Protoform: *-Vq:(i)
Meaning: 1 behind 2 locative suffix (series Ad)
Avar: náq:a 1, -q: 2; -q:-an denom. profess.
Chadakolob: maq 1
Andian language: -q:- 2
Akhvakh: -q:- 2
Chamalal: -eq:e 1, -q:- 2
Tindi: -q: 2
Karata: -q: 2
Botlikh: -q:- 2
Godoberi: -q:i 2
Comments: The initial nasal in Av. (n- or m- in different dialects) is not quite clear etymologically. The original meaning of the morpheme ('behind') is preserved when it functions as an adverb; but as a locative suffix it had early (as early as Proto-Av.-And.) merged with another morpheme, PEC *-q̇_V (q.v.) and thus acquired a new meaning 'at, by, close to'. In most Andian languages this meaning is preserved until now (only in And. proper the meaning of -q:i changed: it is now confined to the plural inessive /haq̇:o-ba-q:i 'in the houses'/, and in singular is used to denote an object of verba dicendi or an inanimate ergative). The merging of *-q:i and the hypothetic *-q̇:i ( < *-q̇_V) was possible because of the phonetic affinity of the morphemes, but also because *-q:i must have also had an early additional possessive meaning ('at, by someone or smth.'), which is characteristic for most Andian languages and is observed also in the Lezgian counterpart *-q(a).
Av. (cf. dialectal forms like Chad. maq) > Lak. maq, maqa 'behind'; Arch. naqa 'back (of head)'.
