lala-

laugh

lala-(1) vb. "laugh" (PM:359), possibly with pa.t. *landë because the stem is given as g-lada-.

lala-

verb. to laugh

Cognates

• T. glada- “to laugh” ✧ PM/359
• S. gladh- “to laugh, to laugh [at a joke], *guffaw” ✧ PM/359
• S. lala- “to laugh”

Derivations

• ✶glada- “laugh” ✧ PM/359

Element in

• ᴺQ. lalië “laughter, laughing”
• Q. Lalwendë “Laughing Maiden” ✧ PM/359

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶g-lada- > lala-	[glada-] > [glaða-] > [ɣlaða-] > [laða-] > [lala-]	✧ PM/359

lalda

noun. laugh

Cognates

• ᴺS. lall “laugh”

Derivations

• √LAL “laugh”

gladh-

verb. to laugh

gladh-

verb. to laugh, to laugh [at a joke], *guffaw

This word is not compatible with the name Lalaith “Laughter” attested in The Silmarillion. The most likely explanation of this name is that it is the unattested verb ✱lala- “laugh” with the abstract noun suffix -th seen in tirith “watch(ing)” and sirith “flowing”. This indicates a primitive form ✶lala- instead of ✶glada- (both primitives produce Quenya lala-). If you were to accept gladh- as the Sindarin word for “laugh”, then the word for “laughter” would perhaps be the equivalent abstract noun ✱gladhath, and the name Lalaith might be a mix of Quenya and Sindarin. @@@ Neo-Sindarin uses

Cognates

• Q. lala- “to laugh” ✧ PM/359

Derivations

• ✶glada- “laugh” ✧ PM/359

Element in

• ᴺS. gladhweg “cheerful, (lit.) apt to laugh”
• S. Gladhwen “Laughing Maiden” ✧ PM/359

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶g-lada- > glað-	[glad-] > [glað-]	✧ PM/359

Variations

• glað- ✧ PM/359

lala-

verb. to laugh

Cognates

• Q. lala- “to laugh”

Derivations

• √LAL “laugh”

Element in

• S. lalaith “laughter”
• ᴺS. lalweg “cheerful”

gladha

laugh

(verb) gladha- (i **ladha, in gladhar**)

gladha

laugh

(i ’ladha, in gladhar)

lall

noun. laugh

Cognates

• ᴺQ. lalda “laugh”

Derivations

• √LAL “laugh”

Element in

• ᴺS. lallen “funny, amusing”

glada-

verb. to laugh

Cognates

• Q. lala- “to laugh” ✧ PM/359

Derivations

• ✶glada- “laugh” ✧ PM/359

Variations

• glada ✧ PM/359

glada-

verb. laugh

Derivatives

• Q. lala- “to laugh” ✧ PM/359
• S. gladh- “to laugh, to laugh [at a joke], *guffaw” ✧ PM/359
• ᴺS. glasta- “to joke”
• ᴺS. glaudh “joke, jest”
• T. glada- “to laugh” ✧ PM/359

Variations

• g-lada- ✧ PM/359

lal

root. laugh

A root for “laugh” appearing in notes written around 1959 (PE17/159), likely connected to S. Lalaith “Laughter”, the name of Túrin’s deceased sister (S/198). Some possible precursors appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: unglossed ᴱ√LALA whose derivatives had to do with babbling (QL/50), and ᴱ√KAKA “laugh” with derivatives in both Qenya and Gnomish (QL/44; GL/24).

Tolkien gave a different primitive form ✶glada- as the basis for “laugh” words in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s; this produced S. glað- but still resulted in Q. lala- (PM/359). This new primitive had two problems (1) it is not compatible with S. Lalaith and (2) it shows a rather unusual assimilation of primitive d to preceding l in Quenya rather than the normal change to r: ✶(g)lada- > laða- > Q. lala- instead of ✱✱lara-. Elsewhere such assimilation did not occur, for example Q. lerembas < ✶led(e)mbasse (PE17/52).

Thus for purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is preferable to assume √LAL was the root for “laugh” words. However, I also think it is worth retaining √GLAD as a Sindarin-only root for similar concepts, perhaps “guffaw” and “joke”, given the limited semantic space we have in Elvish roots.

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. lalasta “laughter”
• ᴺQ. lalda “laugh”
• ᴺQ. lalil “chuckle”
• ᴺQ. lalta- “to make laugh”
• S. lala- “to laugh”
• ᴺS. lall “laugh”
• ᴺS. laltha- “to amuse, make laugh”

Variations

• LALA ✧ PE17/159; PE17/182