S. eithel n. “source, spring, well” (Category: Spring, Well)
A Sindarin noun for a source of water (RC/772). It appeared as an element in several names, such as Mitheithel, the Sindarin name for the river Hoarwell (LotR/200). From its glosses, it seems it could apply to a variety of water sources, including springs, wells and fountains (RC/772, SA/eithel, LR/301). It was derived from the primitive form ✶et-kelē, literally “*out-flow”, but in ancient times the [tk] was transposed to [kt] giving ektelē (SA/kel; Ety/KEL). In Sindarin, this pair of voiceless stops became spirants [xθ], and then the [x] vocalized to [i] to form the diphthong [ei].
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, there were two distinct precursors to this word, G. aithl “spring” (GL/18) and G. {ecthel >>} ectheluin “fountain, fount” (GL/31) or ecthelin (GL/25); the latter’s form was ecthel in various name lists form this period (PE13/104; PE15/23). In Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s, there was an additional form ᴱN. eithlos “fountain” with several variants (PE13/142, 158); ᴱN. aithl “spring, fount, source” also reappeared (PE13/136, 158). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, these two forms seem to have merged into N. eithel “spring, issue of water” (Ety/KEL), and this is the source of derivation given above. All of the earlier forms seem to broadly have the same etymology, and so the changes represent the evolving phonetic development of the languages.
References ✧ RC/772; SA/eithel, kel; WJ/139
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| eithil | plural | ✧ WJ/139 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶et-kelē > eithel | [ektele] > [ektʰele] > [exθele] > [eiθele] > [eiθel] | ✧ SA/kel |
N. eithel n. “issue of water, spring, well, fountain” (Category: Spring, Well)
References ✧ Ety/KEL; LR/301; SM/323
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| eithil | plural | ✧ SM/323 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶ektele > eithel | [ektele] > [ektʰele] > [exθele] > [eiθele] > [eiθel] | ✧ Ety/KEL |
ᴱN. aithl n. “spring, fount, source” (Category: Spring, Well)
References ✧ PE13/136, 158
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| eithlir | plural | ✧ PE13/158 |
Element In
Cognates
G. aithl n. “spring” (Category: Spring, Well)
References ✧ GL/18, 25, 31; LT2A/Ecthelion; PE13/108
Glosses
Variations
Related
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ✶ektḷ > aithl | [ektl] > [exθl] > [eiθl] > [aiθl] | ✧ GL/18 |
ᴱN. eithlos n. “fountain” (Category: Spring, Well)
References ✧ PE13/142, 158
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| aithl | “spring, fount, source” | ✧ PE13/158 |
G. ecthel(uin) n. “fountain, fount” (Category: Spring, Well)
References ✧ GL/25, 31; LT2A/Ecthelion; PE13/104; PE15/23; PME/46
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ√KELE > ecthel | [ektele] > [ektel] > [eθtel] | ✧ LT2A/Ecthelion |