Comments:SKE 138, Martin 236, Miller 1976, 350-351, АПиПЯЯ 69. A completely regular match. It is interesting to note Karakh. (EDT 379) bašɣan 'a large fish weighing between 100 and 50 raṭls' (MK), used as a simile for the head-man of a tribe - although the word may, of course, be derived from baš 'head' (as suggested in EDT) - and thus unrelated to the present root.
Comments:EAS 79, KW 262, Лексика 207-208. A Western isogloss. The Jpn. cognates present problems. Ozawa 292-293 compares OJ mod(w)ok(j)i 'resembling, similar', which is quite irregular vocalically. It is interesting to note MJ mitai id. (used exactly in the same suffixed position and being phonetically quite a good match for Mong. metü etc., but attested late and usually analysed (folk-etymologically?) as a desiderative form of mi- 'to see'.
Comments:SKE 144, Лексика 180. An unmistakable match is PT *b(i)āka : MKor. mǝ̀kùrí. The Mong. forms may belong here if we assume the archaic nature of the Kalm. form (meklɛ̄), with innovations elsewhere. In TM one has to suppose a secondary shift of meaning: 'toad' > 'small creature' (bat, chipmunk).
Comments:Vocalism is not quite certain: in Turk. one has to suppose a secondary labialization: *bȫn < *bēn; in Kor. - vowel assimilation in a long wordform (*mɨ̀ńɨ́i- < *mằńi-), as well as secondary palatalization *-n- > *-ń-.
Comments:The basic meaning of the root is "to present (or obtain) a gift"; a metaphorical change "present a gift > condescend > pity" must have occurred in TM.
Comments:The root (containing a rare cluster *-ńd-) must have denoted a small wild animal, most probably a hare. It occurs with various suffixes; a common formation may be Chuv. mulgaś < *bańɨ-l-(kač) = PM *mönde-le < *mi̯óńde-lV.
Comments:An Eastern isogloss. See SKE 136, EAS 79, Whitman 1985, 202, 237, АПиПЯЯ 48, 290, Robbeets 2000, 103. The MKor. variant njǝm- in njǝ̀m-thòŋ 'heart' (which Lee 1958, 115 attempts to compare separately with Manchu ńaman), is most probably just a contraction in a compound < *mằńằm-thòŋ. {If the original meaning was 'front, protruding point', cf. perhaps Mong. mondaɣa, monduɣ 'high ground, mountains, peaks', Bur. mundarga 'woodless rocky summit', whence Manchu muŋGa 'hill, burial mound' ?}
