Proto-North Caucasian: *ɣwār(V)tV̆
Meaning: group, flock
Notes: For PEC we must reconstruct an intermediate form (with assimilation) *ɣwārdV̆. Some Caucasian source is probable for Osset. ḳord / ḳʷard 'group, flock' (despite Abayev 1958 who suggested to derive the Osset. form from Got. *kaurdr 'herd' - an impossible form - and proposed further the direction of borrowing Osset. > Adygh. A reverse direction is more probable in this case, although phonetic problems still remain). A special problem is the etymology of PL *ḳareṭ 'group, herd' (Tab. ḳereṭ, Ag. ḳaraṭ, Lezg. ḳereṭ): it can not be derived from *ɣwārdV̆ ( > Arch. ʁat:ǝra) and may be, in fact, a secondary loan from Ossetian (Alanian).
