Proto-Lezghian: *χ:Iola
Meaning: 1 husband 2 bull-calf 3 calf 4 young he-goat
Lezghian: ʁül 1
Rutul: miχIɨl 4
Tsakhur: mɨχIɨwa 4 (Gelm.)
Kryz: läħ 3
Budukh: leħ / leʕ 3
Archi: χ:Iili 2
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. Khl. χül 'husband'. The initial mɨ- in Rut. and Tsakh. is secondary, on analogy with *motol 'kid'. Arch. has a suffixed form (χ:Iili < *χ:IolV-j). The Shakhdagh forms have a complicated history: one can reconstruct a proto-Shakhdagh paradigm *laχ:I, *loχ:IV- (strong *χ:I is indicated by Bud. voiced -ʕ; the Ablaut is preserved in the Kryz. paradigm läħ, lüħü-r). Since other languages have no trace of Ablaut in this root, it is probable that the form *laχ:I was an innovative back-formation after the productive model *CaC / *CoCV- and that the earlier form was *loχ:I - a metathesis of the PL *χ:Iol. The early Shakhdagh form was borrowed in Khin. as läq 'calf' (with q rendering the strong fricative χ:I, absent in Khinalug).
