ขี้
Thai
Etymology
From Proto-Tai *C̬.qɯjꟲ (“excrement”).[1]
In Southern Tai, cognate with Northern Thai ᨡᩦ᩶, Lao ຂີ້ (khī), Lü ᦃᦲᧉ (ẋii²), Shan ၶီႈ (khīi), Ahom 𑜁𑜣 (khī).
In Northern Tai, cognate with Zhuang haex, Saek ไกฺ.
Possibly cognate with Proto-Austronesian *Caqi[2] (whence Paiwan tsaqi, Malay tahi, Malagasy tay).
Also possibly cognate with Chinese 屎 (shǐ, “excrement”); Modern Thai ขี้ (kîi) was considered cognate with Middle Chinese 屎 (MC śi) by Manomaivibool (1975)[3] and Old Chinese 屎 (OC qhji') by Gong (2002).[4]
Bauer (1996) pointed out that khV ("excrement") is quite widespread in Cantonese 𡲢 (ke¹, “poop”), Tai (e.g. Thai ขี้ (kîi)) and Tibeto-Burman (e.g. Zaiwa kʰji²¹, Burmese ချေး (hkye:, “shit”) and Lashi kʰjei⁵⁵) in focusing on modern lexical forms instead of proto forms.[5] Paul Benedict criticized that the lexical forms Bauer had pulled together as the "same" word were really just "looklike".[6] Bauer rebutted that it is highly unlikely that the phenomenon of simple coincidence explains the occurrence of so many phonosemantically similar (and identical) forms in so many different languages.[6]
Compare Sui ggeex, Proto-Kra *kaiꟲ and Proto-Hlai *ɦaːjʔ (whence haːj³ in most modern dialects).
Pronunciation
| Orthographic | ขี้ kʰ ī ˆ | |
|---|---|---|
| Phonemic | คี่ g ī ˋ | |
| Romanization | Paiboon | kîi |
| Royal Institute | khi | |
| (standard) IPA(key) | /kʰiː˥˩/(R) | |
| Homophones | คี่ | |
Verb
ขี้ • (kîi) (abstract noun การขี้)
Synonyms
Noun
ขี้ • (kîi)
- (vulgar, sometimes offensive) shit (faeces)
- (colloquial) any dirty substance, unwanted substance, or waste matter discharged from or found on the body, as scurf, snot, earwax, etc.
Particle
ขี้ • (kîi)
- (sometimes considered vulgar) used as a prefix to any word to form a noun, indicating the state of being a dirty substance, unwanted substance, or waste matter.
- (sometimes considered vulgar) used as a prefix to any word to form an adjective or adverb, indicating a tendency, propensity, habit, behaviour, or condition, especially an unfavourable one.
Derived terms
References
- ^ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2009) The Phonology of Proto-Tai (Doctoral dissertation)[1], Department of Linguistics, Cornell University , page 325
- ^ Ostapirat, Weera (2005) "Kra-dai and Austronesian: notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution" In Sagart, Laurent; et al. (eds.) The Peopling of East Asia, London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon, pages 111, 122, 124
- ^ Manomaivibool, Prapin (1975) A Study of Sino-Thai Lexical Correspondences (PhD dissertation), Department of Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington, pages 194, 207, 317
- ^ 龚群虎 [Gong, Qunhu] (2002) 汉泰关系词的时间层次 [A Study of Chronological Strata of Sino-Thai Corresponding Lexical Items] (in Chinese), Shanghai: Fudan University Press (复旦大学出版社), pages 91, 176, 210
- ^ Bauer, Robert S. (1996) "Identifying the Tai substratum in Cantonese" In Pan-Asiatic Linguistics: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Languages and Linguistics, January 8-10, 1996, Thailand: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University, page 1824
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bauer (1996) (ibid.) page 1836