oio

noun. bird

tsette

noun. fly

wil

root. fly, float in air

Tolkien used a similar set of Elvish roots for both “air” and “flight” for much of his life. Their earliest manifestation was in a pair of unglossed roots from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: ᴱ√GWILI with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wili- “sail, fly, float”, ᴱQ. ’wilin “bird”, and ᴱQ. ’wilwarin “butterfly” (QL/104), versus ᴱ√VILI with derivatives like ᴱQ. vīle “breeze — gentle”, ᴱQ. vilina “airy, breezy, light”, and {ᴱQ. Vilna >>} ᴱQ. Vilya “air (lower)” (QL/101). Both these roots had distinct sets of derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, such as G. gwail “air”, G. gwil- “sail, float, fly”, and G. gwilbrin “butterfly” < ✶gu̯il {<< u̯il} [ᴱ√GWILI] (GL/45), versus G. bilin(c) “small bird”, G. biltha- “flutter, flit”, and G. blith “air, breeze, zephyr” < ✶bil [ᴱ√VILI] (GL/22-23).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” with derivatives like ᴹQ. vilwa {>> wilma} “(lower) air”, N. gwelw “air”, and ᴹQ. wilwarin/N. gwilwileth “butterfly” (Ety/WIL). Tolkien introduced an alternate root ᴹ√WIS in The Etymologies as the basis for ᴹQ. vista “air as substance” (Ety/WIS), though there are no clear signs of ᴹ√WIS in later writings. However, Tolkien’s continued use of words like Q. vilya “air, sky” and Q. wilwarin “butterfly” (MC/222) indicate the ongoing validity of the root ᴹ√WIL.

Tolkien’s vacillation between w- and v- in Quenya derivatives of this root may indicate a variant strengthened root ✱√GWIL. Tolkien use of vilya/wilya as the name of tengwa #24 [n] (LotR/1123) is a strong indication that the root had an ancient form ✱√GWIL, as this sign is in the quessetéma series of labialized velars. However, it is also possible Tolkien was simply unwilling to abandon well-established forms like wilwarin “butterfly”, and continued to write them with an (archaic) w- rather than the expected v-.

Derivatives

• Ilk. gwilwering “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL
• ᴹ✶wilwā “air, lower air” ✧ Ety/WIL
  • Ilk. gwelo “air, lower air” ✧ Ety/WIL; Ety/WIL
  • ᴹQ. wilma “inner or lower air” ✧ Ety/WIL; Ety/WIL; EtyAC/WIL
  • N. gwelw “air (as a substance)” ✧ Ety/WIL
• ᴹQ. vil- “to fly, to fly, [ᴱQ.] float, sail” ✧ Ety/WIL
• ᴺQ. vílë “gentle breeze”
• ᴺQ. vilina “airy, breezy; light [weight?]”
• Q. vilva “fluttering to and fro”
• Q. vilya “air, sky”
• ᴺS. gwil- “to fly, sail, float”
• N. gwilith “air (as a region), air (as a region), *lower sky; [G.] breeze” ✧ Ety/WIL
• ᴺS. gwiltha- “to air, expose to air”
• ᴺS. gwilwa- “to flutter, flit”
• N. gwilwileth “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL

Element in

• ᴹQ. wilwarin “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL
• Q. Vilya “(Ring) of Air”
• N. gwilith “air (as a region), air (as a region), *lower sky; [G.] breeze”
• ᴺS. gwilwist “weather”
• ᴹT. vilviren “butterfly” ✧ Ety/WIL

bil

noun. bird

A word for “bird” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s appearing next to G. bilinc “sparrow”, but this word was deleted and the gloss for bilinc was expanded to “a small bird, especially sparrow” (GL/22-23). The form bil appeared in a couple other places in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/23, 31), but seems to represent a “root” rather than a word. Tolkien indicated bil was derived from ᴱ✶du̯il (GL/31), but the exact mechanism whereby du̯- became b- isn’t clear, but a similar change is seen in 1920s ᴱ✶du̯ag- > ᴱT. baga- “beat” and ᴱ✶tu̯ak- > ᴱQ. pak- “apply, attach” (PE14/66).

Changes

• bil → bilin “bird” ✧ GL/22

Derivations

• ᴱ√VILI “*air” ✧ GL/22
• ᴱ✶du(w)il “*bird” ✧ GL/31
  • ᴱ√DUYU

Element in

• G. bilin(c) “small bird, sparrow”
• G. glindwil “swallow” ✧ GL/39
• G. biltha- “to flutter, flit” ✧ GL/23

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ√bīl- > bil	[βil] > [bil]	✧ GL/22
ᴱ✶du̯il > bil	[dwil] > [bil]	✧ GL/31

aigli

noun. bird

Cognates

• Eq. aiwe “bird” ✧ GL/17

Derivations

• ᴱ√AYA ✧ GL/17

sitha

noun. fly

A word for “fly” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/68), perhaps related to the early root ᴱ√ITI “peck, bite (of flies), annoy” (QL/43).

Cognates

• Eq. itse “small fly”

Derivations

• ᴱ√ITI “peck, bite (of flies), annoy”

Element in

• G. sithagong “dragonfly” ✧ GL/68; LT1A/Gong
• G. sithaling “fly snake, dragonfly” ✧ GL/68
• G. Sithaloth “Pleiades (lit.) Fly-cluster” ✧ GL/68; LT1A/Gong

Variations

• sitha ✧ LT1A/Gong

aiw

noun. bird

Cognates

• Eq. oive “bird” ✧ PE13/136; PE13/158

wilin

noun. bird

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “bird”, derived from the early root ᴱ√GWILI that was the basis for words having to do with flight (QL/104).

Derivations

• ᴱ√GWILI “*fly” ✧ LT1A/Vilna; QL/104

Element in

• Eq. wilindea “as a bird” ✧ QL/104

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ√GWILI > ’wilin	[gʷilin] > [wilin]	✧ QL/104

Variations

• ’wilin ✧ QL/104

aiwe

noun. bird

Cognates

• G. aigli “bird” ✧ GL/17

Derivations

• ᴱ√AYA ✧ GL/17

Element in

• Eq. anwe or aiqale elta súrut lunte aiwendon lossiattea “*went on the heights driven by the wind a ship like a bird with a blossom-white neck” ✧ PE16/147

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ√aı̯² > aiwe	[ajwē] > [ajwe] > [aiwe]	✧ GL/17

oi(we)

noun. bird

oive

noun. bird

Cognates

• En. aiw “bird” ✧ PE13/136; PE13/158

Variations

• oi ✧ PE16/132
• oiwe ✧ PE16/132