Lexical forms and their distribution of the word for 'yesterday' in Yunnan Tibetan

This article describes the word forms for ‘yesterday’ in Khams Tibetan varieties spoken in Yunnan, China, and analyses their distribution. It confirms two types of word forms: Type A, corresponding to Literary Tibetan kha rtsang (A1) and its derivations (A2); and Type B, of unclear origin. Type B is isolated to the mBalhag dialect, whereas the remaining varieties belong to Type A. This discussion focuses on the sound shape of Type A owing to this situation. The Nyishe subgroup displays a distinctive feature that involves restructuring the second syllable’s r-preinitial into the final consonant of the first syllable. This phenomenon is specific to the subgroup, and this article interprets it as a local innovation resulting from phonological features.