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Select Elvish Words 3.16-3.18: Pasture, Herdsman

3.16 to Pasture

ᴱQ. nesta- vb. “to feed”
The verb ᴱQ. nesta- “feed” appeared in the Quenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√NESE “give to feed; feed, pasture; graze” (QL/66). It has past forms nēse and nesse, indicating a close relationship to the verb ᴱQ. nese- “graze, pasture, give to feed, feed” from the same root, which likely would have had the same or similar past-tense forms.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would combine both these early verbs into ᴺQ. nesta- “to graze, pasture, give to feed, feed”, derived from the Neo-Root ᴺ√NES.

G. masta- vb. “to [put to] feed, graze”
The verb G. masta- “feed, graze” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/56). Its etymology is unclear; it is tempting to assume it is derived from the early root ᴱ√MATA “eat” (QL/31), but is not clear how the st would arise in the phonology of Gnomish. Another possible root is ᴱ√M(B)ASA, but in the Qenya Lexicon this root was glossed “cook, bake” (QL/59, 63).

Neo-Sindarin: This word can easily be adapted as Neo-Sindarin ᴺS. masta- based on an ancient causative verb = √MAT “eat” + ✶-tā, since t + t from suffixion resulted in st in later Elvish phonology. I would limit this verb to the sense “[put to] feed, graze” for animals, while directly feeding another would be ᴺS. media-.

3.17 Pasture

ᴱQ. nessele n. “pasture, mead[ow]; pasturage”
The noun ᴱQ. nessele appeared in the Quenya Lexicon of the 1910s with the gloss “pasture, mead; also = pasturage”, a derivative of the early root ᴱ√NESE “give to feed; feed, pasture; graze” (QL/66). It was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa with the gloss “pasture” (PME/66).

Neo-Quenya: I would retain this word as ᴺQ. nesselë “pasture, mead[ow]; pasturage” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, derived from the Neo-Root ᴺ√NES.

G. mast vb. “fodder, feed, ⚠️food, nourishment”
A noun appearing as G. mast “feed, food, nourishment; fodder” in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/56). Its etymology is unclear; it might be derived from the early root ᴱ√MATA “eat” or from ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake”.

Neo-Sindarin: This word can easily be adapted as Neo-Sindarin ᴺS. mast based on ancient √MAT “eat” + noun suffixes ✶-dā or ✶-ta, since d + t or t + t from suffixion resulted in st in Sindarin phonology. I would limit this word to animal feed or fodder, and would use ᴺS. math for “food” in general.

N. nadhor n. “pasture”
A noun for “pasture” in The Etymologies of the 1930s given as naðor and derived from the root ᴹ√NAD (Ety/NAD).
N. nadhras n. “pasture”
A noun for “pasture” in The Etymologies of the 1930s given as naðras and derived from the root ᴹ√NAD (Ety/NAD).

3.18 Herdsman

Q. emer- vb. “?to herd (sheep)”
A word element appearing in emerwen “shepherdess” (UT/209) and Emerië, a region in Númenor famous for its shepherds (UT/167). Therefore, it probably has something to do with either sheep or herding. The Quenya word for “sheep” máma appears in the same text as an element in the name Mámandil (UT/209), making it more likely that emer- has something to do with herding. The suffix -ië appearing in Emerië is often used to form nouns from verbs, so perhaps emer- is a verb: “?to herd (sheep)”.

This is all quite speculative, and there are no attested Elvish roots √MER with a similar meaning. However, since there are no other Quenya words meaning “to herd”, that is the interpretation used here until more evidence appears.

Q. emerwen n. “shepherdess”
A word attested as part of a title of Tar-Ancalimë: Emerwen Aranel “Princess Shepherdess” (UT/209). Its final element is the suffixal form -wen of wendë “maiden”. Its initial element probably has something to do with either sheep or herding. See emer- for further discussion.
ᴱQ. lamáre n. “flock, *herd”
A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “flock” with variants lāmáre and lamárin, based on ᴱQ. lama “head of cattle or sheep” (QL/50). It was first written as lāma, then amended to lāmáre, -in with lámarin written after it. The editors (Gilson, Hostetter, Wynne and Smith) suggested that this likely indicated two forms: lamáre and lámarin.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would adapt this word as ᴺQ. lamárë “flock, *herd”, based on the later word Q. laman “[tame] animal”. Helge Fauskanger used lámáre with two long á in his Neo-Quenya New Testament (NQNT), but such a repetition of long vowels in adjacent syllables would be very unusual for Quenya.

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