Proto-Lezghian: *ʔars:ʷa-
Meaning: 1 to rip up 2 to cut in pieces
Tabasaran: kt-a=š̌- 1
Archi: =ars:a- 2
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. k-a=š̌- (in Tab. the verb is attested only with preverbs), Arch. Dur. =ars:u-r. With Ablaut cf. perhaps also Tab. u=š̌-, Düb. u=š̌- 'to mow'.
An old derivate from this root is PL *[ħ]ars:ʷV-t:V (with an adjectival suffix, "cutting") > (with metathesis) > *[ħ]at:ers:ʷV "scissors", reflected in Tab. ubruš̌ (with assimilation), Düb. uruš:̌u, Ag. ħut:es (Bursh. ħaras:, Burk. ħäras), Tsakh. ades:e and Arch. jat:ǝrsi. We must note that this stem reveals some traces of contamination with another PEC root for "cut", *HVrsA (q.v.): the initial laryngeal and the irregular weak -s- in Archi must be traces of the other root, which otherwise vanished in Lezghian.
