12.51 Form, Shape
- Q. canta n. “shape, framework, [ᴹQ.] frame; shaped”
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A word for “shape, frame(work)” mentioned in both the first (TQ1) and second (TQ2) versions of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1940s and early 1950s (PE18/33, 90). It also appeared as an adjective and quasi-suffix ᴹQ. kanta “shaped” in the The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KAT “shape, make”, as in ᴹQ. lassekanta “leaf-shaped” (Ety/KAT). As a noun, canta appeared in the phrase Nasser ar Cenime Cantar Valaron ar Maiaron “The Natures and Visible Shapes of the Valar and Maiar” (PE17/175) and in Ambarkanta “Shape of the World” (SM/235), while in Tengwesta Qenderinwa it was used to describe the “shapes” of primitive roots that were the basis for forming words. As such, it seems this word is used both for the shapes of actual physical things as well as more abstract frameworks.
- ᴹQ. cantëa adj. “shapely”
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A word for “shapely” in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s (PE19/63), an adjective form of kanta “shape”.
- Q. cantië n. “pattern”
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A word for “pattern” as an element in Ercantië “[the] Great Pattern” and Arcantiër “Major Patterns” in notes from 1959 (NM/287-288), a more abstract variant of canta “shape, framework”.
- Q. cat- v. “to shape, fashion”
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The verb cat- “shape, fashion” appeared in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 as a derivative of √KAT of similar meaning (PE18/90). The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. kanta- under the root ᴹ√KAT “shape, make” (Ety/KAT). This second verb was likely based on the noun canta “shape” used as a weak verb.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume these two verbs can coexist. I would use cat- largely for shaping or fashioning something new (thus more or less = “to make”), while I would use canta- for shaping or reshaping something that already exists, either concrete or abstract as in “shape their beliefs” = canta savientar.
- N. cadw adj. “shaped, formed”
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An adjective appearing as N. cadw “shaped, formed” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from ON. katwe < ᴹ✶katwā under the root ᴹ√KAT “shape” (Ety/KAT). It has a suffixal form -gadw (EtyAC/KAT).
Neo-Sindarin: Many Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this word as ᴺS. cadu, as suggested in Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD). As a suffix, it would presumably be used in words like *lasgadu “leaf-shaped”; compare ᴹQ. lassekanta of the same meaning.
- N. cadwor adj. “shapely”
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An adjective appearing as cadwor, cadwar in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶katwārā “shapely” (Ety/KAT). The variant forms likely had to do with whether or not ā remained long or was shortened in the final syllable of the primitive form; if it remained long then ā > ō [ǭ] > au [cadwaur with usual soft-mutation of t > d] and then au became o in the polysyllable, producing cadwor.
Conceptual Development: The Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s had an untranslated adjective ᴱN. {cadeg >>} cadog that might have a similar meaning (PE13/125).
- S. cannas n. “cannas”
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A word appearing in its mutated form gannas as an element in the name Dorgannas Iaur “Shapes of the Lands of Old” (WJ/192). It appears to be a combination of cant “shape” with the abstract noun suffix -as, so perhaps meaning “shape” as a concept was opposed to the shape of a specific thing.
- S. cant n. “shape; [N.] outline”
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A word for “shape” appearing in its plural mutated form chaint in morchaint “dark-shapes” (VT42/9). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. cant had the gloss “outline” under the root ᴹ√KAT “shape” (Ety/KAT).
- S. echad- v. “to form, make, shape, cut out, [N.] fashion; [S.] (lit.) to shape out”
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A verb appearing in its past form echant in the phrase im Narvi hain echant “I, Narvi, made them” (LotR/305). In notes on this phrase Tolkien said the literal meaning was “shaped-out”, and the verb stem was echad- derived from ✶et-kat- “out-shape, form” (PE17/42). In drafts of these notes the past form was glossed “cut out, shaped”. The Etymologies of the 1930s had the [Noldorin] infinitive form echedi “fashion, shape” derived from ᴹ✶et-kat under the root ᴹ√KAT “shape” (Ety/KAT; EtyAC/KAT).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume this verb means “make, fashion” particularly by altering the shape of something, such as by carving wood or molding clay. I further assume that this verb replaces the more basic primitive verb ✶kat- “shape” in Sindarin. However, it is possible that echad- is even more limited in meaning to “shape by taking things out”, and *cad- exists as a more general Sindarin verb for “to shape”.