Proto-North Caucasian: *mĕʎ_V ( ~ -ɨ̆-,-x-)
Meaning: study, knowledge
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. Tenseness of -x- in Lak. is unknown (attested only in the syllable-final position), thus a reconstruction of both *-ʎ- ( > Lak. x) and *-x- ( > Lak. x:) is possible.
A reconstruction *bĕnʎ_V is also possible; in this case one could also compare HU *pāl- (Hurr. pāl-, Urart. pal- or pāl-) "to pronounce, to tell" (see Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 17).
