Loose

Pulleyblank attempts to relate PIE *lew- "loose, release" to Old
Chinese, genetically. If true, it's more likely a loan, I believe
(EMC = Early Middle Chinese)
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10. LOOSE
Ch. tou .. EMC th&w < *láü 'reckless, careless; steal,'
.. shu EMC cua < *làü 'squander, exhaust; transport, convey,'
yú EMC jua < *a-làü (?) 'pleased,'
yù .. EMC juah < *a-làü-? 'understand; instruct,'
tuo .. EMC thwat < *lwát < *lüát 'peel off, take off,'
EMC dwat < *alwát < *alüát 'steal away, escape,'
shuo .. EMC cwiat < *lwàt < *lüàt 'explain,'
shuì EMC cwiajh < *lwàt? < *lüàt? 'persuade,'
duì .. EMC dwajh < *alwát? < *alüát? 'glad,'
EMC thwajh < *lwát? < *lüát? 'open a passage, opening,'
yuè .. EMC jwiat < *alwàt '< *alüàt 'pleased, glad.'
Tib. hlod-pa, glod-pa, lod-pa, lod-po, lhod, lhod-po 'loose,
relaxed,' Burm. lwat 'to be free,' hlwat 'to release.' For other
Tibeto-Burman forms see Benedict (1972:48).
IE *lew-, Gk. lúo 'release,' Lat. luo 'pay, repay,' solvo (*se-
luo) 'release,' Goth. lun 'ransom,' fraliusan 'lose,' etc. (Pokorny
1959:681). The connection with OI lunáti 'cuts off is considered
unsure because of the semantic difference by Mayrhofer.

11. LEAF
Ch. yè .. EMC jiap < *aljàp 'leaf,' also read
EMC ciap < *ljap as a proper name,
dié .. EMC dep < *aljáp 'tablet.'
The phonetic is shì .. EMC ciajh < *ljàp? 'generation,' which is the
primitive graph for 'leaf and is also, no doubt, etymologically
related. Tib. lo-ma 'leaf (Western lob-ma ), Kanauri lab, Takpa
blap, Kachin lap. The postinitial *j, which has to be reconstructed
in the Old Chinese forms to account for the front vowel in EMC dep
is probably derived by labial dissimilation from earlier *-w- or *-ü-
, which suggests a reconstruction *(a)lüàp and a connection to the
root *l-ü 'loose.' Compare the rounded vowel in Tib. lo-ma, lob-ma .
Compare IE *leup- in Lith. lupù 'to skin, peel,' Russ. lupljú 'to
skin, peel,' *leubh- (<*aleup-), in Lith. lubà 'board,' Russ.
lub 'bark, rind,' Goth. laufs 'leaf', Eng. leaf, perhaps also Lat.
liber (if from *luber ?) 'bark, rind; book.' Note the semantic
opposition between the active, verbal, sense of *leup- and the nouns
from *leubh-, with the *a- prefix (Pokorny 1959:690-91).
"
Germ. *laus-

Semantically, the recklessness part in Chinese doesn't seem to be
matched on the IE side. However,
Dansk Etymologisk Ordbog:
"
sløse v. "treat recklessly; squander'; Older Danish, Nw. id., Sw.
slösa, MLG slo:sen, NHG. slösen 'saunter'. Belongs just as MHG
slo:se "slipper" with Germ. *slaus- 'be limp', in ablaut relation to
*slus- in sluske and further prob. to an -s-extentension of the root
in slumre. — Cf. sløset.
"

Or s mobile (which Pulleyblank likes to relate to similar s-prefixes
i East Asian Languages) added to *laus-.


Torsten