Nakh etymology : List with all references

Proto-Nakh: *psṭuw

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 wife 2 princess

Chechen: stū 2

Ingush: suw 2

Batsbi: psṭu 1

Comments: Obl. base *psṭuw-nV-, cf. Chech. stūna-, Ing. suwno, Bacb. pstujnĩ; cf. also Bacb. psṭujnŏ "woman". An interesting compound is Chech. stun-da "father-in-law" ("wife's father") = Ing. ust-da, where Ing. has a prothetic vowel and preserves the -st- combination. Cf. also Cheb. stu, Shar., Khild. su.

North Caucasian etymology :

Proto-North Caucasian: *c̣_wŏjV ( ~ -ɨ̆-)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: woman, female

Proto-Nakh: *psṭuw

Proto-Avaro-Andian: *c̣:ʷijV

Proto-Lak: c:u-

Proto-West Caucasian: *pǝ-zV

Notes: The WC form has a frequent labial prefix (which conditioned loss of labialisation *pǝzʷV > *pǝzV). The EC-WC comparison was suggested by Shagirov (1977). There exist also interesting Kartvelian parallels: cf. Kartv. *ʒ̥1̇u- 'female, bitch' (compared with Lak. in Klimov 1963); Chan. bozo 'girl' (cf. PAK *bzǝ), Svan. zural 'woman' (see Lomtatidze 1961). Untenable is Trubetzkoy's (1930) comparison of the WC root with Darg. gʷaza, Lak. k:ʷac:a etc. 'mare'.

In Nakh languages, besides *psṭuw, there is a series of similar forms: Chech. stē 'woman; female' (pl. steš, Usl. stij), stē-n 'female', Akk. sēwã 'female', Ing. se id., pl. istij ( = Chech. stij) 'women, wives'. There are two possible solutions: to consider these forms as derived from *psṭuw (from the oblique base *psṭawV-), or to compare them separately with an isolated Darg. form - Chir. cade 'female' (reconstructing PEC *cVjdV (~ ć-)). This problem can not be definitely resolved without Bacbi evidence.

Avar-Andian etymology :

Protoform: *c̣:ʷijV

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: female

Avar: c̣:úja-b

Chadakolob: c̣ʷíja-b

Comments: Cf. also Av. Andal. c̣:uj 'woman'. The Av. word for woman, č̣:užu, is a compound (with assimilation) < *c̣:u + žo (žo 'thing'), lit. 'female being'. The word is isolated in Av., but has reliable external parallels. Av. > Bezht., Gunz. c̣ujab 'female'.

Lak etymology :

Lak root: c:u-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: female

Lak form: c:u-s:a

Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology :

Proto-West-Caucasian: *pǝ-zV

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 female 2 bitch

Abkhaz: á-ps 1

Abaza: la-ps 2

Adyghe: bzǝ 1

Kabardian: bzǝ 1

Ubykh: bza 1

Comments: PAT *pǝsǝ (in Abaz. attested only within a compound la-ps 'bitch' = Abkh. á-la-ps; cf. also Bzyb. á-la-ps id.); PAK *bzǝ.

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *[c̣]wŏ́jV ( ~ -ɨ̆-) ( ~ sṭ-)

Meaning: female

North Caucasian: *c̣_wŏjV ( ~ -ɨ̆-)

Sino-Tibetan: /OC 雌 ćhej `female' /

Basque: *a=ćo

Comments and references : (+Hruso zi, gsi `wife', IST 178, SCE 115). BCD 13.

Basque etymology :

Proto-Basque: *a=ćo

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 old woman 2 grandmother 3 barren woman

Bizkaian: atso 1

Gipuzkoan: atso 1, (Andoain) atxo 3

High Navarrese: atso 1

Low Navarrese: atso 1

Salazarese: atso 1, 2

Lapurdian: atso 1

Baztanese: atso 1

Aezkoan: atso 1

Zuberoan: atso 1

Roncalese: atso 1

Comments: In at least some dialects: atxo /ačo/ 'little old lady, viejecita'.