ganu

noun/adjective. male (person or animal)

A Doriathrin word (noun and adjective?) for a “male” derived from the root ᴹ√ƷAN (Ety/ƷAN).

Possible Etymology: Its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. hanu indicates a primitive form ✱✶ʒanū [ɣanū], but ordinarily a primitive final vowel was lost in Ilkorin. Helge Fauskanger suggested that this Ilkorin word was instead derived for adjective form ✱✶ʒanwā [ɣanwā], which would have produced final -u after the loss of the [-ā] because [[ilk|final [w] became [u]]]. This derivation is indicated in the Phonetic Developments given below.

An alternate possibility, though, is that [u] was an exception to the rule that final vowels were lost in Ilkorin. The Noldorin development ᴹ√ƷAN > ON. anu > N. anw hints at a similar process. This uncertainly in its etymology makes it difficult to determine the part of speech (noun and/or adjective) that this word belongs to.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. hanu “male, man (of Men or Elves), male animal” ✧ Ety/ƷAN; EtyAC/ƷAN

Derivations

• ᴹ√ƷAN “male” ✧ Ety/ƷAN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√ƷAN > ganu	[ɣanwā] > [ɣanwa] > [ganwa] > [ganw] > [ganu]	✧ Ety/ƷAN