Proto-Lezghian: *pVp:V-
Meaning: 1 hair 2 cock's wattle 3 cock's comb 4 soft,downy
Lezghian: purp:u 4
Tabasaran: purpu 4
Udi: pop 1
Comment: Vocalism is hard to establish (mainly because of the root's expressive nature). In Lezg., besides the adjective purp:u (cf. also Akht. p:ɨrp:ɨ) there exists an expressive suffixed formation: bub-uχ "cock's wattle"). The original meaning of the root must have been "soft, fluffy hair, down" (cf. the external evidence; note that in Ud. pop also means "goat's wool"). Since -r- is observed only in adjectival forms, it must be an adjectival infix here.
