Proto-Altaic: *àlak`u
Meaning: to walk, step
Russian meaning: ходить, шагать
Comments: A Mong.-Jpn. isogloss. See АПиПЯЯ 278. Man. alxun 'step', alkūn 'the gait of a horse or other livestock' is no doubt borrowed from Mongolian (see Rozycki 16-17). The Jpn.-Mong. comparison seems to us preferable to other etymologies of the Mongolian form (see ОСНЯ 3,66-70; Poppe 96, KW 7 - Mong. alqu-: Turk. *āĺ-). The stem can be possibly derived from a root reflected in Mong. *ala 'inner side of thigh' (L 26; Poppe 75; pl. alas, whence Evk. alas, see Doerfer MT 94; hence also WMong. alčaji-, Khalkha alcaj- 'to spread the legs', Dag. alčī- id., WMong. alčaɣar, alčaŋ, Khalkha alcan 'bowlegged'; but to be distinguished is *ale 'below' q. v.).
