Reconstruction:Proto-Kartvelian/mc̣₁er-

This Proto-Kartvelian entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Kartvelian

Etymology

From *m- +‎ *c̣₁er- (“to scratch”).

Noun

*m-c̣₁er-

1. fly (insect)

Reconstruction notes

In Svan the expected ჭ ← *c̣₁ (č̣ ← *c̣₁) was lost which is apparently compensated by the vowel length. Other descendants are regular.

Descendants

• Proto-Georgian-Zan:
  • Old Georgian: მწერი (mc̣eri)
    • Georgian: მწერი (mc̣eri)
  • Zan:
    • Laz: მჭაჯი (mç̌aci), მჯაჯი (mcaci)
    • Mingrelian: ჭანდი (č̣andi), ჭანჯი (č̣anǯi)
    • → Old Armenian: ճանճ (čanč), ճանջ (čanǰ)
• Svan: მე̄რ (mēr)

References

• Riabinin, Michel (1898) “Notes de lexicographie géorgienne. Examen du matériel emprunté”, in Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique de Paris‎^[1] (in French), volume X, page 21
• Klimov, G. A. (1998) Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages (Trends in linguistics. Documentation; 16), New York, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, page 131
• Penrixi (Fähnrich), Hainc, Sarǯvelaʒe, Zurab (2000) Kartvelur enata eṭimologiuri leksiḳoni [Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages] (in Georgian), 2nd edition, Tbilisi: Tbilisi Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani State University Press, pages 663–664
• Fähnrich, Heinz (2007) Kartwelisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch [Kartvelian Etymological Dictionary] (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.18) (in German), Leiden, Boston: Brill, pages 648–649
• Thorsø, Rasmus (2023) Prehistoric loanwords in Armenian: Hurro-Urartian, Kartvelian, and the unclassified substrate‎^[2], PhD dissertation, Leiden University, page 54