Meaning:span (between the thumb and the small finger)
Lezghian:č̣ib
Tabasaran:č̣ib
Agul:č̣iIb / č̣eIb
Rutul:č̣ub
Tsakhur:č̣iIm / č̣uIm
Kryz:č̣eṗ
Budukh:c̣iṗ (?)
Archi:č̣ʷim
Udi:ǯi (?)
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. erg. čiṗini (Khl. č̣ib,čṗeni). 3d class in Rut. and Tsakh., but 4th class in Arch. and Shakhdagh. There are phonetic problems with the Bud. and Ud. forms: Budukh has irregular c̣- (č̣- would be normally expected), and Udi - irregular ǯ (č:- would be expected). The final version of the MSU recordings has a very strange notation for Kryz.: ḳeṗ. This is certainly a mistake (both for historical reasons, and because I recorded that word myself as č̣eṗ during the MSU expedition in 1977).
Comment: An expressive root (with a development *d > t: in Tab. and Ag.). Rut., Tsakh. and Udi reflect a suffixed form *dada-l. 3d class in Rut. and Tsakh.
Comment: Cf. also Tsakh. Gelm. dedäj 'grandfather' ( < *t:at:a-j), Kryz. Al. dadaj 'mother'. In Arch. there occurred an irregular change *dida > dija (cf. *buba > buwa 'mother). There are several forms presupposing a partially reduplicated protoform *ʔadaj: Bud. ada 'father', Tab. edej 'grandfather', Kryz. däj 'mother'. Ruite irregular and contracted reflexes of the same "children's word" may be observed in Tab. daši 'father' (cf. Darg. *t:ut:e-š) and Tsakh. da-ḱ id. Within Lezghian languages forms meaning 'father' ('daddy') and 'mother' ('mummy') are usually in complementary distribution, so it is hard to separate them from each other.
Comment: The original meaning seems to be 'that (on the same level as the speaker)', preserved in Tabasaran (where it is opposed to tu-mu q.v.); in most other languages the stem is used in compounds with other deictic stems.
Lezg. and Ud. reflect a glottalised variant *ṭV (probably expressive and secondary).
Comment: Cf. also Ag. Fit. ḳanč̣, Tab. Düb. ḳamč:a. PL *g- established on basis of Tab. k:- (there's also k:- in Ag. Bursh. k:anč:). Both in Tab. and Ag. (except the Fite dialect) there occurred an irregular deglottalisation of the final consonant. /Note that there are different recordings: the latest field records of MSU are: Tab. Düb. ḳamč:a, Kand. k:anč:, Ag. Rich., Bursh., Fit. k:anč:, Burk. kanč (sic!)./
Comment: Cf. also Ag. Bursh. dirk:a 'bow'. 3d class in Arch. PL *g is reconstructed on basis of Tab., Ag. k:; not quite clear is the medial -n- in Udi.
Comment: In Arch. and Tab. the first vowel is assimilated to the second; for Tab. it is clearly seen in the Dübek dialect, where we have ǯu-mu ( < *ǯi-mu < *gi-mu with palatalisation of *g).
Comment: The Tsakh. form is phonetically aberrant (a result of some contamination?); also irregular is Tab. Düb. ǯünürgü 'lock' (probably an expressive influence of another root - cf. Tab. Kand. ǯünerg 'hawk'). All other forms regularly go back to PL *gilagʷ.
Meaning:1 cake, cookie 2 flour made of roasted wheat
Agul:k:uk:alaj 1
Rutul:gugalaj 1
Tsakhur:gurguma 2
Archi:gamgi
Comment: The Arch. word has a specific meaning: "drink made of malt" (with the original meaning being 'malt, malt flour'). The Tsakh. form, in view of external evidence, is best explained as a metathesis < *gumgura < *gimgʷV-raj (Ag., Rut. < *gimgʷV-laj). In all these forms the expressive suffix *-j is present.
Comment: Reconstruction is rather difficult because of the root's expressive nature. The Arch. form guk:i may be influenced or borrowed from Lak. k:urk:i- (as also the verb kʷek:i-s 'to roll'). In Tsakh. the pronoun 'all' (gɨrgɨ-n) is also probably derived from this root (< *all around, everywhere). Note also the form Tsakh. Mishl. gilgilen preserving -l-: this and Ag. gilgen-f probably go back to *girgʷV- with a suffixed -l- (with subsequent -r- > -l- assimilation). The same root in a nominal function is preserved in Lezg. gig (erg. gigini-) 'axis', Ag. k:uk: 'roller (for ramming roof)' (with emphatic reflex k:), Bursh. gilgen 'small round stone', Arch. gik:u-r 'roof roller'.
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. Khl. k:ik:u, Tab. Düb. gak:um, Ag. Fit. k:uk:u, Burk. k:ik:u, Bursh. k:uk:um etc. Most languages reflect a PL form with an expressive suffix *-j (regularly dropped, but still present in oblique forms, cf. Ag. erg. k:ek:uj, pl. k:ek:uj-ar, Rut. erg. gigguj-ar etc.). Some forms reflect other expressive suffixes; this variation and some phonetic irregularities are explained by the root's onomatopoeic character.
The root usually means 'cuckoo'; however, a similar phonetic shape is sometimes used for other birds, cf. Tab. gugu-ṭip:, Düb. gugunaj 'owl', Ag. Bursh. k:uk:-baIw 'eagle-owl', Ud. k:unk:uri '(wild) pigeon'.
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. gut:u / gurt:u id. -t in Tsakh. is not clear (a result of dissimilation?). It is not excluded that some (or all) of the listed forms are actually borrowed from Lak. or Darg. A certain loanword is Lezg. ḳurt (cf. also Khl. k:urt, Akht. k:urṭ; the quite irregular glottalisation suggests a source like Georg. ḳwarti 'shirt').
