Proto-North Caucasian: *gerVdV / *derVgV
Meaning: arc; bow
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. A trisyllabic stem with metatheses, usual in such cases. It is rather probable that the Inkh. form belongs here together with East Daghestanian forms (note that the preservation of -r- proves the trisyllabic reconstruction: in usual clusters -r- always disappears in PTs); not quite clear, however, is the devoicing -d- > -t- in Inkh.
[It is interesting to note Cham. taguma 'bow': it could go back to PA *ta(r)gu-ma ( ~ -o-), and thus belong to the same root. Like the Inkh. form, Cham. has voiceless t: this is, perhaps, an indication that we should reconstract *terVgV / *gerVtV with assimilatory voicing in the East Daghestan area.]
