Proto-North Caucasian: *riƛ_(w)e
Meaning: brass; gold
Notes: The root is not very widely spread, but seems both phonetically and semantically quite reliable. It is interesting to note the Ossetian word for 'brass': Osset. ärxʷǝ / ärxi, as well as its Fenno-Ugric names: Komi yrgön, Udm. yrgon, Mar. vörgene, Mans. ärgin (comparison of the Osset. and Fenno-Ugric forms see in Abayev 1958, 186; he does not, however, mention Caucasian forms).
