Quenya 

filit

small bird

filit (filic- ("k"), as in pl. filici) noun "small bird" (PHILIK)

quesset

pillow

quesset ("q")noun "pillow"; probably *quessec*- since the Sindarin (or "Noldorin") cognate pesseg points to a primitive form kwessek- (compare filit, filic**-) (KWES)

línë

cobweb

línë noun "cobweb" (SLIG). Since Tolkien eventually decided that roots in sl- yield Quenya words in hl- (though this was pronounced l- in late Exilic Quenya), it may be that the spelling *hlínë is to be preferred.

Noldorin 

fileg

noun. small bird, small bird, [G.] *sparrow

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small bird” derived from the root ᴹ√PHILIK and cognate to ᴹQ. filit (filik-) of the same meaning (Ety/PHILIK). Tolkien said fileg was an “analogical singular” form (along with another singular form filigod) based on its plural form filig. That is because the final -k in ✱philik was lost in ancient times, as explained in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s (PE21/72) so that its historical phonetic development would have produced singular N./S. ✱fil. This form was deemed unsuitable, and a new singular form fileg was constructed based on the plural. Something similar happened with S. thoron “eagle”.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. bilin or bilinc for “a small bird, especially sparrow”, a diminutive form of G. bil “bird” (GL/22, 23).

Neo-Sindarin: I think it is likely that fileg can also be used to refer to sparrows for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, since its Quenya cognate filit was in one place glossed “sparrow, small bird” (PE21/56).

Noldorin [Ety/PHILIK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

filigod

noun. small bird

pesseg

noun. pillow

Noldorin [Ety/366] Group: SINDICT. Published by

pesseg

noun. pillow

A noun for “pillow” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KWES having to do with feathers (Ety/KWES).

Noldorin [Ety/KWES] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

aew

small bird

aew. No distinct pl. form.

lhing

cobweb

*lhing (?i thling or ?i ling the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (spider, spiders web), no distinct pl. form except possibly with article (?i ling). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thling.

nedhu

pillow

1) *nedhu (bolster), analogical pl. nedhy. Cited in archaic form nedhw (LR:378 s.v. NID), so the coll. pl. is likely nedhwath. 2) pesseg (i besseg, o phesseg), pl. pessig (i phessig)

lhing

cobweb

(?i thling or ?i lingthe lenition product of lh is uncertain)  (spider, spider’s web), no distinct pl. form except possibly with article (?i ling). – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thling.

nedhu

pillow

(bolster), analogical pl. nedhy. Cited in archaic form nedhw (LR:378 s.v. NID), so the coll. pl. is likely nedhwath.

pesseg

pillow

(i besseg, o phesseg), pl. pessig (i phessig)


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

filit

noun. small bird, sparrow

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small bird” derived from the root ᴹ√PHILIK (Ety/PHILIK). It also appeared in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936 with the gloss “sparrow, small bird” where it coexisted with similarly formed ᴹQ. filinke, elsewhere glossed “finch” (PE21/56). Its plural was filiki indicating a stem form filik- [filic-].

Conceptual Development: In both the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s the word for “sparrow” was ᴱQ. imbilink, an elaboration (diminutive?) of ᴱQ. imbile “swarm, flock, often of small birds” (QL/41), so perhaps “✱small swarmer”. ᴹQ. filit (filik-) first appeared in a set of noun declensions from the early 1930s, but it was not translated (PE21/52).

Neo-Quenya: It is not entirely clear whether filit “sparrow” and filinke “finch” coexisted with these meanings, but I would retain both for purposes of Neo-Quenya, and assume filincë “finch” is slightly diminutive in sense.

Qenya [Ety/PHILIK; PE21/52; PE21/56] Group: Eldamo. Published by

filet

noun. cobweb

A word in in the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s glossed {“fern” >>} “cobweb” (PE21/33 and note #3). Its initial gloss was probably a later iteration of ᴱQ. filqe “fern” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/38), and in later writings filit (filik-) was a word for “small bird, sparrow” (Ety/PHILIK; PE21/56), so this was likely a transient form.

Qenya [PE21/33; PE21/35] Group: Eldamo. Published by

líne

noun. cobweb, cobweb; [ᴱQ.] cotton, thread

A noun for “cobweb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶slignē under the root ᴹ√SLIG (Ety/SLIG).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien gave ᴱQ. līnẹ “thread, cotton” under the early root ᴱ√LI+ya (QL/53).

Neo-Quenya: This word is somewhat questionable, since in later writings, Tolkien derived spider words from √ungu-. However, I prefer to interpret ᴹ√(S)LIG as having to do with threads for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, and “cobweb” could be from a sense “collection of threads”. With this interpretation, I think it is also plausible to include the sense “cotton” from Early Qenya, though for “thread” I’d use other words like Q. ipsin or [ᴹQ.] lia. Helge Fauskanger suggested (QQ/líne) that this word should be ✱hlíne given primitive initial sl-, but there is another primitive form ᴹ✶ligā under the root, so perhaps the Quenya derivatives were (a) based from a variant root ᴹ√LIG or (b) reflect the Third Age Quenya pronunciation as voiced l (LotR/1114).

qesset

noun. pillow

A noun for “pillow” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KWES having to do with feathers (Ety/KWES). Given its cognate N. pesseg, its stem form is probably quessec- as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (QQ/quesset).

Middle Primitive Elvish

philik

root. small bird

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/PHILIK; PE21/56] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

bilin(c)

noun. small bird, sparrow

Gnomish [GL/22; GL/23; GL/47; LT1A/Tinfang] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwidh-a-ging

noun. cobweb

A word for “cobweb” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/46). Its initial element seems to be G. gwidh- “weave”, and its final element might be a variant of G. gung “spider” (though this word was deleted).

Early Quenya

kangawinda

noun. cobweb

A word for “cobweb” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), apparently a combination of the verb ᴱQ. kanga- “weave” and the noun ᴱQ. winda “woof”. It also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/45).

Early Quenya [PME/045; QL/045] Group: Eldamo. Published by