Noldorin 

talaf

noun. ground, floor

Noldorin [Ety/390, X/EI] Group: SINDICT. Published by

talaf

noun. ground, floor

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “ground, floor” derived from the root ᴹ√TALAM “floor, base, ground” (Ety/TAL). It has a plural form teleif in keeping with Noldorin plural patterns; in Sindarin its plural would be ^telaif. Its Quenya cognate was ᴹQ. talan, and in later writings this pair became Q. talan/S. talan “flat space, platform” < √TALAM (PE17/52), both demonstrating the ancient sound change whereby [[p|final [m] became [n]]] (VT47/24).

Neo-Eldarin: In later writings, S. talan was used mainly to refer to an elevated platform or floor, such as the flets of Lothlórien. As such, I think it is worth retaining talaf to refer both to the ground floor as well as the ground itself, perhaps from a variant ancient form ✱talamē.

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. talan “floor, ground” ✧ Ety/TAL

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶talam “floor, ground; ‘flet’, platform”
    • ᴹ√TALAM “base, root, foundation; floor, ground” ✧ PE21/56
  • ᴹ√TALAM “base, root, foundation; floor, ground” ✧ Ety/TAL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√TALAM > talaf[talama] > [talam] > [talav]✧ Ety/TAL
ᴹ√TALAM > teleif[talami] > [telemi] > [teleim] > [teleiv]✧ Ety/TAL

panas

noun. floor

Noldorin [Ety/380] Group: SINDICT. Published by

panas

noun. floor

A noun for “floor” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, an elaboration of N. pân “plank” under the root ᴹ√PAN (Ety/PAN). As such, it likely refers to a constructed floor made of wood or other materials.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. blath “a floor” (GL/23), probably derived from the early root ᴱ√PALA having to do with flat things as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Palúrien).