Proto-North Caucasian: *GHabrišwE
Meaning: gooseberry
Notes: An interesting four-syllabic common NC root. The WC form has underwent metathesis (*š́ʷǝχǝrǝbǝ /possibly with assimilation < *š́ʷǝʁǝrǝbǝ/ < *ʁǝbǝrǝš́ʷV), which is not surprising in a word like this. Cf. perhaps also Darg. haruš 'elderberry' (the meaning in the Russian-Dargwa dictionary is given as 'millet beverage, bouza', but this is probably a misspelling: Russ. буза ('bouza') instead of бузина 'elderberry').
Since gooseberry is a thorn-plant, it is tempting to compare the word with the Greek substratum word kypárisso-s 'cypress' (whence also Lat. cupressus), see Nikolayev 1985, 70.
