N. hell² n. “frost”
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “frost” derived from the root ᴹ√KHEL “freeze”, but Tolkien deleted this short root and its derivatives, keeping only the longer form ᴹ√KHELEK (Ety/KHEL).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had a number of similar “frost” related words: G. heloth “frost”, G. hîl {“ice-cold, icy” >>} “frost” as well as G. helfileg “frost on panes, etc.” (GL/48-49), all based on the early root ᴱ√HELE “freeze”, the last with the added element G. fileg “fern”.
Neo-Sindarin: Tolkien probably deleted N. hell “frost” because he abandoned the short root ᴹ√KHEL, but short √KHEL did reappear in later writings (PE17/116), so it is tempting to restore hell “frost” as well. However, this conflicts with other attested words like N. hell “naked”, so I think it is better to use a neologism like ᴺS. nich for “frost”; see that entry for discussion.
Reference ✧ Ety/KHEL ✧ hell “frost”
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√KHEL > hell | [kʰelle] > [xelle] > [xell] > [hell] | ✧ Ety/KHEL |
G. helfileg n. “frost on panes, etc.” (Category: Ice, Frost)
Reference ✧ GL/48 ✧ “frost on panes, etc.”
Elements
| hel- | “to freeze” | ✧ GL/48 |
| fileg | “fern” | ✧ GL/48 (#fileg) |
G. heloth n. “frost” (Category: Ice, Frost)
References ✧ GL/48-49; LT1A/Helkar
Glosses
Related
Elements
| hel- | “to freeze” | ✧ GL/48; LT1A/Helkar |
| #-(o)th | “abstract noun” | ✧ GL/48 (#-oth) |