12.393 Across, Athwart
- Q. lahta- v. “to cross, pass over, go over; to surpass, excel”
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This verb appeared in notes from 1965 as langa- “to cross, go over, pass over” and lanya- “to cross” derived from √LAŊ (PE17/65). In notes from 1967 it appeared as lahta- “to pass over, cross, surpass, excel” derived from √LAƷ (PE17/92).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. lahta- appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s without any translation under the early root ᴱ√LAHA (QL/50). The actual Early Qenya verb for “cross” was ᴱQ. tara- “cross, go athwart, cross rivers, etc.” under the early root ᴱ√TARA¹ (QL/89).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer lahta- “cross, pass over” with an extended meaning “surpass, excel” from the original sense “go beyond”. I assume the meaning is “surpass” when the object is the person or thing surpassed as in lahtan Fëanor nólen “I surpass (go beyond) Fëanor in knowledge”, but “excel” when the object is omitted as in lahtan nólen “I excel (go beyond the norm) in knowledge”.
- Q. langa n. “ferry, ford, crossway, bridge, cross-bar; (lit.) thing that crosses”
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A word in notes from 1965 for “a thing that crosses” derived from √LAŊ, and thus applicable to things like a “ferry, ford, crossway, bridge, cross-bar” (PE17/65).
- Q. lanna adv. and prep. “athwart, (to a point) beyond, *across”
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An adverb for “athwart”, also used for “(to a point) beyond” in notes from 1965 (PE17/65). It appears to be an allative form of √LAŊ “beyond”.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would also use lanna to mean “across”.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s mention ᴱQ. arta as equivalent to G. adr(a) “athwart” (GL/17), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√TARA¹ (QL/89).
- Q. sar n. “ford”
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A word for “ford” implied by name Q. Mondósaresse “in Oxford” from 1972 (DTS/70). It is almost certainly based on √THAR, from which S. athrad “ford” is also derived.
Conceptual Development: The entry for the early root ᴱ√TARA¹ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. tarna “crossing, passage, ford” as an element in ᴱQ. Taruktarna “Oxford” (QL/89). Tarna was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa with the glosses “passage, ford” (PME/89).
- S. athra- v. “to cross (to and fro)”
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A verb for “to cross (to and fro)” based on the root √THAR, also used as a prefix (PE17/14).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume this verb (and prefix) is used for either crossing back and forth as in athrabeth “conversation”, or a static crossing such as i iant athra i hîr “the bridge crosses the river”. For crossing in a single direction, I would use [N.] athrada- “to cross, traverse”, as in i adan athrada i eryd “the man crosses the mountains [one way]”.
- S. athrad n. “ford, crossing”
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This Sindarin word for “ford” or “crossing” appeared as an element in numerous names and was based on the root √THAR (PE17/14, 34). In one place Tolkien said it was based on (possibly a gerund of) the verb athra- “to cross” (PE17/14).
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the first element of N. athrad “ford, crossing” was the prefix N. ath- “on both sides, across” derived from ᴹ√AT(AT) “again, back” related to the words for “two”, while the second element as based on ᴹ√RAT “walk” (Ety/AT(AT), RAT). In a deleted note from 1957, Tolkien again indicate athrad was connected to primitive atta “two” as well as √THAR, but this was revised so that only the connection to √THAR remained (PE17/14).
The Etymologies of the 1930s also had deleted N. iathrad “crossing, ford” where the initial element was from the root ᴹ√YAT “join” (EtyAC/YAT). The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. {athrod >>} adros “a crossing, ford” based on adr “across, athwart” (GL/17), clear derived from the early root ᴱ√TARA¹ (QL/89) which was likely a precursor to later √THAR. The word G. trath “passage, ford” was also related (GL/71).
- N. athrada- v. “to cross, traverse”
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A verb appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ath-rado “to cross, traverse”, clearly a combination of N. ath- “cross” and N. rada- “make a way” (Ety/RAT).
Neo-Quenya: I recommend against using the prefix N. ath- “cross” since its etymology seems to have been abandoned, but I would retain athrada- “cross, traverse” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin as an elaboration of athra- “cross (to and fro)”. I would use it for crossing in a single direction, as in i adan athrada i eryn “the man crosses the mountains [one way]”.
- G. hadra adj. “opposing, facing, opposite; equivalent”
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The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had an adjective G. hadra “opposing, facing, opposite” with an adverbial form G. hadron “opposite” usable as preposition in combination with the ablative, both based on the preposition G. had meaning “opposite” or in combination with the allative meaning “against” (GL/47). Tolkien indicated the adjective hadra also meant “equivalent”, though how or in what context isn’t clear.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would update this adjective to ᴺS. dadhren “opposing, facing, opposite” based on the later preposition S. dan “back to, against”.
- S. iach n. “ford, *crossing”
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A word for “ford” implied by the names S. Arossiach “Fords of Aros” (S/121) and S. Brithiach which is apparently “*Gravel Ford” (S/131; UT/54). It might be connected to the root ᴹ√YAK having to do with necks from the The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/YAK), and might be an element in ninniach “rainbow” (S/238), perhaps meaning “*watery crossing”.
- S. thar prep. and pref. “across, athwart, over”
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A preposition or prefix for “across, over” or most properly “athwart” (PE17/34). In a rejected note Tolkien said that this word meant “across, properly not of position across or beyond but of act of crossing, or act[ual] position ‘athwart’ … in names of districts, reached by crossing an obstacle, it became used like ‘Trans-’ (as ‘Transvaal’), as in Thargelion [Land beyond Gelion]” (PE17/34). Despite this note’s rejection I think this explanation remains valid. Thus thar is “across” in the sense “crossing” or “laying across” rather than “on the other side”. It was derived from the root √THAR of similar meaning (PE17/14; Ety/THAR).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had preposition and adverb G. adr “across, athwart” as well as adjective G. {aðra >> athra >>} adr(a) meaning either “lying athwart” or “situated on far side” (GL/17). These Gnomish words were related to ᴱQ. arta, and thus clearly derived from the early root ᴱ√TARA having to do with crossing (QL/89).