lavan

noun. animal (usually applied to four-footed beasts, and never to reptiles or birds)

lavan

noun. animal

A word for an “animal” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, where Tolkien said it “usually only applied to four-footed beasts, and never to reptiles or birds” (WJ/416). It was derived from the root √LAM in the sense “inarticulate voiced sound”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱN. lafn was mentioned as a cognate to ᴱQ. lama “animal” in the Early Qenya Phonology from the 1920s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶labna (PE14/70).

Cognates

• Q. laman “animal, animal, [ᴹQ.] tame beast” ✧ WJ/416

Derivations

• ✶lamā̆n(a) “animal” ✧ WJ/416
  • √LAM “(inarticulate voiced) sound” ✧ WJ/416

Element in

• S. Levain Tad-dail “Petty Dwarves, (lit.) Two-legged Animals” ✧ WJ/388
• ᴺS. mellavan “pet, (lit.) love-animal”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶laman(a)/lamān > lavan	[lamana] > [laman] > [lavan]	✧ WJ/416
✶laman(a)/lamān > levain	[lamani] > [lemeni] > [lemein] > [lemain] > [levain]	✧ WJ/416

lavan

animal

(quadrupedal mammal) lavan, pl. levain (WJ:416)

lavan

animal

pl. levain (WJ:416)