The PL form is probably an assimilated compound of *kʷil 'hand' + *-ak:ʷV- 'small, bad' (cf. an analogous compound in Laki). [There seems to exist a different EC root, which may be tentatively reconstructed as *k_HwaGV with the same semantic scope: cf. PTs *gʷVqV- / *qʷVqV- > Gin. gaqi 'bad', Gunz. qoq-dās 'left', Arch. qIok:u, qIok-du- id., perhaps also Lak. kuja ( < *kuq̇Ia) id., which could be early borrowed in Av. kʷeʕa- 'left'. The relationship of *k_HwaGV to *HāgwV is not quite clear. It may well be that we deal with one and the same root or its compound with *kwi(l)- 'hand', subject to various irregular changes because of dissimilations and taboos.]