phuy

root. breathe out, *darkness; breathe out

The first iteration of this root was ᴱ√ǶUẎU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. hui/G. fui “night” and G. fung “dark” (QL/41; GL/36). Tolkien noted that this early root must be “ƕ because of Noldo [Gnomish] fui” (QL/41). This is because [[g|ƕ [xʷ] > f]] universally in Gnomish but ƕu- > hu- in Early Quenya (PE12/17).

The root appeared as unglossed ᴹ√PHUY in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives having to do with “darkness” such as ᴹQ. huine “deep shadow, nightshade” and N. fuin “night, dead of night” (Ety/PHUY). The 1930s forms likewise had a hu-/fu- variation between Quenya and Noldorin, because [[mq|phu- > ꝑu- [ɸu] > hu-]] in Quenya. The root √PHUY appeared again in notes from the late 1960s having to do with night, twilight and day. In one of these notes Tolkien gave the gloss “(prob.) fog, mists”, but then struck this out (NM/284 note #2). In a marginal note he gave it the gloss “breathe out” in connection to the notion that Q. huinë/S. fuin represented an ethereal substance that quenched light (NM/285 note #5). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d assume this root simply meant “✱darkness”.

Derivatives

• ✶phuinē “deep shadow, night shade, dark substance, vapour-like darkeness, deep shadow, night shade, [ᴹ✶] night” ✧ NM/279; NM/285
  • Q. huinë “gloom, (unrelieved) darkness, deep shadow, night shade; dark (as a substance)” ✧ NM/279; NM/283; PE19/071
  • S. fuin “night, gloom, darkness, night, gloom, darkness, [N.] dead of night” ✧ NM/279; NM/283
• ᴺQ. huiva “murky, *(nearly) lightless”