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
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen “ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. ai! lassi lantar laurië súrinen “ah! leaves fall golden in [by means of] the wind” ✧ RGEO/58
- Q. laicalassë “green-leaf, green as leaves”
- ᴺQ. lassëa “with leaves, leafy”
- Q. lasselanta “(late) autumn, (lit.) leaf-fall, (late) autumn, (lit.) leaf-fall; [ᴹQ.] October” ✧ LotR/1107
- Q. Lassemista “Leaf-Grey”
- Q. lassewinta “leaf fall, autumn, *(lit.) leaf blowing”
- Q. lillassëa “having many leaves”
- ᴺQ. lótelas “petal, (lit.) flower-leaf”
- ᴺQ. nornolassëa “having oak-leaves”
- Q. olass(i)ë “foliage, collection of leaves”
- ᴺQ. parmalas(së) “page, (lit.) leaf of book”
- Q. táli lantalasselingië “*with feet like the music of falling leaves” ✧ PE16/096; PE16/096
- Q. taniquelassë “*high-white-leaf”
- ᴺQ. tyávelassë “spice, (lit.) taste-leaf”
- ᴺQ. yullas “tea”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶lassē > lasse [lassē] > [lasse] ✧ Let/282 ✶lassḗi > lássei > lassī [lassei] > [lassī] > [lassi] ✧ PE19/106 ✶lasséinen > lassēnen > lassī́nen [lasseinen] > [lassīnen] ✧ PE19/106 ✶lassē > lasse [lassē] > [lasse] ✧ VT39/09 Variations
- lasse ✧ Let/282; LotR/1107; PE16/096; PE16/096; PE17/062; PE17/062; Plotz/11; VT39/09
lassë
leaf
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
taniquelassë
leaf
taniquelassë noun name of tree (UT:167), perhaps Tanique(til) + lassë "leaf"
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
Cognates
- S. lasta- “to listen, give ear” ✧ PE17/046
Derivations
- √LAS “listen” ✧ PE17/046
Element in
- Q. asalastë “easily heard”
- Q. sustanë Manwëo súlë ten i indo Sindicollo ar he lastanë ar carnes “*the spirit of Manwe blew unto the heart of Thingol and he listened and did it” ✧ NM/239
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √LAS > lasta- [lasta-] ✧ PE17/046
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)
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”.