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Select Elvish Words 12.195: Whisper

12.195 Whisper

ᴱQ. hyasse n. “rushing ?hence (?noise)”

The word ᴱQ. vassale “rustling” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√VASA (QL/100). A similar (untranslated) word ’wassale appeared elsewhere in the lexicon derived from ᴱ√GWASA, possibly of the same or similar meaning (QL/103). Another word ᴱQ. hyasse appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s with a hard-to-read gloss, either “rushing hence” or “rushing noise”, near a similar word ᴱQ. hyasta- “to rush, rustle” (PE16/144).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use ᴺQ. hyassë for “rushing noise, *rustling” based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√KHYAS.

ᴱQ. hyasta- v. “to rush [of noise], rustle”

The word ᴱQ. hyasta- “to rush, rustle” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/144).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would retain ᴺQ. hyasta- “to rush, rustle” based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√KHYAS.

ᴹQ. lussa- v. “to whisper”

A verb appearing as ᴹQ. lussa- “to whisper” in The Etymologies of the 1930s based on the root ᴹ√SLUS of the same meaning (Ety/SLUS).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would updates this to ᴺQ. hlussa- since initial sl became voiceless hl in Quenya.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. qisi- “whisper” based on the early root ᴱ√QISI (QL/77).

ᴹQ. lusse n. “whispering sound, *whisper”

A noun appearing as ᴹQ. lusse “a whispering sound” in The Etymologies of the 1930s based on the root ᴹ√SLUS of similar meaning (Ety/SLUS).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would updates this to ᴺQ. hlussë since initial sl became voiceless hl in Quenya.

N. floss n. “whispering or rustling sound”

The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. thloss > floss “whispering or rustling sound” based on the root ᴹ√SLUS “whisper”, along with a variant N. thross based on the related root ᴹ√SRUS (Ety/SLUS). Both these nouns reflect the 1930s phonetic development of sl, sr > thr, thl, as well as initial thl > fl.

Neo-Sindarin: In Sindarin of 1950s and 60s initial sl, sr > lh, rh, so I would replace these 1930s nouns with ᴺS. lhoss “whispering or rustling sound”, as suggested in Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD).

Conceptual Development: Earlier words of similar meaning include G. cwithri “whisper” related to G. cwitha- “murmur, whisper” (GL/29) and G. rui “whisper” related to G. ruitha- “whisper, rustle” (GL/66), both from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s. Another possible precursor from the Gnomish Lexicon is G. suss “hush, sudden quiet” (GL/68).

ᴱN. pis- v. “to whisper”

The verb G. cwitha- or [cwi]thra- “murmur, whisper” appearing in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/29), probably based on the early root ᴱ√QISI from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon whose derivatives had to do with whispering (QL/77-78). A similar verb ᴱN. pis- “whispers” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s derived from {ᴱ✶kwist >>} ᴱ✶kwissa- (PE13/152). Another early verb of similar meaning was G. ruitha- “to whisper, rustle”, also from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/66).

Neo-Sindarin: Tolkien’s later writings had N. floss “whispering or rustling sound” which I adapted as ᴺS. lhoss, so I would replace the early verbs above with ᴺS. lhossa- “to whisper, rustle”.

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