li cas

White Hmong

Etymology

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Considered native Hmongic by Ratliff, though no reconstructed proto-form is given.^[1] "Li" seems a bit like a borrowing from Chinese 理 (lǐ, “reason”), while "cas" vaguely resembles 怎 (zěn, “how”).”

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /li˧.ca˩/

Adverb

li cas

how, what
Qhov no hais li cas? ― How does one say this?

Tsis ua li cas. ― It doesn't matter (lit. It doesn't do (any)how.)

Derived terms

npaum li cas (“how much?”)
ua li cas (“how? why?”)
vim li cas (“why?”)

References

^ https://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

[1] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

[1]