Reconstruction:Proto-Tungusic/tēlüŋü

This Proto-Tungusic 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-Tungusic

Alternative reconstructions

*tʰəəloŋ(g)o(-) (per Knapen)

Reconstruction notes

Oroch form suggests that the vowels in the second and third syllable could not have been *ü, as Oroch **tə̄liŋi would have been the expected outcome. The correspondence between Oroch and Nanai can best be explained as reflective of PTg. *o, which Ew. тэ̄лэӈ (tə̄ləŋ), тэ̄лоӈ (tə̄loŋ) also implies (SSTM2: 233).

Etymology

This word is used as both noun and verb. See *tēlüŋü- (“to tell a tale”). Presumably borrowed from Proto-Nivkh *tʰə(-)l(-)ŋku- (“to tell a tale”) (whence Nivkh тʼылгу (tʼəlgu, “story”)).^[1]

Noun

*tēlüŋü

story, legend, tale

Declension

Declension of *tēlüŋü

	Singular
Nominative	*tēlüŋü
Accusative	*tēlüŋübe
Genitive	*tēlüŋüŋī
Dative	*tēlüŋüdüe
Locative	*tēlüŋülē
Ablative	*tēlüŋüdiki
Prolative	*tēlüŋüli
Elative	*tēlüŋügiʒi
Instrumental	*tēlüŋüʒi
Delative	*tēlüŋülēki
Directive	*tēlüŋütiki
Comitative	*tēlüŋügili

Descendants

Tungusic:
- Northern Tungusic:
  - Even: тэ̄лэӈ (tə̄ləŋ)
  - Evenki: тэ̄лыӈ (tə̄liŋ)
- Southern Tungusic:
  - Central:
    - Oroch: тэлуӈу (teluŋu)
    - Udihe: тэлуӈу (teluŋu)
  - South-Eastern:
    - Nanai: тэ̄луӈу (tēluŋu)
    - Orok: тэлуӈу (təluŋu), тэлуӈгу (təluŋgu)
    - Ulch: тэ̄луӈгу (tēluŋgu)

References

^ Martijn G. T. M. Knapen (2021) “The oldest layer of Amuric-Tungusic lexical contacts”, in Diversity Linguistics‎^[1], pages 113-114

Benzing, Johannes (1955) Die tungusischen Sprachen. Versuch einer vergleichenden Grammatik (Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse; 11) (in German), Wiesbaden: Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz in Kommission bei Franz Steiner Verlag, page 37
Cincius, V. I. (1977) Сравнительный словарь тунгусо-маньчжурских языков [Comparative Dictionary of Tungus-Manchu Languages] (in Russian), volume 2, Leningrad: Nauka, page 233
Kane, Daniel (1989) The Sino-Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters (Uralic and Altaic Series; vol. 153), Bloomington, Indiana: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, →ISBN, page 350.

[1] Martijn G. T. M. Knapen (2021) “The oldest layer of Amuric-Tungusic lexical contacts”, in Diversity Linguistics‎^[1], pages 113-114

[1]