3.64 Bird
- Q. aiwë n. “(small) bird”
- A noun meaning “(small) bird” (SA/lin¹, Ety/AIWĒ), appearing in Radagast’s Quenya name Aiwendil “Lover of Birds” (UT/401). It was derived from primitive ᴹ✶aiwē like its Sindarin cognate aew (Ety/AIWĒ).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, ᴱQ. aiwe appeared as the cognate of G. aigli “bird” (GL/17), but in Early Noldorin notes from the 1920s, the cognate of ᴱN. aiw “bird” was given as ᴱQ. oive (PE13/136, 158) or oi(we) (PE13/132). A similar form oio (stem oiw-) appeared in notes on the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/12). In The Etymologies from the mid-1930s, the form ᴹQ. aiwe was restored (Ety/AIWĒ), and this is the source of the derivation given above.
- S. aew n. “(small) bird”
- A noun meaning “(small) bird” (SA/lin¹, Ety/AIWĒ), appearing in the name Linaewen “Lake of Birds” (S/119, UT/401). It was derived from primitive ᴹ✶aiwē like its Quenta cognate aiwë (Ety/AIWĒ), with the primitive diphthong ai becoming the ae in Sindarin.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, G. aigli “bird” was given as a derivative of the root ᴱ√aı̯², though in this early iteration Tolkien said it especially applied to larger instead of smaller birds (GL/17). In Early Noldorin notes from the 1920s, it became ᴱN. aiw “bird” (PE13/136, 158). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the form became N. aew “(small) bird” (Ety/AIWĒ), and this is the source of the derivation given above.
- S. aewen adj. “of birds”
- This is apparently an adjectival form of aew “(small) bird” appearing in the name Linaewen “Lake of Birds” (S/119, SA/lin¹, UT/401), formed using the adjective suffix -en.
- G. aidha n. “nest”
- The word G. aidha “a nest” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s derived from primitive ᴱ✶ai-idh (GL/17). Immediately above it, G. aivor was glossed “nest” but this gloss was crossed out (see that entry for discussion). Elsewhere in the Gnomish Lexicon, Tolkien gave G. end “birds nest” from primitive ᴱ✶aı̯·ind, but this entry was deleted (GL/32).
Neo-Sindarin: I’d adapt this word as ᴺS. aedh “nest” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, related to S. aew “bird”, since the primitive diphthong ai becoming the ae in Sindarin.
- G. aivor n. “rookery, colony of birds”
- The words G. aivor and aivin appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with the glosses “rookery, colony of birds” (GL/17). The gloss of aivor was initially “nest”, and the form aivin was originally aivar, but Tolkien edited the entry to remove the gloss “nest” and change {aivar >>} aivin.
Neo-Sindarin: I’d adapt this word as ᴺS. aemar “rookery, colony of birds”, related to S. aew “bird” with the second element being S. bâr (mb-) “home”.
- G. uitha- vb. “to lay eggs, nest”
- A verb appearing as G. uitha- “lay eggs, nest” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/74), likely derived from the early root ᴱ√OHO¹ [OΧO] which was the basis for ᴱQ. ohte “egg” in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/69). This verb probably represents the vocalization of ancient χ to i before th [θ], after which the resulting oi became ui; compare G. fuitha- “hide” < ᴱ√foχo (GL/36).
Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt this verb as ᴺS. oetha- for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, based on the Neo-Root ᴺ√OKH “egg”, since a similar vocalization of χ occurred in Sindarin, but the resulting oi became oe.