mawedh, "glove", inspired after the English etymology of "glove" Proto-Germanic *ga- “collective and associative prefix” + Proto-Germanic *lōfô “flat of the hand, palm”) and the Scandinavian languages for the words "handske" and "vante" (etymologically "hand" + "shoe" and "wind, wrap" respectively).
S maw "hand", gwedh "bind, bond".
Paul Strack Mar 08, 2015 (17:57)
However, I think that the diphthong [au] in maw would have been preserved in the OS compound, and thereafter would have developed into [o] as was usual in polysyllables. Compare with molif "wrist = hand-link" of similar origin (VT47:6). So maybe instead S mowedh.
http://eldamo.sourceforge.net/content/words/word-2405578811.html
Hjalmar Holm Mar 08, 2015 (18:44)
Paul Strack Mar 08, 2015 (19:14)
I can't rule out the "w-w" assimilation either. Semi-vowels like w and y tended to slip back and forth between vowels and consonants in Tolkien's languages. I was just analyzing an example where [u] became [w]: N Bedhwen "of the Spouses" from primitive Bedū+ina (Etym:LEP).
I couldn't find any examples of the combination [au+w] for Sindarin or Noldorin in my notes. I don't think this combination is even possible in Primitive Quenderin, so it could only have arisen in later compounds like in your example.
Fiona Jallings Mar 08, 2015 (19:27)
Let's run this through the phonological history of Sindarin (using Salo's A Gateway to Sindarin), just to see if this would happen.
maaweda
(Long /a/ becomes Long /ɔ/) mɔɔweda
(Long /ɔ/ becomes /au/. /au/ is retained before /w/) mauweð
(/u/ and /w/ merge when adjacent) maweð
So, I think that Hjalmar's reconstruction is right.
Hjalmar Holm Mar 08, 2015 (21:17)
Paul Strack Mar 08, 2015 (22:17)
I stand corrected. I double-checked GS and Salo did say that [au+w] reduced to [au] (GS:62, §4.177). Following that rule, mawedh ([maueð] or [maweð]) would be correct. I am not 100% convinced that would happen in a later compound, but since we are positing it is an early compound, it seems the evidence is against mowedh.
As for a Quenya cognate ... if the primitive form were maha-wedā, I think we would end up with Q mávera.
Tamas Ferencz Mar 08, 2015 (23:11)
Paul Strack Mar 09, 2015 (00:07)
We do have EQ mantl "glove", from the same root MAHA that was the later basis for "hand". If we modernized this word to later Quenya, a vowel would be needed before the l, perhaps mantal.
Tamas Ferencz Mar 09, 2015 (00:19)
Tamas Ferencz Mar 09, 2015 (14:35)