AQ. [ls] became [ll] or [ld]; [ls] > [ll]

AQ. [ls] became [ll] or [ld]; [ls] > [ll]

There are a couple of words in The Etymologies from the 1930s that seem to indicate primitive ls could become ll in Quenya:

In addition, there is an “assimilated locative” form menelle “in Heaven” from Quenya prayers written in the 1950s (VT43/16) which is very likely derived from menel + sē, and thus represents a similar phonetic development. However, Tolkien also considered assimilated locative forms like menelde (VT43/16) which seems to show [ls] > [ld] instead. Another example of [ls] > [ld] appears in notes from 1940s: ᴹ✶matil·sa > ᴹQ. matilda “(people) eat something” (PE22/94); hat-tip to Vyacheslav Stepanov for pointing out this second example.

Finally, in both the Outline of Phonetic Development from the 1930s (OP1, PE19/47) and the Outline of Phonology from the 1950s (OP2, PE19/99) Tolkien said that primitive ls survived unchanged in Quenya. There are several Quenya words that demonstrate this ls survival: malsa (PE19/101), nelsat and tolsat (VT48/11). These examples all show either suffixion or metathesis from sl, which may have occurred after ls > ll, though it is also possible Tolkien changed his mind on the development of ls.

There are very few examples of s-suffixes in Quenya, so finding examples and counter-examples of this sound change are difficult.

Phonetic Rule Elements

[ls] > [ll]

ᴹAQ. [ls] became [ll] or [ld]; [ls] > [ll]

Phonetic Rule Elements

[ls] > [ll]
[ls] > [ld]

Phonetic Rule Examples

matilsa > matilda ls > ld ᴹ✶matil·sa > ᴹQ. matilda ✧ PE22/94
telsā > tellā ls > ll ᴹ✶télesā > ᴹQ. tella ✧ Ety/TELES
telse > telle ls > ll ᴹ√TELES > ᴹQ. telle ✧ Ety/TELES