lár (1) noun "league", a linear measure, 5000 rangar (q.v.). A ranga was approximately 38 inches, so a lár was "5277 yards, two feet and four inches [ca. 4826 m], supposing the equivalence to be exact" - close enough to our league of 5280 yards to justify this translation. The basic meaning of lár is "pause"; in marches a brief halt was made for each league. (UT:285)
Quenya
lár
ear
lár
league
lár
noun. league; †stop, pause
Cognates
- S. daur “league; †stop, pause” ✧ UT/279
Derivations
- ᴹ√DAR “stay, wait, stop, remain”
Element in
- ᴺQ. larnelta “mile; *(lit.) league third”
lá-
verb. to not be
Changes
lamin→ lanye ✧ VT49/13Derivations
Element in
- Q. ála “do not” ✧ VT43/22
- Q. epetai i hyarma ú ten ulca símaryassen “consequently the left hand was not to them evil in their imaginations” ✧ VT49/13
- ᴺQ. laitë “false”
- Q. melin sé apa lanyë hé “I love him but not him (the other)” ✧ VT49/15
- Q. melinyes apa la hé “I love him but not him (the other)” ✧ VT49/15
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶lā > lanye [lanye] ✧ PE22/153 ✶lājā > laia [lājā] > [laijā] > [laija] > [laia] ✧ PE22/153 √(A)LA > lā- [lā-] ✧ PE22/156 √ala > lá [lā-] ✧ VT42/33 √ala > lā [lā-] ✧ VT49/13 ✶lājā > laia [lājā] > [laijā] > [laija] > [laia] ✧ VT49/13 Variations
- la ✧ PE22/154; VT43/22; VT49/15
- lā- ✧ PE22/156
- lá ✧ VT42/33; VT49/13; VT49/13
- lā ✧ VT49/13
- lamin ✧ VT49/13 (
lamin)
hlas
ear
hlas noun "ear", stem hlar- as in the dual form hlaru (PE17:62). Compare lár #2.
hlas
noun. 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√LAS “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.
Cognates
- S. lheweg “ear” ✧ PE17/062; PE17/062; PE17/077
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. hlarma “earpiece, receiver”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √S-LAS > hlas [slas] > [l̥as] ✧ PE17/062 ✶slasū > hlaru [slasū] > [l̥asū] > [l̥azū] > [l̥azu] > [l̥aru] ✧ PE17/077
lár (2) noun "ear" (?). Tolkien's wording is not clear, but ¤lasū is given as an ancient dual form "(pair of) ears"; Quenya lár could represent the old singular las- (LAS2). In a post-LotR source, Tolkien derives hlas "ear" (dual hlaru) from a stem SLAS(PE17:62). Initial hl- rather than l- reflects the revised form of the stem (LAS becoming SLAS), and in the later version of the phonology, postvocalic -s does not become -r when final. Compare the noun "dream", given as olor in the Etymologies (LOS), but as olos pl. olori in a later source (UT:396)