if Fahluaan is canon of Gardener (referring to Hermaeus Mora, the Gardener of Men, who is also known as the Inevitable Knower) then there must be a related root meaning Garden, which is thought to be Fahlu. Though the -u ending is unusual aside from some single-syllable words, it isn't alone, as the canon word for army is Lahvu (and I don't think it's a compound word from "magic" and "dawn"). Other words ending in -u are a compound ending in -nu. 

But.

If the dragon Nahfahlaar is named by the three words Nah Fahl Aar (fury ___ servant), then Fahl has to mean something on its own. Is the -u in Fahlu a possessive suffix? If so, is "garden" actually "our ___"?  Fahl could mean several things, such as "plant" or "seed" or "property". It could also just be the verb form of "garden".

I have issues with the word overall, as -aan is a past participle indicator. But that would make the word "Gardened" and the phrase Fahluaan do Jul doesn't translate properly. 

Is Fahluaan just an irregular word? Or did Bethesda just throw it out there thinking it made sense lol.

That's an excellent point, thank you. I tried to find another use of -aan that wasn't a past tense but that is the perfect, if only example. I was thinking -iik was the suffix used for that (like traveller). There's no reason then that the root of the word isn't Fahlu.

I'm assuming it's possible that Fahl is just an acceptable way to write Fahlu. There are some instances of two version of words in canon. What I'm just trying to figure out is if it can be reasonably argued that Fahl (not Fahlu) does indeed mean "garden" (n/v). For reasons. :)

eta: There's also Qiilaan, n/v, "bow". I wonder if it could also be "one who has bowed/submitted". 

And then there's Fahliil, talked about in this locked post: https://www.thuum.org/viewthread.php?thread=251

-iil- isn't always a second-person possessive (Diil, undead; Qiilaan, bow). It's hard however to think that Fahliil isn't rooted in Fahl. I'm just not convinced of the paal relation. 

In the above-linked post, someone mentions that Fahl/Fahliil could be related to Falmer and I think that's a really good point. And I like that Fahliil and Gogil (goblin) share an end-sound. If that's the case then the possessive "our" isn't correct. But we already have roots for "ice" and "snow" and "white" so Fahl isn't either of those, though it could be "pale". But that makes no sense in relation to Fahluaan. 

So I'm thinking Fahliil has no relation to Fahluaan and that Fahliil has no funky root and simply just means "elf" as it is without being a compound word.

(this thread is related to this one in case someone is interested)

scrptrx

So I'm thinking Fahliil has no relation to Fahluaan and that Fahliil has no funky root and simply just means "elf" as it is without being a compound word.

Just a thought, in traditional fantasy elves are commonly associated with nature and flora, but that really doesn't apply to Mer.

I hadn't considered fahliil possibly relating to falmer before, that's a tantalizing possibility. The sole usage of fahliil in the corpus probably portrays Snow Elves. Are there any known Ehlnofex loanwords in the dragon language? Maybe mulaag 'strength' and the Ehlnofex molag 'fire' are related. Notably, the ancient Nords originally called Skyrim "Mereth" on account of the Mer inhabiting it, though that doesn't seem to penetrate the dragon language in any way (see Keizaal).

side note (because I was bored) to answer your question about Ehlnofex/Aldmeris:

• (EHL) Aka (dragon) – Aak (guide), Kah (proud)
• (ALD) Dun (dark, cursed) – Dur (curse), Daan (doom)
• (ALD) Molag (fire) – Mulaag (strength)
• (ALD) Ne (not) – Neh (never), Ni (not)

so, not many.