fufril

noun. moth

A noun appearing as G. fufril “moth” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/36).

Neo-Sindarin: The etymology of G. fufril isn’t clear, but could be derived from an early root ✱ᴱ√FUVU. I prefer to adapt this as a Neo-Root ᴺ√PHUM rather than ᴺ√PHUV/PHUB, since derivatives of ᴺ√PHUM would preserve the base vowel u. Thus I would adapt this word as ᴺS. fyvril “moth” < ✱phumril with i-affection; perhaps the final element is a feminine suffix as seen in N. thlingril “spider”. Admittedly this is all a very loose adaptation.

Derivations

• ᴱ√FUVU “moth”

fuvu Speculative

root. moth

✱ᴱ√FUVU is a hypothetical root serving as the basis for the word G. fufril “moth” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/36). I think it is worth retaining as a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√PHUM “moth”, with M instead of V/B to preserve the vowel u in the Neo-Sindarin form.

Derivatives

• G. fufril “moth”

malo

noun. moth

A noun appearing as ᴱQ. malo “moth” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from primitive ᴱ✶[mal]wǝ under the early root ᴱ√MALA “crush, squeeze, pulp” (QL/58). It had a plural malwi, and in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa it was given the stem form of malu-.

Neo-Quenya: This word conflicts with later words like ᴹQ. malo (malu-) “pollen, yellow powder” (Ety/SMAL) or “rust” (PE21/12; PE15/77), making its continued validity as “moth” rather questionable. However, the only other attested Elvish “moth” word is G. fufril of unclear etymology (GL/36), making it very challenging to adapt to Neo-Quenya. Thus I currently recommend retaining ᴺQ. malo for “moth”, as a derivative of the later root ᴹ√MBAL, but altering its stem form to malo- (< ✱mbalō) to make it more distinct from the “pollen, rust” words.

Derivations

• ᴱ√MALA “crush, squeeze, pulp” ✧ QL/058

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ√MALA¹ > [mal]wǝ > malo	[malwǝ] > [malw] > [malu] > [malo]	✧ QL/058

Variations

• malo ✧ PME/058; QL/058