Proto-North Caucasian: *źwV
Meaning: a pronominal (demonstr.) stem; thing
Notes: A not quite clear case. The Av. and Lak. forms probably belong together; it is less clear with the PTs pronominal stem *žV-. Still, the etymology seems possible, because abstract words denoting 'thing' in EC languages are quite frequently derived from pronouns (mostly, however, interrogative: cf. cases like Tsez. šebin, Inkh. himon 'thing' etc.). It seems worth noting also an obscure element in some East Daghestanian pronominal stems: Lezg. wu-č, Tsakh. hi-ǯo 'what'; Khin. sä 'that' (inanim.'; Darg. -š in i-š 'this' - possibly reflecting (with some distortions) the same pronominal stem.
