Pharyngealisation must certainly be reconstructed for PL; however, it was lost (neutralised before a front vowel) in the Tab.-Ag. area (otherwise in Ag. dialects we would have reflexes X̀/ħ), reappearing later in the same position in a number of dialects (Tab. Düb., Ag. Rich.).

    The most archaic root structure is preserved in Tsakh. (Gelm. ǯɨχIajä), pointing to the PL *-a-Auslaut (with the obl. base *χIerä-). The Arch. form has a suffixed -t, either inherited from the PEC variant *qHǖr-di, or, more probably, under the influence of the Lak. form quIrt.

    As for the strange first part *ǯu- (usually yielding regularly ǯV- or žV-, but devoiced in the first weak syllable before a voiceless *χI in Lezg., Ag. Rich. and Bud.), it is most probable that we deal with a compound *ǯum-χIera "quince"+"pear" with the first component distorted.

    See Trubetzkoy 1930, 84; Лексика 1971, 162; Гигинейшвили 1977, 92.