law
lū
lhaw
noun. ears (referring to one person's pair of ears only)
(h)law
noun. flood
law
jyE prefix. not
Neologism derived from the root √LA "no, not". ló- and lenition before consonants. It's meant to be used as an alternative to ú-, which Tolkien rejected as a negative prefix in his later writings.
Examples:
*ló-hevin mass "I do not have bread."
*law aníron mass "I do not want bread."Phonological development:
lā > lǭ > lau, law
?law > ló-
law
noun. sound
law
adverb. not
lhaw
ears
(?i thlaw or ?i law).
bethren
noun. brother in law, kinsman by marriage
bethres
noun. sister in law, *kinswoman by marriage
thain
adjective. law-abiding, regular, normal, *lawful, formal, according to custom
thain
noun. law, rule
theinas
noun. law, rule
l(h)ô
noun. flood, fenland, flood, fenland; [G.] pool, lake
A noun that served as the final element in various river names. Tolkien was uncertain whether the primitive form of this word began with simple l- or s-prefixed sl-, hence the variation between lô and lhô. In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien said the non-suffixal form of this word was hlô “flood” (PE17/96). In notes from 1966-67 he gave a bewildering variety of derivations for this word, but mostly represented it as lhô or hlô in various attempts to connect it to the river name S. Lhûn (PE17/136-137; VT48/27-28).
In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69, while discussing the river name S. Gwathló Tolkien said:
> The element -ló was also of Common Eldarin origin, derived from a base (s)log: in Common Eldarin sloga had been a word used for streams of a kind that were variable and liable to overflow their banks at seasons and cause floods when swollen by rains or melting snow; especially such as the Glanduin (described above) that had their sources in mountains and fell at first swiftly, but were halted in the lower lands and flats. ✱sloga became in Sindarin lhô; but was not in later times much used except in river or marsh names. The Quenya form would have been hloä (VT42/9).
Tolkien rejected this etymology, however, replacing it with the following:
> Lô was derived from Common Eldarin base LOG “wet (and soft), soaked, swampy, etc.” The form ✱loga produced S. lô and T. loga; and also, from ✱logna, S. loen, T. logna “soaking wet, swamped”. But the stem in Quenya, owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words, was little represented ... the Quenya form of S. lô would have been ✱✱loa, identical with Q. loa < ✱lawa “year”; the form of S. loen, T. logna would have been ✱✱lóna identical with [Q.] lóna “pool, mere” (VT42/10).
This final etymology appears to be the last one Tolkien wrote on the topic; later in the same document he used the form lô in discussions of the river name S. Ringló (VT42/13-14). As for the meaning of the word, it seems it applied both to wide rivers with a tendency to flood their banks, as well as fenlands or wetlands in general.
Conceptual Development: As an element in river names, -lo first appeared in the river names N. Gwathlo and N. Ringlo in Lord of the Rings drafts (TI/304; WR/287). G. lô “pool, lake” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s is possible precursor (GL/54).
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer the pre-1968 form of the word lhô, as this is both more distinctive and also allows us to salvage Q. hloä of similar meaning.
-lo
lū
suff. Q. lū.
al-
prefix. not
pref. not. >> alfirin
duinen
noun. flood, high tide
hlô
noun. flood
n. flood.
laug
adjective. warm
lheweg
noun. ear
The Sindarin word for “ear” was derived from primitive √S-LAS, an elaboration of √LAS “listen” (PE17/62). Its singular form lheweg is somewhat unusual. Based on its Quenya cognate Q. hlas (< ✶slas), its historical singular should probably be ✱lhâ. However, the modern Sindarin form was actually based on the (fossilized) dual lhaw < ✶slasū, from which a singular form lheweg “ear” was derived using the singular suffix -eg < -ikā (PE23/136), though it isn’t clear why the base vowel also changed from a to e since a-affection normally precedes (and prevents) i-affection.
The typical word for “ears” is the fossilized dual lhaw, but that can only be used to refer to the pair of ears on a single person, and this lhaw is treated as singular noun for purposes of verb and adjective agreement. When referring to multiple ears more generally, the plural lhewig is used (PE23/136).
Conceptual Development: Tolkien described a similar scenario in The Etymologies of the 1930s, except the singular was N. {lhaweg >>} lhewig and it was derived directly from ᴹ√LAS “listen” (Ety/LAS²; EtyAC/LAS²). The voiceless lh- in this word was the result of the Noldorin sound-change of the 1930s whereby ancient initial r-, l- were unvoiced. This Noldorin dual lhaw made it into Lord of the Rings drafts as part of Amon Lhaw “Hill of Hearing, (lit.) of Ears” (TI/364), a form that Tolkien retained in the published version (LotR/393). Since the unvoicing of initial l was no longer a feature of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, Tolkien needed to contrive a new derivation from primitive √S-LAS.
The Gnomish word for “ear” from the 1910s had a completely different basis: it was G. unc “ear, handle (of a jar)” (GL/75), cognate to ᴱQ. unk derived from the root ᴱ√ṆQṆ (QL/98).
lô
flood
n. flood.
lô
noun. flood, fenland
romru
noun. sound of horns
rû
noun. loud-sound, trumpet-sound
ú-
~M prefix. negates the sense of the following word
pref. negates the sense of the following word. Applied to all classes of words but especially to verbs and adjectives. Prefixed to verbal stems (without further suffix), it forms quasi-participles in aorist mode (e.g. únod not ever counting, _úbed _not saying). The continuative participle ol can be added in order to express a strictly present (and continuative) sense : úgarol 'not now doing or making', idling vs. ugar '(generally) idle'. There is no sens of 'without' attaching to ú- in Sindarin, see pen- (ben-). >> pen-, úland, úlann
al
not
al- (prefix) as in alfirin "not-mortal", immortal.
al
not
(prefix) as in alfirin "not-mortal", immortal.
ava
will not
(i ava, in avar).
lammad
sound of voices
pl. lemmaid. May also be spelt with a single m.
laug
warm
laug (pl. loeg)
laug
adjective. warm
laug
warm
(pl. loeg)
lhewig
ear
lhewig (?i thlewig or ?i lewig the lenition product of lh is uncertain). This ia a singular formed from the collective
lhewig
ear
(?i thlewig or ?i lewig – the lenition product of lh is uncertain). This ia a singular formed from the collective
lhûn
making sound
lenited ?thlûn or ?lûn (the lenition product of lh is uncertain), pl. lhuin. Verb
nellad
sound of bells
(pl. nellaid);
ovra
abound
ovra- (i ovra, in ovrar)
ovra
abound
(i ovra, in ovrar)
romru
sound of horns
pl. remry (idh remry) for archaic römry;
said
not common
(lenited haid; no distinct pl. form) (separate, private, excluded) (VT42:20)
ú
not
(adverbial prefix) ú-, u- (followed by lenition, e.g. ú-chebin ”I do not keep”) (without). Verb
ú
not
u- (followed by lenition, e.g. ú-chebin ”
Q. lū.