Proto-North Caucasian: *ḳămʒ́ĕ / *ʒ́ĕmḳă
Meaning: beard
Notes: A rather complicated case. Within EC the root is preserved in the original shape only in Udi; in Avaro-Ando-Tsezian languages it had been actively contaminated with another PEC root for "beard", *bōlʒ́i q.v. (hence mi- in PA, cf. *miža, and *bü- (<*bi-) in PC, cf. *biša-l-). Moreover, as it is usual with roots of this structure (containing two stops), it was liable to metathesis, and it is now hard to establish which of the two variants is original.
The front vowel after *ʒ́ is reconstructed on basis of WC evidence (however, front *ḳ́ is there probably a secondary result of assimilation).
