líve

noun. sickness

A noun appearing as ᴹQ. líve “sickness” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶slīwē under the root ᴹ√SLIW “sickly” (Ety/SLIW). The ancient initial *sl* became voiceless *hl*, which was then voiced to *l* as was generally the case in The Etymologies. The root had a deleted variant ᴹ√LIW “be sickly, ill”, where líve appeared with the gloss “disease” (EtyAC/LIW).

Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writing, he usually retained hl- in spelling if not pronunciation; see the entry on how initial voiceless nasals and liquids were voiced for discussion. As such, most Neo-Quenya writers adapt this word as ᴺQ. hlívë. Given the gloss “disease” for its deleted form, I would further assume hlívë specifically refers to sickness by disease.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had the word ᴱQ. leume “sickness” under the similar but earlier root ᴱ√LEẆE (QL/53).