*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.
Quenya
línë
cobweb
Sindarin
lhing
cobweb
lhing
cobweb
(?i thling or ?i ling – the 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.
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
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).
Cognates
- N. thling “spider, spider’s web, cobweb” ✧ Ety/SLIG
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ✶slignē > líne [slignē] > [l̥ignē] > [l̥iŋnē] > [l̥īnē] > [līnē] > [līne] ✧ Ety/SLIG
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.
Changes
filet→ filet “fern” ✧ PE21/33
Gnomish
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).
Changes
gwindaging→ gwidh-a-ging ✧ GL/46Variations
- gwindaging ✧ GL/46 (
gwindaging)
Early Quenya
kangawinda
noun. 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.