Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. The root is mostly preserved within compounds (for the most part with *kwīlʡi 'hand' q.v.), which explains the vacillations in vowel length and tenseness (the original form was probably tense - *lĕχ_V, but could become lax after the lax *kwīlʡi).
Notes: An expressive Lak-Lezg. isogloss. The root, however, may be archaic if it is related to Urart. nāṗ-aχ- "to overthrow, to subdue" (see Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 19).
Notes: Despite the complicated pattern of resonant variation (due to interaction of *l- and *-m-), correspondences are regular and the etymology seems reliable. The Lak. form fits here if we suppose luχč:i < *luχk:i < *luk:i-χV with an original locative suffix.
Notes: The comparison seems quite plausible, despite some irregularities (usual for bird names in many linguistic families). It is hard to guess which particular bird was denoted by the name *lHīq̇_wĂ in PNC, but most semantic reflexes point to some big or medium-sized bird ("eagle" ~ "jackdaw"/"rook" ~ "pigeon").
For phonetic reasons the PWC root can not be compared with PEC *lɨ̆nƛ_wē 'pigeon', pace Klimov (1967,302), Abdokov (1983, 121); also improbable are the etymologies of Abkh. laħʷa by Lomtatidze (1961, 121) and of PAK *tħar(ǝ)q:ʷá by Shakryl (1968,48-49).
Notes: Cf. also Hurr. tur-oχχǝ 'male' (with a regular reflex t- < *l-, -r- < *-Ł-), see Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 52. The meaning 'man' changed to ethnonym 'Laki' in Lak. (typologically a frequent phenomenon).
This root may have something to do with the PN and PAA words for 'slave' (if we assume that a self-denomination for Eastern Daghestan dwellers *lak:(V) could be borrowed by the Nakh and through them, possibly, by Western Caucasians with the meaning 'slave'): PN *lag (Chech., Ing. laj, Bacb. lag), PAA *lǝgǝ (Abkh. a-lǝ́g, Abaz. lǝg). Since these words have a velar, they can not be connected with another EC name for 'slave', Av. laʁ etc. (see on its possible origin under *ʔV̄ƛ̣V).
Of obvious Caucasian origin is Osset. läg 'man, male' (see Abayev 1973, 20).
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. The initial root structure is well preserved in PD and PL. As for the Av. and Lak. forms, they reflect a result of regular shifts of nasality+labialisation: *lɨ̆nƛ_wē > *lɨ̆mƛ_wē > *mɨ̆ƛ_wē (with subsequent regular loss of initial *mɨ- in Lak.).
The presence of both a lateral resonant *l- and a lateral affricate *ƛ in the root has resulted in a somewhat irregular development of *ƛw here (a week reflex *ʎʷ in PL, and, to the contrary, a strong x:ʷ in Lak; a delateralised k: in Av.) - the same type of irregularity as in another similar root *ƛ_wĕɫʔĕ 'mould, pus' q.v.
Notes: The comparison seems valid both semantically and phonetically; preservation of -m- in PWC suggests that the original form may have been trisyllabic (*lōmVʒ_ĭ) with a contraction to *lōmʒ_ĭ in PEC. [Quite strange is Tab. Düb. linǯi 'clay, clay mortar'.]
Notes: A Darg-Lezg.isogloss. Since within Lezghian the word is present only in Archi, it may be a Darg. loanword - thus the root's antiquity is dubious.
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. Except for metathesis in PL (usual in adjectival roots), correspondences are regular. Note the preservation of *-j- (which caused the development -s- (or -c-) > -sṭ-) in the PN form.
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. The root is not very widely spread, but phonetically and semantically the comparison seems satisfactory. A strange form is Darg. Chir. ɣanta 'charcoal': it can not go back to PD *k:a (k:- would be expected in Chir.), and it does not correspond regularly to Tsakh. ɣadɨr (thus a separate root can not be postulated): perhaps it is a loanword from some Lezgian language (e.g., the Lezg. counterpart of Tsakh. ɣadɨr would be *ɣat:V(r)).
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. Correspondences are normal (although the vowel *-ü-, as usual, raises some doubts), although PA has a quite unexpected *ƛ- (regularly *l- would be expected). This may be a dissimilation in voice; or, perhaps, other languages have undergone a secondary voicing *ƛ- > *Ł- before the next voiced *-d- - in this case we should reconstruct PEC *ƛürdV. [The Darg. and Lak. words for 'kid' should not be confused with a widely spread word for 'boy' in Lezghian languages - Lezg. gada, Tsakh. gade etc. - which is a loan from Azer. gädä 'boy; beggar' < Pers.].
Notes: A Nakh-Av.-And. isogloss. Initial *ɫ- can be also reconstructed (on basis of PN *l- : PA *l-, Av. l-); but *Ł seems more probable because the root structures *RVRV is very rare in PEC.
Notes: Correspondences are regular (*Ĺ in PWC has a secondary palatalisation - because of the merger of original *L and *Ĺ). The PWC form has a frequent nominal prefix *b(ǝ)-.
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. All correspondences are regular except for vocalism in PA (*ƛ̣:ʷa- would be expected): this could be due to Ablaut (*Ł_wănʡV / *Ł_ŭnʡV-).
