The Nominalizing Prefix *gV- in Tibeto-Burman

Abstract

Nominalization and its various functions is a topic of considerable current interest in Tibeto-Burman (TB) studies and has both typological and historical implications. This thesis documents and discusses data of nominalizing velar prefixes in the different branches of the TB language family. Based on the reconstruction ofa Proto-TibetoBurman (PTB) 'adjectival prefix' *gV- suggested by TB wide-scale comparativists such as Wolfenden, Shafer, Benedict, and Matisoff, this study incorporates extensive data on velar prefixes covering other functions that are, just like deriving adjectival modifiers, typically associated with nominalization in TB. The various pieces of evidence thus suggest that the existence of a PTB *gV- nominalizer is the best explanation for the distribution of forms and functions of the respective prefixes in TB languages.