Proto-Sino-Tibetan

Definitions

proper noun The original language, or rather, cluster of dialects, from which descend the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, to include Tibeto-Burman group and the various Chinese languages; the exact phylogenetic relationships remain subject to scholarly debate.

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Also if Old Chinese *njɨʔ "ear" is in reality simply *nɨʔ with short *i, then it correlates better with Tibetan rna-ba, and then there would also be a gain in our understanding of Proto-Sino-Tibetan and the development of Proto-Sinitic ancestor of Chinese.

Fun with Old Chinese rhymes 2007
The long and skinny is, Proto-Sino-Tibetan is dated to about 4000 BCE and afterwards expanded outward from within China.

Mommy, where do tones come from? 2007
Surprisingly linguists have reconstructed Proto-Sino-Tibetan with tongue-twisting consonant clusters and no tones.

Mommy, where do tones come from? 2007
Both Mandarin ba and Cantonese baat go back to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bʀyat but this word is without any reconstructable tone.

Mommy, where do tones come from? 2007
All the tonal contrasts that Chinese languages now use four tones in Mandarin; six or more in Cantonese came after Proto-Sino-Tibetan.

Mommy, where do tones come from? 2007