Proto-North Caucasian: *wĕršē
Meaning: bull-calf, male
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. Since the root means 'male, man' in Nakh and Arch., it is natural to compare also the HU material: Ur. wāšǝ 'men, people' (see Diakonoff-Starostin 1986, 20).
The labialisation in PA is secondary (Av. and all other languages clearly reflect *-š-), probably under the labialising influence of *w-. The word is ultimately of Indo-European (Indo-Iranian) origin, cf. IE *u_ers- 'male, male animal' ( > Old Ind. vṛṣa- 'bull' etc.), see Старостин 1988, 113.
