Sindarin 

lhaw

noun. ears (referring to one person's pair of ears only)

Sindarin [Ety/368, LotR/II:IX] OS *λåhu, CE *slâsû (dual). Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhaw

noun. ears (of one person)

Element in

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, it seems 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, though it isn’t clear why the base vowel also changed from a to e.

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).

Cognates

  • Q. hlas “ear” ✧ PE17/062; PE17/062; PE17/077

Derivations

  • SLAS “ear” ✧ PE17/062

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
lhaw“ears (of one person)”
-eg“diminutive/singular ending”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
S-LAS > lhaw[slasū] > [slasu] > [l̥asu] > [l̥ahu] > [l̥au]✧ PE17/062
Sindarin [PE17/062; PE17/077; TT17/33] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lhaw

ears

(?i thlaw or ?i law).

lhaw

ears

(pair of ears): lhaw (?i thlaw or ?i law).

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 lewigthe lenition product of lh is uncertain). This ia a singular formed from the collective