I actually mentioned *ec^wa- or *ac^wa- (with an initial vowel). Proto-Indo-Iranian stress was a matter of pitch rather than expiratory strength, and I doubt if dropping an accented (higher-pitched) vowel was more difficult to Proto-AbAd speakers than dropping an unstressed one (I also mentioned the possibility or reanalysis). Proto-AbAd had a minimal vertical system with just two central vowels, and little use for vowel contrasts.
The final *-s of the nom.sg. is just an inflection, not part of the stem and may have been ignored by the borrowers, especially if they were aware of the existence of other case forms (*ac^wa-m, *ac^wa-i, etc.). It's also possible that the articulation of the final *-s was weakened at least in some positions (also before a pause) already in Proto-Indo-Iranian (as it is was in the oldest Iranian and Indo-Aryan).
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 7:45 PM
Subject: [tied] Stop horsing around
>
> Okay. I've been thinking about the "horse" word some more. Piotr
> mentioned a "Pre-Indo-Iranian" *c^wa as a possible source of
> the Abkhaz-Adyghe term.
>
> I have a silly question now. Wouldn't that be * c^was with a
> nominative *-s? And if so, that would make it even harder to
> connect to AA *c^W. Afterall, we not only lack the accented
> initial *e- but we also lack the *-s. Am I mad to be suspicious?
>
> Ah, how I love controversy :)