The Rhymes with Consonant Codas in Proto-Naxi and Their Origins
This historical-phonology paper reconstructs ten rhymes with consonant codas for Proto-Naxi (*iC, *yC, *eC, *aC, *uaC, *vC, *oC, *uC, *C, *uvC), building on phonological correspondences across six modern Naxi dialects (Lijiang, Baoshan, Bowan, Malimasa, Ninglang, Yongning), none of which retains a synchronic coda. The author works through each rhyme with correspondence tables and example morphemes, refining and extending earlier reconstructions by Jacques & Michaud and by the author's own prior work. Comparing these Proto-Naxi rhymes against conservative relatives -- Written Tibetan and Written Burmese, both of which still show overt codas -- confirms that Proto-Naxi really carried consonant codas, and suggests the coda's phonetic realization was conditioned by the height of the rhyme's vowel nucleus: low-vowel rhymes tend to correspond to coda-bearing Burmese rhymes, while high-vowel rhymes split between stop-coda and non-stop-coda correspondences. Some Proto-Naxi coda rhymes correspond to codaless Burmese forms even in basic vocabulary, which the author suggests may reflect a separate, not-yet-resolved historical stratum requiring further cross-rhyme study.
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