Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology : List with all references

Proto-West-Caucasian: *maχʷǝ

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: son-in-law

Abkhaz: á-maħʷ

Abaza: mħʷǝ

Adyghe: māχʷʎa

Kabardian: māʎχa

Ubykh: mǝχǝ́

Comments: PAT *maħʷǝ; PAK *maχʷ-ʎá (a compound with *ʎ́V 'kin, relationship'); Ub. def. á-mǝχ / a-mǝ́χ. In Ubykh there occurred a usual delabialisation after a labial consonant. All attempts of the inner analysis of the WC form (Yakovlev 1948, 273, Kuipers 1960, 85, Rogava 1956, 33, 64) are groundless; see Shagirov 1, 259-260.

North Caucasian etymology :

Proto-North Caucasian: *mVχ_wA

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: fiancé, son-in-law

Proto-Lak: muhi

Proto-Lezghian: *mVχ:ʷ- ( ~ -qʷ-)

Proto-West Caucasian: *maχʷǝ

Notes: The root is well preserved in WC, but lost in most EC languages (except Lak. and Udi). Nevertheless, its NC antiquity seems quite probable.

Lak etymology :

Lak root: muhi

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: seeking hand in marriage (n.)

Lak form: muhi

Lezghian etymology :

Proto-Lezghian: *mVχ:ʷ- ( ~ -qʷ-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: son-in-law

Udi: muIquI

Comment: Attested only in Udi, but having probable external parallels.

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *mV́xkwA

Meaning: a k. of relative

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

North Caucasian: *mVχ_wA

Sino-Tibetan: *māk

Yenisseian: *p[u](ʔ)χV ( < *m[u](ʔ)χV)

Comments and references : HGC 27.

Sino-Tibetan etymology :

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *māk

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: son-in-law

Tibetan: mag, dmag son-in-law.

Burmese: sa-mak son-in-law, LB *smakx.

Kachin: dǝmaʔ³ son-in-law.

Lushai: māk-pa a sister's or daughter's husband (LS), KC *māk.

Lepcha: myók a bridegroom, a son-in-law

Kiranti: *mak ( ~ -o-,-ǝ-)

Comments: PG *maC^L younger sister's husband; Thankur mak-cinaw two clans closely related due to a number of marriages; Pwo, Sgaw maʔ son-in-law; Miri mak-bo; Dhimal hma-wa;. Sh. 38, 409; Ben. 71, 136; Mat 201.

Kiranti etymology :

Proto-Kiranti: *mak ( ~ -o-,-ǝ-)

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Meaning: son-in-law

Dumi: mokcu

Kulung: mɔksi

Yamphu: maksa

Dumi dictionary :

Entry: moktsu

Kiränti etymology: Kiränti etymology

Grammar: n.

Meaning: 1) younger sister's husband; 2) younger sister's husband's younger brother; 3) son-in-law; 4) husband of a younger or elder sibling's daughter; 5) grandson-in-law; 6) husband's younger sister's husband; 7) wife's younger sister's husband.

Derivation: [-tsu, tsuʔu 'child', cf. deltsu ]

Comments: 1 cf. wa 4 cf. yaNsu 5 cf. tsatsɨ

Kulung dictionary :

Entry: mɔksi

Kiranti etymology: Kiranti etymology

Grammar: n.

Meaning: 1. son-in-law 2. husband of an elder or younger sibling's daughter

Nepali: juvāiṃ.

Yamphu dictionary :

Entry: maksa

Kiranti etymology: Kiranti etymology

Grammar: n.

Meaning: 1) son-in-law; 2) husband of a younger sister.

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *p[u]χV ( < *m[u]χV)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: nephew

Ket: hɨ́-tet 'nephew', hɨ́-tam 'niece' (Werner 1, 347), hɨ́am 'younger sister of wife' (Werner 1, 342)

Kottish: fu, phu, pl. fuan "nephew", alīt fua (phua) "niece"; Ass. (Бол.) puga "nephew, grandson", alippugi "niece", alitpuga "grand-daughter"

Arin: amagel (Стр.) "brother", bamagál (М., Сл., Срсл., Кл.) id.; (Стр.) bamagel "sister", bamagaĺā (М., Сл., Срсл., Кл.) id.; (Лоск.) amagildu "nephew"; mamagili "сестренич"; mamagil "братенич"

Comments: ССЕ 253-254. The Ket and Kott. languages point to PY *puχV (Werner 1, 347 <*p^hɨ>, not taking into account the Kott. -g-). The Arin matches are difficult in two respects: a) the word means both "nephew" and "brother/sister" - the latter must be a secondary semantic expansion of "brother's son" to "brother" in general, having replaced the original PY *b[i]s "brother / sister"; b) the -m- in Arin must reflect an original nasal, preserved after the prefixes a-, ba- and replaced by *p- elsewhere in Yenisseian. Phonetically the case is similar to the root for 'brain' *nɔʔŋ > *dɔʔŋ, which is preserved as *nɔʔŋ in the compound *goʔ-nɔʔŋ, but has regularly changed to *d- in independent position (Ket, Yug dɔʔŋ). Werner's objection: "die letztere Rekonstruktion [*m[u]χV] bleibt fraglich, weil sie sich auf ar. bamagal 'Bruder' stürzt, wo das anlautende b- eigentlich das Possessivpräfix der 1 P.Sg. ('mein') darstellt" - is rather strange: of course b- is a 1 p. prefix (as in numerous other cases), but the reconstruction is based not on it, but on the following -m- - which cannot be a prefix of any kind. Elsewhere (1, 32) Werner attempts a different approach to the Arin form, analyzing it as am "mother" + agel (?), cf. Pump. akil "older brother, sister". Pumpokol indeed has such a word (see under *ʒVl 'child'), but Arin has it too, namely Arin akel 'son', akelä 'daughter' (see ibid.). Whereas "brother" is of course "mother's son", "nephew" definitely is not: the compound am + akel 'mother's son' could have helped Arin amagel (amakel) to shift its meaning to include both "nephew" and "brother", but it cannot explain the meaning "nephew" in any reasonable way.