(quadrupedal mammal) lavan, pl. levain (WJ:416)
Sindarin
lavan
noun. animal (usually applied to four-footed beasts, and never to reptiles or birds)
lavan
noun. animal
Cognates
- Q. laman “animal, animal, [ᴹQ.] tame beast” ✧ WJ/416
Derivations
Element in
- S. Levain Tad-dail “Petty Dwarves, (lit.) Two-legged Animals” ✧ WJ/388
- ᴺS. mellavan “pet, (lit.) love-animal”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶laman(a)/lamān > lavan [lamana] > [laman] > [lavan] ✧ WJ/416 ✶laman(a)/lamān > levain [lamani] > [lemeni] > [lemein] > [lemain] > [levain] ✧ WJ/416
lavan
animal
lavan
animal
pl. levain (WJ:416)
A word for an “animal” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, where Tolkien said it “usually only applied to four-footed beasts, and never to reptiles or birds” (WJ/416). It was derived from the root √LAM in the sense “inarticulate voiced sound”.
Conceptual Development: ᴱN. lafn was mentioned as a cognate to ᴱQ. lama “animal” in the Early Qenya Phonology from the 1920s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶labna (PE14/70).