Proto-North Caucasian: *ɦmVjć̣_wĂ
Meaning: sour
Notes: A rather complicated case, but most of the reflexes can be more or less satisfactorily deduced from the protoform *ɦmVjć̣_wĂ (-j- to account for PN *-sṭ-). The Lak and PD form demonstrate the adjectival prefix *q̇V- (also present in a number of other adjectival stems); Lak. q̇urč̣i- < *q̇-Vmć̣-rV- (cf. the PL form; *-rV is a frequent suffixed morpheme in adjectives).
Note the frequent recurrence of reduplication (also typical for many adjectival stems): PTs *čača-, PL *č̣iIrč̣ʷV-m- (reflected in Rut. and Tsakh.), PAT *c̣ʷǝc̣ʷǝ-.
