lhaw

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

lhaw

noun. ears (of one person)

laws

noun. hair ringlet

lhaw

ears

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

lhaw

ears

(?i thlaw or ?i law).

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).

loch

noun. ringlet

fast

shaggy hair

(pl. faist if there is a pl.).

find

hair

(construct fin), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. finnath.

fîn

hair

1) (a single hair) fîn (construct fin), no distinct pl. form. (PM:362), 2) (lock of hair, tress) find (construct fin), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. finnath.

fîn

hair

(construct fin), no distinct pl. form. (PM:362)

laus

ringlet

laus (pl. loes, coll. pl. losath)

laus

noun. ringlet

laus

ringlet

(pl. loes, coll. pl. losath)

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

loch

ringlet

loch (pl. lych)

loch

noun. ringlet

loch

ringlet

(pl. lych)