Noldorin
cef
noun. soil
cef
noun. soil
Derivations
- ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” ✧ Ety/KEM
Element in
- N. cennan “potter”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ√KEM > cef [keme] > [kem] > [kev] ✧ Ety/KEM ᴹ√KEM > ceif [kemi] > [keim] > [keiv] ✧ Ety/KEM
gwatha-
verb. to soil, stain
hmaw
noun. soil, stain
maw
noun. soil, stain
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “soil” derived from the root ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” (Ety/KEM). It had a rather unusual plural form ceif which shows i-intrusion but not the usual i-raising of e to i; under ordinary phonetic developments the expected plural would be ✱cif. I can think of no good reason for this abnormal plural, but it would be ^caif if adapted to Sindarin. It is mostly moot since this word is very unlikely to be used in the plural.