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Another character for the word “rice plant” in Old Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2024

Masaki Nohara Open the ORCID record for Masaki Nohara [Opens in a new window]
Masaki Nohara*
Affiliation:
Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
*
Email: noharam@zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

Two kinds of grain, “millet, 粟米 sùmǐ” and “husked rice, 稻 dào”, frequently appear in the Liye Qin Slips. Aside from these grains, another character seen in the Liye Qin Slips, nǎo, is thought to represent grain. It also represents the words for “brain, 腦 nǎo” in other excavated documents. Since the archaeological data show that rice cultivation was practised around the middle and lower Yangtze Valley, the homeland of Proto-Hmong Mien (formerly the state of Chu 楚地), the word for “rice plant, 稻 dào” seems to be a loanword from Proto-Hmong Mien *mbləu. The character nǎo is reconstructed as *nˤuʔ, which bears the same onset as the sound for “rice plant (or husked rice)” in North and East Hmongic languages nɯ (< *mbləu). Hence, we propose that the assimilation (*mbl- > *n-) in these languages could have occurred at the latest just before or after the Qin dynasty.

Keywords

Old ChineseExcavated documentsLiye Qin SlipsHmong-MienProto-MinRice plant
Type
Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , First View , pp. 1 - 12
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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