5.81 Salt
- ᴱQ. singe (singi-) n. “salt”
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A noun appearing as ᴱQ. {singi >>} singe “salt” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s and under the early root ᴱ√SIŊI (QL/83). The contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa had ᴱQ. singi “salt” (PME/83). Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. singwe “salt” (PE16/145).
Neo-Sindarin: Of these various forms, I’d use ᴺQ. singë for “salt” for best compatibility with [G.] sing “salt”, but would assume its stem form is singi- and that it was a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√SIÑGI.
- ᴱQ. singwa adj. “salt, *salty”
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A word appearing as ᴱQ. singwa “salt (aj.)” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an adjective form of ᴱQ. singe “salt” (QL/83).
Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. singwa “salt[y]” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.
- G. sing n. “salt”
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A noun appearing as G. sing “salt” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/67), clearly the cognate of ᴱQ. singe “salt” and hence derived from the early root ᴱ√SIŊI (QL/83).
Neo-Sindarin: I’d retain ᴺS. sing “salt” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin as a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√SIÑGI.
- G. singrin adj. “salt, *salty”
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A word appearing as G. singrin “salt (aj.)” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, an adjective form of G. sing “salt” (GL/67).
Neo-Sindarin: I’d adapt this word as ᴺS. singren “salt[y]” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin using a more common Sindarin adjective suffix.
5.84 Honey
- Q. lís (liss-) n. “honey, *sugar, sweetener”
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A word for “honey” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 given as lîs and derived from the root √(G)LIS (PE17/154); the usual representation of a long vowel in Quenya would be *lís. In DLN Tolkien said that it sometimes appeared as līr- in inflections with the usual change of intervocalic s to r, but that its usual stem form was liss-. Indeed, in The Etymologies of the 1930s this word was ᴹQ. lis “honey” under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning, and its stem form was also liss- as indicated by its [ᴹQ.] genitive lissen (Ety/LIS). Tolkien originally gave the base noun as lisse in The Etymologies, but this was deleted and replaced by lis (EtyAC/LIS). In The Etymologies its Noldorin cognate was N. glî.
Conceptual Development: A likely precursor to this word was ᴱQ. ile “honey” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, cognate to ᴱN. glí “honey” (GL/59).
Neo-Quenya: Since there are other honey-words in Quenya like Q. nehtë, I would use lís (liss-) for sweeteners in general, including both honey and sugar.
- ᴱQ. nehtë n. “honey”
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A noun for “honey” appearing in 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) derived from ✶negdē “exudation” based on the root √NEG “ooze, drip” (PE19/91). It was a later iteration of ᴹQ. nehte “honeycomb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s which had essentially the same derivation (EtyAC/NEG). This in turn was a later form of ᴱQ. nekte “honey” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√NEHE having to do with bees and honey (QL/65).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use this word only for “honey”. For “honeycomb” I’d use ᴺQ. nehtelë inspired by ᴱQ. nektele “honeycomb” (QL/65)
- ᴱQ. nektele n. “honeycomb”
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The word nektele “honeycomb” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s as an elaboration of ᴱQ. nekte “honey” (QL/65; PME/65).
Neo-Quenya: I’d update this word to ᴺQ. nehtelë “honeycomb” to be compatible with the later form Q. nehtë “honey” (PE19/91).
- N. glî n. “honey”
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A word for “honey” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶g-lisi under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning (Ety/LIS).
Conceptual Development: In Early Noldorin Word-lists Tolkien also had ᴱN. glí “honey” (PE13/144), presumably similarly derived from the early root ᴱ√LISI. However, in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “honey” was G. neglis with an initial element √neg- (GL/59), the Gnomish equivalent of the early root ᴱ√NEHE that was the basis for ᴱQ. nekte “honey” (QL/65). It is possible that the second element of G. neglis was based on ᴱ√LISI and this was carried forward into later “honey” words.
- ᴱN. glidheb adj. “like honey”
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A word appearing as ᴱN. glidheb “like honey” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, an adjectival form of ᴱN. glí “honey” (PE13/144). The dh may have been introduced before the adjective suffix -eb to make it more pronounceable.
Neo-Sindarin: Since [N.] glî “honey” appeared in Tolkien’s later writings, I’d retain ᴺS. glidheb “like honey” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.
- S. nîdh n. “[N.] honeycomb; ⚠️[S.] juice”
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A noun for “juice” appearing in 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2), derived from ✶negdē “exudation” based on the root √NEG “ooze, drip”; its Quenya cognate was Q. nehtë² “honey” (PE19/91). Sindarin nîdh was a later iteration of N. {nēdh >>} nīdh “honeycomb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s which had essentially the same derivation (EtyAC/NEG). This in turn was a later form of G. nectha “honey comb” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/60), cognate to ᴱQ. nekte “honey” and hence derived from the early root ᴱ√NEHE having to do with bees and honey (QL/65).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use nîdh with its earlier meaning “honeycomb”. For “juice” I’d use other words like [N.] saw and [ᴺS.] paich (adapted from N. peich).
5.85 Sugar
- G. glist n. “sugar”
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In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “sugar” was G. glist along with a longer variant G. glissith where the second element was G. thith “dust” (GL/39). The word glist was likely derived from the early root ᴱ√LISI “sweetness” (QL/54-55).
Neo-Sindarin: Since √LIS survived as the basis for “sweet” words in Tolkien’s later writings, I’d retain ᴺS. glist “sugar” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.