S. lhûg n. “reptile, snake, serpent, worm” (Category: Snake)
A noun in Quenya Notes from 1957 (QN) derived from primitive ✶(s)lōkō “reptile, snake, worm” based on the root √LOK “bend, loop”, so presumably having a similar meaning (PE17/160). Christopher Tolkien also had lhûg in The Silmarillion appendix, but gave it the glosses “snake, serpent” (SA/lok).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had G. ulug “dragon” (GL/74), and in the contemporaneous Official Name List for the Lost Tales and the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin he had G. lug or lûg “snake” (PE13/105; PE15/28). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. lhûg “dragon” under the root ᴹ√LOK “great serpent, dragon” (Ety/LOK), where initial l was unvoiced to lh as was usual in Nodorin. This was no longer true of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, so Sindarin lhûg required a primitive from ✶slōk- and a corresponding Quenya form of hlócë.
Neo-Sindarin: Given the breadth of its glosses, I would assume this word can apply to any sinuous reptilian creature with or without legs, including lizards, snakes and dragons.
References ✧ PE17/160; SA/lok
Glosses
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶(s)lōkō > lhûg | [slōkō] > [slōko] > [l̥ōko] > [l̥ūko] > [l̥ūk] > [l̥ūg] | ✧ PE17/160 |
N. lhûg n. “dragon” (Category: Snake)
References ✧ Ety/LOK
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| lug | soft-mutation; lh-mutation | ✧ Ety/LOK |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√LOK > lhûg | [lōke] > [lūke] > [lūk] > [l̥ūk] > [l̥ūg] | ✧ Ety/LOK |
G. lûg n. “snake” (Category: Snake)
References ✧ GL/34; LT2A/Foalókë; PE13/105; PE15/28
Glosses
Variations
Element In
Cognates
G. ulug¹ n. “dragon” (Category: Dragon)
References ✧ GL/74; LT2A/Foalókë
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| ulûgin | plural | ✧ GL/74 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations