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Q. hlas (hlar-) n. “ear” (Category: Ear)

Q. hlas (hlar-), n. “ear” (Category: Ear)

The Quenya word for “ear” is derived from primitive √S-LAS, an elaboration of √LAS “listen” (PE17/62, 77). It had a stem form of hlar- because medial s generally became z and then r, but the s was preserved when final.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s the word for “ear” was derived directly from ᴹ√LAS² “listen”, and had the form lár (Ety/LAS²). This seems to be a brief reversion to Early Qenya phonology of the 1910s, where medial s survived and it was final s that became r (PE12/26); compare to ᴹQ. kár (kas-) “head”, also from The Etymologies (Ety/KAS). In that document, the Noldorin word for “ear” was N. lhewig, a singular form based on the fossilized dual lhaw (Ety/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 word made it into Lord of the Rings drafts as part of Amon Lhaw “Hill of Hearing, (lit.) Hill 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, which also necessitated a change in the Quenya cognate to voiceless initial hl-.

Early Qenya words for “ear” from the 1910s had a completely different basis. They include ᴱQ. ankar (ankas-) “ear (of men)”, ᴱQ. qan (qand-) “ear”, and ᴱQ. unk (unq-) “ear (of animals)” from the Qenya Lexicon, all based on the root ᴱ√ṆQṆ (QL/31, 76, 98). The last of these reappeared as unko “ear” in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s and contemporaneous word lists (PE14/52, 76, 117; PE15/71), but seems to have been abandoned by the 1930s.

References ✧ PE17/62, 77

Glosses

Variations

Inflections

hlaru dual ✧ PE17/62; PE17/77

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

S-LAS > hlas [slas] > [l̥as] ✧ PE17/62
slasū > hlaru [slasū] > [l̥asū] > [l̥azū] > [l̥azu] > [l̥aru] ✧ PE17/77

ᴹQ. lár n. “ear” (Category: Ear)

See Q. hlas for discussion.

Reference ✧ Ety/LAS² ✧ “ear”

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√LAS² > lár [lās] > [lār] ✧ Ety/LAS²

ᴱQ. ankar (ankas-) n. “ear (of men)” (Category: Ear)

See Q. hlas for discussion.

References ✧ PME/31, 98; QL/31, 98

Glosses

Variations

Related

Inflections

unqi dual   ✧ QL/31
unqi dual “the ears, ears, one’s ears” ✧ QL/98: dual
ankasi plural   ✧ QL/31
ankas- stem   ✧ QL/98

Elements

ᴱ√ṆQṆ¹ “*ear” ✧ QL/31 (Ŋ̣NQ)
ᴱ√KASA “head” ✧ QL/31 (KAS)

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ√(U)ṆQ(U)Ṇ² > unqi [ṇkʷī] > [ṇkʷi] > [uŋkʷi] ✧ QL/98
ᴱ√(U)ṆQ(U)Ṇ² > ankar [ṇkʷkas] > [aŋkʷkas] > [aŋkas] > [aŋkar] ✧ QL/98

ᴱQ. qan (qand-) n. “ear” (Category: Ear)

See Q. hlas for discussion.

References ✧ PME/31, 76; QL/31, 76, 98

Glosses

Variations

Related

Inflections

qanwi dual   ✧ PME/31; QL/31; QL/98
qanwi dual “the ears” ✧ PME/76; QL/76
Quand- stem   ✧ QL/76

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ√Ŋ̣QŊ̣ > Qan [kʷṇd] > [kʷand] > [kʷan] ✧ QL/76

ᴱQ. unk(o) (unq-) n. “ear (of animals); corner, sticking out edge” (Category: Ear)

See Q. hlas for discussion.

References ✧ PE14/52, 76, 117; PE15/71; PME/98; QL/98

Glosses

Variations

Inflections

unqi dual ✧ PE14/52; PE14/76; PE14/117; PE15/71
unkoli plural ✧ PE14/76
unqi plural ✧ PE14/76
unq- stem ✧ QL/98

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ√(U)ṆQ(U)Ṇ² > unk [ṇkʷ] > [uŋkʷ] > [uŋk] ✧ QL/98