Early Noldorin
muig
noun. cat
gwag
adjective. soft
Variations
- gwag ✧ PE13/146
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!
The word ᴱN. muig “cat” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/150). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien instead had G. {mio >>} miog “cat”, along with masculine and feminine variants miaug or miog “tom cat” and {miauli >>} miaulin “she-cat”. The derivation of these early forms isn’t clear.
Neo-Sindarin: I would retain ᴺS. muig “cat” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, derived from ᴹ√MIW “whine” via an abnormal vocalization: m(i)wikē > mu̯ike > muig. Elaran pointed out that a more normal development would be ✱mŷg < miukē.