Comment: An expressive root, with irregular glottalisation in Rut. Ag. (Rich.) q:Iurmaw 'tom-cat' reveals the same metathesis as in Lak. and must be a Lak. borrowing; on the other hand, Ag. marR̀u ( < *marʁIaw) was itself borrowed in Darg. Chir. marʁIaw (which can not be genuinely related for phonetic reasons). Rather enigmatic is Kryz. ṗeʁu 'tom-cat' (perhaps it is an expressive transformation of *meʁu which would be a regular reflex of *marq:Iaw ?). Both the Rut. and the Kryz. words belong to the 3d class.
Comment: Within Agul (Richa dialect) the word has partially contaminated with another PL root *malq̇Iʷ q.v. (which explains the Agul pharyngealization); Arch. marχ:u 'root' is obviously a Lak. loanword.
Comment: 3d class in Kryz. and Arch., 4th class in Rut. The word is actively contaminating with PL *ma[q:ʷ] 'song, tale' (q.v.), which explains some irregularities (e.g., loss of pharyngealization in Lezg. and Rut.). External evidence suggests that the PL form must have had a medial *-r-, but all the languages which have preserved the root frequently drop *-r- before uvulars; unfortunately no direct Tabasaran or Agul reflexes are present.
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. erg. marʁuni, Arch. pl. maχ:ut (indicating that the root consonant is indeed *χ:). The Arch. word has a specific meaning: 'part of the meadow allotted for one woman to mow'. From Lezg. the word has been borrowed into Ud. marɨʁ 'trace of one scythe-stroke'.
Comment: The noun itself is preserved in Lezg. and Archi (for tense *s: cf. the Archi conjunctive form mas:u 'and the price'). In other languages the root is used in compounds meaning 'to sell' ('give (for) a price') or 'to buy' ('take (for) a price'); cf. also Lezg. masa gun, Tab. Düb. mas:u duwus 'to sell'. Judging from these forms, the PL obl. base can be reconstructed as *mas:a-.
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. maIj, Khan. mer id. 4th class in Kryz. Unclear is the glottalisation *-t: > -ṭ in Kryz. The obl. base can be reconstructed as *mäIt:ɨ- or *mäIt:e- (cf. Lezg. met:i-). Some Lezg. form was the source of Azer. mät 'sediment, treacle'.
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. Khl. mex, Ag. Bursh. merš (this is the only form pointing to *-r-, but probably archaic). Obl. base *mi[rƛ]a- (cf. Tab. miɣa-, Kryz. mik-). 3d class in Kryz., Bud., 4th class in Rut.
Reconstruction of the final consonant is complicated (correspondencesare rather unique) - probably because of a specific development of the cluster *rƛ. In any case, there is no doubt that the consonant had been lateral (cf. reflexes in Lezg. dialects, Ag., Rut. and Tsakh.).
Meaning:1 long rag, thread 2 yarn 3 remnants of wool
Tabasaran:mursul 1
Rutul:mes 3 (Khniukh)
Tsakhur:mɨsɨl 2
Kryz:mɨsra 2 (Al.)
Archi:mars:i 1
Comment: 3d class in Arch. and Kryz. The simple root is preserved in Rut., while other languages have expanded it with suffixes (*-j in Arch. and Kryz., *-l in Tab. and Tsakh.).
Comment: Cf. also Tsakh. Gelm. c̣imes id. The Lezg., Rut. and Tsakh. form reflect the PL compound *c̣ojɨ-mäs (with *c̣ojɨ-, the obl. stem of *c̣aj 'fire', lit. 'fire-tinder'; the Lezg. form underwent assimilation - c̣imac̣ < *c̣imas). Labialisation in Ag. is probably secondary (assimilation to m-, or analogical from the obl. base mes-ura-). 4th class in Rut., but 3d class in Tsakhur.
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. mahI, Ag. Burk. mäħ 'whey', Rut. Shin. mǝh-dɨ 'wet'. Obl. base not quite clear (Tab. mehu-, but Ag. maħa-). 4th class in all languages.
Comment: Obl. base *meIrƛɨ- or *meIrƛe- (cf. Lezg. mirgi-, Rut. mixi-). Cf. also Ag. Bursh. murš, Fit. mirg; the Kryz. form (with a strange -ɣ reflex) may be a Lezg. loanword. In Ud. the word for 'horn' (muq:Ia) is derived from this root. 3d class in Rut. and Kryz.
