Proto-Altaic: *p`ắt`à(-kV)
Meaning: bottom, lower side
Russian meaning: дно, нижняя сторона
Comments: EAS 52, KW 1, Poppe 11, 50, Цинциус 1984, 35, 36, Lee 1958, 109, АПиПЯЯ 70, Дыбо 317, Лексика 252-253, Rozycki 75. In Kor. cf. perhaps also MKor. pǝ̀thǝ́ŋ 'step (of stairs)', ptɨ́r 'staircase', 'yard'. The original meaning was no doubt 'bottom', 'bottom side', with a subsequent development > 'bottom of hand or foot' > 'sole, palm' in the Western Altaic region. In Turkic and Mongolian such a semantic change was probably favoured by a contamination with yet another PA root, *p`et`V 'to pinch' (q. v.), so that the final meaning resulted in 'take a handful, clutch'.
