Proto-North Caucasian: *=Hĭq̇wǝ (~-q̇_-,-o)
Meaning: waist, middle; back
Notes: One of the nominal stems with old changing class prefixes. It is rather difficult to make a clear distinction between PNC *=Hĭq̇wǝ and *=ǝG_wV (q.v.): these roots are phonetically and semantically close and tend to contaminate. However, it seems probable that the former originally meant 'waist, middle part' while the latter meant 'back'.
