in English) was neither /ba/ or /a/. It was /ware/ (和禮), and sometimes it was abbreviated to /wa/ (吾). Also, it is not a Sino-Japanese word, but a native Japanese term. In addition, the second person pronoun was not /si/, but either /imasi/ (汝), or /namu/ (奈牟), which sometimes was shortened to /na/. Its plural was /namu tachi/ (奈牟多知). Other basic vocabulary The following table is a brief selection of further proposed cognates in basic vocabulary across the Altaic family (from Starostin et al. [2003]). Their reconstructions and equivalences are not accepted by the mainstream linguists and therefore remain very controversial. 1 Contains the Proto-Altaic dual suffix : "both breasts" – "chest" – "heart". 2 Contains the Proto-Altaic singulative suffix -/nV/: "one breast". 3 Compare Baekje */turak/ "stone" (Blažek 2006). 4 This is in the Jurchen language. In modern Manchu it is usiha. 5 This is disputed by Georg (2004), who states: "The traditional Tungusological reconstruction *yāsa [ = ] cannot be replaced by the nasal-initial one espoused here, needed for the comparison." However, Starostin (2005) mentions evidence from several Tungusic languages cited by Starostin et al. (2003). Georg (2005) does not accept this, referring to Georg (1999/2000) and a then upcoming paper. Numerals and related words In the Indo-European family, the numerals are remarkably stable. This is a rather exceptional case; especially words for higher numbers are often borrowed wholesale. (Perhaps the most famous cases are Japanese and Korean, which have two complete sets of numerals each – one native, one Chinese.) Indeed, the Altaic numerals are less stable than the Indo-European ones, but nevertheless Starostin et al. (2003) reconstruct them as follows. They are not accepted by the mainstream linguists and are controversial. Other reconstructions show little to no similarities in numerals of the proto-languages. 1 Manchu /soni/ "single, odd". 2 Old Bulgarian /tvi-rem/ "second". 3 Kitan has "2" (Blažek 2006). 4 is probably a contraction of -/ubu/-. 5 The /y/- of "3" "may also reflect the same root, although the suffixation is not clear." (Starostin et al. 2003:223) 6 Compare Silla /mir/ "3" (Blažek 2006). 7 Compare Goguryeo /mir/ "3" (Blažek 2006). 8 "third (or next after three = fourth)", "consisting of three objects" 9 "song with three out of four verses rhyming (first, second and fourth)" 10 Kitan has "4" (Blažek 2006). 11 Kitan has "5" (Blažek 2006). 12 "(the prefixed i- is somewhat unclear: it