Reconstruction:Proto-Mon-Khmer/()ŋaaj

Etymology

 * Proto-Mon-Khmer: *[]ŋaaj (Shorto, 2006, #1453)

Likely related to what reconstructed as (Shorto, 2006), whence 🇨🇬. Compare, , , , and ,  and , ,  and ,.

The sense "face" also appears in descendant languages, which is obviously secondary and derived from "eye".

Noun

 * 1) eye
 * 2) pupil

Descendants

 * Bahnaric:
 * (Sidwell, 2015)
 * Danaw: ŋɑj²
 * Palaung:
 * Shwe:
 * Sam-Loong:
 * Plang:
 * La Gang: ŋàj
 * Man Noi: ŋáj
 * Riang: ŋɑj²
 * Pearic:
 * Chong: ŋa̤ːj ("face")
 * (Ferlus, 2007)
 * (Ferlus, 2007)