Avar-Andian etymology : List with all references

Proto-North Caucasian: *ʎ_(w)ɨ̆rV / *ʎ_(w)ɨ̆r-dV

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: woman, female

Proto-Avaro-Andian: *ʎ:VdV

Proto-Lak: š:ar

Proto-Dargwa: *xadi

Proto-Lezghian: *ʎɨr (~*ʎ:-)

Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level.The root is also attested in HU: Urart. lutu 'women' (see Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 27). The meaning of the Urartian form sheds light on the nature of the element *-dV in EC (present in Av., Darg. and Ur.): this is most probably an original plural formant.

See Trubetzkoy 1922, 239. Despite Abdokov (1983, 89), the EC root can not be related to WC *sʷǝ(mǝ)c̣V 'woman' q.v.

Lak etymology :

Lak root: š:ar

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: wife

Lak form: š:ar

Comments: Cf. also š:ar-s:a 'woman, wife'.

Dargwa etymology :

Proto-Dargwa: *xadi

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: woman

Chiragh: xade

Comments: Isolated in Chir., but with good external parallels.

Lezghian etymology :

Proto-Lezghian: *ʎ:ɨr

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 woman 2 female 3 *wife

Lezghian: ir 3

Agul: xir 1

Tsakhur: xɨwɨl'na 2

Comment: The Lezg. word is preserved only in compound kinship terms: iran-buba 'father-in-law' (*"wife's father"), iran-dide 'mother-in-law' (*"wife's mother"), iran-stχa 'brother-in-law' (*"wife's brother"), iran-waχ 'sister-in-law' (*"wife's sister"), with dialectal (Yark.) variants jaran-. The oblique base can be, therefore, reconstructed as *ʎ:ɨra- or *ʎ:ɨrä-. (One should note that the Ag. -r- here is present in all dialects, cf. Fit., Burk. xir, and thus can not go back to *-n:-; it also corresponds quite regularly to Tsakh. -w-. Thus this root must be kept apart from PL *ʎ:ɨn:- q.v.).

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *ʎ(w)ɨ̆́rV / *ʎ(w)ɨ̆́r-dV

Meaning: woman

North Caucasian: *ʎ_(w)ɨ̆rV / *ʎ_(w)ɨ̆r-dV

Yenisseian: *ʔalit (~-ŕ-)

Basque: *a=ɫhar-gun

Comments and references : HGC 23. Since the *-d- element here is quite widespread - preserved in EC, HU and Yenisseian - it may have actually been part of the root, reanalyzed as a plural (collective) morpheme in some languages and thus generating a secondary form *ʎ(w)ɨ̆́rV.

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *ʔalit (~-ŕ-)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: woman

Kottish: alit, alīt, pl. alitn, alītn; (Бол.) alat "woman", alit "wife"; Ass. alit (М., Сл., Срсл.) "wife"

Arin: bɨqam-álte (М.), biqam-álte (Срсл.) "wife"; (Лоск.) kekm-elte "wife"

Comments: ССЕ 180. Arin has a compound with biqam(al)- "(my) wife". Werner 1, 25.

Basque etymology :

Proto-Basque: *a=ɫhar-gun

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 widow 2 widower

Bizkaian: alargun 1, 2

Gipuzkoan: alargun 1, 2

High Navarrese: alargun 1, 2

Low Navarrese: alhargun 2, alharguntsa 1, (arc) elhargun 1, 2

Salazarese: alargun 1, 2

Lapurdian: alhargun 2, alharguntsa 1

Baztanese: alargun 1, 2

Aezkoan: alargun 1, 2

Zuberoan: alhárgün 2, alhargüntsa 1

Roncalese: alargun 1, 2

Comments: Tentatively, a compound of *a=ɫhar- ‘*wife’ + *gun [obscure, but possibly related to Bsq *higuni ‘hatred, hated’ (q.v.)]. It is unclear whether the oldest meaning is ‘widow’, ‘widower’, or both. An old usage cited by Azkue (from Refranes y sentencias, 1596 CE) has ‘widow’, and per Azkue alharguntegi is ‘pews in church reserved for widows’. If ‘widow’ was primary, *a=ɫhar-gun may have meant ‘wife abandoned (by death of husband)’: see especially the meanings (BN) higuin ‘(man) to put away one’s wife’, (Z-arc) higüin ‘(man) to put away one’s wife; (bird) to abandon one’s eggs’. The northern feminine forms with -tsa are secondary, influenced by Romance (Late Lat. -issa).