8.635 Elm
- Q. alalvëa adj. “having many elms”
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A word meaning “having many elms” in notes from 1959, an elaboration of alvë “elm” (PE17/146).
- Q. alvë n. “elm”
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A word appearing as alve or albe “elm” in notes from 1959, derived from the root √ALAB of similar meaning (PE17/146, 153).
Conceptual Development: This word was ᴱQ. alalme (alalmi-) “elm (tree)” in the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√ALA² “spread” (QL/29; PME/29). It was ᴱQ. alalme “elm” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/140), and ᴹQ. alalme or lalme “elm-tree” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the roots ᴹ√ALAM or ᴹ√LALAM (Ety/ÁLAM, LÁLAM). The change to alve/albe was fairly late, as noted above.
- S. alaf n. “elm”
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The Sindarin word for “elm” appearing in notes from 1959, derived from the root √ALAB of similar meaning (PE17/153).
Conceptual Development: Tolkien used similar “elm” words for much of his life. The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. lalm or larm “an elm, elm-wood” along with a more elaborate form G. {lalmin >>} lalmir “an elm tree” (GL/52). These were clearly cognates to ᴱQ. alalme “elm (tree)” under the early root ᴱ√ALA² “spread” (QL/29). Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had an unrelated form ᴱN. {aulin >>} ólin “elm” (PE13/151). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien reverted to N. lalf or N. lalven “elm-tree” under the root ᴹ√ÁLAM of the same meaning (Ety/ÁLAM). This root had a variant ᴹ√LÁLAM, under which Tolkien had N. lhalwen or lhalorn “elm-tree” (Ety/LÁLAM).
Neo-Sindarin: In theory the 1930s “elm” words might be used with some adaptations like ᴺS. lalorn for N. lhalorn, but I’d simply stick to the 1959 “elm” word alaf for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.
8.64 Pine
- ᴹQ. fine n. “larch”
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A word for “larch” [a type of pine tree] in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from ᴹ✶spinē under the root ᴹ√SPIN (Ety/SPIN).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. fine “larch” also appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/38), and it appeared again in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/140).
- ⚠️Q. sánë (sáni-) n. “pine”
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In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien had Q. {sāne >>} th-, sāne- “pine” derived from {✶stāna >>} ✶thānĭ-, but this note was deleted (PE17/81). It was replaced by a marginal note in which S. thôn “pine” was derived from ✶thŏno.
Neo-Quenya: In light of the new primitive form, I would update the Quenya word to ᴺQ. sono [þ] “pine” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. Petri Tikka instead proposed ᴺQ. sónë [þ] in Parma Penyanë Quettaron (PPQ) from the early 2000s inspired only by S. thôn “pine”, before the above primitive forms were published in 2007.
Conceptual Development: The Early Qenya “pine” word was ᴱQ. aiqaire “fir or pine” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of ᴱQ. aiqa “steep” (QL/29). It became ᴱQ. aikasse “pine-tree” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, a cognate to G. aigos and derivative of primitive ᴱ✶aikasse (GL/17). This in turn became ᴱQ. aikor “pine-tree” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s, derived from ᴱ✶aikos-sa and still a cognate to G. aigos (PE13/158).
- ᴱQ. súke n. “resinous trees, pine or fir”
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A word appearing as ᴱQ. súke “resinous trees, pine or fir” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√SUKU having to do with resins and gums (QL/86).
Neo-Quenya: I retain this early root as ᴺ√THUK “resin, gum”, so I would also retain ᴺQ. súcë [þ] as a general word for a “resinous tree, pine or fir”.
- G. finios n. “larch”
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A noun appearing as G. finis or finios “larch” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/35), likely a cognate to ᴱQ. fine “larch” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/38). According to the editors, there was a cross mark near this and some other related words, possibly indicating their deletion.
Neo-Sindarin: Since ᴹQ. fine “larch” survived in Tolkien’s later writings, I would retain ᴺS. finios “larch” as well for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.
- S. thôn n. “pine-tree”
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The Sindarin word for “pine-tree”, most notably as an element in the names Dorthonion “Land of Pines” and Orod-na-Thôn “Mount of the Pine Tree(s)”. Tolkien gave it as thôn < ✶stŏna in a 1955 letter to David Masson (PE17/82) and as {thaun >>} thôn in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, derived from {✶stāna >> ✶thānĭ- >>} ✶thŏno (PE17/81).
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. thaun “pine-tree” under the root ᴹ√THŌN of the same meaning (Ety/THŌN). Likely the vowel in this root was a fronted ǭ, which became au in both Sindarin and Noldorin.
In the 1910s and 20s, the “pine-tree” word was ᴱN./G. aigos, first glossed {“cheshnut tree”} in Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/17), with a variant form G. aiguis in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips (PE13/108), and simply as ᴱN. aigos “pine-tree” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/136, 158). It was replaced by thaun/thôn in Tolkien’s later writing, as noted above.