Proto-West-Caucasian: *zʷV
Meaning: 1 sky 2 star
Abkhaz: á-ž̌-ʕʷan 1
Abaza: žʷ-ʕʷand 1
Adyghe: žā-ʁʷa 2
Kabardian: vā-ʁʷa 2
Ubykh: zʷa 1
Comments: PAT *zʷǝ-ʕʷa-nǝ (the final -d in Abaz. is secondary). -nǝ here is a common nominal suffix, and *zʷǝ-ʕʷa corresponds exactly to PAK *zʷa-ʁʷá. Ub. def. á-zʷa.
The meaning 'star' of PAK *zʷa-ʁʷá is obviously secondary (it was acquired after the original 'star' morpheme, *-cʷa, shifted to 'sky' in the compound *wa-cʷa - see *c̣ʷA; the two roots have thus "changed places" in PAK). Abdokov (1983, 93) compares the AT and AK forms with PAK *ž́ǝ 'wind, air', which is improbable for phonetic reasons (see PWC *ɣ́ǝ).
