√LEPEN root. “five”
√LEPEN was the most common root for “five” in Tolkien’s writings, but he explored a variety of other options. Its earliest iteration appeared in the Qenya and Gnomish lexicons as ᴱ√LEH (QL/52) or ᴱ√LEF “half” (GL/53), so I think the actual early form was *ᴱ√LEǶE [lexʷe]. At this early stage it had derivatives with the meanings “five”, “ten”, and “half”, but in later writings “ten” became ᴹ√KAYAN >> √KWAY(AM) and “half” became √PER.
In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√LEPEN “five” with variant ᴹ√LEPEK, but ᴹ√LEPEK had no derivatives (Ety/LEP). √LEPEN appeared again in a list of numbers from the late 1950s or early 1960s beside a variant √LENEP; again the variant had no clear derivatives (PE17/95). √LEPEN reappeared in numeric discussions from the late 1960s (VT42/24; VT47/10). In these late discussions Tolkien said that “five” most likely originally from *lepem as an ancient plural of √LEP, but it seems this became √LEPEN already in Common Eldarin (CE), given that the Sindarin word for “five” remained S. leben; Tolkien gave varying explanations for this CE sound change, either as dissimilation from p (VT47/26 note 2) or with final -m > -n being the regular phonetic development (VT47/24).
References ✧ PE17/95, 159-160; VT42/24, 26; VT47/16, 24, 27
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| LEP | “pick up/out (with the fingers); finger” | ✧ VT42/24; VT47/24; VT47/27 |
| -m | “ancient plural formation” | ✧ VT42/26; VT47/25 |
Derivatives
ᴹ√LEPEN root. “five”
References ✧ Ety/LEP
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| LEP | “*finger” | ✧ Ety/LEP |
Derivatives
*ᴱ√LEǶE root. “half; *five”
References ✧ GL/53; QL/52
Glosses
Variations
Derivatives