Proto-West-Caucasian: *c:ac:a
Meaning: spit
Adyghe: cāca
Kabardian: ʒāsa
Ubykh: caca
Comments: PAK *c:ac:á ( ~ *c:asá). Shagirov's (1, 164) morphological analysis of this word is probably faulty: if it really meant "lance for grilling", the PAK form would be *sasá (cf. PAK *sǝ- 'burn' and *sa 'knife, lance'). This analysis is also not supported by another meaning of the word, "table fork" (in Ad., Mozdok dialect of Kab.). We can, however, suppose a secondary influence of the root *sa on the Kabardian form (one would regularly expect *ʒāʒa there). External parallels also discredit Kuipers' suggestion about progressive assimilation in Ad. (cāca < *casa); it is rather the Kab. form that underwent an innovation.
Ub. caca may be a loan from Ad., but - if we do not consider the PAK form a composite - it may as well be genuinely related (the correspondence PAK *c: : Ub. c is regular).
