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Select Elvish Words 9.34-9.342: to Strew, Spread Out, Press

9.34 to Strew, Spread Out

ᴹQ. kapta- v. “to make spring, scatter; [ᴱQ.] to startle, ⚠️leap”

A verb appearing in the initial drafts of Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) for the 1930s as ᴹQ. kapta- “make spring, scatter”, a combination of ᴹ√KAP “leap” with the causative suffix ᴹ✶-tā so more literally “make leap”, and having a variant kapsa- in the Lindarin dialect (PE19/41-43, note #79). Tolkien rejected the relevant section while exploring other possible phonetic developments of pt (PE19/41).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. kapta- was glossed {“swallow” >>} “startle” under the early root ᴱ√KAPA “leap, spring”, though Tolkien marked this word with a “?” (QL/45). In documents from the 1920s, ᴱQ. kapta- was glossed “leap” (PE14/56, 58, 66).

Neo-Quenya: Since kapta- is consistent with the phonetic rules described in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s, I would retain ᴺQ. capta- (pronounced [kaɸta]) with the senses “to make spring, scatter; to startle”. In ordinary use I would assume capta- mainly meant “startle, (orig.) make leap”. To emphasized that the startled individuals actually scattered away, I would combine it with the adverb öa “away”: captalvet oa = “we scattered them, (lit.) we startled them away”.

ᴱQ. rína adj. “scattered, ⚠️sown”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. (-)rīna “scattered, sown” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√RIẎI (QL/80). I interpret the (-) to mean this word can be either an independent adjective or a suffix.

Neo-Quenya: Since there is evidence the root ᴹ√RĪI̯ survived into the early 1930s (PE21/38), I retain ᴺQ. rína for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but only for the sense “scattered”; for “sown” I would use the passive participle rerina of the later verb ᴹQ. rer- “to sow” (Ety/RED). Note, however, that this adjective does conflict with the later word rína “crowned”. To avoid such conflicts you might instead use the passive participle vintaina of the verb vinta- [winta-] “to scatter”.

ᴱQ. rísima [þ] adj. “scattered, ubiquitous, universal”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. rīsima “scattered, ubiquitous, universal” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√RIẎI (QL/80).

Neo-Quenya: Since there is evidence the root ᴹ√RĪI̯ survived into the early 1930s (PE21/38), I retain ᴺQ. rísima “scattered, ubiquitous, universal” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. I would assume the s was originally þ to explain the retention of intervocalic s.

ᴱQ. rísimande [þ] adj. “passim [Latin]; *scatteredly, here and there, at random”

An adverb appearing as ᴱQ. rísimande “passim” (as noted by the editors, this is Latin for “scatteredly, here and there, at random, anywhere, everywhere”) in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as an elaboration of ᴱQ. rísima “scattered, ubiquitous, universal” under the early root ᴱ√RIẎI (QL/80).

Neo-Quenya: Since there is evidence the root ᴹ√RĪI̯ survived into the early 1930s (PE21/38), I retain ᴺQ. rísimandë “passim [Latin]; *scatteredly, here and there, at random” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. I would assume the s was originally þ to explain the retention of intervocalic s.

Q. winta- v. “to scatter, blow about”

A verb appearing as winta “scatter, blow about” in notes from the late 1960s, which Tolkien specified as both transitive and intransitive (PM/376). Tolkien said it was related to Q. winge “foam” and hence was derived from either ᴹ√WIG or (more likely) a variant *√WIÑ.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I represent this word as vinta- in keeping with its modern pronunciation; see the entry on the consonant [w] for discussion. Given that it could be used intransitively as well as transitively, I think this would be a formative verb derived from primitive *wiñ-t(ă), probably with distinct intransitive and transitive pasts: vinintë and vintanë.

9.342 to Press

ᴱQ. mal- v. “to crush, squeeze; to hurt, pain (cause pain to)”

The verb ᴱQ. mal- “to crush” and mala- “crush, squeeze” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s based on the early root ᴱ√MALA¹ (QL/58, 63). Tolkien also had a distinct but related verb ᴱQ. mala- “hurt, pain” from a related root ᴱ√MBALA (QL/58, 63).

Neo-Quenya: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had a root ᴹ√MBAL which was the basis for the word ᴹQ. malle “street”, which in the 1910s was derived from ᴱ√MALA¹ “crush”. On this foundation, I would retain ᴺQ. mal- “to crush, squeeze” for purpose of Neo-Quenya. I would further assume that this verb can also mean “to hurt, pain (cause pain to)” as an extended meaning, usable metaphorically for both physical and emotional hurt; Helge Fauskanger used mal- for “hurt” in his his Neo-Quenya New Testament (NQNT).

ᴱQ. malda- v. “to pound, ⚠️crush”

This verb appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱQ. mald- and mild-, both meaning “pound” and derived from the early root ᴱ√MLŘL [MḶÐḶ] (QL/62). Elsewhere in the document Tolkien said the verb mildi- meant “crush, pound” (QL/63).

Neo-Quenya: I would retain this verb as ᴺQ. malda- “to pound”, but update its derivation to be from the later root ᴹ√MBAL (Ety/MBAL).

ᴹQ. sanga- [þ] v. “[ᴱQ.] to pack tight, compress, press; ⚠️to gather”

A verb in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as ᴱQ. sanga- “pack tight, compress, press” under the early root ᴱ√SAŊA (QL/81). In the Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930, Tolkien used (active participle?) sangane to mean “gather[ing]” (MC/214), perhaps with the sense “*press together”. In the Declension of Nouns (DN) of the early 1930s Tolkien said the verb element sanga- was the basis for the noun ᴹQ. sanguma “a press” (PE21/8).

Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writings, he had the roots ᴹ√STAG “press, compress” (Ety/STAG) and √THAG “oppress, crush, press”, so I would assume the more ancient form of the verb sanga- was þanga- to be compatible with these later roots.

ᴹQ. sanguma [þ] v. “press, *thing that presses”

A word in the Declension of Nouns (DN) of the early 1930s glossed “a press”, a combination of the verbal element ᴹQ. sanga- with the instrumental suffix ᴹQ. -ma (PE21/8), hence more literally a “*thing that presses”.

G. gweltha- v. “to squeeze, press”

A verb appearing as G. gweltha- “squeeze, press” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, apparently based on G. gwel- “boil, bubble” (GL/44-45), perhaps originally meaning “*make bubble”. This verb was the basis for G. mirwelthin “vintage”, more literally “*wine-squeezing” (GL/45, 57).

Neo-Sindarin: Since I retain ᴺS. gwel- “to boil, bubble” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would retain ᴺS. gweltha- “to squeeze, press” as well.

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