Proto-Lezghian: *ḳalč / *kalč
Meaning: 1 horn 2 plait, woman's hair
Lezghian: karč 1
Tabasaran: ḳarč 1,2
Agul: ḳarč 1
Rutul: kač 1
Tsakhur: gač 1
Kryz: käč 1
Budukh: kǝrč 1
Comment: The root reveals a strange vacillation of initial *ḳ- (Tab., Ag.), *k:- (Tsakh.) and *k- (all other languages). The oblique base must be reconstructed as *ḳalče- (cf. Ag. ḳarči-, Rut. kači-, Tsakh. gače-); medial *-l- is postulated because of the liquid's preservation in Kryz. and Bud. (*-r- should have vanished in this position). The word belongs to the 3d class in Rut. and Tsakh., but to the 4th in Kryz. and Bud.
See Хайдаков 1973, 42.
