 | ThisProto-Sino-Tibetan entry containsreconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directlyattested, but are hypothesized to have existed based oncomparative evidence. |
Alongside the root for "three" (*kV-sum), this root for "two" is one of the most lexemically and phonologically stable numerals in Sino-Tibetan languages, and lexical replacement of this etymon is excessively rare: e.g. Jingpho/ləkhôŋ/ which has not been successfully connected to anything else. The Jingpho word for "one" has a similar shape,/ləŋâi/, and is also etymologically unclear.
This root appears unmistakably cognate with*s-ni-s(“seven”). See there for more.
The Burmese form seems to suggest a proto-language velar final variant: *-ik.
*kV-ni-s
| 20 | ||
| [a],[b],[c],[d] ← 1 | 2 | 3 → |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal:*kV-ni-s | ||