Meaning:1 to scrape, rub 2 to fidget 3 to peel 4 to tear
Tabasaran:č̣u=ʁI- 1
Agul:č̣aχan- 4 (Bursh.)
Rutul:ʁa-č̣i=χa- 2
Tsakhur:č̣irχam aʔa- 1
Budukh:oč̣o=χn- 3
Comment: The Bud. verb means 'to peel (e.g. an apple); to hew, trim'; cf. also wo-č̣o=χn- 'to press'. An expressive PL root belonging to the strong verbal class, sometimes (e. g. in Tab.) with emphatic pharyngealisation. It seems probable to relate here, besides Tsakh. č̣irχam (which is a noun meaning 'scratch') also another nominal derivate: Rut. č̣ɨχIɨ-d 'rake'. Cf. also (with irregular development) Rut. ča=qʷa- 'to itch, scratch', Arch. χašá-s (3d cl. ba=χčá-s) 'to tear (off)'.
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. č̌uq:Iur 'faeces'. The Tab. and Kryz. forms go back to the variant *čʷɨq̇:I (in Tab. with a collective suffix -r), all other forms - to the variant *č̣ɨq̇Iʷ (with an assimilatively weakened q̇Iʷ). In Bud. the root means also "ear-wax", "mould" and "fish eggs".
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. Khl. č̣ɨl, Tsakh. Gelm. č̣iwa. Obl. base *č̣ol:ä- (cf. Tab., Ag. č̣ili- and the Tsakh. Auslaut in -a). 3d class in Rut. and Tsakh., but 4th class in Arch. and Kryz. Not clear is Ud. č:ōri id.
See Лексика 1971,215; Гигинейшвили 1977,69; Талибов 1980,301.
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. č̣i=q̇-, Ag. Bursh. č̣alʕan- ( < *č̣alq̇Ian-) id. Bud. woč̣o=χn- 'to press' is a contamination of this expressive root with PL *č̣iχ:an- q.v.
Comment: Cf. also Tab. Düb. č̣üj, Ag. Fit., Burk. č̣id, Bursh. č̣ir. In Lezg. we would rather expect -d; but it is possible that the development *-n: > -t is regular after glottalized stops (cf. *ƛ̣un:).
Comment: Obl. base *č̣urä- (cf. Lezg. č̣ura-). 4th class in Rut. and Tsakh. The Kryz. word is somewhat dubious (both phonetically and semantically); cf. also Kryz. č̣erč̣ur 'swamp, marsh' (with the same reduplication as in Bud.).
The original meaning of this nominal stem may be reconstructed as "uncultivated land; waste land". It seems quite probable that it served as basis for the adjectival stem *č̣urɨ- (~-o-) with the basic meaning "wild": cf. Lezg. č̣uru "wild (of plants)"; Tab. č̣uru "wild (of plants); bad", substantivated in č̣uru-b "pus" (Düb. č̣iruv); Ag. Bursh. č̣ire-r "dirty, bad", Burk. č̣ure-f 'old, worn out' (probably > Darg. Chir. č̣ir-ze 'lean'); Kryz. č̣ir "wild (of plants, animals)", secondarily substantivated as č̣ir "wild pear"; possibly also Rut. č̣irɨ-dɨ "lame" ( < "crippled, bad").
Kryz. č̣erä 'cavern' is somewhat deviant both phonetically (-e-) and semantically. Perhaps it would be better to separate it and compare it to another root, reflected in PA *rič̣:o 'cavern' (And. reč̣:o, Akhv. rec̣:a, Cham. jeṣa, Gig. ruc̣a, Tind. ruč:a).
Comment: The root is attested only in Tab.; therefore theoretically a reconstruction of medial *-w- is also possible - although -ƛ:ʷ- is more probable in view of the external evidence.
Comment: Cf. also Lezg. Nüt. ḳʷeh, Khl. č̣ʷeh, Ag. Burk., Tp. č̣ʷäħ. Arch. has an obscure prefix noI-. Cf. also Kryz. c̣uħ < Lezg. 3d class in Rut., 4th class in Arch. [Strange forms are recorded by MSU in Ag. dialects: Bursh., Fit. c̣ux - probably Lezghian loanwords, but with an unusual substitution of x instead of h.]
Comment: 3d class in Rut. and Tsakh. Cf. also Tab. Düb. č̣̌ul, Lezg. Nüt. ḳʷelĩ t:ar, Khl. č̣ʷal. Obl. base *č̣ʷele- (cf. Lezg. c̣ʷeli-, Tab. č̣̌ala-, Tsakh. č̣owa-). See Талибов 1980, 268.
