Lak edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From кӏяла (kʼaˤla, white) +‎ гьи (hi, birch).[6][1][7][8] The latter survives only in dialects[7] and "goes back regularly to *mihi (with a regular reduction of initial *m- + narrow vowel)", ultimately from Proto-Northeast Caucasian *mĭhV (a kind of foliage tree, perhaps alder).[8]

On the other hand, Kibrik / Kodzasov recording the word as ḳalla-hi in the Khosrekh dialect explain it as ‘white bundle’,[9] apparently identifying the second part with homonymous гьи (hi, bundle of brushwood),[10] but this is typologically unlikely, unless the latter developed from an earlier sense ‘wood’; in this respect compare Kabardian пхъэхуей (pχɛxʷujej, birch, literally wood-white). Nikolayev / Satrostin offer a native etymology for гьи (hi, bundle of brushwood), ultimately from Proto-North Caucasian *mŏχ_V.[11]

Note also Lak кӏялаттарлил (kʼaˤlat:arlil, fir),[12] another tree name with кӏяла (kʼaˤla, white).

See also Old Armenian կաղամախի (kałamaxi).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

кӏялагьи (kʼaˤlahi)

  1. birch[13][4][3][5]
    Synonyms: мархъ (marq), махъ (maq), кӏялахӏилул мурхь (kʼaˤlaħilul murx̂), хӏаби (ħabi)
  2. aspen;[3] poplar[14]

Usage notes edit

  • The meaning ‘birch’ is found universally in the standard materials of the language, while ‘aspen’ and ‘poplar’ are found only in unreliable X. Xalilov and Erckert. Therefore they may be spurious.
  • The spelling кӏялахӏи (kʼaˤlaħi) is widely attested in the materials, but ignored in the etymological discussion of Nikolayev / Starostin and Xajdakov.

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 Хайдаков, С. М. (1962) “кӏяла”, in Л. И. Жирков, editor, Лакско-русский словарь [Lak–Russian Dictionary]‎[1], Moscow: GIINS, page 172a
  2. ^ Хайдаков, С. М. (1973) Сравнительно-сопоставительный словарь дагестанских языков [Comparative Dictionary of Dagestan Languages] (in Russian), Moscow: Nauka, page 53a
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Xalilov, Xalil (2002) Lax̂:i wila nit:il maz, Makhachkala, pages 106, 182
  4. 4.0 4.1 Džidalajev, N. S. (1994) “берёза”, in Russko-lakskij slovarʹ [Russian–Lak Dictionary]‎[2], Makhachkala: Dagučpedgiz, page 30
  5. 5.0 5.1 Khalilov, Madzhid (2015) “кӏялахӏи”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, Lak dictionary[3], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, retrieved 2018-08-13
  6. ^ Schiefner, Anton (1866) “k̔alaḥ̌e”, in Ausführlicher Bericht über Baron P. v. Uslar's Kasikumükische Studien (Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences de St.-Pétérsbourg, VII-e serie; t. X. no. 12) (in German), Saint Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, page 93b
  7. 7.0 7.1 Хайдаков, С. М. (1966) Очерки по лакской диалектологии [Essays on Lak Dialectology]‎[4], Moscow: Nauka, page 33
  8. 8.0 8.1 Nikolaev, Sergei L., Starostin, Sergei A. (1994) “*mĭhV”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary[5], Moscow: Asterisk Publishers
  9. ^ Kibrik, A. Je., Kodzasov, S. V. (1990) Сопоставительное изучение дагестанских языков. Имя. Фонетика [Comparative Study of Dagestan Languages. Substantives. Phonetics] (in Russian), Moscow: University Press, →ISBN, § 200, page 99
  10. ^ Хайдаков, С. М. (1962) “гьи”, in Л. И. Жирков, editor, Лакско-русский словарь [Lak–Russian Dictionary]‎[6], Moscow: GIINS, page 91b
  11. ^ Nikolaev, Sergei L., Starostin, Sergei A. (1994) “*mŏχ_V”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary[7], Moscow: Asterisk Publishers
  12. ^ Khalilov, Madzhid (2015) “кӏялаттарлил”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, Lak dictionary[8], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, retrieved 2018-08-13
  13. ^ Gadžijev, G. M. (1958) “берёза”, in Russko-lakskij školʹnyj slovarʹ [Russian–Lak School Dictionary], Makhachkala: Dagučpedgiz, page 18a
  14. ^ Erckert, Roderich von (1895) Die Sprachen des kaukasischen Stammes. I. Theil. Wörterverzeichniss (in German), Vienna: Alfred Hölder, page 111