fela

noun. mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den, mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den; [N.] cave

Derivations

• ✶phelgā “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]; minor excavations, temporary dwellings” ✧ NM/304; NM/304; PE17/118
  • √PHELEG “excavation, excavation; [ᴹ√] cave” ✧ NM/304; PE17/118

Cognates

• Q. felya “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling], mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]; [ᴹQ.] cave” ✧ PE17/118

Element in

• S. Felagund “Lord of Caves; Hewer of Caves; Den Dweller” ✧ NM/304
• S. felagund “den-dweller; brock, badger” ✧ NM/304

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶phelga > fela	[pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ NM/304
✶phelgai > felʒi > fili	[pʰelgai] > [pʰelgī] > [pʰelgi] > [ɸelgi] > [ɸelɣi] > [felɣi] > [filɣi] > [filī] > [fili]	✧ NM/304
✶phelgā > fela	[pʰelgā] > [pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ PE17/118

Inflections

Word	Form	Gloss	Source
fili	plural	-	✧ NM/304

fela

noun. felya

n. Q. felya. phelgā  (the added vowel might be ō) << phelg-.

feleg

noun. cave

n. cave, mine, underground dwelling. Q. felco. Q.

sabar

noun. delved mine

The unmutated form is reconstructed from the place name Nornhabar, assuming that the second word is mutated in composition. Though habar as the regular form might be possible as well, in the Qenyaqetsa we find the root SAPA "dig, excavate" (PE/12:82), so it seems most likely that Tolkien re-used this old base, and that the underlying form in those names would indeed be sabar

roth

noun. cave

n. cave. Q. rondo.

groth

noun. cave, tunnel, large excavation

rond

noun. cave roof

groth

noun. delving, underground dwelling

rond

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

grôd

cave

1) grôd (i **rôd, construct grod) (delving, excavation, underground dwelling), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414), 2) groth (i **roth) (delving, large excavation), pl. gryth (in gryth) (VT46:12), 3) rond (construct ron) (cavern, vault, vaulted ceiling, hall with vaulted roof), pl. rynd (idh rynd), coll. pl. ronnath, 4) roth (delving, large excavation), pl. ryth, 4) gathrod (i **athrod), pl. gethryd (i ngethryd = i ñethryd), 5) fela (pl. fili). In the Etymologies (LR:381 s.v. PHÉLEG) the name Felagund is said to include this word, but since Tolkien later re-explained this name as a borrowing from Dwarvish, some would consider fela** as a word for ”cave” conceptually obsolete.

rhûd

mine

*rhûd (construct rhud, with article ?i thrûd or ?i rûd the lenition product of rh- is uncertain) (dwelling underground, artificial cave, rockhewn hall), pl. rhuid (?idh ruid). (PM:365).

sabar

mine

1) (delved mine) #sabar (i habar, o sabar), pl. sebair (i sebair). Isolated from the name Anghabar, ”iron mine”. The root _