Eldamo : Middle Primitive Elvish : KWES

ᴹ√KWES root. “*feather”

ᴹ√KWES root. “*feather”: ᴱ√PILI² “*feather; arrow”

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s whose derivatives had mainly to do with feathers, such as ᴹQ. qesse “feather” and N. pesseg “pillow” (Ety/KWES). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. quessë “feather” in his later writings indicates its ongoing validity (LotR/1122). A possible precursor to this root was unglossed ᴱ√PEKE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s whose derivatives had to do with plumes (QL/73). There is also ᴱ√PILI² whose derivatives had to do with arrows and feathers (QL/74), but in later writings ᴹ√PILIN seems to have narrowed in sense specifically to “arrow” (Ety/PÍLIM; EtyAC/PÍLIM).

Reference ✧ Ety/KWES

Derivatives

> ᴹ✶kwessē “feather” ✧ Ety/KWES
- > Ilk. cwess “down (feathers)” ✧ Ety/KWES
- > ᴹQ. qesse “feather” ✧ Ety/KWES
  - ⇒ ᴹQ. qessetéma “q-series”
> ᴹQ. qesset “pillow” ✧ Ety/KWES
> N. pesseg “pillow” ✧ Ety/KWES
> ᴺS. !pess² “feather”
- ⇒ ᴺS. !pesson “plume, (great) feather”
- ⇒ ᴺS. !pilimbes “arrow feathering”
> Q. quessë “feather”
- ⇒ 5 compounds

ᴱ√PEKE root. “*plume”

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. pekte/G. pectha “plume” (QL/73; GL/63). It was compared to ᴱ√PEQE of similar meaning. Later “feather” words were derived from ᴹ√KWES (Ety/KWES).

Reference ✧ QL/73

PEKE cp. PEQE ✧ QL/73

Derivatives

> ᴱQ. pekte “plume, cox-comb” ✧ QL/73
- ⇒ ᴱQ. Peksiporoku “Chantecler, (lit.) Cox-comb” ✧ PME/73; QL/73
> G. pectha “plume”
- ⇒ G. pecthon “plume, feather” ✧ GL/63