Comment: An expressive reduplicated root with some violations of regular correspondences. [Cf. also some other expressive forms which may be ultimately variations of the same root: Tab. q̇aq̇naχ 'craw, crop'; Arch. gurq̇Ii "Adam's apple".]
Meaning:1 piece, chopped block 2 small beam 3 remnant
Lezghian:q̇aṭ 1
Tabasaran:q̇aṭ 1
Agul:q̇aṭ 1 (Bursh.)
Rutul:q̇aṭ 1 (Shin.)
Tsakhur:q̇aṭ 2
Kryz:q̇äṭ 3
Budukh:q̇aṭ 1
Comment: Obl. base *q̇aṭɨ- (cf. Tsakh. q̇aṭɨ-). In Lezg. cf. also the verb q̇aṭu-z 'to guess, to reason' (*'to put pieces together'). The stem is widely used in compound verbs: cf. Rut. q̇aṭ haʔas 'to break', Tab. q̇aṭ aṗuz 'to cut, chop', Ag. q̇aṭ aq̇as 'to cut, chop, break'.
Comment: Most forms - except Tsakhur - contain the adjectival prefix *q̇ä-. Cf. also Tab. Düb. q̇Iac̣li, Ag. Bursh. q̇arc̣le-r, Burk. ʡac̣ul-f (pharyngealization in most Tab. and Ag. dialects is secondary before the front vowel *ä). Within the complex stem *q̇ä + class markers + *c̣Vl- there could occur different combinatory changes (vocalic and consonantal).
Comment: Obl. base *q̇ila-, cf. Tab. q̇ila-, Rut. q̇ili-, (with vowel levelling) Ag. q̇Iala, Tsakh. q̇eva-. 3d class in most languages (but 4th class in Kryz.). The root had originally meant 'bitter', and this meaning is retained in Archi; in most other languages the adjective 'bitter' is still derived from the same root, but with different affixation: PL *q̇ä-q̇Vl- (with infixed class markers and various modifications of *-ä- in unaccented syllables): Lezg. tüq̇ül, Tab. q̇uṭli, Düb. q̇urq̇uli, Ag. q̇ulq̇ul-f, Rut. däq̇älɨ-d, Kryz. q̇äṭq̇ul.
Comment: The original paradigm can be reconstructed as *q̇ära, obl. *q̇irä- (cf. Lezg. q̇ere-, Ag. q̇Iira-, Bursh. q̇ir,q̇iri-). The root is frequently accompanied by the expressive suffix *-uš (*q̇äruš), or reduplicated. The Lezg. (or some Shakhdagh dialectal) form was borrowed in Khin. q̇arɨš 'swamp, marsh'.
Meaning:1 sheepskin 2 sheepskin coat 3 coat of mail 4 shell
Lezghian:q̇erq̇ 1,3
Tsakhur:q̇arq̇ʷ 2
Budukh:q̇erq 4
Comment: 4th class in Tsakh. and Bud. In Lezg. the root means simultaneously "a piece of sheepskin" and "coat of mail". The disyllabic structure must be reconstructed to account for the preservation of -r- in Tsakh. (the cluster *-rq̇ʷ- would have yielded -q̇ʷ-); another solution would be to reconstruct *-lq̇ʷ, but this is against the external evidence.
Comment: Isolated in Rut., but with probable external parallels. (There are several PL reconstructions possible; we have chosen the one which is best compatible with external evidence).
Comment: The root demonstrates the typical behaviour of PL *-ƛ: in the Auslaut position (the labial reflex -w in Lezg., Kryz. and Bud. < *-ɣʷ < *-ƛ:ʷ < *-mƛ:).
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. erg. q̇eṗini, Khl. q̇Iäb,q̇Iäṗe-ni. Obl. base *q̇Iam:a- (*q̇Iap:a-), cf. Tab. q̇Iaba-, Ag. q̇Iaba-, Rut. q̇Iábɨ-. 3d class in all class-distinguishing languages. Bud. and Kryz. reflect a compound with a not quite clear second component. Since there are no Arch., Ud. and Tsakh. reflexes (Tsakh. q̇Iab, attested only in the Mishlesh dialect, is most probably borrowed from Rutul), one can reconstruct both *-p: and *-m:; the latter seems preferable because of external evidence.
Comment: Cf. also Ag. Fit., Burk. q:edarar (the Ag. form is a "double" plural in -ar). 4th class in all class-distinguishing languages. The oblique base can be reconstructed as *q̇Iorṭɨ-, cf. Tsakh.q̇Iɨṭɨ-; its vocalism has replaced the original -a- in Rut. and Tsakh.
The Ag. form is actually a contamination of two roots: PL *q̇:Iarṭ and PL *q:Ian: 'bridge, ladder' (cf. Tab. Kand. ʁIaǯrar 'ladder' which is very similar to Ag. q:Iadarar, but can not correspond to it phonetically); this explains the irregular voicing in Ag. (-ṭ- > -d-).
