Proto-Lezghian: *kʷil
Meaning: 1 hand 2 branch,cluster 3 elbow 4 switch, vine
Lezghian: kul 2
Tabasaran: kül-er 4
Agul: kul 2 (Burk.)
Rutul: kül-äg 3
Archi: kul 1
Udi: kul 1
Comment: The original meaning 'hand' is preserved in Ud. and Arch. (also in the Rut. derivate), while in the rest of languages it shifted to 'branch'. In Arch. the word is characterized by a unique (and as yet unexplained) alternation -l-/-r- (cf. the oblique stem kura-, pl. kur-ʁul). The PL obl. stem had been *kʷilɨ- (to judge from Ag. kulu-). The word belongs to the 4th class in Rut. and Arch. Cf. also Ud. köj 'sleeve' (a derived form < *kʷil(V)j-).
See Trubetzkoy 1930, 86; Лексика 1971, 124; Гигинейшвили 1977, 69, 80; Талибов 1980, 288.
