From Proto-Sino-Tibetan*k-log. Sagart (1999) considered this a loanword from Old Chinese讀 (OC *l'oːɡ, “to read; to say/read aloud”) as "read" is a derived meaning in OC. The existence of the concept of "reading (a text)" prior to the invention of writing is questionable, hence the sense "read" is likely secondary in both cases, regardless of the relationship between the two.