< Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic

Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/uma

This Proto-Japonic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Japonic

Etymology 1

Possibly derived as a nativized borrowing from Old Chinese 馬 (OC *mraːʔ),[1] from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-m-raŋ ~ s-raŋ (“horse”). See the Proto-Sino-Tibetan entry for more details.

The ma sound denoting "horse" is common to a number of languages of central Asia, where horses were first domesticated, which has led some to speculate about a possible cognate root (but no consensus on any kind of relation exists). Compare Manchu ᠮᠣᡵᡳᠨ (morin, “horse”), Mongolian морь (morʹ, “horse”), Korean 말 (mal, “horse”), Mandarin 馬／马 (mǎ, “horse”), Sanskrit मर्य (márya, “stallion; young man”) and Proto-Indo-European *márkos (“horse”) and descendants such as Irish marc (“horse”, archaic) or English mare (“female horse”). More at *márkos.

Alternative reconstructions
  • *muma (Vovin, 2014)
  • *uma (Pellard, 2013)
  • *ma

Noun

*uma

*uma: a horse.
  1. horse
Descendants
  • Old Japanese: 馬 (ma, uma, muma)
  • Peninsular Japonic: *ma
    • Puyǒ:
      • Baekje: マ (*ma)
      • Goguryeo: *馬 (*ma)
    • Han:
  • Proto-Ryukyuan: *Cma
    • Northern Ryukyuan: 烏馬 (uma) (Liúqiú guăn yìyŭ, 1469-1470)[2]
      • Kikai: 馬 (ma, uma)
      • Kunigami: 馬 ('mā)
      • Northern Amami-Oshima: 馬 ('mā)
      • Okinawan: 馬 ('nma, 'nmā)
      • Oki-No-Erabu: 馬 (mā)
      • Southern Amami-Oshima: 馬 ('mā)
      • Toku-No-Shima: 馬 (mā)
      • Yoron: 馬 (uma)
    • Southern Ryukyuan: *Vma (Bentley, 2008b)
      • Miyako: 馬 (mma)
      • Yaeyama: 馬 (mma)
      • Yonaguni: 馬 (nma)

Etymology 2

Might originally be an interjection; compare English mmm.

Samuel Martin compares *ama (“sweet”).[3]

Alternative reconstructions
  • *ma (Martin, 1987)

Adjective

*uma

  1. good
    Antonym: *warə (“bad”)
  2. delicious
Descendants

References
  1. Vovin, Alexander (2014) “Out of Southern China?”, in XXVIIes Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale‎
  2. Lin (2015)
  3. Martin, Samuel E. (1987) The Japanese Language Through Time, New Haven, London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 843
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