The common Quenya word for “lion” (more literally “roarer”) appearing in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s, as opposed to archaic Q. †rá (PE19/99, 104); see that entry for further discussion of its conceptual development.
Quenya
rauro
noun. lion
rauro
noun. lion
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶rāw > raurō [rauro] ✧ PE19/099 ✶rau̯rō > rauro [raurō] > [rauro] ✧ PE19/104 Variations
- raurō ✧ PE19/099
rau
lion
rau (pl. rávi) noun "lion" (LT1:260; the pl. of this "Qenya" form is valid in Tolkien's later Quenya as well, but the sg. he changed to rá, q.v.)
rá
lion
rá (2) noun "lion", stem #ráv- as in the pl. rávi (RAW). Compare rau.
rá
noun. lion
An archaic word for “lion” mentioned in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s, versus more common Q. rauro (PE19/99, 104).
Conceptual Development: This word has a lengthy history in Tolkien’s conception of Elvish, dating all the way back to ᴱQ. rau “lion” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a derivative of the early root ᴱ√RAVA (QL/79). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien had rú “lion” (PE21/40). It appeared in The Etymologies from later in the 1930s as ᴹQ. rá “lion” derived from primitive ᴹ✶rāu [rāw] under the root ᴹ√RAW, with plural form rávi (Ety/RAW).
In the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from this period Tolkien had (unglossed) rāva < rāwa (PE19/62), but in Notes for Qenya Declensions from the 1940s Tolkien had (unglossed) rāu < rắwă (PE21/69). The last clear mention in currently published materials is in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s, as discussed above.
Cognates
- ᴺS. raw “lion”
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶rāw > rá [rāw] > [rā] ✧ PE19/099 ✶rāw > rá [rāw] > [rā] ✧ PE19/104 Variations
- rá ✧ PE19/099 (rá); PE19/104
rá†
noun. lion
lion
lion