lassë noun "leaf"; pl. lassi is attested (Nam, RGEO:66, Letters:283, LAS1, LT1:254, VT39:9, Narqelion); gen. lassëo "of a leaf", gen. pl. lassion "of leaves" (earlier lassio) (WJ:407). The word lassë was only applied to certain kinds of leaves, especially those of trees (PE17:62), perhaps particularly _ear-shaped _leaves (cf. the entry _LAS1 _in the Etymologies, where Tolkien comments on the pointed or leaf-shaped Elvish ears and suggests an etymological connection between words for "ear" and "leaf"); see also linquë #3. Compound lasselanta "leaf-fall", used (as was quellë) for the latter part of autumn and the beginning of winter (Appendix D, Letters:428); hence Lasselanta alternative name of October (PM:135). Cf. also lassemista "leaf-grey, grey-leaved" (LotR2:III ch. 4, translated in Letters:224, PE17:62), lassewinta a variant of lasselanta (PM:376). Adj. laicalassë "green as leaves" (PE17:56). See also lillassëa, lantalasselingëa.
Quenya
lassë
noun. leaf, leaf; [ᴱQ.] petal
lassë
leaf
lassemista
proper name. Leaf-Grey
lasselanta
leaf-fall = autumn
lasselanta noun "leaf-fall = Autumn" (DAT/DANT, LAS1, Narqelion, LT1:254; "lasse-lanta" in VT45:24, but again lasselanta in VT45:26)
lassecanta
leaf-shaped
lassecanta ("k")adj. "leaf-shaped" (KAT)
lasselanta
noun. (late) autumn, (lit.) leaf-fall, (late) autumn, (lit.) leaf-fall; [ᴹQ.] October
lassewinta
noun. leaf fall, autumn, *(lit.) leaf blowing
lassëa
adjective. with leaves, leafy
lassemista
Lassemista
mista
grey
mista adj. "grey"; see lassemista
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.
sinda
adjective. grey
taniquelassë
leaf
taniquelassë noun name of tree (UT:167), perhaps Tanique(til) + lassë "leaf"
mista
adjective. grey
hiswa
grey
hiswa (þ) adj. "grey" (KHIS/KHITH, Narqelion)
hlas
ear
hlas noun "ear", stem hlar- as in the dual form hlaru (PE17:62). Compare lár #2.
lasta-
verb. to listen, to listen; [ᴹQ.] to hear
lár
ear
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)
mísë
grey
mísë (þ, cf. Sindarin mith-) adj. "grey" (used as noun of grey clothes in the phrase mi mísë of someone clad "in grey"). The underlying stem refers a paler or whiter "grey" than sinda, making mísë "a luminous grey" (PE17:71-72)
sinda
grey
sinda (þ) adj. "grey" (PE17:72); nominal pl. Sindar used = "Grey-elves", lit. *"Grey ones"; see WJ:375. Gen. pl. Sindaron in WJ:369. With general meaning "grey" also in Sindacollo > Singollo "Grey-cloak, Thingol" (SA:thin(d), PE17:72; see also sindë, Sindicollo);†sindanórië "grey land", ablative sindanóriello "from/out of a grey country" (Nam); the reference is to a "mythical region of shadows lying at outer feet of the Mountains of Valinor" (PE17:72). However, other sources give sindë (q.v.) as the Quenya word for "grey"; perhaps sinda came to mean primarily "Grey-elf" as a noun. Derived adjective Sindarin "Grey-elven", normally used as a noun to refer to the Grey-elven language. (Appendix F)
sindë
grey, pale or silvery grey
sindë (þ) adj. "grey, pale or silvery grey" (the Vanyarin dialect preserves the older form þindë) (WJ:384, THIN; in SA:thin(d) the form given is sinda, cf. also sindanóriello "from a grey country" in Namárië. Sindë and sinda_ are apparently variants of the same word.) _Stem sindi-, given the primitive form ¤thindi; cf. Sindicollo (q.v.)
The basic Quenya word for “leaf”, derived from the root √LAS (PE17/62, 153; VT39/9). This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱQ. lasse “leaf” appeared as its own entry (QL/51). ᴹQ. lasse “leaf” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√LAS (Ety/LAS¹). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien said that lasse meant both “a leaf or petal” (GL/52). After that Tolkien translated it only as “leaf”. In one set of later notes Tolkien said it was even more restricted in meaning, and “only applied to certain kinds of leaves, especially those of trees, and would not e.g. be used of leaf of a hyacinth (linque)” (PE17/62).
Neo-Quenya: Despite Tolkien late declaration, I would use lassë as the general “leaf” word for purposes of Neo-Quenya, though more specialized words may also exist such as linquë “(leaf of a) hyacinth”. I would also use it metaphorically in its Early Qenya sense as the “petal” of a flower where the context is very clear, such as lassi indilo “leaves of a lily” = “lily petals”. But where ambiguous, I would use the neologism ᴺQ. lótelas for “petal”, more literally “flower leaf”.