Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/pitunsi

This Proto-Japonic 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.

According to Martin (1987), possibly a compound of *pi (unknown, perhaps the same pi found in *pinkay (“beard”)) +‎ *tu (completion particle) +‎ *-n- (possibly a contraction of the genitive particle の (no)) +‎ *-_(u)si (related to animals, as in 肉 (shishi, “meat”, obsolete), 獣 (shishi, “animal (used for meat)”, obsolete), or possibly 牛 (ushi, “cow, ox”)).

That said, Martin's suggested compound is problematic.

• Completion suffix -tu only attaches to verbs.
• There is genitive particle tu, but this is never followed by genitive no.
• The case for unreduplicated si is weak; the "meat" sense is only ever attested as sisi, never as si.

*pitunsi

1. goat
2. sheep

• Old Japanese: 羊 (pi₁tuzi)
  • Japanese: 羊 (hitsuji, “sheep”)