Re: Elliott's peoples

Quoting John Cowan <cowan@...>:

> Sally Caves scripsit:
>
> > He even modified the spelling (i.e., not "dwarfish," not
> > "elfish," which connote diminution and frivolity).
>
> For the record, I think the spelling "elvish" predates JRRT, though
> "dwarvish" does seem to be his own (unconscious) invention.
He wrote somewhere about some editors that wanted to change "elvish" and
"dwarvish" to "elfish" and "dwarfish" that he was annoyed enough by the latter
change, but the first even worse since both spellings were current. I'm under
the impression that "elvish" is the original form, and that "elfish" is reformed
after the medial f>v of OE had ceased to operate.

                                            Andreas

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