11.66 Account, Reckoning
- Q. not- v. “to count, ⚠️[ᴹQ.] reckon”
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A verb for “count” (PE17/63), most notable as an element in the adjective únótima “numberless, countless, (lit.) uncountable” from the phrase yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron “long years numberless as the wings of trees” in the Namárië “poem” (LotR/377). In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. not- was glossed “reckon” and was derived from the root ᴹ√NOT “count, reckon” (Ety/NOT).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use the verb not- primarily in the sense “count”, and for “reckon” I would use onot-.
- Q. onot- v. “[ᴹQ.] to count up, *reckon”
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A verb implied by the nouns onótimo and onótië (MR/49, 57), presumably “*reckoner” and “*reckoning” respectively, so the verb onot- likely means “*to reckon”. It is clearly a combination of o- “together” and not- “count”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. onot- was glossed “count up” and was derived from the root ᴹ√NOT “count, reckon” (Ety/NOT).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. qoto- “count up; reckon; account, call up; think, consider” under the early root ᴱ√QOTO (QL/78), and ᴱQ. tasta- “reckon” under the early root ᴱ√TAÞA “count” (QL/90).
- Q. onótië n. “*reckoning”
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An element in the name Yénonótië (MR/57), probably meaning “*Reckoning of Years”, clearly based on √NOT “count, reckon”.
- Q. onótimo n. “*reckoner”
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An element in the name Quennar (i) Onótimo (MR/49), probably meaning “*Quennar the Reckoner” as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VT34/30), clearly based on √NOT “count, reckon”.
- S. genedia- v. “to reckon, *calculate”
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A verb implied by the noun genediad “reckoning” from the King’s Letter as in genediad Drannail “Shire-reckoning” (SD/129). This verb is clearly go- “together” combined with nedia- “count”. It seems like genedia- means using numbers as a way of organizing something, hence perhaps also “*calculate”.
- S. genediad n. “reckoning”
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A noun for “reckoning” from the King’s Letter, as in genediad Drannail “Shire-reckoning” (SD/129).
- N. gonod- v. “to count (up), reckon, sum up”
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A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “count up, reckon, sum up”, a combination of ᴹ√WO “together” and ᴹ√NOT “count” (Ety/NOT, WŌ). This extended verb replaced basic nod- “count” in ordinary speech; see that entry for discussion.
Conceptual Development: ᴱN. go-nod- “count” or “count up” appeared Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/132, 145, 162).
- S. nedia- v. “to count, number”
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A verb for “count, number” implied by compounds like genediad “reckoning” (SD/129) and arnediad “unnumbered” (WJ/28), as well as archaic forms like arnoediad [arnœdiad] (S/192) and pen-noediad “innumerable” (PE17/145). This verb appeared as (archaic) N. nœdia- “count” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√NOT “count, reckon” (Ety/NOT; EtyAC/NOT). Its modern form would be nedia-, since œ became e in Sindarin’s phonetic history.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I assume nod- “count” is archaic and prefer to use nedia- as the modern Sindarin verb for “to count, number”. I use [N.] gonod- for “count up, sum up, reckon” and genedia- for “reckon, *calculate”. However, it is possible that nœdia- is archaic as well, and only gonod- and genedia- should be used as counting verbs.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. {tath- “count”}, but this was deleted and replaced by G. tathna- “number, count, reckon” which itself originally had the [deleted] gloss “make a sign, beckon” (GL/69). In the appendixes to the second book of The Lost Tales, Christopher Tolkien incorrectly gave the verb tathna- as tathra- “number, count” (LT2A/Nínin-Udathriol). These Gnomish verbs were clearly based on the early root ᴱ√TAÞA “count” (QL/90).
- S. †nod- v. “to count”
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An (archaic?) verb for “count” implied by various compounds like pen-nod “without count” and únodui “countless” (PE17/144-145). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien said that “not- count, nut- tie coalesced in Exilic *nod-, but ‘count’ was always expressed by gonod- unless some other prefix was added, as in arnediad” (Ety/WŌ). Thus it seems nod “count” survived only an element in compounds, and words like [N.] gonod- “count up, reckon” and nedia- “count” became the usual verbs for counting. According to The Etymologies it seems the basic verb form [N.] nod- meant only “to tie” in the modern form of the language.
Conceptual Development: In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, nod- was mentioned as element in ᴱN. go-nod- “count up” (PE13/162).
11.67 Surety, Security
- ᴹQ. ovesta n. “contract, compact, treaty”
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The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. vesta “contract” as well as ᴹQ. ovesta as the cognate to N. gowest “contract, compact, treaty”, all derived from the root ᴹ√WED “bind” (Ety/WED). These Quenya words were deleted since they collided with derivatives of ᴹ√BES having to do with marriage.
Neo-Quenya: I would restore ᴺQ. ovesta “contract, compact, treaty” for purposes of Neo-Quenya since we have no better alternatives.
- N. gowest n. “contract, compact, treaty”
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A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “contract, compact, treaty” under the root ᴹ√WED “bind”, a combination of N. go- “together” and N. gwest “oath” (Ety/WED).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. fedhir “law” more properly meaning “bond, convention, agreement”, along with G. fedhwen of similar sense but particularly used for “treaty” (GL/34).
11.69 Tax
- ᴱQ. toko- v. “to appraise, tax, assess, assay; ⚠️to try, test, essay, endeavour; to feel with the hand, handle”
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A verb appearing as ᴱQ. toko- in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√TOKO with various meanings: “feel with the hand, handle; appraise, tax, assess, assay; try, test, essay, endeavour” (QL/94).
Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. toc- for purposes of Neo-Quenya but only for the sense “appraise, tax, assess, assay”. For “handle” I would use mahta-, and for “try” I would use nev- or ric-.