Quenya 

lingwë

noun. fish

A word for “fish” appearing in its plural form lingwi “fish” in notes on The Lands and Beasts of Númenor from 1965 (NM/336) and appearing as ᴹQ. lingwe “fish” from primitive ᴹ✶liñwi under the root ᴹ√LIW in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/LIW).

Conceptual Development: Tolkien had ᴱQ. ingwe “fish” under the early root ᴱ√IWI “fish” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/43), and this word was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/43). The word {engwe >>} ingwe appeared unglossed in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/145). ᴹQ. lingwe “fish” with initial l first emerged in The Etymologies of the 1930s, as noted above.

lingwë

fish

lingwë (stem *lingwi-, given the primitive form ¤liñwi) noun "fish" (LIW)

ómalingwe

voice-???

ómalingwe ?"voice-???" (Narqelion; in Tolkien's later Quenya, óma means "voice" or "vowel" and lingwë means "fish", but at least the latter gloss can hardly be relevant here)

lingwëa

adjective. fishlike

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

ango

snake

ango noun "snake"; stem angu- as in angulócë (q.v.); pl. angwi (ANGWA/ANGU)

hlócë

snake, serpent

hlócë ("k")noun "snake, serpent", later lócë ("k")(SA:lok-)

leuca

snake

leuca (1) noun "snake" (Appendix E)

leuca

noun. snake

The best known Quenya word for “snake”, appearing in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1115). In 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD), Tolkien said it was derived from the root √LEWEK “worm” (PE17/160).

Quenya [LotR/1115; PE17/121; PE17/160] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nixi

name. fish

Quenya [PE 22:125] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

Noldorin 

lhim

noun. fish

A noun appearing as N. lhim “fish” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from primitive ᴹ✶liñwi of the same meaning (Ety/LIW), where the labialized velar ñw (> ñgw) became the labial m (< mb) and the initial l unvoiced to lh.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had G. ing “fish” (GL/51), cognate to ᴱQ. ingwe of the same meaning (QL/43). In Gnomish labialized velars only became labials in limited circumstances, so the primitive ng survived.

Neo-Sindarin: Since the unvoicing of initial liquids did not occur in Sindarin, many people adapt this word as ᴺS. lim “fish” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, as suggested in HSD (HSD).

Noldorin [Ety/LIW; Ety/LOK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

am-

prefix. snake

A prefix for “snake” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√ANGWA of the same meaning, most notably an element in N. amlug “dragon” (Ety/ANGWA).

Noldorin [Ety/ANGWA] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hâl

noun. fish

Noldorin [VT/45:20] Group: SINDICT. Published by

hâl

noun. fish

A noun for “fish” appearing on the front page of The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶khala (EtyAC/KHAL¹). As such, it was probably based on the root ᴹ√KHAL “(small) fish” (Ety/KHAL¹), but may have transferred to ᴹ√SKAL “small fish” when Tolkien revised that root (Ety/SKAL²).

Noldorin [EtyAC/KHAL¹] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lhim

noun. fish

Noldorin [Ety/369, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhimb

noun. fish

Noldorin [Ety/369, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhûg

noun. snake, serpent

Noldorin [Ety/370, S/434] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Sindarin 

leweg

noun. snake

_ n. _snake.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:160] < LEWEK worm. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

lhûg

noun. snake, serpent

Sindarin [Ety/370, S/434] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lim

noun. fish

Sindarin [Ety/369, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lýg

noun. snake

_ n. Zoo. _snake. Q. leuka.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:121:160] < LEWEK worm. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

lŷg

noun. snake

Sindarin [LotR/E] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lŷg

noun. snake

The best known Sindarin word for “snake”, appearing in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1115). In 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD), Tolkien said it was derived from the root √LEWEK “worm” (PE17/160), likely from ✱leukā where the ancient eu became ȳ as was usual in Sindarin (LotR/1115).

Sindarin [LotR/1115; PE17/121; PE17/160] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hâl

fish

(noun) hâl (i châl, o châl, construct hal), pl. hail (i chail) (VT45:20); also lim (no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. limmath). Note: a homophone means ”clear, sparkling, light”.

hâl

fish

(i châl, o châl, construct hal), pl. hail (i chail) (VT45:20); also lim (no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. limmath). Note: a homophone means ”clear, sparkling, light”.

lim

noun. fish

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/adaptations. Published by

lŷg

snake

1) lŷg (constuct lyg), no distinct pl. form. 2) lhûg (construct lhug, with article ?i thlûg or ?i lûg the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (dragon, serpent), pl. lhuig (?i luig). See SERPENT.


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Quenya

lingwe

noun. snake, worm

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “snake” with variants lingwe and lingo, an elaboration of ᴱQ. lin (ling-) of the same meaning (QL/54). Lingwe “snake” also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/54), but in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s it was glossed “worm” (PE16/145). In later writings, lingwë was “fish” (NM/336; Ety/LIW).

Early Quenya [PE16/145; PME/054; QL/054] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ingwe

noun. fish

Early Quenya [PE16/145; PME/043; QL/043; QL/049; QL/091; QL/097] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lingo

noun. snake

windea

adjective. fishlike

A word appearing as windea or uindea “fishlike” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s from a variant ᴱ✶w̯i of the early root ᴱ√IWI “fish” (QL/97).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d adapt this word as ᴺQ. lingwëa from later Q. lingwë “fish”.

Early Quenya [QL/097] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lin

noun. snake

A word for “snake” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with a stem form of {linge- >>} ling- (QL/54).

Early Quenya [QL/043; QL/054] Group: Eldamo. Published by

oqi

noun. snake

Early Quenya [PME/070; QL/070] Group: Eldamo. Published by

uindea

adjective. fishlike

Qenya 

lingwe

noun. fish

Middle Primitive Elvish

liñwi

noun. fish

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/LIW] Group: Eldamo. Published by

angwa

root. snake

The root √ANGWA “snake” with variant √ANGU appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the basis for the words ᴹQ. ango “snake” (Ety/ANGWA) and angulóke “dragon” (Ety/LOK). The Noldorin equivalent am- seems to have survived only as a prefix (Ety/ANGWA), and is a good example of how [[on|[ŋgw] > [mb]]] in that language. There are a variety of other words for “snake” in Tolkien’s later writings, so whether this root remained valid is unclear.

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ANGWA; Ety/LOK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

skala

noun. fish

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/KHAL¹] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

liŋi Reconstructed

root. snake

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

lingos

noun. snake

fenlug

noun. snake

fent

noun. snake

A word for “snake” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, along with a deleted variant fenlug (fenlog-) (GL/34), the latter probably a combination with G. lûg “snake”. It was clearly a cognate of ᴱQ. fent “serpent” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/38).

ing

noun. fish

lûg

noun. snake

Gnomish [GL/34; LT2A/Foalókë; PE13/105; PE15/28] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

líw

noun. fish

A Doriathrin noun for “fish” derived from primitive ᴹ✶liñwi (Ety/LIW). It is the clearest example of how [[ilk|[ŋg] vanished before [w] lengthening the preceding vowel]], as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Doriathrin/líw). @@@ same development in ᴱN hiw PE13/147

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as rejected ling (EtyAC/LIW), probably reflecting Tolkien’s uncertainty on the development of [-ŋgw-] in Ilkorin.

Doriathrin [Ety/LIW; EtyAC/LIW] Group: Eldamo. Published by