hriz-

verb. to snow

In notes written around 1959, Tolkien experimented with various roots for impersonal “snow” verbs, first giving the aorist form of a derived verb Q. hrisya “it snows” < hriþya from the root √SRITH, then the present tense form of a basic verb Q. hríza “it is snowing” from the root √SRIS (PE17/168).

Neo-Quenya: The basic verb form †hriz- is likely archaic, since z usually became r in Quenya’s phonetic development. In this case, though, I suspect the medial z dissimilated back to s after the hr, since Quenya disliked repeated r’s (PE19/73-74). This occurred, for example, with the verb ras- “stick out” < †raz- < √RAS.

Thus, I would use modern Quenya hrise “[it] snows”, hrinse “[it] snowed”, ihrísie “[it] has snowed”. Since this is an impersonal verbs, no explicit subject is required.

hriz-

to snow

#hriz- vb. "to snow", impersonal, given in the form hríza "it is snowing". Normally z would turn to r in Exilic Quenya, but since two r's close to one another were disliked, it may be that hriz- became *hris- instead (compare razë "sticks out" becoming rasë instead of **rarë, PE19:73) Past tense hrinsë (with s from the original root SRIS) and another form which the editor tentatively reads as hrissë (the development ns > ss is regular). (PE17:168)

hrir-

verb. hrir-

*hrir- vb. likely Third Age form of hriz-, q.v.

hris-

verb. to snow

fauta-

to snow

fauta- vb. *"to snow" (actually glossed fauta = "it snows") (GL:35)

hlar-

verb. hear

hlar- verb "hear", future tense hlaruva "shall hear" in Markirya. Since the original root is SLAS, this verb may have the past tense *hlassë (for slansē) in more classical forms of Quenya, perhaps re-formed as *hlarnë (or *hlarrë, for hlazze) in spoken Noldorin Quenya. Compare #hriz- "snow" (root SRIS) with past tense hrinsë/hrissë, as well as Tolkien's remarks in PE19:99.

hlasta-/lasta-

verb. hear

hrissë

fall of snow

hrissë noun "fall of snow" (PE17:168), possibly also the past tense of #hriz-, q.v.

hrissë

noun. fall of snow

A word for “fall of snow” appearing beside deleted {hritse “fall”} in notes from around 1959, derived from the root √SRIS “snow” (PE17/168). Note that this word is for a “snow fall”, basically a noun form of the verb †hríza “it is snowing” (ᴺQ. hrísa). The word for the “snow” itself, especially after it is already fallen, is lossë.

hrisya-

it snows

[hrisya- < hriþya vb. "it snows", pa.t. hrintë or hrisinyë (PE17:168). Tolkien replaced this verb by #hriz-, q.v.]

ten-

hear

ten- (4) vb. "hear", future tense tenuva (MC:213; in Tolkien's later Quenya, "hear" is hlar-)

sris

root. snow

An apparently verbal root as √SRIS “snow” appearing in etymological notes from around 1959 with derivatives like Q. hrisse “fall of snow” and Q. hríza “it is snowing”; it replaced a deleted root √SRITH “snow” (PE17/168).

lossē

noun. snow

srith

root. snow

los

noun. snow

loss

noun. snow

The usual Sindarin word for “snow” (Let/278; PE17/161; RGEO/62), especially fallen and long-lying snow (VT42/18), derived from primitive ✶lossē (PE17/161) based on the root √(G)LOS (PE17/26; RGEO/62). It sometimes appeared in a shorter form los (PE17/26, 161). See the entry on [s] for a discussion of these long vs. short variations; for purposes of Neo-Sindarin loss is probably preferable.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest iteration of this word was G. glui “snow” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, likely related to nearby words like G. gloss “white” (GL/40). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. gloss from the root ᴹ√GOLOS was both noun “snow” and adjective “snow-white” (Ety/GOLÓS), but in later writing Tolkien split these into S loss “snow” (see above) and S. gloss “(dazzling) white” (RGEO/62; VT42/18).

gloss

white as snow, dazzling white

(in compounds -los), lenited ’loss; pl. glyss.  

glosta-

verb. to snow

A neologism for “to snow” coined by Fiona Jallings, based on the root √(G)LOS “snow, whiteness”.

loss

snow

(construct los; pl. lyss if there is a pl.) (RGEO:61-62, Letters:278, VT42:18) (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”wilderness”.).

lossen

snowy

(pl. lessin, for archaic lössin). Adj.

lossoth

snow-men

(a coll. pl.)

nínim

snowdrop

(”white tear”), no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. nínimmath. – The niphredil seems to be a flower similar to the snowdrop (no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. niphrediliath)