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Select Elvish Words 5.80: Berry

5.80 Berry

ᴱQ. aipio n. “cherry”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. aipio “cherry, holy berry” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a combination of ᴱ√AYA¹ and ᴱQ. pio “berry” (QL/34, 74). It was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa and Gnomish Lexicon (PME/34; GL/18).

Neo-Quenya: Since √AYA(N) “blessed” continues to appear in Tolkien’s later writings, I’d retain ᴺQ. aipio “cherry” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

ᴱQ. melpo n. “gooseberry”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. melpo “gooseberry” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which Tolkien further described as “a fruit of the gooseberry type — squashy, with seeds” (QL/61). Its etymology is unclear, but it might be a combination of ᴱ√MELE “love” and a reduced form of ᴱQ. pio “berry”.

Neo-Quenya: Since there are no later options for this word, I’d retain ᴺQ. melpo “gooseberry” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

ᴱQ. pio n. “berry, plum, cherry”

A word appearing as pseudo-root ᴱQ. PIO “plum, (berry), cherry” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which Tolkien indicate was possibly connected to the early root ᴱ√PIẆI or ᴱ√PINI (QL/74). Elsewhere in the document Tolkien said pio was a type of fruit “like cherries, plums, etc.” (QL/61). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, Tolkien instead had ᴱQ. pie “berry” (PE16/143).

Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. pio for purposes of Neo-Quenya for small fruits with seeds like plums, cherries and berries.

ᴱQ. pi(o)pin n. “haws, fruit of hawthorns”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. piopin or pipin in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “the fruit of hawthorns, haws”, apparently a combination of ᴱQ. pio “berry” and ᴱ√PINI “*small” (QL/74). Both piopin and pipin appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa with the gloss “haws” (PME/74).

Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. piopin for purposes of Neo-Quenya for the fruit of hawthorns, since there is evidence that *√PI(N) “little” survived in Tolkien’s later writing.

ᴱQ. piukka n. “blackberry”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. piukka “blackberry” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of ᴱQ. pio “berry” (QL/61, 74). This word was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa and Gnomish Lexicon (PME/74; GL/64).

Neo-Quenya: I’d adapt this word as ᴺQ. piuca “blackberry” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, since a diphthong cannot precede a double-consonant in Quenya as Tolkien’s conceived it in his later writings.

G. aibin n. “cherry (tree)”

A word appearing as G. aibin “cherry tree” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along with a variant aibios, both cognates to ᴱQ. aipio of similar meaning (GL/18). Its initial element was from the early root ᴱ√AYA¹ having to do with reverence (QL/34), and its final elements were variants of the berry words G. pibin and G. piog (GL/64). In Gnomish Lexicon Slips the word became {ebin >>} eibin “cherry” (PE13/113), with the vowel change due to the newly introduced i-affection.

Neo-Sindarin: I would update this word to ᴺS. aebin which is more compatible with the phonetic developments of Sindarin in the 1950s and 60s, where ai become ae. I would use it for both a “cherry” and a “cherry tree”.

G. dod n. “berry”

The word G. dod “berry” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s above G. dod- “fall down, drop” (GL/30), so perhaps originally meaning “*a thing dropped”.

Neo-Sindarin: I would retain ᴺS. dod “berry” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin as a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√DOT “drop”.

G. pibin n. “small berry, haw”

A noun appearing as G. pibin “small berry, haw” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/64), clearly a cognate to ᴱQ. pi(o)pin “fruit of hawthorns, haws” (QL/74).

Neo-Sindarin: The Early Qenya word was related to ᴱ√PINI “*small” and there is evidence that *√PI(N) continued to mean “small” in Tolkien’s later writing. Therefore, I’d retain ᴺS. pibin for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, used of any small berry but more specific the berries of hawthorns.

⚠️G. piog n. “berry”

A word in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “berry”, the cognate of ᴱQ. piukka “blackberry” (GL/64; QL/74). The io is probably the result of the Gnomish sound change whereby iu became io (PE15/13).

Neo-Sindarin: In Sindarin, iu became ŷ, so this word might be adapted as ᴺS. pŷg, but I prefer to use ᴺS. dod for “berry”.

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