1.86 to Light, Kindle
- Q. calta- v. “to kindle, [ᴹQ.] (cause to) shine, light up, [ᴱQ.] set light to”
- This causative verb meaning “kindle, cause to shine” was based on the root √KAL “light; shine” and had a lengthy history in Tolkien’s Elvish languages. ᴱQ. kalta- “kindle, set light to” first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√KALA “shine golden” (QL/44), but in The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. kalta- was only glossed “shine” (Ety/KAL). However the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s kaltā́ was given as an example of causative verbs and glossed “cause to shine, light up, or kindle (lamp etc.)” (PE22/114). In Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s (primitive) kalta- was glossed “cause to shine, kindle” (PE22/156). This verb also appeared in Late Notes on Verbs (LVS) from 1969 as an element in the adjective Q. lacaltaima “not possible to be kindled”.
- ᴺQ. luhtya- v. “extinguish, *quench”
- A neologism for “extinguish” coined by Helge Faugkanger for his Neo-Quenya New Testament (NQNT), perhaps intended to be a cognate of S. luithia- “quench”, assuming that verb was derived from primitive *luktya-; hat-tip to Erkenbard for this suggestion. Patrick Wynne suggested S. luithia- could be based on the root √DUY “flood” (VT48/31 note #7) with primitive D/L variation (CT48/22), but this derivations makes it difficult to explain the -thia ending. This verb might instead be tied to the root √LUK “drag”, based on the sense of dragging something over flames to put them out, making primitive *luktya- more plausible. However, -tya does not appear as a verb suffix in Tolkien’s later writing, though it was fairly common in Early Quenya of the 1910s.
- ᴺQ. narta- v. “to kindle, *ignite, inflame, set fire to”
- A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s for “kindle” derived from the root ᴹ√NARTA of the same meaning (EtyAC/NARTA). This root is probably just a causative verb formation from ᴹ√NAR¹ “flame, fire”, more literally “*make fire”. Hence I think this verb can be used in the general sense of “*ignite, inflame, set fire to”, etc.
- ᴺQ. tinta- v. “to kindle, cause to spark, [ᴹQ.] make to spark”
- A word for “to kindle, cause to spark” (MR/388; PE17/69), a causative verb form based on the root √TIN (PE17/22, 69). Its most notable use is in the name Tintallë “(Star) Kindler” for Varda.
Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. tinta- “to kindle, make to spark” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the same derivation (Ety/TIN), and the verb’s introduction probably coincided with Tolkien’s invention of Varda’s sobriquet.
Neo-Quenya: For purpose of Neo-Quenya, I’d limit this verb’s use to “make a spark”. For “set on fire” I’d instead use [ᴹQ.] narta-.
- N. nartha- v. “to kindle, *ignite, inflame, set fire to”
- A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s for “kindle” given in the Noldorin infinitive form nartho and derived from the root ᴹ√NARTA of the same meaning (EtyAC/NARTA). This root is probably just a causative verb formation from ᴹ√NAR¹ “flame, fire”, and thus more literally “*make fire”. Hence I think this verb can be used in the general sense of “*ignite, inflame, set fire to”, etc.
- S. †thoniel adj. “kindler (in the past)”
- An element in the name Gilthoniel “Star-kindler” which Tolkien explained as “an archaic perfect participle/adjective of √THAN, kindle” in a 1955 letter to David Masson (PE17/82).
Neo-Sindarin: This perfect participle implies the existence of a verb *than- “to kindle”, but since Tolkien said the participle was archaic, the verb may be as well, and it is probably better to use attested [N.] nartha- for “kindle” in Neo-Sindarin.
1.87 Match, Fire Stick
- ᴱQ. tusture n. “tinder, chips, firewood”
- A noun appearing as ᴱQ. tusture “tinder, chips, firewood” in the Qenya Lexicon, a derivative of the root ᴱ√TUŘU [TUÐU] (QL/96).
Neo-Quenya: I think this word may be salvaged in Neo-Quenya as ᴺQ. tusturë based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√TUD from primitive *tud+tud-ē (with a reduplicated root), but I would limit its use to “tinder, chips” and use ᴺQ. tundo for “firewood”.
- ᴱQ. tusturin (tusturind-) n. “match”
- A noun appearing as ᴱQ. tusturin (tusturind-) “match” in the Qenya Lexicon, an elaboration of ᴱQ. tusture “tinder, chips, firewood” (QL/96).
Neo-Quenya: Since I think the word ᴺQ. tusturë “tinder” is salvageable using the Neo-Root ᴺ√TUD, I would likewise salvage ᴺQ. tusturin “match” for the purposes of Neo-Quenya.
- ᴹQ. yúla n. “ember, smouldering wood”
- A noun for {“ember, smouldering brand” >>} “ember, smouldering wood” based on the root ᴹ√YUL “smoulder” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/YUL; EtyAC/YUL). The later meaning of the root √YUL was “drink” (PE17/63).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would adapt the root ᴹ√YUL “smoulder” as the Neo-Root ᴺ√YOL/YUL with vowel variations similar to √SOK/SUK and as such would salvage this word for the purposes of Neo-Quenya; see the entry on ᴺ√YOL/YUL for further discussion.
- N. iolf n. “brand”
- A noun for “brand” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√YUL “smoulder” (Ety/YUL). The form iolv was written next to it, probably indicating pronunciation (EtyAC/YUL). It was marked ON. but should probably be N. as suggested by Hostetter and Wynne (EtyAC/YUL).
Neo-Quenya: This word would become *ylf if adapted directly to Neo-Sindarin, but that conflicts with S. ylf “drinking-vessel” (WJ/416). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would adapt the root ᴹ√YUL “smoulder” as the Neo-Root ᴺ√YOL, which would allow the retention of this Noldorin word unchanged since it could be derived from *yolmā instead.
- N. iûl n. “embers”
- A noun for “embers” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√YUL “smoulder” and cognate to ᴹQ. yúla of the same meaning (Ety/YUL). It was marked ON. but should probably be N. as suggested by Hostetter and Wynne (EtyAC/YUL).
Conceptual Development: A form N. uilw “embers” appeared earlier in the same entry, but was deleted.
Neo-Quenya: This word would become *ŷl if adapted directly to Neo-Sindarin, but the root √YUL was used for “drink” in later writings (PE17/63, 180; WJ/416). To avoid this conflict, I recommend adapting ᴹ√YUL “smoulder” as the Neo-Root ᴺ√YOL of the same meaning, which would allow the retention of this Noldorin word unchanged since it could be derived from *yōlā instead, where long [ō] became [ū] after [ju] became [ȳ] (probably).
- G. pruin n. “charcoal”
- A noun appearing as G. pruin “charcoal” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/64) probably related to the early root ᴱ√PUŘU “consume by fire” [PUÐU] (QL/75). Its gloss was deleted.
Neo-Sindarin: I think this word is worth salvaging in Neo-Sindarin, reconceived of as a derivative of an augmented variant of the later root √RUY “blaze (red)”.
- G. tuth n. “tinder”
- The word G. tuth “tinder” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon as a derivative of the root ᴱ√tudh- [TUÐU] (GL/72), where the final ð became th.
Neo-Sindarin: I think this word may be salvaged in Neo-Sindarin as a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√TUD “firewood, kindling”, but it would become ᴺS. tudh in Sindarin‘s phonetic developments.
- G. tuthli n. “match”
- The word G. tuthli “match” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon as elaboration of G. tuth “tinder” (GL/72).
Neo-Sindarin: This form does not adapt gracefully to later Sindarin, so for “match” I’d use ᴺS. tudheg as a diminutive form of ᴺS. tudh “tinder”.