carca

tooth

carca noun "tooth" (KARAK) or "fang" (SA:carak-). In a deleted version of the entry in question, the glosses were "tooth, spike, peak" (VT45:19). When referring to a normal tooth, not necessarily sharp, the word nelet is probably to be preferred. Cf. also pl. carcar _("karkar") _in Markirya, there translated "rocks", evidently referring to sharp rocks. Already the early "Qenya Lexicon" has carca ("k")"fang, tooth, tusk" (LT2:344). Collective carcanë, q.v.

carco

crow

[carco ("k")noun "crow" (KARKA)] (Changed by Tolkien to corco.)

quáco

crow

quáco ("q")noun "crow" _(WJ:395; _Etym also has corco, q.v.)

quáco

noun. crow

A word in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 for “crow”, derived from primitive ✶k(a)wāk (WJ/395). In notes from the late 1960s Tolkien instead had Q. {koake >>} quácë “frog” < ✶kāwāk, with primitive ✶kā for “crow” (VT47/36).

See ᴹQ. korko for a discussion of earlier forms.

Derivations

• ✶kawāk “crow” ✧ WJ/395
  • √KAWAK “*caw, croak”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶k(a)wāk > quáko	[kwāko]	✧ WJ/395

Variations

• quáko ✧ WJ/395

corco

crow

corco ("k")noun "crow" (KORKA, see KARKA)

nelcë

tooth

nelcë ("k")noun "tooth", also nelet (VT46:3)

nelet

tooth

nelet, also nelcë ("k")noun "tooth", pl. nelci ("k") suggesting a stem-form nelc- (NÉL-EK)

carch

noun. tooth, fang

carch

noun. fang, fang, [N.] tooth

The Sindarin word for “fang” (SA/carak), most notably appearing as an element in the names like S. Carchost “Fang Fort” (RC/601) and S. Carcharoth “Red Maw” (S/180), perhaps more literally “✱Great Red Fang”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. carch was glossed “tooth, fang” under the root ᴹ√KARAK “sharp fang, spike, tooth” (Ety/KARAK). For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use the word carch exclusively for the sharp teeth of animals (“fang”) and for “tooth” I’d use [N.] nêl or neleg.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the word G. carc “jag, point, fang” (GL/25), likely based on the earlier form of the root: ᴱ√KṚKṚ (QL/48). This early word reflects the different phonetic developments of Gnomish versus Sindarin/Noldorin: compare G. orc (GL/63) vs. S./N. orch.

Cognates

• Q. carca “fang; [sharp] rock, fang, [ᴹQ.] tooth, [ᴱQ.] tusk; [Q.] rock” ✧ SA/carak

Derivations

• √KARAK “*sharp fang, spike, tooth, [ᴹ√] sharp fang, spike, tooth” ✧ SA/carak

Element in

• S. Carcharoth “Red Maw, ?(lit.) Great Red Fang” ✧ SA/carak
• S. Carchost “Fang Fort” ✧ SA/carak

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√carak- > carch	[karka] > [karkʰa] > [karxa] > [karx]	✧ SA/carak

craban

noun. kind of crow of large size, raven

nêl

tooth

(note: a homophone means ”three”), stem neleg-, whence pl. nelig. Also simply neleg (pl. nelig).

carch

tooth

(i garch, o charch), pl. cerch (i cherch).

carch

fang

carch (i garch, o charch) (tooth), pl. cerch (i cherch)

carch

fang

(i garch, o charch) (tooth), pl. cerch (i cherch)

corch

crow

corch (i gorch, o chorch), pl. cyrch (i chyrch). Also *craban (i graban, o chraban), pl. crebain (i chrebain). Only the pl. crebain* is attested. The sg. could be either craban, creban or croban**, but the first of these seems the most likely.

corch

crow

(i gorch, o chorch), pl. cyrch (i chyrch). Also ✱craban (i graban, o chraban), pl. crebain (i chrebain). Only the pl. crebain is attested. The sg. could be either ✱craban, ✱creban or ✱croban, but the first of these seems the most likely.

naes

tooth

(no distinct pl. form) (VT45:36).

nagol

tooth

1) *nagol (analogical pl. negyl, coll. pl. naglath*; possibly the analogical form nagolath would also be acceptable). Only the coll. pl. naglath is attested. 2) naes (no distinct pl. form) (VT45:36). 3) nêl (note: a homophone means ”three”), stem neleg-, whence pl. nelig. Also simply neleg (pl. nelig). 4) (fang) carch (i garch, o charch), pl. cerch (i cherch**).

nagol

tooth

(analogical pl. negyl, coll. pl. naglath; possibly the analogical form ✱nagolath would also be acceptable). Only the coll. pl. naglath is attested.

khô

noun. crow

A noun translated “crow” (SD/426). Tolkien listed this noun in two forms, khâu and khô, both as examples of seemingly uniconsonantal nouns that prehistorically were biconsonantal (from prehistoric ✶khaw). Most authors have suggested these are simply variations on the same noun illustrating different paths of phonetic development (AAD/18, AL/Adûnaic). Another interesting possibility is that khâu is an (archaic?) subjective form of khô, produced from the usual a-fortification of primitive ✶khaw → ✶khāw, which would develop phonetically in Classical Adûnaic to khâu and khô. As support for this idea, the plural form of khâu is given as khāwī(m), which appears to include the subjective plural suffix -im.

This line of reasoning is quite speculative. Nevertheless, it is probably easier to use the form khô over khâu, since the inflections of khô would be more regular: plural khôi, dual ✱khôwat, objective ✱khôwu, etc.

Derivations

• ✶Ad. khaw “crow” ✧ SD/426; SD/426

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶Ad. khāw > khâu	[khāw] > [khāu]	✧ SD/426
✶Ad. khăw > khō	[khaw] > [khau] > [khō]	✧ SD/426

Variations

• khō ✧ SD/426

kawāk

noun. crow

Derivations

• √KAWAK “*caw, croak”

Derivatives

• Q. quáco “crow” ✧ WJ/395

Variations

• kā ✧ VT47/36
• k(a)wāk ✧ WJ/395

nelek

root. tooth

Derivatives

• At. nele “tooth” ✧ PE21/71

Variations

• nelek ✧ PE21/71

carch

noun. tooth, fang

naglath

noun. the teeth

corch

noun. crow

corch

noun. crow

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “crow” derived from the root ᴹ√KORKA of the same meaning, replacing rejected N. carach derived from ᴹ√KARKA (Ety/KARKA).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. crunc “crow”, probably related to G. crug “beak” (GL/27) and possibly also to ᴱQ. karon “crow” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/45). The forms crunc and crwnc “crow” appeared in Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document (PE13/111), and ᴱN. crunc “crow” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141). The word ᴱN. corch also appeared in the same Early Noldorin Word-lists, but was unglossed, so it is not clear whether it was connected to 1930s N. corch “crow”.

Changes

• carach → corch “crow” ✧ Ety/KARKA

Cognates

• ᴹQ. korko “crow” ✧ Ety/KARKA; Ety/KARKA

Derivations

• ᴹ√KORKA “crow” ✧ Ety/KARKA; Ety/KARKA

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KORKA > corch	[korka] > [korkʰa] > [korxa] > [korx]	✧ Ety/KARKA

Variations

• carach ✧ Ety/KARKA (carach)

naes

noun. tooth

Derivations

• ᴹ✶nakse “tooth” ✧ EtyAC/NAK
  • ᴹ√NAK “bite” ✧ EtyAC/NAK

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶nakse > naes	[nakse] > [naksa] > [naxsa] > [naisa] > [nais] > [naes]	✧ EtyAC/NAK

nagol

noun. tooth

nagol

noun. tooth

Tolkien used various “teeth” words related to the root √NAK “bite” throughout his life. The earliest of these was G. naith “a tooth” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where its connection to the early root ᴱ√NAKA “bite” was made more clear by its archaic plural form nacthin (GL/59). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had N. naes derived from primitive ᴹ✶nakse under the root ᴹ√NAK “bite” (EtyAC/NAK). As suggested by David Salo (GL/275), another variant ✱nagol “tooth” is suggested by the class plural naglath in the names from Lord of the Rings drafts of 1940s: Naglath Morn “Teeth of Mordor” (WR/122) and Kirith Naglath “Cleft of the Teeth” (WR/137), neither of which made it into the published version.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d recommend using N. nêl or N. neleg for “tooth” words. Primitive ᴹ✶nakse would likely produce ✱nach rather than naes under Sindarin’s phonetic rules; compare S. ach “neck” < ✶aks[e] (PE17/92). As for N. nagol, it was also likely abandoned.

Derivations

• ᴹ√NAK “bite”

Element in

• N. Kirith Naglath “Cleft of the Teeth” ✧ WR/137
• N. Naglath Morn “Teeth of Mordor” ✧ WR/122 (Naglath Morn)

neleg

noun. tooth

neleg

noun. tooth

The most common word for “tooth”, appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√NELEK of the same meaning (Ety/NÉL-EK). See variant N. nêl “tooth” for further discussion.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nelet “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK

Derivations

• On. nele “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK
  • ᴹ√NELEK “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK; PE21/56

Element in

• N. Neleglos “White Tooth” ✧ WR/106
• N. Neleg Thilim “Gleaming Tooth” ✧ WR/106
• N. Nelig Myrn “Teeth of Mordor” ✧ WR/113

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. neleki > neleg	[nelek] > [neleg]	✧ Ety/NÉL-EK

Variations

• Neleg ✧ WR/106

nêl

noun. tooth

nêl

noun. tooth

A word appearing as N. nêl “tooth” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√NELEK of the same meaning (Ety/NÉL-EK). It was one of a rare set of primitive words with final k, which was lost in very early stages of the language, to produce ON. nele (PE21/56). Its ON. plural was neleki, which produced nelig in the modern form of the language. Since the plural preserved the stop lost in the simplex, an alternate form N. neleg was restored from the plural.

This longer form neleg appeared as an element in a number of names from Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s: {N. Neleg Thilim “Gleaming Tooth” >>} N. Neleglos “White Tooth” (WR/106) and N. Nelig Myrn “Teeth of Mordor” (WR/113). None of these names made it into the published version. However, primitive √nelek “tooth” was mentioned as the basis for Ancient Telerin nele “tooth” in notes from the early 1950s, again with loss of final k and plural neleki (PE21/71-72).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use neleg as the ordinary word for “tooth”, and limit nêl to the final element of compounds.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nelet “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK

Derivations

• On. nele “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK
  • ᴹ√NELEK “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK; PE21/56

Element in

• ᴺS. molnel “molar”
• ᴺS. nagnel “incisor (tooth)”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. nele > nêl	[nele] > [nel] > [nēl]	✧ Ety/NÉL-EK