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Select Elvish Words 1.78: Weather

1.78 Weather

ᴱQ. kalle n. “fair weather, clear sky, blue sky”
ᴱQ. kalle “fair weather, clear sky, blue sky” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon as a derivative of the root ᴱ√KALA “shine golden” (QL/44). It also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa with gloss “fair weather” (PME/44).

Neo-Quenya: I think this word might be salvaged as ᴺQ. callë, since the later root √KAL was still associated with light, and this description of fair weather seems to boil down to “lightness”, as in the absense of obscuring clouds.

ᴱQ. kalleva adj. “fair (weather or complexion)”
ᴱQ. kalleva “fair (weather or complexion)” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon along with a variant ᴱQ. kallevoite, both adjectival forms of ᴱQ. kalle “fair weather” under the early root ᴱ√KALA “shine golden” (QL/44).

Neo-Quenya: I think this word might be salvaged as ᴺQ. calleva, since the later root √KAL was still associated with light, and this description of fair weather seems to boil down to “lightness”, as in the absense of obscuring clouds, and similarly for “fair complexion”.

ᴱQ. lúre n. “dark weather, bad weather”
This word appeared as ᴱQ. lūre “dark weather” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√LUVU; it had a stem form of {lūri- >>} lūre- (QL/57). It also appeared as lūre in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/57).

Neo-Quenya: A similar root √LUB “shadow, darkness” appeared in Tolkien’s later writings, so I think this word can be salvaged as ᴺQ. lúrë from primitive *lubrĭ. If so, it would be a rare example of the ancient br not undergoing metathesis to rb, but instead vocalizing before the following voiced consonant: *lubrĭ > luβre > lūre.

ᴱQ. lúrea n. “overcast, dark [of weather]”
ᴱQ. lūrea “dark, overcast” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon as adjectival forms of ᴱQ. lūre “dark weather” (QL/57); the same form was mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa with the gloss “overcast, dark” (PME/57).

Neo-Quenya: I think this word might be salvaged as ᴺQ. lúrëa; see the entry on ᴺQ. lúrë for a possible revised etymology.

G. glaim adj. “serene, clear, fair (espec. of weather)”
An adjective in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as G. glaim “serene, clear, fair, espec. of weather” (GL/39), a cognate of ᴱQ. kalaina of similar meaning and hence based on the early root ᴱ√KALA¹ [*ᴱ√GALA] “shine golden” (QL/44).

Neo-Sindarin: I think G. glaim can be salvaged as ᴺS. glaen, since √GAL was still associated with light in Tolkien’s later writings, but I would derive it instead from the root ᴹ√GALAN “bright”, perhaps from *g(a)laina.

G. glaimri n. “serenity, fair weather”
A word in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as G. glaimri “serenity, fair weather”, an abstract noun form of G. glaim “serene, clear, fair (espec. of weather)” (GL/39).

Neo-Sindarin: If adapting this word to Neo-Sindarin, I would make it an abstract noun form based on Neo-Sindarin ᴺS. glaen “serene, fair (weather)”, hence: ᴺS. glaenas “serenity, fair weather”.

G. lumbri n. “foul weather”
A word in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as G. lumbri “foul weather”, an abstract elaboration of G. lum “[dark] cloud” (GL/55), based on the early root ᴱ√LUVU or ᴱ√LUB (LT1A/Luvier; QL/57; PME/57).

Neo-Sindarin: If adapting this word to Neo-Sindarin, I would revise it ᴺS. lummor, based on (hypothetical) primitive *lu(m)brĭ > lummṛ(e) > lummor, where *lu(m)brĭ is a strengthened variant of (hypothetical) primitive *lubrĭ that is my proposed basis for ᴺQ. lúrë “bad weather”. I think these derivations could remain valid since the root √LUB “shadow, darkness” survives in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/168).

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