Ilk. urch n. “goblin” (Category: Orc, Goblin)
A Doriathrin noun for “goblin” developed from primitive ᴹ✶orku, also attested in its plural form urchin (Ety/ÓROK). The change of [k] to [x] (“ch”) after the liquid [l] was a normal Ilkorin development, but the change of [o] to [u] is harder to explain, as noted by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Doriathrin/urch). In an earlier version of the entry Tolkien wrote Dor. orch (EtyAC/ÓROK), which is the expected form. The simplest explanation is that this form actually developed from a variant primitive form *✶urku. There is a similar issue with Dan. urc, so perhaps this variant was used by those Eldar who did not complete the journey to Valinor.
References ✧ Ety/ÓROK; EtyAC/ÓROK
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Inflections
| Dor. orchin | plural | ✧ EtyAC/ÓROK |
| Dor. urchin | plural | ✧ Ety/ÓROK |
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶órku > urch | [orku] > [orko] ? [urko] > [urxo] > [urx] | ✧ Ety/ÓROK |