< Reconstruction:Proto-Polynesian

Reconstruction:Proto-Polynesian/rima

This Proto-Polynesian 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-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian cardinal numbers
 <  4 5 6  > 
    Cardinal : *rima

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *lima, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lima.[1][2]

Noun

*rima

  1. hand

Numeral

*rima

  1. five

Descendants
  • Proto-Nuclear Polynesian:
    • Proto-Eastern Polynesian:
    • Samoic-Outlier
  • Tongic:

Reconstruction notes

This term may in fact be *lima;[1][2] identification is unclear due to a discontinuity in Tongan. If it were *rima, Tongan would be expected to have *ima, and if it were *lima, Tongan would be expected also to have *lima. No other Polynesian language fully distinguishes */ɾ/ and */l/. This reconstruction assumes that nima evolved out of *ima, which may have been modified to avoid confusion with a common homophone.

References
  1. Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “RIMA (1)”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online‎
  2. Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “RIMA (2)”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online‎
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.