ka.

Determiner

kʰə̆- (usually with classifiers, always reduced)

1. which

   nɔ̃⁵⁵ kʰə̆.kɔ³¹kja⁵⁵ mɛ̃⁵⁵ pju⁵⁵

   Which country are you from?

Prefix

kʰə̆- (always reduced)

1. (unproductive) prefix forming interrogative terms

   kʰə̆.jauʔ³¹

   which man; who (with jauʔ³¹ (“classifier for people”))

   kʰə̆.kʰja⁵⁵

   whither, to what place (with kʰja⁵⁵ (“to, toward”))

   kʰə̆.mja̠³⁵

   how many, how much (with mja̠³⁵ (“a derived form of mja³¹ (“many, much”)”))

Usage notes

Since being a full syllable instead of a reduced one is not required for a head of a noun phrase in Pela, the reduced appearance of kʰə̆- does not imply its function as an affix directly; instead, it serves as the head of case particles frequently (though mostly fossilised), as in kʰə̆.kʰja⁵⁵ (“whither, to what place (in this case kʰja⁵⁵ (“to, toward”))”).

Derived terms

Pela terms prefixed with kʰə̆-

• kʰə̆.jauʔ³¹ (“which man; who”)
• kʰə̆.kʰja³¹ (“how, in which manner”)
• kʰə̆.kʰja⁵⁵ (“whither, to which place”)
• kʰə̆.lam⁵¹ (“which one”)
• kʰə̆.mja̠³⁵ (“how many, how much”)
• kʰə̆.mja̠³⁵ tɛ̃⁵⁵ (“how old; how many years”)
• kʰə̆.mɛ̃³¹ (“where; whither; at/to what place”)
• kʰə̆.mɛ̃⁵⁵ (“whence, from where”)
• kʰə̆.su⁵⁵ (“how; what kind of”)
• kʰə̆.sŭ kɔ̠t⁵⁵ (“how to, in what way”)
• kʰə̆.sŭ kɛ³¹ (“how to (call)”)
• kʰə̆.tʃuŋ⁵¹ (“what kind of”)
• kʰə̆.u³¹ (“when, at which moment”)

 

See also

Possible derived terms from *kʰa:

• kʰai³⁵ (“whither, to what place”)
• kʰak⁵⁵ (“who”)

References

• Dai Qingxia, Jiang Ying, Kong Zhien, A Study of Pela Language (2007; Publishing House of Minority Nationalities, Beijing)
• Huang Bufan (editor), Xu Shouchun, Chen Jiaying, Wang Huiyin, A Tibeto-Burman Lexicon (1992; Central Minorities University, Beijing)
• Mangshi Jinghpo ethnicity Association of Development and Progress Studies(芒市景颇族发展进步研究学会)(ed.), Han-Zaiwa-Pela Dictionary (汉文载瓦文波拉语对译词典) (2018; Dehong Nationalities Publishing House, Mangshi)