COMMENTS:Uncertain connection with PSC *ṗV̆nʒĕ́, if we assume metathesis + suffix. Cf. Circassian bāʒa 'fly', and the metatheses in Old English wæfs, wæps ~wæsp 'wasp', Lat. vespa vs. Lith. vapsvà, etc. Some (Hubschmid, Michelena) have proposed a derivation of the Bsq word from some reflex of Lat. vespa.
COMMENTS:Cf. PNC *pħīlV 'a kind of foliage [deciduous] tree' (asp, poplar). The first element *es- seems to be a reduced form of Bsq *haice 'tree' (q.v.), cf. also *es-kur̄ 'acorn, beechnut'. Brooms were sometimes made from box twigs. Azkue cites the Pyrenean words ezpelezkoezpela ‘broom made from box’, otakezpela ‘broom made from gorse’, txiniztezpel ‘broom made from juniper’, etc.
COMMENTS:Derivatives: *gasi 'salty, sour', *gasta-na 'cheese', *gas-hur 'whey'. The Bsq words are related to PEC *c̣_ǟḳwV by metathesis < PSC *ḳǟc̣(w)V, or (without glottal assimilation) *gǟc̣(w)V.
MEANING:1 thing 2 material, subject 3 project, idea 4 worthy, able
BZK:gei 1 (arc.), 2, 4
GIP:gai 2, 4
ANV:gai 2
BNV:gai 2, 4, ekhai, ekhei 2
SAL:ekei, ekei-gai 2
LAB:gai 2, ekhai 2, ekhei-gai 2
ZBR:gei 2, 3, ekhéi 2
RNC:gei 2, ekei, ekei-gai 2
COMMENTS:As a suffix -gai, -gei denotes ‘material for (something); person/ thing suitable or destined for (sth.)’, e.g. irakur-gai 'reading material, ezkon-gai, sen(h)ar-gei 'husband-material, fiancé'. After the fossilized prefix *e= the velar is unvoiced. Cf. PNC *q̇_wăjē 'thing(s), possession(s), household'.
COMMENTS:Cf. Tsakhur q̇om 'summit, top'. *gain is found in many compounds, e.g. lepa-gain 'nape', soin-gain 'shoulder', be-kain 'eyebrow' (*begi-t-gain), etc.
COMMENTS:Cf. PNC *qărć̣wV̆ 'shoulder, arm', with Bsq *galcar̄ dissimilated < *garca-r̄. This word is not related to galtzak 'pants, trousers', a loan from Romance. The morph -be, -pe in words for 'armpit' is a reduced form of *behe 'below' (q.v.).
COMMENTS:The common semantic thread in Bsq and EC would seem to be ‘root, low part of a plant, low bush, creeping plant that spreads by roots’, or the like. Tentatively, the PSC form was *G(w)āpV, with voicing assimilation in PEC *GwābV, and unvoicing assimilation in BZK and ZBR.
COMMENTS:A unique case of the correspondence of Bsq *-st- ~ PNC *-rč̣- (~ -rć̣-). It is indirectly supported by other Bsq *-st-/-st- ~ PNC *-rC- matches: cf. e.g. Bsq *baste-r̄ ‘edge, margin, corner’ ~ PNC *whǝ̆rʒĭ ‘edge, tip’.
COMMENTS:Chirikba (1985) compared Bsq + PLezg. *χI:an: 'evening', etc. Much earlier Uhlenbeck (1924) compared Bsq gau with Tsakhur χIam 'night', along with other unrelated NC words.
COMMENTS:Bsq okela is conventionally derived from Lat. buccella 'mouthful, morsel', which has reflexes in Old Italian and Alpine regions referring to dough-based foods, not meat, and none in Iberia. Cf. instead PEC *q̇ɦwĕɫV̄ 'large female domestic animal (cow, mare)'. Unusually, Bsq has variants with no prefix (*geHeɫi), vs. prefix *i= (*i=keɫa), or prefix *o= (*o=keɫV).
