The Tower of Babel

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    1.5. From PTs to modern Tsezian languages.

    While reconstructing PTs, it is convenient to use two intermediate reconstructions - PTsKh (the protolanguage of the modern West-Tsezian languages: Tsezi, Ginukh, Khvarshi and Inkhokwari) and PGB (the protolanguage of the modern East-Tsezian languages: Gunzib and Bezhta). Intermediate PTsKh and PGB reflexes will be listed in our tables together with reflexes in modern languages.
    Some correspondences between Tsezian languages were established in the work of Y. A. Bokarev [Áîêàðåâ 1959], but there was no reconstruction of the original system. Extremely short and absolutely insufficient notes on the putative PTs system are contained in the work [Gigineyshvili 1977]. Finally, an attempt to reconstruct the common Tsezian phonological system was made by T. Gudava ([Gudava 1979]); but, unlike the Andian reconstruction of the same author, this work can hardly be considered plausible (there is no analysis of specific correlations in voice/voicelessness between different Tsezian languages, problems of the reconstruction of laterals, hissing, hushing and uvular fricatives are not solved, no adequate reconstruction of vocalism is given).

    1.5.1. Consonantism.

    We reconstruct the following consonant system for PTs:
Labials             p          b       ©                                  m
Dentals             t          d,(d•1†) ®                                  n       r
Labialized          tº          dº       ®º
dentals
Hissing             c                    ˆ          s    s:    z    z:
Labialized          cº                    ˆº       sº    s:º    zº    z:º
hissing
Hushing             ‰                    Š          «    «:    ¼    ¼:             j
Labialized          ‰º                    Šº       «º    «:º    ¼º    ¼:º
hushing
Laterals          œ                              ›    ›:    L    L:             l
Velars             k,(k•1†)    g,g•1†   
Labialized          kº          gº,g•1†º ™º
velars
Uvulars             q                    ª          »    »:    ’    ’:
Labialized          qº                    ªº       »º    »:º    ’º    ’:º
uvulars
Laryngeals                            €          h
Emphatic                                         “            
laryngeals

    A very specific feature of the PTs system is the four-way opposition of fricatives. It is tentatively interpreted as a distinction in tenseness, but other suggestions are possible as well (e.g., the reconstruction of an opposition in aspiration, etc.). We must however note that in the subsystem of hissing and hushing fricatives we observe in fact only three types of correspondences (in initial position: PTsKh s - PGB s, PTsKh z - PGB z, PTsKh z - PGB s; in non-initial position: PTsKh s - PGB s, PTsKh z - PGB z, PTsKh s - PGB z); therefore, we could assume the existence of only three PTs hissing and three PTs hushing fricatives. However, external data obviously shows that in PTsKh as well as in PGB a secondary merger of the reflexes of initial *s, *s: and, respectively, non-initial *z, *z: occurred. Taking into account the fact that the four-way opposition is reliably reconstructed for the subsystems of lateral and uvular fricatives, we can suppose that it existed in the subsystems of hissing and hushing fricatives as well, but was afterwards lost with a parallel development in PTsKh and PGB. Thus, the correspondence "PTsKh s-: PGB s-" can simultaneously point to two PTs phonemes (*s- or *s:-); similarly the correspondence "PTsKh -z-: PGB -z-" (PTs *-z- or -z:-), see below.
    There is some reason to think that explosive local series in PTs were also characterized by a more than three-way opposition of laryngeal features. The respective "specific" phonemes were marked in the table as *d•1†, *k•1†, *g•1† (their reflexes reveal specific variations in voice/voicelessness in descendant languages, and in some cases it is possible to trace them to other PEC sources than the usual PTs voiced and voiceless explosives, see above). But there are very few examples for all these phonemes, and their reconstruction (to say nothing of their phonetic interpretation) is not at all secure.
    It is apparently necessary to reconstruct a full set of labialized consonants (except resonants, labials, laryngeals and probably laterals) for PTs. However, labialized consonants (especially the front ones) are rather unstable and easily lose their labialization (especially in East-Tsezian languages). Therefore, reflexes of labialized consonants - with very few exceptions, that will be mentioned below - are the same as the reflexes of respective nonlabialized ones, and in many cases the presence of labialization in PTs can be determined only by the reflexes of adjacent vowels (see below). Therefore in the table we do not adduce correspondences for labialized consonants.

    The consonant correspondences in Tsezian languages are as follows:
PTs    PTsKh       Tsez       Gin       Khv       Inkh       PGB       Bezh       Gunz
*p       *p          p          p          p       p          *p       p          p-,b
*b       *b          b          b          b       b          *b       b          b
*©       *©          ©          ©          ©       ©          *©       ©          ©
*m       *m          m          m          m       m          *m       m          m
*t       *t          t          t          t       t          *t       t          t-,d
*d       *d          d          d          d       d          *d       d          d
*d•1†    *t          t          t          t       t          *d       d          d
*®       *®          ®          ®          ®       ®          *®       ®          ®
*n       *n          n          n          n       n          *n       n          n
*r       *r¬l       r¬l       r¬l       r¬l       r¬l       *r       r/j/w       r
*l       *r¬l       r¬l       r¬l       r¬l       r¬l       *l       l          l
*c       *c          c          c/‰       c       c          *c       c          c
*ˆ       *ˆ          ˆ          ˆ/Š       ˆ       ˆ          *ˆ       ˆ          ˆ
*s       *s          s          s/«       s       s          *s-,z    s-,z       s-,z
*s:    *s          s          s/«       s       s          *s       s          s
*z       *z          z          z/¼       z       z          *s-,z    s-,z       s-,z
*z:    *z          z          z/¼       z       z          *z       z          z
*‰       *‰          ‰          c/‰       ‰       ‰          *‰       c/‰         
*Š       *Š          Š          ˆ/Š       Š       Š          *Š       ˆ/Š          Š
*«       *«          «          s/«       «       «          *«-,¼    s-/«-,z/¼    «-,¼
*«:    *«          «          s/«       «       «          *«       s/«          «
*¼       *¼          ¼          z/¼       ¼       ¼          *«-,¼    s-/«-,z/¼    «-,¼
*¼:    *¼          ¼          z/¼       ¼       ¼          *¼       z/¼          ¼
*j       *j          j          j          j       j          *j       j          j
*œ       *œ          œ          œ          œ       œ          *œ       œ          œ
*       *                                               *                
*›       *l-¬r-,    l-¬r-,    l-¬r-,    l-¬r-,    l-¬r-,    *h-,L    h-,›       h-,l
       -›-          -›-       -›-       -›-       -›-
*›:    *›          ›          ›          ›       ›          *›       ›         
*L       *L          ›          ›          ›       l          *L       ›          l
*L:    *L          ›          ›          ›       l          *l       l          l
*k       *k          k          k          k       k          *k       k          k-,g
*k•1†    *k•1†       g          k          k       k          *k       k          k-,g
*g       *g          g          g          g       g          *g       g          g
*g•1†    *k          k          k          k       k          *g       g          g
*™       *™          ™          ™          ™       ™          *™       ™         
*q       *q          q          q          q       q          *q       q          q
*ª       *ª          ª-,0       ª          ª       ª          *ª       ª          ª
                    (w,j)
*»       *»•1†       “(¬»)    »(¬h)       h       h          *’       ’          ’(¬h)
*»:    *»          »          »          »       »          *»       »          »
*’       *’          ’          ’          ’       ’          *»       »          »
*’:    *’          ’          ’          ’       ’          *’¬h       ’¬h          ’¬h
*’:º    *’º          ’º       ’º          ’º       ’º       *w       w          w
*€       *€          €          €          €       €          *€       €         
*h       *h          h          h          h/“       h          *h       h          h
*“       *€          €          €          €       €          *h       h          h
*       *                    €          €       €          *€       €         

    Comments.
    1) In PTsKh we observe an unmotivated variation of the liquids r and l. Strict rules of reflexation are not determined yet; external data clearly shows that the original PTs situation (corresponding well with AvarAndi) is preserved in PGB.
    2) In Ginukh the reflexes of hissing and hushing consonants have been redistributed according to the following rule: hissing consonants are present here mostly adjacent to back vowels, hushing consonants - adjacent to front vowels (though there are some not quite clear exceptions).
    3) Some variations in the reflexes of the phonemes *»•1† and *h in Tsezi, Ginukh and Khvarshi are apparently connected with the influence of pharyngealized adjacent vowels.
    4) In Bezhta PTs, PGB *r gives j or w (depending on the adjacent vowel); however, the initial r is well preserved in Tladal dialect (see [Bokarev 1959]).
    5) The Tladal dialect of Bezhta also preserves the original PGB system of hissing and hushing consonants. In Bezhta proper the hushing consonants regularly become hissing if they are adjacent to front vowels.
    PTs differs significantly from other East-Caucasian languages in its nearly complete lack of consonant clusters (traces of clusters in PTs are preserved only as nasalization, see above). A small number of words with medial -RC-clusters in PTs can be interpreted either as loanwords from PA or as the result of elision of the middle vowel in the rare structure *CVRVCV.

    1.5.2. Vocalism.

    We reconstruct the following vowel system for PTs:
                   *i    *µ             *—             *u
                   *e                    *             *o
                                          *a            

    We must at once note that the vowel *µ is rather rare and probably has a secondary origin (apparently a result of an early transfer of labialization of adjacent consonants onto the vowels i and —).
    A characteristic feature of the development of vocalism in Tsezian languages is two series of reflexes of the vowels *i, *e, *—, *u, *o, *¥, distinguished in PTsKh (the second series is characterized by a peculiar "shift into centre" of vocalic reflexes). For a possible reason for such a division of PTsKh reflexes, see above, pp. 75-76.
    Vowel correspondences between Tsezian languages are as follows:
PTs       PTsKh    Tsez    Gin    Khv    Inkh    PGB       Bezht    Gunz
*iA    *i       e       e    i    i
                                             } *i/u    i/u       i/u
*iB    *—       e       e    e   
*eA    *e       i       i    e    e
                                             } *e/£    e          e/o
*eB    *       i       e    a    o
*µ       *µ       e       o    i    u,i       *—       i         
*—A    *—       e       e    e   
                                             } *—/o,u    i/o,u    —/o,u
*—B    *       i       e    a    o
*       *       i       e    a    o       */¥    o/a      
*a       *a       a       a    a    a       *a       a          a
*uA    *u       u       u    u    u
                                             } *u       u,-o       u
*uB    *µ       e       o    i    u,i
*oA    *u       u       u    u    u
                                             } *o       o          o
*oB    *£       o¬i    µ    e    e
A    *o       o       o    o    o
                                             } *¥       a          ¥
B    *£       o¬i    µ    e    e

    Comments.
    1) The vowel ¥ in Gunzib is characterized by E. A. Bokarev ([Bokarev 1967, 472]) as a non-labialized back mid vowel; but a more exact characterization (judging by the field observations of the MSU expedition) would be "back low mid-open vowel". We transcribe it (as well as the vowel reconstructed in its place in PGB and PTs) as ¥.
    2) After the slash in PGB (and therefore in Bezhta and Gunzib) we give the reflexes of PTs vowels adjacent to labialized consonants (that have lost labialization in PGB).
    3) The distinction of series A and B in PTsKh is relevant only in the first syllable; the second syllable usually has reflexes of "unshifted" vowels (series A). It must be noted that for the second (final) syllable in PTs we reconstruct not the full set of vowels, but only *e, *, *a, *u, *¥ (their reflexes in this position are generally the same as in the first syllable).
    4) Besides simple vowels, we reconstruct a complete set of nasalized vowels in PTs. They preserve their nasalization in Khvarshi, Inkhokvari, Bezhta and Gunzib (though they may sporadically lose it). The quality of the reflexes of nasalized vowels is usually the same as of the plain ones. A significant exception is the development of nasalized *e~ and *o~ in Khvarshi, where they give narrow reflexes (*e~ > i~, *o~ > u~); it should be mentioned that plain *e and *o develop in the same way in the vicinity of nasal m or n (the rule of Y. Testelets). The opposition of nasalized/nonnasalized vowels in PTs (and in modern Tsezian languages) is relevant only in the first syllable (following syllables can be subject to assimilative, "prosodic" nasalization; but structures with a nasalized second vowel and a non-nasalized first do not exist).
    5) All vowels - plain as well as nasalized - can also have the additional feature of pharyngealization in PTs. Pharyngealized vowels (generally yielding the same quality of reflexes as the plain ones) are now preserved in Tsezi and Inkhokwari, but lose pharyngealization without any trace in other Tsezian languages. The origin of the Tsezian pharyngealization is not quite clear yet (see above, page 83).

    1.5.3. Ablaut.
    The PTs nominal stems possessed ablaut of two main types: a) direct stem *o - oblique stem *—; b) direct stem *¥ - oblique stem *i (some paradigms secondarily mix both types of ablaut). In words with the structure CV some other types of vowel gradation (possibly archaic) are possible as well. It must be noted that the nominal ablaut was already not very productive in PTs, and the number of nouns with alternating vowels is very small in modern languages. On the origin of the Tsezian ablaut see above, pp. 81-82.
    Tsezian languages apparently preserve some remnants of verbal ablaut as well (though PTs evidently had already lost the productive verbal ablaut system), but this question still needs special research.

    1.5.4. Root structure and prosody.

    Most nominal roots in PTs have the structure CV or CVC(V); longer structures are rare (and are usually derived). A characteristic PTs feature (already mentioned above) is the inadmissibility (or at least extreme rarity) of consonant clusters within a single morpheme, despite the fact that closed-syllable structures (of the type CVC) are allowed. The CVC structures probably appeared in PTs as a result of the early process of dropping narrow final vowels (in the reconstructed PTs system -i and -— are missing; -u is present, but this vowel is rather a result of a still later secondary narrowing from *-o, missing in final position). However, the correspondences between PTs and PEC final vowels are yet to be established.
    Most verbal roots in PTs have the structure -VC(V) (or, more rarely, -VCVR). The most unstable element of the verbal root is its final vowel, which can disappear or be modified before suffixed morphemes. The problem of the verbal auslaut in PTs (and its PEC sources) is not yet well studied. Besides, there is a number of verbal roots with a different structure, e.g., CVC(V); however, historically they are mostly derived and contain old preverbs (no longer productive in PTs and in modern languages).
    The prosody of PTs can be described as consisting of nasalization and pharyngealization, which have been examined above (though these phenomena can be also regarded as vocalic features). Besides, judging by the results of the MSU expeditions of 1973-1978, all Tsezian languages possess relevant tonal oppositions, and PTs certainly had a tonal accent system. However, all that was said above about Andian tonal systems (see page 109), could be applied to this case as well: we need more careful and full descriptions, on the basis of which one could accomplish the PTs tonal reconstruction.


    1.6. Lak.

    Despite a rather large number of speakers and villages where the Lak language is used, it is at the present time rather monolithic. There are many local dialects, but they do not seriously differ from each other, see [Khaidakov 1966] (although there is some reason to believe that the degree of dialectal divergence was higher in the past). Therefore, the inclusion of Lak dialectal data generally does not add much to the information that one can obtain from the description of Lak literary language and its lexicon.
    The development of Lak phonemes from PEC was described in general above. We should pay attention only to some comparatively recent phonetical processes that are not reflected in the tables:
    a) in Lak a general affrication of velars (including the velars that developed from PEC laterals) occurred before the vowels a, i. Original velars are easily reconstructed with the help of Lak morphological data (there is a regular alternation k/‰, ™/Š, etc., in nominal and verbal paradigms). However, the affrication may sporadically be missing in some dialects and in the literary language. Therefore, while using the main lexicographical source on Lak - the dictionary of S. M. Khaidakov ([Khaidakov 1962]), one may have orthographic problems, because in most cases the labialization of velar consonants is not marked there, and, e.g. the sequence -ka- may be read either as -ka- or as -kºa-. In such cases we have to use dialectal records (the fullest available are the MSU records of the Khosrekh dialect).
    b) Another recent phonetical process easily seen in morphonology is the weakening of all tense consonant phonemes in the closed syllable (-p: > -p, -t: > -t, -c: > -c, -s: > -s, etc.) They are restored before suffixes beginning with a vowel.
    c) We should also note some other sporadic phonetic processes: the development of intervocal d and b into r and w respectively (a quite recent change, having affected some recent Arabic loanwords as well); the variation of l and velar reflexes of PEC laterals (see above, page ); the variation of »: and h in the place of PEC uvular fricatives (see above, page ). Such phenomena certainly suggest intensive dialectal mixture within the history of Lak. It is, however, possible that some of these variations will one day be given a prosodic explanation (the system of Lak prosody - except the feature of pharyngealization - is not yet described at all).
    As a specific feature of Lak we must mention that it has the most reduced vowel system of all EC languages (only three phonemes: i, u, a). In some dialects, however, long vowels are also present, but their systematic description does not exist.

    1.7. From PD to modern Dargwa dialects.

    Unlike Lak, the Dargwa language has many dialects that are rather far from each other, see [Gasanova 1971]. Unfortunately, sufficient lexicographical sources are available only for the following dialects: a) Akushi, on which literary Dargwa is based (see [Abdullayev 1950]); b) Urakhi, described already by P. K. Uslar (see [Uslar 1892]) and c) Chirag, on which we possess the voluminous records of the MSU expeditions of 1973-75. Rather many dialectal records are contained in the work of M.-S. M. Musayev ([Musayev 1975]); see also [Gasanova 1971]. Therefore , we have a generally more or less reliable system of phonetic correspondences and reconstructions, based on the material of 13 Dargwa dialects. However, in this work we will limit ourselves to the reflexes of PD phonemes in the four dialects which are described best of all and the evidence of which is quite sufficient to reconstruct the complete PD phonological system: Chirag, Akushi, Urakhi and Kubachi.


    1.7.1. Consonantism.

    We reconstruct the following system of consonants for PD:
Labials             p       p:       b       ©                     w       m
Dentals             t       t:       d       ®                     l,r       n
Labialized                           dº       ®º
dentals
Hissing             c       c:       ½       ˆ       s       s:       z
Hushing             ‰       ‰:                 Š       «       «:       ¼       j
Velars             k       k:       g       ™       x       x:      
Labialized          kº       k:º       gº       ™º    xº       x:º    ‘º
velars
Uvulars             q       q:                 ª       »       »:      
Labialized          qº       q:º                 ªº    »º       »:º    ’º
uvulars
Pharyngealized       qI       q:I       (GI)    ªI    »I       »:I    ’I
uvulars
Pharyngealized       qIº    q:Iº              ªIº    »Iº    »:Iº    ’Iº
labialized
uvulars
Laryngeals                                     €       h       hI(?)
Labialized                                            hº              º
laryngeals
Emphatic                                        “                    
laryngeals

    In this system the phoneme *GI (without a non-pharyngealized counterpart) is not quite certain; it is not to be excluded, that in the examples available we deal with an irregular development of the PD *’I. In addition, the status of the phoneme that we mark as *hI is not quite clear (other pharyngealized laryngeals seem to be missing in PL); the reconstruction of *hº can also be considered dubious (this phoneme is represented by a few examples in medial position, and the established correspondences should possibly be interpreted otherwise). In general, the reconstruction of the PD system of laryngeals probably needs some further elaboration.
    We establish the following correspondences among Dargwa dialects:

PD       Chir             Akush             Urakh             Kub
*p       p                p                p                   p
*p:       p:                b                b                   p:,-p
*b       b                b                b                   b
*©       ©                ©                ©                   ©
*w       w                w                w                   w(-p:-)
*m       m                m                m                   m
*t       t                t                t                   t
*t:       t:                d                d                   t:,-t
*d       d                d                d                   d
*®       ®                ®                ®                   ®
*l       l                l                l                   l
*r       r                r                r                   j/w/0
*n       n                n                n                   n
*dº                       d               
*®º                       ®                ®º                ®(º)
*c       c                c                c                   s
*c:       c:                z,-z¬-c          z¬½                c:,-c
*½       z                z                z                   s(/-z)
*ˆ       ˆ                ˆ                ˆ                   ˆ
*s       s                h-,-rh-          h-,-rh-             t
*s:       s:                s                s                   s:,-s
*z       z                €-,-r€-,-r       €-,r€             d
*‰       ‰                ‰                ‰                  
*‰:       ‰:                ¼                ¾                   ‰:,-‰
*Š       Š                Š                Š                   Š
*«       «                «                «                   «
*«:       «:                «                «                   «:,-«
*¼       ¼                ¼                ¼                   ¼
*j       j                j                j                   j
*k       k                k                k                   k
*k:       k:                ‘                ‘                   k:,-k
*g       ‘                ‘                ‘                  
*™       ™                ™                ™                  
*x       x/«             «                «                   «-,x
*x:       x:                x                x                   x:,-x
*‘       ‘(¬j-)          €-¬j-,j€          -,j€            
*kº       k(º)             k                kº                k(º)
*gº       gº                w-,-h-             gº-,-hº-         
*™º       ™º                ™                ™(º)                ™º
*xº       xº                h,-x             h(º)-,-wh-,-w      
*x:º    x:(º)             h,-x             h-,-h-¬-xº-,-x    x:(º),-xº
*‘º       ‘                ‘-,-w             €º-,-w
*q       q                q                q                   q
*q:       q:                G                G                   q:,-q
*ª       ª                ª                ª                   ª
*»       »                h                h                   »
*»:       »:                »                »                   »:,-»
*’       ’                ’                ’                  
*qº       qº                q                q(º)               
*q:º    q:º             G                G(º)                q:º,-q(º)
*ªº       ªº                ª                ªº                ªº
*»º       »(º)             »                »º                »º
*»:º    »:º             »                »(º)                -»:º-
*’º       ’º                ’                ’(º)                ’(º)
*qI       qI                qI                qI                qI
*q:I    q:I             G(I)             GI                q:I,-qI
*GI       ’I-             ’I-                                   ’I-
*ªI       ªI                ªI                ªI                ªI
*»I       »I                “                “                  
*»:I    »:I            
*’I       ’I                -                -                ’I-
*qIº    qIº             qI                qIº                qIº
*q:Iº    q:Iº             GI                GIº                q:Iº-
*ªIº    ªIº             ªI                ªI(º)             ªI(º)
*»Iº    »Iº             “                “º                »I-¬“-
*»:Iº    »:Iº             »I-¬“-             »Iº¬“º             »:Iº-
*’Iº    ’Iº                             º                ’Iº
*€-       €-                €-                €-                €-
*h       h-,-j-          -¬“-,-h-          -,-€-             h
*hI       hI                -,--¬-€-       -,--¬-€-         
*hº                       -h-                -w-                -0-
*º       º                                (º)                “-,
*“       ,-¬-0I          “                “                   €-¬-,-0-,-VIj
*       -,h                                                -¬€-,h

    Comments.
    1) It seems reasonable to reconstruct a separate series of PD uvular pharyngealized (and uvular pharyngealized labialized) consonants, because we meet the whole set of PD vowels beside them; as for non-uvular consonants, the only pharyngealized vowel that can be adjacent to them is aI (see below on the vowel system). Additionally, pharyngealized uvulars in Dargwa dialects often give reflexes other than the respective non-pharyngealized ones (see the table). We must remember, however, that historically the pharyngealized uvulars are secondary (see above, page 59) and we did not place them in the table of PEC reflexes.
    2) We can easily reconstruct labialized back consonants for PD, but labialized front ones (except the very rare dº and ®º) virtually cannot be reconstructed. Labialization has totally disappeared in literary Dargwa (Akushi), but is rather well preserved in many other Dargwa dialects (except the cases of a secondary transfer of consonant labialization to the adjacent vowel).
    3) The PD liquid *r in Kubachi most often develops into j (more rarely into w or 0, depending on its position and the vocalic environment). There is also a very characteristic process of the disappearance of *r in Kubachi in medial clusters of the type -rC-, when the precedent vowel is lengthened after the fall of -r-. In this way Kubachi has developed a secondary opposition of vowels in brevity/length, absent in other Dargwa dialects.
    4) Akushi usually reflects the final *-c: as -z; but in some words we have the reflex -c that has apparently penetrated from a dialect of the Kubachi type. The fact that in this case we are doubtlessly dealing with interdialectal loanwords is confirmed by transparent doublets like baz "month" - bac "moon" (PD *bac:). The Urakhi variation z¬½ in the place of PD *c: possibly has a similar origin.
    5) The voiced g in most Dargwa dialects is absent or in free variation with the fricative ‘ (we must note that in the literary orthography this consonant is marked as ã). However, an explosive *g is reliably reconstructed for PD in the place of modern ‘, because for the fricative *‘ a special row of correspondences exists.
    6) In Akushi and Urakhi we mark as G the phoneme, that is orthographically represented as êú; phonetically this consonant is not voiced, but rather voiceless unaspirated (tense). However, in the system it occupies the place of a voiced one, because the opposition in laxness/tenseness has been lost in these dialects, being replaced by the opposition of voice/voicelessness.
    7) The Kubachi dialect has a regular affrication of non-labialized velars before front vowels i,e: k > ‰, ™ > Š, k: > ‰: etc.
    8) Labialized *’º turns into a laryngeal € after -r- in Urakh.: -r’º- > -r€-; in Akushi it is further weakened and disappears (-r’º- > -r-).
    10) The given table shows us the archaic character of the Chirag dialect (and, judging by the sparse available data, the other dialects of the Amukh type). In fact, with very few exceptions it has fully preserved the PD consonantism system and can act as a "protolanguage" for other Dargwa dialects (of which the Akushi dialect, the basis of modern literary Dargwa, is the most advanced and shattered one).

    1.7.1.1. Consonant clusters.

    The most frequent type of consonant clusters in Dargwa (as in most other EC languages) is the type "resonant+obstruent" (it is worth noting that the consonant b could also be related to resonants by this feature, because it is rather often found within the clusters -bC-, see above). These combinations are generally well preserved in dialects (though there are cases of losing resonants, especially in the Chirag dialect); on the development of combinations of the type -rC- in Kubachi see above, page 119.
    In single cases we meet also consonant combinations of other types (in particular, of two obstruents), whose origin is not quite clear.

    1.7.2. Vocalism.

    We reconstruct the following vowel system for PD:
                *i       *u
                *e       *a
      Besides that, we also reconstruct a single independent pharyngealized vowel *aI (all other pharyngealized vowels in PD and in modern dialects have the status of phonetical variants of simple vowels, adjacent to pharyngealized uvulars).
    Of the dialects examined above, Chirag, Akushi and Kubachi preserve the original system (in Kubachi additional long vowels appeared as a result of the disappearance of -r- and some other phonetical processes, e.g. contraction; see above). We should also note that in Chirag vowels are less stable and more easily subject to positional variations, than in other dialects.
    In Urakhi a narrowing *e > i occurred (e now occurs only in a few loanwords and as a phonetical variant of i after “). There are also long vowels here, but they are rather rare and in most cases develop from contractions.
    In the end of the Dargwa nominal root only two vowels were possible: -i and -a (as well as its pharyngealized counterpart -aI). The vowel -u, present in a few roots in modern dialects, apparently goes back to PD *-i after labialized consonants. In the end of the PD verbal root final -i, -u and -a are possible; but a full reconstruction of the PD verbal paradigm is still lacking, and the original system is not quite clear yet.

    1.7.2.1. Ablaut.
    The old nominal ablaut seems to be lost in Dargwa (the vowel gradation in the formation of plural, involving the development a,i > u or a > i in some dialects, is obviously a secondary result of the reduction of the root vowel before the added plural marker). However, we must note the strange process of "truncating" the final syllable in some oblique nominal stems in Dargwa (qali "house", Gen. qa and so on), the reasons of which are not yet clear.
    The ablaut, however, is widely spread in the Dargwa verbal system as a means of differentiation of aspect stems. The comparison of Chirag, Akushi and Kubachi data allows us to reconstruct the following types of verbal vowel alternations in PD:
             Perfective aspect      Imperfective aspect
                      *a                         *i
                      *a                         *u
                      *e                         *i
                      *e                         *u
                      *u                         *i

    The vowel *i is usually preserved in the imperfective aspect stem. The ablaut system in the Dargwa verb is combined with complicated processes of the disappearance and insertion of resonants -r-,-l- in medial position (these processes are, as it seems, related to the opposition of "strong" and "weak" series of class markers in PL, though many details are still unclear).

    1.7.3. Root structure and prosody.
    The bulk of nominal roots in PD have the structure CV or CV(R)C(V) (with the final vowel or without it), that are preserved in all modern dialects. As in other EC languages, there is a comparatively small number of nominal stems with a longer root structure, that are in most cases derived.
    The verbal root in PD has the structure -V(R)CV(R); the final consonant may be represented by -r (r-conjugation) or -n (n-conjugation). We will not dwell in more detail on the analysis and the reconstruction of the PD verbal root (this topic should be specially studied together with an examination of the East-Caucasian verbal system as a whole).
    The Dargwa prosodic system is not yet sufficiently described. Judging by the descriptions, most modern Dargwa dialects have a system of morphologically fixed dynamic accent; data collected by the MSU expedition allows us to suggest the presence of other prosodic features (phonations) as well.