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Select Elvish Words 5.86-5.89: Milk, Cheese, Butter

5.86 Milk

ᴱQ. ilimba adj. “milky”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. ilimba “milky” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. ilin (ilim-) “milk” (QL/42).

Neo-Quenya: I retain ᴺQ. ilimba “milky” for purposes of Neo-Quenya as the adjectival form of ᴺQ. ilin “milk”.

ᴱQ. ilin (ilim-) n. “milk”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. ilin (ilim-) “milk” in the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√ILI¹ “shine oily” (QL/42; PME/42).

Neo-Quenya: Qenya “oil” words were derived from other primitive forms in the 1920s (ᴱ✶mḷgo: PE13/139), but I prefer to retain ᴺQ. ilin “milk” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, derived from an Neo-Root ᴺ√ILIM.

G. thim n. “milk”

A word appearing as G. thim “milk, after separation” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, clearly related to the verb G. thin- “skim” (GL/71-72).

Neo-Sindarin: Although there are no other related words in Tolkien’s later writings, there are also no other alternatives for “milk” in the Sindarin language branch, so I would retain ᴺS. thim “milk” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin. I would use it especially for milk separated from cream. It might be derived from an ancient form such as *thimbē from a Neo-Root *ᴺ√THIM.

5.87 to Milk

G. thin- v. “to skim”

A word appearing as G. thin- “skim” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along with a variant thinta-, both clearly related to the noun G. thim “milk, after separation” (GL/71-72).

Neo-Sindarin: These 1910s verbs conflict with the later root √THIN “grey” and the verb [N.] thinna- “fade” from ON. thintha-. As such, I adapt this verb as ᴺS. thiv- “to skim” based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√THIM which I used to justify the retention of ᴺS. thim for “milk”.

5.88 Cheese

ᴱQ. tyur- v. “to curdle (blood, milk, etc.), turn sour (of milk), *congeal”

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. tyuru- in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with the gloss “to ‘turn’ milk, curdle (blood etc.)” derived from the early root ᴱ√TYURU “curdle” (QL/50). The form Q. tyuru- is also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as related to G. cûr “cheese”, but it isn’t clear whether this is a reference to the verb or the root (GL/28).

Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. tyur- “curdle” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, derived from a Neo-Root ᴺ√KYUR.

ᴱQ. tyurda adj. “curdled”

An adjective appearing as ᴱQ. tyurda “curdled” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√TYURU “curdle” (QL/50).

Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. tyurda “curdled” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, derived from a Neo-Root ᴺ√KYUR.

ᴱQ. tyurme n. “cheese”

The word for “cheese” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was ᴱQ. tyur (tyurd-) derived from the early root ᴱ√TYURU “curdle” (QL/50). This became ᴱQ. tyurme “cheese” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141).

Neo-Quenya: I’d use ᴺQ. tyurmë “cheese” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, derived from a Neo-Root ᴺ√KYUR.

ᴱN. corn n. “cheese”

The word for “cheese” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s was G. cûr, related to G. caura “sour (of milk)” and derived from the early root ᴱ√TYURU “curdle” (GL/26, 28; QL/50). In Gnomish Lexicon Slips added to that document, “cheese” was instead cír from primitive ᴱ√tyus, with an alternate form cur written in pencil above it (PE13/113). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, “cheese” became ᴱN. corn from primitive ᴱ✶kyurna (PE13/140).

Neo-Sindarin: Of these, I prefer ᴺS. cûr for “cheese”, since ᴱN. corn “cheese” collides with later N. corn “round”. I assume ᴺS. cûr is derived from a Neo-Root ᴺ√KYUR “curdle”, perhaps from primitive *kyūrŭ.

ᴱN. cirtha- n. “to turn sour (tr.)”

In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s there was an intransitive verb G. cur- “turn, curdle, congeal (intr.) ”, as opposed to transitive G. curtha- “to curdle, make to cheese (tr.)” (GL/28), both clearly derived from the early root ᴱ√TYURU “curdle” (QL/50), where the primitive voiceless palatal stop [c] became [k] in Gnomish but became [ty] in Quenya (PE12/16). The verb cor- was initially not marked as intransitive and had a (deleted) past form caur (GL/28) which became the past form cauri elsewhere in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/25).

In Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document, cur- was glossed “to turn sour (tr. and intr.)” with past forms curthi or cŷr (PE13/112). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s it was again split into a pair of verbs ᴱN. cirtha- [or possibly certha-] “to turn sour (tr.)” (PE13/140) and ᴱN. curann- “to curdle (intr.)” (PE13/141), the latter with past forms cyrenaint or agyraint and infinitive curreni.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would adapt Gnomish cur- as ᴺS. cor- “to turn sour, curdle, congeal; to make cheese” from the Neo-Root ᴺ√KYUR, where short u became o as was generally the case in Sindarin. I would further assume it was both intransitive and transitive as the verb was in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips.

5.89 Butter

ᴱQ. mingwe n. “butter”

The word for “butter” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was ᴱQ. manya derived from the early root ᴱ√MṆGṆ (QL/62) with the cognate G. mang “butter” from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/56). A similar form ᴱQ. mingwe “butter” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141, 145), along with an unrelated form ᴱQ. úle “butter” that also appeared as an adjective in the phrase masta {mingwea >>} úlea “bread and butter” (PE16/141). In contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, the Qenya word for “butter” was ᴱQ. telpe rather than having its usual meaning “silver” as in earlier and later writings (PE13/154).

Neo-Quenya: Of these forms, I prefer ᴺQ. manya for “butter” for purposes of Neo-Quenya since it has the clearest (Neo-Sindarin) cognate ᴺS. mang. I assume these words are derived from a Neo-Root ᴺ√MANGYA where ngy became ng in (Old) Sindarin but became ndy in Quenya and then developed into ny.

ᴱQ. qirme n. “cream”

A noun appearing as ᴱQ. qirme “cream” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√QIŘI [QIÐI] (QL/77).

Neo-Quenya: I would retain this word as ᴺQ. quirmë “cream” for purposes of Neo-Quenya based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√KWIR “stir”.

G. cwîr n. “cream”

A noun appearing as G. cwîr “cream” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/28), clearly related to ᴱQ. qirme “cream” and thus derived from the early root ᴱ√QIŘI (QL/77).

Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt this word as ᴺS. pîr “cream” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin from a Neo-Root ᴺ√KWIR “stir”, with ancient kw becoming p as was usual in Sindarin.

G. mang n. “butter”

A word appearing as G. mang “butter” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/28), clearly related to ᴱQ. manya “butter” and thus derived from the early root ᴱ√MṆGṆ (QL/62).

Neo-Sindarin: I’d retain ᴺS. mang “butter” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin from a Neo-Root ᴺ√MANGYA, where ngy became ng in (Old) Sindarin (PE19/23).

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