Proto-North Caucasian: *bǝHǝɫV ( ~ o)
Meaning: hill, mountain
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. A rare (but secure) case of the CVHVCV root structure. Cf. perhaps also Lak. (Khosr.) belsa ( = biIl-sa ? - Laki does not have an -e-vowel) 'a good mountain pasture'.
[In PWC one would expect a form like *bIV: in fact, there exists such a root with many meanings: 'thick(ness), big, bulge' etc. We attribute it to the common NC root *bV̆HV q.v. The reflex of *bǝHǝɫV could have, however, merged with *bV̆HV in PWC. Cf. in particular, cases like Ub. bIǝ-šá 'top of a hill' (ša 'head, top'), which could be directly related to PNC *bǝHǝɫV.]
