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Select Elvish Words 1.221: Peak, Summit

1.221 Peak, Summit

ᴹQ. aikale n. “peak”
A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “a peak”, an abstract noun formation of ᴹQ. aika “sharp” (Ety/AYAK).
ᴹQ. aikasse n. “mountain peak”
A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “mountain peak”, an abstract noun formation of ᴹQ. aika “sharp” (Ety/AYAK).
ᴹQ. antaro n. “high mountain, peak”
A word appearing in the The Feanorian Alphabet of the 1930s (PE22/22) and 1940s (PE22/52) with the glosses “high mountain, peak”. It appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a proper name Antaro for a mountain in Valinor, but this name did not appear in the narratives or the maps (EtyAC/N, TĀ). Based on the entries in The Etymologies, it is an intensive noun form of ᴹQ. tára “lofty, high”, so literally means “*great height”.
Q. ingor n. “summit of a mountain”
A word appearing in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s with the gloss “summit of a mountain”, given as a derivative of √ING (PM/340).
ᴹQ. mintye n. “peak”
A word in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s glossed “peak” given as an example for the Quenya declension of nouns ending in -ye (PE22/44). It is probably a derivative of ᴹ√MIN “stand alone, stick out”.
Q. orotinga n. “mountain-top”
A word in notes from the late 1960s glossed “mountain-top” whose final element was Q. inga “top” (VT47/28). Its initial element is probably a variant of Q. orto “mountain”.
S. aeglir n. “line of peaks, [N.] range of mountain peaks; ⚠️[ᴱN.] peak, mountain top”
A word for a mountain range, a compound of S. aeg “sharp” and S. lîr “line”, or more literally “line of (mountain) peaks”, as in S. Hithaeglir “Misty Mountains, (lit.) Line of Misty Peaks” (Let/180; RC/11).

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was ᴱN. aiglir “peak, mountain top” in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s, but there it was a singular rather than collective noun, an elaboration of ᴱN. aig “high, steep” (PE13/136, 158). In this period it had a distinct plural form eiglir as in ᴱN. Eiglir Engrin “Iron Mountains” (LB/33, 49). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it appeared as N. oeglir “range of mountain peaks” with essentially the same etymology as given above, except with the Noldorin word N. oeg “sharp” instead of later Sindarin word S. aeg.

N. egnas n. “sharp point, peak”
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sharp point, peak” (EtyAC/EK), apparently a combination of ᴹ√EK “(sharp) point” and ᴹ√NAS “point, sharp end”, so perhaps literally “pointy point”.
S. min n. “peak”
A word glossed “peak” appearing in the name S. Min-Rimmon “Peak of the Rimmon” from the Unfinished Index to The Lord of the Rings (RC/511). It is probably a derivative of √MIN.
N. taen n. “height, summit of high mountain”
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “height, summit of high mountain” derived from primitive ᴹ✶taʒna of similar meaning (Ety/TĀ), where the diphthong ae arose due to the usual vocalization of ʒ [ɣ] before nasals. It would have gone through the same vocalizations and had the same form if it were a Sindarin word.

Conceptual Development: In Early Noldorin Word-lists there were two similar nouns: ᴱN. tain “mountain” (PE13/153) and ᴱN. dain “height, summit; height, loftiness, sublimity” (PE13/141, 161). The first of these probably had a derivation similar to later N. taen, but the latter was derived from primitive ᴱ✶dágniya. The two forms seems to represent distinct early roots *ᴱ√DAHA and ᴱ√TAHA, which would have blended together in Early Qenya since initial voiced stops were unvoiced: d- > ᴱQ. t-.

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