Select Elvish Words 3.649: Bird (other)

3.649 Bird (other)

ᴹQ. ambale n. “yellow bird, yellow hammer”

A word for a yellow bird in The Etymologies of the 1930s, apparently the species yellowhammer, derived from ᴹ✶asmalē as an elaboration of the root ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” (Ety/SMAL). Tolkien later changed this root to √MAL, but ammale might still be plausibly derived from that root.

Q. cirincë n. “scarlet-plumed species of bird”

A species of Númenorean bird that Tolkien described as “no bigger than wrens, but all scarlet, with piping voices on the edge of human hearing”, appearing only in its plural form kirinki (UT/169; NM/337). It is not clear what, if any, terrestrial species it equated to. It might be a diminutive form based on √KIR “cut”, so perhaps literally “*little cutter”.

Q. filincë n. “finch”

A word for “finch” appearing in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936 and Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s, derived form the root √PHILIK (PE21/56, 72). See also ᴹQ. filit “sparrow, small bird”.

Conceptual Development: In the early 1930s document Declension of Nouns, Tolkien gave ᴹQ. liri for “finch”.

ᴹQ. filit (filik-) n. “small bird, sparrow”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small bird” derived from the root ᴹ√PHILIK (Ety/PHILIK). It also appeared in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936 with the gloss “sparrow, small bird” where it coexisted with similarly formed ᴹQ. filinke, elsewhere glossed “finch” (PE21/56). Its plural was filiki indicating a stem form filik- [filic-].

Conceptual Development: In both the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s the word for “sparrow” was ᴱQ. imbilink, an elaboration (diminutive?) of ᴱQ. imbile “swarm, flock, often of small birds” (QL/41), so perhaps “*small swarmer”. ᴹQ. filit (filik-) first appeared in a set of noun declensions from the early 1930s, but it was not translated (PE21/52).

Neo-Quenya: It is not entirely clear whether filit “sparrow” and filinke “finch” coexisted with these meanings, but I would retain both for purposes of Neo-Quenya, and assume filincë “finch” is slightly diminutive in sense.

ᴹQ. halatir(no) n. “kingsfisher, (lit.) fish-watcher”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing as halatir(no) “fish-watcher, kingsfisher”, a combination of ᴹQ. hala “fish” and an agental form ᴹQ. tirno “watcher” of the root ᴹ√TIR “watch” (Ety/SKAL², TIR). Fish-watcher is the literal translation of the name, and kingfisher is the name of the terrestrial species.

ᴱQ. karneambar n. “robin, (lit.) red-breast”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. karneambar “robin” in both the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s, a combination of ᴱQ. karne “red” and ᴱQ. ambar “breast” (QL/48; PME/49). Somewhat oddly, Tolkien specified this word was both “adj. or noun”, but then hinted at a specifically adjectival form ᴱQ. [karneambar]a by adding —a on the line below it.

Neo-Quenya: I would adapt this word as ᴺQ. carnëambos “robin, (lit.) red-breast” for purposes of Neo-Quenya using ᴺQ. ambos for “breast”.

ᴱQ. keket n. “pheasant”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. keket (kekekt-) “pheasant” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√KEKE “cluck” (QL/46).

Neo-Quenya: I would retain this word as ᴺQ. cecet “pheasant” based on a neo-root ᴺ√KEK “cluck”.

ᴱQ. kukua n. “dove”

A word for “dove” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from ᴹ✶kukūwā base on a reduplicated form of the root ᴹ√KŪ (Ety/KŪ). In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road, Christopher Tolkien gave this as a pair of words ku, kua, but in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne clarified that it was a single word kukua replacing a deleted form {<< kua} (EtyAC/KŪ).

Q. lirulin n. “lark”

A word for “lark” appearing in the manuscript draft of Laws and Customs among the Eldar from the late 1950s (MR/238), also mentioned in the tale Of Finwë and Míriel (MR/262), apparently a combination of the roots √LIR and √LIN² having to do with singing.

Conceptual Development: In Laws and Customs among the Eldar this word was first written as Q. {aimenel >>} aimenal before being replaced by lirulin (MR/252 note #6). In documents from the 1910s and 20s, Tolkien gave ᴱQ. ambarin as the word for “lark” (PE13/110, 159).

Q. lómelindë n. “nightingale, (lit.) dusk-singer”

The Quenya word for “nightingale”, a combination of Q. lómë “night” and Q. lindë “song”, more literally “dusk-singer” (MR/172).

Conceptual Development: The word ᴹQ. lómelinde appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the derivation given above (Ety/DOƷ, LIN², TIN).

ᴹQ. tambaro n. “woodpecker, (lit.) knocker”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “woodpecker, knocker”, an agental form of ᴹQ. tamba- “knock” (Ety/TAM).

ᴹQ. tuilindo n. “swallow, (lit.) spring-singer”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “swallow, spring-singer”, a combination of ᴹQ. tuile “spring” and ᴹQ. lindo “singer” (Ety/LIN², TUY).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. tuilindo “spring-singer, swallow” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√TUẎU, apparently with the same derivation as it had in the 1930s (QL/96). Tuilindo “swallow” also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/96).

G. amosgarn n. “robin, (lit.) red-breast”

The word G. amosgarn “robin” appeared in Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (PE13/110), a combination of G. ammos “breast(plate)” and G. carn(in) “scarlet” and equivalent to ᴱQ. karneambar “robin, (lit.) red-breast” (QL/48).

Conceptual Development: Several similar forms appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon proper: G. {ambogrintha, amrintha >>} ammogrint “red breast” (GL/19) and G. {crinthambos >>} crinthammos “red breast, robin” (GL/27), but these words used G. crintha “rosy, pink” rather than G. carn(in) “scarlet”.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would adapt this word as ᴺS. amosgarn “robin, (lit.) red-breast” as a combination of ᴺS. ammos “breast” and a modified form of S. caran “red”.

ᴱN. amrent n. “lark”

The word ᴱN. amrent or amrint “lark” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/137, 159), and the word amrint “lark” also appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon and Gnomish Lexicon Slips of the 1910s (GL/19; PE13/110), though in the Gnomish Lexicon the word was initially glossed “robin” (GL/19).

Possible Etymology: The etymology of this word isn’t entirely clear. When glossed “robin”, its initial element seems to have been G. am “breast” and hence probably = “red breast” with its second element a variant of G. crintha “rosy, pink”. When the word was changed to amrint “lark”, Tolkien marked this new entry with a “*”, indicating it was part of its own derivational group rather than related to G. am “breast”. In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips Tolkien gave its primitive form as ᴱ✶ambarinþǝ (PE13/110) and in the Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s Tolkien gaves its Qenya equivalent as ᴱQ. ambarin(d-). That document also had the new form ᴱN. amrent indicating some kind of a-affection. It is conceivable that the initial element might be ᴱ√AM(U) “up”, but that seems unlikely since the lark is a ground bird.

Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt ᴺS. amrent “lark” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, and assume it is derived from *ambarint(h)a of now-obscure meaning.

N. cugu n. “dove”

A word for “dove” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from ᴹ✶kukūwā base on a reduplicated form of the root ᴹ√KŪ (Ety/KŪ). It replaced a deleted for cû from primitive ᴹ✶kūwā (EtyAC/KŪ).

S. dúlin n. “nightingale”

A word for “nightingale” appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a combination of N. dû “night” and N. lhinn “tune” (Ety/DOƷ, Ety/LIN², TIN). It appeared as both dúlinn (Ety/LIN²) and dúlin (Ety/TIN). In The Notion Club Papers of the 1940s, Tolkien instead gave duilin “nightingale” as a derivative of primitive ᴹ✶dōmilindē, demonstrating a phonetic development whereby the ancient m became v and then vanished after the u, but the medial i was preserved. However, Christopher Tolkien used the form dúlin in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/dú), and that form is thus better known.

N. emlin n. “yellow bird, yellow hammer”

A word for a yellow bird in The Etymologies of the 1930s, apparently the species yellowhammer, appearing under the root ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” (Ety/SMAL). The initial element was derived from primitive ᴹ✶asmalē, which became ON. ammale in Old Noldorin, but at this stage the word was expanded to ON. ammalinde with the addition of *linde “song”, and whole word became emlin as a result of i-affection. Emlin replaced deleted variants ammalen and amalen, both apparently derived from ON. ammalinda, where a-affection trumped i-affection.

N. fileg n. “small bird, [G.] *sparrow”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small bird” derived from the root ᴹ√PHILIK and cognate to ᴹQ. filit (filik-) of the same meaning (Ety/PHILIK). Tolkien said fileg was an “analogical singular” form (along with another singular form filigod) based on its plural form filig. That is because the final -k in *philik was lost in ancient times, as explained in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s (PE21/72) so that its historical phonetic development would have produced singular N./S. *fil. This form was deemed unsuitable, and a new singular form fileg was constructed based on the plural. Something similar happened with S. thoron “eagle”.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. bilin or bilinc for “a small bird, especially sparrow”, a diminutive form of G. bil “bird” (GL/22, 23).

Neo-Sindarin: I think it likely that fileg can also be used to refer to sparrows for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, since its Quenya cognate filit was in one place glossed “sparrow, small bird” (PE21/56).

S. flinc n. “finch”

A word for a “finch” appearing in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure of the early 1950s, derived from primitive ✶philinki (PE21/72, 81). N. flinc also appeared in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, but there the word was unglossed.

N. heledir(n) n. “kingsfisher, (lit.) fish-watcher”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s for a kingfisher derived from primitive ᴹ✶khalatirnō̆ “fish watcher” with variants heledir and heledirn (Ety/KHAL¹, SKAL², TIR). Tolkien also considered and rejected the form haledir without i-affection (EtyAC/KHAL¹).

N. tavor n. “woodpecker, knocker; ⚠️[G.] wood fay”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s for a “woodpecker”, derived from the primitive agental form ᴹ✶tamrō “knocker” (Ety/TAM). It had an (archaic?) variant tafr, pronounced tavr, which became tavor when the final r became syllabic.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. tavor was a noun for “a wood fay” (GL/69).

N. tuilinn n. “swallow, (lit.) spring-singer”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s for a “swallow” derived from primitive ᴹ✶tuilelindō “spring-singer” (Ety/LIN², TUY).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had G. {duil >>} G. duiling or duilinc “swallow”, apparently a diminutive form based on (archaic) ᴱ✶du̯il “bird” (GL/31). Tolkien also had deleted G. duil “spring” (GL/31), and in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon he gave as its cognate ᴱQ. tuilindo “spring-singer, swallow” under the early root ᴱ√TUẎU that was the basis for “spring” words (QL/96). However, Tolkien marked this Qenya form with a “*” and said it was “not related”, so perhaps Tolkien reimagined word as a derivative of *ᴱ√DUYU that was the basis for “bird” words in the Gnomish Lexicon, since initial d became t in Early Qenya.

ᴱN. {duilen >>} duilin “a swallow” reappeared in the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s (PE13/120) and duilin “swallow” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the same period (PE13/142). N. tuilinn “swallow, (lit.) spring-singer” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, as described above.