osp

noun. reek, smoke

osp

noun. smoke

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “smoke”, cognate of ᴹQ. usqe “reek”, both derived from primitive ᴹ✶us(u)k-wē under the root ᴹ√USUK (Ety/USUK). In the phonetic development of ᴹ✶us(u)k-wē to N. osp, the ancient kw became p and then short u became o, developments typical of both Noldorin and Sindarin.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the cognate of ᴱQ. usqe was G. usc, usg, or usb “fog, mist” (GL/75), and in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon ᴱQ. usqe was glossed “fog” and derived from the root ᴱ√ṢQṢ (QL/98). In The Etymologies of the 1930s the meaning of the related words became “smoke“ or “reek” [probably in its Old English sense = “smoke”] as noted above (Ety/USUK), and in writings after the 1930s Q. usquë became “dusk” (PE18/100; PE19/84; PE21/71; PE22/51) but its Sindarin equivalent did not appear.

Neo-Sindarin: Despite the shift in meaning of its Quenya cognate to “dusk”, I would still use osp for “smoke” in Neo-Sindarin, since there are several other “dusk” words but no other good candidates for “smoke”.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. usqe “reek; dusk, twilight” ✧ Ety/USUK

Derivations

• ᴹ✶us(u)kwē “reek” ✧ Ety/USUK
  • ᴹ√USUK “*reek, smoke; dusk” ✧ Ety/USUK; PE18/050

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶us(u)k-wē > osp	[uskwē] > [uspē] > [uspe] > [ospe] > [osp]	✧ Ety/USUK