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Select Elvish Words 8.61: Oak

8.61 Oak

ᴹQ. lindornea adj. “having many oaks”

A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “having many oak-trees” or “having many oaks”, a combination of ᴹQ. lin- “many” and an adjectival form of ᴹQ. norno “oak”, where the more ancient initial consonant d- was preserved/restored in the compound (Ety/DÓRON, LI).

ᴹQ. nornea adj. “*of oak”

An adjectival form of ᴹQ. norno appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as an element in ᴹQ. lindornea “having many oak-trees” (Ety/DÓRON). Here the ancient initial d- was preserved in the compound, but would have become n- as an independent word.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. nornea “of oak” also appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as an adjectival form of ᴱQ. norne “oak-tree” (QL/67).

ᴱQ. nornelassea adj. “having oak-leaves”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. nornelasse(a) “having oak-leaves” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a combination of ᴱQ. norne “oak-tree” and ᴱQ. lassea “with leaves” (QL/67).

Neo-Quenya: Since Q. norno was a later form of the Quenya word for “oak”, I would update this word to ᴺQ. nornolassëa for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

⚠️Q. nordo n. “oak”

A word for “oak” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/25), possibly introduced to avoid conflict with Norno “Dwarf” (WJ/388). Its Sindarin cognate was S. norð, indicating derivation from primitive *nordō. See the entry Q. norno for earlier forms of the word.

Q. norno n. “oak”

A word appearing as norno “oak” in both The Etymologies of the 1930s and the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s derived from primitive ✶dor[o]no and the root ᴹ√DORON (PE19/80; Ety/DÓRON). The appearance of an initial n- is unusual, since generally initial [d] became [l] in Ancient Quenya. But sometimes ancient initial [d] assimilated to following nasal instead, as was the case with this word.

Conceptual Development: Variants of this word date all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which had ᴱQ. nor (norn-) “oak” and ᴱQ. norne “oak-tree” under the early root ᴱ√NOŘO [NDOÐO?] (QL/67). The form ᴱQ. norne “oak” was mentioned Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/140), but it became ᴹQ. norno in The Etymologies of the 1930s, as noted above.

Neo-Quenya: Tolkien introduced words Q. nordo and S. norð “oak” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/25), possibly introduced to avoid conflict with Norno “Dwarf” (WJ/388). I prefer the form norno “oak” as better-established and more etymologically interesting.

N. doron n. “oak”

A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√DORON (Ety/DÓRON).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. Dorna “ilex, holm oak” (GL/30), cognate of ᴱQ. norne “oak-tree” which was derived from the early root ᴱ√NOŘO [NDOÐO?] in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/67). The Gnomish word became dorn “oak” in Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document (PE13/113). See ᴱN. gorw “oak” for other early “oak” words.

Neo-Sindarin: Tolkien introduced words S. norð and Q. nordo “oak” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/25). I prefer the form Q. norno “oak” as better-established and more etymologically interesting. I would thus use [N.] doron “oak” as well for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, which make it easier for us to retain N. nordh “cord” as well (Ety/SNUR).

⚠️ᴱN. gorw n. “oak”

A word appearing as ᴱN. {gorm >>} gorw “oak” in Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/145).

Conceptual Development: A possible precursor was G. grôn “oak, oaktree” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1920s (GL/42).

⚠️S. nordh n. “oak”

A word for “oak” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/25). See the entry N. doron for earlier forms of the word.

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