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Select Elvish Words 8.572: to Sprout, Bud, Blossom

8.572 to Sprout, Bud, Blossom

Q. losta- v. “to bloom, *blossom”

A verb for “to bloom” appearing in notes from the late 1960s as a derivative of √LOT(H), but in that document it was deleted (PE17/26). However losta- “to bloom” reappeared in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1969 with the same derivation, and in that document it was not deleted (VT42/18).

Conceptual Development: The verb ᴱQ. {lōta- >>} lōto- “to bloom” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LO’O (QL/55). Some possible inflected forms for this Early Qenya verb appeared (untranslated) in one of the initial versions of the Oilima Markirya poem (PE16/57-58).

ᴹQ. tuia- v. “to sprout, spring”

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sprouts, springs” under the root ᴹ√TUY “spring, sprout” (Ety/TUY).

ᴹQ. tuilu- v. “to bud, open (of flowers and leaves)”

A word in the Quenya Verbal System written in 1948 appearing as {tuiyu “bud, spring, …” >>} tuilu “bud, open (of flowers and leaves)” as an example of a u-verb (PE22/114). It is clearly based on ᴹ√TUY “spring, sprout” (Ety/TUY).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. tuita- “to bud, burst, burgeon, grow” under the early root ᴱ√TUẎU (QL/96).

ᴹQ. tuima n. “sprout, bud”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “a sprout, bud” under the root ᴹ√TUY “spring, sprout” (Ety/TUY).

Conceptual Development: There was a different word ᴱQ. tetse for “bud” in the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s based on the early root ᴱ√TETE “bud, blossom” (QL/92; PME/92).

N. tui n. “sprout, bud”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “a sprout, bud” under the root ᴹ√TUY “spring, sprout” (Ety/TUY).

Conceptual Development: There was a different word G. teth “a bud” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/70), likely based on the early root ᴱ√TETE “bud, blossom” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/92).

N. tuia- v. “to sprout, spring; to swell”

A verb appearing in its [Noldorin] infinitive form tuio in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√TUY “spring, sprout”, the cognate of ᴹQ. tuia “sprouts, springs” (Ety/TUY). Under the root ᴹ√TIW “fat, thick”, Tolkien said the verb tuio meant “to swell” and was cognate to ᴹQ. tiuya- (Ety/TIW). I suspect it was the result of a blending of these two roots and meanings: “sprout, spring” when applied to plants and “swell” otherwise.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the similarly-derived G. tuitha- “sprout, spring, gush”, likely based on the early root ᴱ√TUẎU (GL/71; QL/96).

G. tuig n. “shoot, sapling, ⚠️sprout”

A noun appearing as G. tuig “a shoot, sapling, sprout” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, likely based on the early root ᴱ√TUẎU (GL/71; QL/96).

Neo-Sindarin: Since √TUY “sprout, bud” survived in Tolkien’s later writing, I would retain ᴺS. tuig for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, but only in the sense “shoot, sapling”. For “sprout, bud” I would use [N.] tui (Ety/TUY).

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