Proto-Altaic: *kèĺǯo
Meaning: bald, bald spot
Russian meaning: лысый, лысина
Comments: KW 163, Poppe 17 (Doerfer TMN 3, 479: "aus phonetischen Gründen unsicher"). The meaning 'head' in Kor.-Jpn. (whence 'brain' in Kor.) is secondary, with a universally usual semantic shift ( < 'bald spot'; cf. Slavic *golъ 'bare, naked' and *golva 'head' etc.; see Фасмер 1, 429). -čhí in MKor. may either reflect the variation of the reflexes of *-ĺǯ- (it is interesting to note also MKor. kắrčhjǝ̀ŋ 'young skin of a plant', which may actually reflect the same root), or a compound with -čhi 'stuff, thing'. Cf. also *kèĺčo 'to scrape, rub': the two roots tend to be confused with each other.
