4.44 Heart
- Q. hón (hom-) n. “heart (physical organ)”
- The word for the “heart” as a physical organ, as opposed to more metaphorical words like Q. órë and Q. indo. Its stem form was hom- in Tolkien’s later writings (NM/176, PE19/97).
Conceptual Development: The base word for “heart” was quite stable in Tolkien’s mind, but its exact stem form varied. It first appeared as ᴱQ. hon (hond-) “heart” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√HONO, above a longer form hondo (QL/40). It became honde “heart” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/137), but in the contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists, it was londo (PE13/149, 162).
In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s it was ᴹQ. hón “heart” with stem form hom- (PE21/23), but in The Etymologies written around 1937 it was derived from the root ᴹ√KHŌ-N “heart (physical)” (Ety/KHŌ-N). In 1968 notes on gender, hón the “physical organ heart” again had a stem form hom-, and in green ink addendums to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from around 1970, Tolkien gave the primitive form as ✶khō̆m (PE19/97 and 98 note #142). In this last note, Tolkien said it “is not the physical heart, but ‘the interior’ used of the whole range of emotions or feelings”; this seems to be the only place Tolkien indicated this word was metaphorical in nature rather than referring to the physical organ.
- Q. honda adj. “hearted”
- An adjective form of hón appearing as an element of the word sincahonda “flint-hearted” (LotR/979).
Conceptual Development: In 1940s Lord of the Rings drafts it first appeared as ᴹQ. hondo in ᴹQ. tingahondo “flint-hearted” (SD/68).
- Q. sincahonda adj. “flint-hearted”
- A word for “flint-hearted” in Treebeard’s description of orcs, a combination of Q. sinca “flint” and Q. honda “hearted” (LotR/979; PE17/111).
Conceptual Development: In 1940s Lord of the Rings drafts, this word first appeared as ᴹQ. tingahondo (SD/68).
- N. hûn n. “heart (physical)”
- A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “heart (physical)” derived from the root ᴹ√KHŌ-N of the same meaning (Ety/KHŌ-N). This word is not used metaphorically; the metaphorical or emotional “heart” is S. gûr or ind.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. {hond >>} honn “heart” which Tolkien specified was “not used metaphorically, for which ilf is used” (GL/49). It was likely based on the early root ᴱ√HONO from which the Early Qenya word for “heart” was derived (QL/40). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, Tolkien again had hond “heart” (PE13/147), but it was deleted and replaced by ᴱN. lhonn “heart” (PE13/149). The initial h was restored in The Etymologies of the 1930s, as noted above.
Neo-Sindarin: In Tolkien’s later writings, the primitive root for this word became √khōm (NM/176; PE19/102; PE21/71), which in Sindarin would produced *hû. However, I would retain the form hûn as a Sindarin-only variant; compare to the root √TAM which had a Sindarin variant √TAN.
4.45 Liver
- ᴱQ. lepsa n. “liver”
- ᴱQ. lepsa “liver” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LEFE (QL/52). The contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had (unglossed) lipsa, in keeping with the revision G. elf >> G. ilf “heart” (GL/50).
Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. lepsa “liver” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.
- G. rôn n. “liver”
- The word G. rôn⁽²⁾ “liver” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, but its etymology is unclear (GL/65). Q. rāna “moon” was written in pencil nearby, but this seems to be from an earlier layer of the lexicon, and may be unrelated.
Neo-Sindarin: I’d retain ᴺS. rôn “liver” for purpose of Neo-Sindarin, perhaps as a derivative of the later root √RON “solid, firm”, since (a) there are no later words for “liver” and (b) the word rôn does not appear with any other meaning in later writings.
4.46 Belly, Stomach
- ᴹQ. cumba adj. “bellied”
- An adjective for “bellied” appearing as an element in ᴹQ. saurikumba “*foul-bellied” (SD/68).
- ᴹQ. sauricumba adj. “foul-bellied”
- A word appearing in Lord of the Rings drafts as part of Treebeard’s description of orcs (SD/68), likely the equivalent of English “foul-bellied” from the finished text (LotR/979), a combination of saura “foul” and (otherwise unattested) kumba “bellied”.
- ᴱN. girdh adj. “entrails, bowels, inwards [innards]”
- A word appearing as ᴱN. girdh in Early Noldorin Word Lists of the 1920s, glossed either “inwards, entrails” (PE13/144) or “entrails, bowels” (PE13/161), with “inwards” being an archaic English variant of “innards” according to the editors. This word was originally a plural form of ᴱN. gir “interior”, from primitive ᴱ✶ʒirdǝ.
Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt this word as ᴺS. irdh “entrails, bowels” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin based on this primitive form, since the ʒ vanished in Sindarin.