The Dual Formative *tsi in Tibeto-Burman Languages

A pronominal dual formative derivable from *tsi, *ntsi, or *tsiŋ is attested sufficiently broadly across the Tibeto-Burman languages to require that these be reconstructed to the proto-language. In most of these languages only one of these forms occurs, and combines with pronouns to form compositional duals. However, several languages show clear association of *tsi with inclusive dual, and *ntsi with second person dual; there is also some evidence for an originally exclusive value of *tsiŋ. This paper presents the comparative evidence for these, with evidence from various clades supporting the reconstructed person values of the three forms, and suggests a preliminary account of the develoments which have resulted in the replacement in most languages of the original 3-term paradigm with compositional forms.