Q. lossë¹ n. and adj. “snow, fallen snow; snow-white, snowy” (Category: Snow)
The general Quenya word for “snow” derived from the root √(G)LOS (PE17/26; VT42/18), more specifically “fallen snow” (RGEO/61), as opposed to a “snow fall” or “*falling snow” which is hrissë (PE17/168). At various points Tolkien said this word could also be used as an adjective “snowy, snow-white” (RGEO/61; PE17/161), but I would do so only in poetry or in compounds. For more ordinary speech, I would use the adjective form lossëa for clarity (PE17/71, 161; VT42/18). Strictly speaking, the noun and adjective forms of lossë have distinct primitive origins: ✶lossē “snow” vs. ✶lossĭ “snowy, snow-white” (PE17/161), so the stem form of the adjective would be lossi-.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s there was a word ᴹQ. olosse “snow, fallen snow” derived from the root ᴹ√GOLOS; Tolkien modified the entry to mark this form as poetic (†) and gave it a variant olos (Ety/GOLÓS).
References ✧ PE16/96; PE17/26, 161; RGEO/61; SA/los; VT42/18
Glosses
Related
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| √LŎS > losse | [losse] | ✧ PE17/26 |
| ✶lossē > losse | [lossē] > [losse] | ✧ PE17/161 |
| ✶lossĭ > losse | [lossi] > [losse] | ✧ PE17/161 |
| √los > losse | [losse] | ✧ RGEO/61 |
| √los > lossë | [losse] | ✧ SA/los |
| √(G)LOS > lossë | [glosse] > [ɣlosse] > [losse] | ✧ VT42/18 |
ᴹQ. †olos(se) n. “snow, fallen snow” (Category: Snow)
References ✧ Ety/GOLÓS, LOT(H)
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√GOLÓS > olosse | [golosse] > [ɣolosse] > [olosse] | ✧ Ety/GOLÓS |
| ᴹ√GOLÓS > †olos/olosse | [golosse] > [ɣolosse] > [olosse] | ✧ Ety/GOLÓS |
| ᴹ√GOLÓS > olosse | [golosse] > [ɣolosse] > [olosse] | ✧ Ety/LOT(H) |