helcë

ice

helcë ("k") noun "ice" (KHELEK, LT1:254)

gochel

ice

(i ’ochel), pl. gechil (i ngechil = i ñechil), coll. pl. gochellath. Archaic pl. ✱göchil.

heleg

ice

1) heleg (i cheleg, o cheleg), pl. helig (i chelig), 2) (a mass of ice) gochel (i **ochel), pl. gechil (i ngechil = i ñechil), coll. pl. gochellath**. Archaic pl. *göchil.

heleg

ice

(i cheleg, o cheleg), pl. helig (i chelig)

khelek

root. ice

Derivatives

• Q. helca “icy, ice-cold” ✧ SA/khelek
• ᴺQ. helexë “hail”

Elements

Word	Gloss
KHEL	“ice, [ᴹ√] freeze”

Variations

• khelek- ✧ SA/khelek

khel

root. ice, [ᴹ√] freeze

This root was the basis for “ice” words all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱ√HELE appeared with variant ᴱ√HḶKḶ as the basis for words like ᴱQ. helke “ice”, ᴱQ. helka “ice-cold”, ᴱQ. halkin “frozen”, and ᴱQ. hilk- “freeze” (QL/39). The root was given as {hele-k >>} χele-k in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon with derivatives like G. hel- “freeze”, G. heleg “ice” and G. helc “ice-cold, icy, cold” (GL/48). The Gnomish forms do not show the kinds of vowel-variations that would indicate the presence of ancient syllabic Ḷ, so perhaps Tolkien had abandoned ᴱ√HḶKḶ by that point.

The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√KHEL “freeze” and extended root ᴹ√KHELEK “ice”, with the reappearance of many derived forms as well such as ᴹQ. helke/N. heleg “ice” and ᴹQ. helka/N. helch “ice-cold” (Ety/KHEL). Tolkien’s continued use of words like Q. Helcaraxë “Grinding Ice” indicate the ongoing validity of the extended root √KHELEK (S/134), and the shorter root √KHEL “ice” appeared in later notes of the origin of S. Forochel (PE17/116).

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. hel- “to freeze (of water)”
• ᴺS. hel- “to freeze”

Element in

• √KHELEK “ice”
• ᴺQ. helcelmë “glacier; (lit.) frozen flow”
• S. Forochel “*Northern Ice” ✧ PE17/116

Variations

• khel ✧ PE17/116

nik(w)

root. (also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white

This root was used for Elvish words for “white” and “snow” for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√NIQI “white” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. niqis “snow” and ᴱQ. ninqe “white” (QL/66), the latter surviving more or less unchanged for the rest of Tolkien’s life. In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had derivatives like G. nictha- “to rain, hail, snow” and G. nimp “pallid” (GL/60), the latter the cognate of ᴱQ. ninqe and another word that survived in Tolkien’s later conceptions of the languages.

The root appeared as unglossed ᴹ√NIK-W in The Etymologies, again with ᴹQ. ninqe “white” and N. nimp “pale” and other similar words, including ᴹQ. niqe “snow” (Ety/NIK-W). The root was mentioned again in Tolkien’s later writing as √NIK-W (PE17/160) or √NIK (PE17/168) as a basis for “snow” words. In Sindarin Tolkien felt it was influenced by other roots, such as √(N)DIP/B “bending and drooping” (PE17/168) or √NIP “small with a connotation of weakness” (VT48/18) so that S. nimp also took on a connotation of weakness and frailty, and hence was used for “pale, pallid” rather than simply “white”.

Derivatives

• ✶ninkwi “white, pale” ✧ PE17/168
  • Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid”
  • S. nim “white” ✧ PE17/168
  • At. nimbi “white”
  • S. nim “white” ✧ PE17/019
  • T. nimbi “white”
• Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. niqu- “to be chill, cold, freeze (of weather), snow” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. niquë “cold, cold; [ᴹQ.] snow” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. niquis “snowflake, ice-flake; petal (loose) of a white flower; frost-patterns, snowflake, ice-flake; petal (loose) of a white flower; frost-patterns, [ᴱQ.] snow” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. nixë “frost; ice-flake or snow-flake” ✧ PE17/168
• ᴺS. nich “frost”
• S. nimp “pale, pallid, white, pale, pallid, white; small and frail, [ᴱN.] wan, sickly” ✧ PE17/168
  • S. nim “white” ✧ SA/nim
• ᴺS. nítha- “to snow, hail, rain”

Variations

• NIK ✧ PE17/160; PE17/168
• NIKW ✧ PE17/160

heleg

noun. ice

heleg

noun. ice

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “ice” derived from the root ᴹ√KHELEK of the same meaning (Ety/KHELEK).

Conceptual Development: G. heleg “ice” also appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along with a variant helc, both under primitive χele-k (GL/48). This is clearly related to the early root ᴱ√HELE as first suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Helkar; QL/39).

Cognates

• ᴹQ. helka “ice-cold” ✧ Ety/KHEL
• ᴹQ. helke “ice” ✧ Ety/KHEL

Derivations

• ᴹ√KHELEK “ice” ✧ Ety/KHEL

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KHELEK > heleg	[kʰeleke] > [xeleke] > [xelek] > [xeleg] > [heleg]	✧ Ety/KHEL