A noun appearing as N. lhim “fish” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from primitive ᴹ✶liñwi of the same meaning (Ety/LIW), where the labialized velar ñw (> ñgw) became the labial m (< mb) and the initial l unvoiced to lh.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had G. ing “fish” (GL/51), cognate to ᴱQ. ingwe of the same meaning (QL/43). In Gnomish labialized velars only became labials in limited circumstances, so the primitive ng survived.
Neo-Sindarin: Since the unvoicing of initial liquids did not occur in Sindarin, many people adapt this word as ᴺS. lim “fish” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, as suggested in HSD (HSD).
A noun for “fish” appearing on the front page of The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶khala (EtyAC/KHAL¹). As such, it was probably based on the root ᴹ√KHAL “(small) fish” (Ety/KHAL¹), but may have transferred to ᴹ√SKAL “small fish” when Tolkien revised that root (Ety/SKAL²).