Proto-North Caucasian: *q_VṭV
Meaning: cleft, gap between stones
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. The vocalism is not quite clear. In PL we have to assume an early process *q:Vṭ > *q̇:Vt. In [Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 28] we considered Lak. -n- as going back to *-l-, and compared Urart. quldǝ 'steep' (or 'precipice'), but Lezghian data seem to contradict the reconstruction of any medial resonant. Therefore, medial -n- in Lak. must be secondary (on analogy with kuInṭa 'pit, small pit'), and the Urartian word is probably unrelated.
