Proto-Lezghian: *χäla (~-l:-)
Meaning: 1 sleeve 2 branch 3 wing 4 one of a pair 5 thing
Lezghian: χel 1,2
Tabasaran: χil 1
Agul: χil (Tp.) 3
Kryz: χäl-χäǯ 1,χel 4
Budukh: χel 5
Archi: χala-c̣i 1
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. Khl. χIäl 'branch; sleeve'; Tab. Ulz. χil 'feather' ( < 'wing'); Ag. (Rich.) χilib 'sleeve'. Words for 'wing' in other Tab. and some Ag. dialects are also formed from this root: Tab. χl-inc:, Düb. χil-imc:i 'wing' etc. (formally cf. Arch. χalac̣i). Although there is no Tsakh. form (with -a), most probable for PL is a paradigm dir. *χäla, obl. (with Ablaut) *χilä- (cf. Ag. Tp. χili-, Lezg. χile-). The semantic development in Bud. ('thing') is explained by the closely related Kryz. χel 'one piece of a pair, couple'. In Arch. this root must have influenced the development of PL *χ:ɨl 'hand, arm' q.v. (it yielded Arch. χol instead of the expected *χ:ol). The two roots are close phonetically and semantically; therefore in some cases it is hard to attribute some reflexes precisely: such derivates as Rut. χɨli-dɨ 'mitten', χuluk 'sleeve' ( = Tsakh. χuk id.) could be derivedfrom both PL forms.
See Хайдаков 1973, 93.
