တုံး

• IPA^(key): /tóʊɴ/
• Romanization: MLCTS: tum: • ALA-LC: tuṃʺ • BGN/PCGN: ton: • Okell: toùñ

The "log" sense is derived by STEDT from a Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tum ~ *dum (“log, hunk of wood, section of something long”), and compared with Akha [script needed] (dɔ̀ ma, “log”). Said root appears to be part of a larger areal word family that includes Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-duŋ (“tree, trunk, log, beam”) (whence perhaps Old Chinese 棟 (OC *toːŋs, “ridge pole”), 桐 (OC *doːŋ, “tung tree”)), Proto-Sino-Tibetan *duːŋ (“post, column”) (whence perhaps Old Chinese 柱 (OC *toʔ, *doʔ, “pillar”), 拄 (OC *toʔ, “to prop up, support”)), and Proto-Karen *thuNᴮ (“pole”).

The other senses are grouped with the "log" sense by MED, which appears semantically reasonable.

တုံး • (tum:)

1. to chop, cut (into pieces)
2. to shave
3. to be out of season

တုံး • (tum:)

1. blunt
2. stupid, dull

တုံး • (tum:)

1. log, block of wood
2. (same as ကလတက် (ka.la.tak)) a hollowed log, kept in Burmese Buddhist monasteries and struck at intervals to indicate time for meals, devotions, etc.
3. the (-) sign, dash, hyphen

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Doesn't seem to be mentioned by STEDT, and not mentioned by Luce 1981.”)

တုံး • (tum:)

1. particle used as final marker of questions beginning with ဘာ (bha), ဘယ် (bhai), ဘယ်လို (bhailui)

• “တုံး” in Myanmar–English Dictionary (Myanmar Language Commission 1993). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.