gwê

noun. living creature, living creature, *living being; [N.] man, warrior

A noun for a “living creature” in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957, a derivative of the primitive form ✶wegō(n) from the root √WEG “live, be active” (PE17/183). It is not entirely clear from context, but I think this word may apply to any living being, both plants and animals.

Conceptual Development: In earlier conceptions, the root √WEG and its precursors were mostly associated with masculine things, and thus the precursors to this word meant “man” rather than living creature: G. gweg “man, male of the Elda” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/44), ᴱN. gweg “man, male (being)” from various Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s (PE13/122, 146, 162; PE15/62), and N. {gweg >>} gwe “man, warrior” from the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s (PE21/1).

Cognates

• Q. vëo “living creature, living creature, *living being, [ᴹQ.] man” ✧ PE17/189

Derivations

• ✶wegō(n) “living creature” ✧ PE17/189
  • √WEG “live, be active, live, be active; [ᴹ√] (manly) vigour” ✧ PE17/189

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶wegō(n) > gwê	[wegō] > [wego] > [gwego] > [gweɣo] > [gweɣ] > [gwēɣ] > [gwē]	✧ PE17/189

gwê

weo

Q. weo, veo.