10.81 Ship
- Q. cirya n. “(sharp-prowed) ship, ⚠️[ᴹQ.] boat; [Q.] swift gliding”
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Cirya has been the Quenya word for “ship” for much of Tolkien’s life, and is very well-attested with this meaning. ᴱQ. kirya “ship” first appeared in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/46, 79) and in the English-Qenya Dictionary of this same period, where Tolkien described it as the “general term” for a ship, as opposed to ᴱQ. lunte “boat” (PE15/77).
Tolkien regularly used ᴹQ. kirya “ship” in lists of noun declensions from the late 1920s and early 1930s (PE16/112-115; PE21/4, 46, 53). In one of these it was glossed “boat” rather than “ship” (PE21/53), which is the only instance of the alternate gloss I am aware of. ᴹQ. kirya “ship” appeared in The Etymologies from around 1937 under the root ᴹ√KIR (Ety/KIR), and it was derived from the root √KIR in later notes as well (PE22/150). It continued to be used in declension examples all the way up to the famous Plotz letter of 1966-7 (VT6/14).
The second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 specified that its primitive antecedent had two variants: noun ✶kíryā “small swift sailing ship” and adjective kiryā́ “swift (especially of things that pass easily through obstacles)”, distinguished only by ancient patterns of stress (PE18/106). Hints of this second adjectival meaning can be seen in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, where Tolkien glossed kirya as an adjective meaning “swift gliding” in a note where he tried to distinguish the meaning of the roots √KIR and √KER (PE22/150).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use cirya only as a noun for “ship”, and would assume its adjectival use “swift” was archaic. I would further assume cirya is used of faster ships with deeper hulls that cut through the water (especially if driven by sails or other motor), as opposed to a slower or flatter Q. luntë “boat” which moves mainly by floating on top of the water. Thus [in my opinion] the distinction between cirya and luntë is mainly the relative depth of the hull rather than the size of the vessel, so that luntë could refer to a large barge and cirya to a small but swift sailboat.
- ᴱQ. kiryassea n. “*ship-board, on-board, [ᴱQ.] what is on board ship”
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An adjective appearing as ᴱQ. kiryassea “what is on board ship” in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, an example of a how adjectives can be formed from the locative (PE14/47, 79).
Neo-Quenya: This construction remains valid in Tolkien’s later Quenya, such as 1950s menelessea “*in heaven” (VT43/13). Thus, I would keep ᴺQ. ciryassëa as an adjective meaning “*ship-board, on-board” referring to things on a ship, for example: ciryassëa sorasta “ship-board/on-board equipment”. For “on board” as a location, the ordinary locative would be used (PE14/46; PE15/70), for example: á mene ciryassë “go aboard/on board [= on ship]”.
- Q. ciryatan n. “shipbuilder, shipwright”
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A Quenya word for “shipbuilder” or “shipwright” most notably used as the name of Tar-Ciryatan, the 12th ruler of Númenor (S/265; PM/151). It is a combination of cirya “ship” and tamo (-tan) “builder, wright”. Tolkien vacillated on tamo vs. [ᴹQ.] tano (Ety/TAN) for this second element, but seems to have settled on tamo which would make the stem form of this word *ciryatam-.
Conceptual Development: The first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) of the 1930s had another word ᴹQ. kiryahto “shipwright” derived from ᴹ✶kirya-k’tō (PE18/62), and thus a combination ᴹQ. kirya “ship” and ᴹQ. ahto “builder, maker”.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think both ciryatan and ciryahto can coexist, with the ciryatan referring to the principle designer or builder of the ship, and ciryahto for other workers helping build the ship.
- ᴱQ. veakirya n. “sea-ship, *ocean-going ship”
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A word ᴱQ. veakirya “sea-ship” from the Earendel poem and its drafts from around 1930, appearing only in its genitive form veakiryo in the phrase langon veakiryo kírier “the throat of the sea-ship clove” (MC/216; PE16/100). It is a combination of ᴱQ. vea “sea” and ᴱQ. kirya “ship”.
Neo-Quenya: I would retain this term as ᴺQ. vëacirya “sea-ship” for purposes of Neo-Quenya used of stronger ocean-going ships, with the assumption that its initial element is a reduction of the later word Q. váya “ocean, sea”.
- S. cair n. “ship”
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The Sindarin word for “ship”, most notably appearing as an element in the name Cair Andros “Ship of Long Foam” (LotR/812; PM/371). It is derived from primitive ✶kiryā, with the ancient i becoming e via a-affection [kery(a)], then the y intruding into the main syllable to form the diphthong ei [keir], and ultimately ei becoming ai as usual in final syllables in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s [kair]. This word has a somewhat unusual plural, since ī replaced final ā in its ancient plural [kiryā-ī > kirī], so that a-affection did not occur resulting in a modern plural form cîr “ships” (PE17/147). Its class plural is likewise the somewhat unusual ciriath “[all the] ships” for similar reasons.
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies from around 1937 had N. ceir “ship” under the root ᴹ√KIR “cleave” (Ety/KIR), since in Noldorin of the 1930s ei did not (usually) become ai in final syllables. In Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, Tolkien gave cīr “ship”, first marked “N.”, then “Ilk.”, then “N. & Ilk.” (PE21/57 and note #28). It had the class plurals círiath or ciriath but it is not clear which of these was the intended final form (PE21/57 note #28). I think ciriath is more phonologically plausible; compare class plural S. Firiath “Mortals” vs. ordinary plural Fîr (WJ/387).
Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had the word ᴱN. cair followed by ᴱN. braithgair, but neither word was translated (PE13/139-140).
- S. círdan n. “shipbuilder, shipwright”
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A Sindarin word for “shipbuilder” or “shipwright”, most notably used as a name for Círdan of the same meaning (LotR/240; PE17/27). It was clearly a combination of cair “ship” [< ✶kiryā] and tân “builder, wright”. The long í is likely due to intrusion of ancient medial y into the initial syllable: *kirya-tan > kiry(a)-dan > kīrdan. The Etymologies of the 1930s instead had N. cirdan “shipbuilder” with a short i (Ety/KIR), while the name was given as N. C(e)irdan [containing N. ceir “ship”] making its etymology clear (Ety/TAN). Cirdan’s name appeared with either a short i or long í in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (WR/76; SD/67).
Conceptual Development: The first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) of the 1930s had another word N. ciriaeth “shipwright” derived from ᴹ✶kirya-k’tō (PE18/62), but it was never used as a name.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I think both círdan and ciriaeth can coexist, with the círdan referring to the principle designer or builder of the ship, and ciriaeth for other workers helping build the ship.