N. heltha- v. “to strip” (Category: to Flay, Skin)
A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “strip” derived from primitive ᴹ✶skelta- under the root ᴹ√SKEL (Ety/SKEL; EtyAC/SKEL). In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road Christopher Tolkien gave the form as helta (LR/386), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne corrected this to heltha in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT46/14). According to Hostetter and Wynne the original form was haltha- “strip” from ᴹ√SKAL¹ until Tolkien decide this A-root meant “screen, hide” instead.
Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s earlier writings he had a number of other words of similar meanings. The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. daf- “strip, flay, peel skin” and G. dautha- or dauthra- “strip” (GL/29). It also had G. {falta- >>} faltha- “strip, despoil, rob, make bare” based on the early root ᴱ√fal-² (GL/33), and G. pasta- or padhra- “skin, peel, flay”, probably based on the early root ᴱ√PARA [PAÐA?] (GL/63; QL/72). The Gnomish Lexicon Strips had {dautha- >>} dawtho “to flay” (PE13/112), while Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱN. gwath “to strip” (PE13/146).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would extend the use of heltha- to cover all of these earlier meanings: “to strip, *flay, peel skin”, and by extension “*to despoil, make bare”.
References ✧ Ety/SKEL; EtyAC/SKEL
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶skelta- > heltha | [skelta-] > [skeltʰa-] > [skelθa-] > [sxelθa-] > [xelθa-] > [helθa-] | ✧ Ety/SKEL |
| ON. skhalta- > haltha | [sxalta-] > [sxaltʰa-] > [sxalθa-] > [xalθa-] > [halθa-] | ✧ EtyAC/SKEL |
ᴱN. gwath- v. “to strip” (Category: to Flay, Skin)
Reference ✧ PE13/146 ✧ gwath “to strip”
Related
G. daf- v. “to strip, flay, peel skin” (Category: to Flay, Skin)
References ✧ GL/29-30
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| dôfi | past | ✧ GL/29 |
Element In
Derivations
G. dauth(r)a- v. “to strip, flay” (Category: to Flay, Skin)
References ✧ GL/29; PE13/112
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Elements
| dauth | “skin, hide” | ✧ GL/29 |
| #-ra² | “verb suffix” | ✧ GL/29 (#-ra) |