N. osp n. “smoke” (Category: 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”.
Reference ✧ Ety/USUK ✧ “smoke”
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶us(u)k-wē > osp | [uskwē] > [uspē] > [uspe] > [ospe] > [osp] | ✧ Ety/USUK |