Proto-North Caucasian: *wēnsĔ
Meaning: a cutting or chopping instrument
Notes: A regular common WC cultural term. The Av.-And. form has a frequent nasal suffix (*bisu-n); the Av. form nus either reflects *mus < *wVns, or reveals a later nasal assimilation under the influence of the same suffix lost earlier (cf. Akhv. mešu < *bešun < *bisu-n). See Abdokov 1983, 126 (with some confusion of two roots: *wēnsĔ and *HVrsA q.v.).
It is not quite clear whether we should also relate here Lak. Bartkh. (cited in Хайдаков 1966) marza 'some detail of a plough'; voiced -z- is quite irregular, and the word could be an old loanword from some related source (cf. the Nakh form *mārs or the voicing in PTs *bǝzɔ).
