12.58 Tall
- ᴹQ. aiqa adj. “steep, ⚠️[ᴱQ.] tall; high, lofty, sublime; chief”
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A word for “steep” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√AYAK “sharp, pointed” (Ety/AYAK).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s also had ᴱQ. aiqa “steep” (QL/29). The English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s translated this word as “high, lofty, sublime”, saying it was also used to mean “high, chief” (PEl5/74). The contemporaneous Early Noldorin Dictionary had ᴱQ. aiqa as the cognate to ᴱN. aig “high, steep”, both derived from primitive ᴱ✶ai-kwa (PE13/158). The primitive form ✶aikwā “tall, steep” reappeared later in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 (PE18/50). In the Earendel poem from around 1930, its (Early Qenya) nominative plural form alqalin was translated “tall” in the phrase ᴱQ. tyulmin talalínen aiqalin kautáron “the tall masts bent with the sails” (MC/216).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would just use aiqua to mean “steep”.
- ᴱQ. aiqale adj. “steepness, a steep [thing]”
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A noun appearing as ᴱQ. aiqale “a steep [thing], steepness” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an abstract noun form of ᴱQ. aiqa “steep” appearing nearby (QL/29). Since ᴹQ. aiqa “steep” continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings (Ety/AYAK), perhaps this word can be salvaged for Neo-Quenya writing as ᴺQ. aiqualë.
- Q. halla adj. “tall, [ᴹQ.] high”
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The Quenya word for “tall”, also the name of the tengwa ½ used as a sign for h-aspiration (LotR/1123). This word first appeared in notes on the The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1940s (PE22/51), though in a couple places Tolkien suggested an alternate form halda instead (PE17/184; PE22/103).
Conceptual Development: Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. {alda >>} halda as the cognate of ᴱN. {all >>} gall “wide, broad”, both derived from {ᴱ✶aldá >>} ᴱ✶ʒaldá (PE13/136, 144).
- ᴹQ. tunda adj. “tall”
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An adjective for “tall” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶tundā under the root ᴹ√TUN (Ety/TUN).
- N. baradh adj. “steep”
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An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “steep”, derived from primitive ᴹ✶baradā “lofty, sublime” that was also the basis for the name ᴹQ. Varda (Ety/BARÁD).
- S. brand adj. “towering, tall and massive, [N.] high; lofty, noble, fine”
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In notes from the 1950s or 60s the word brand, brann meant “towering; tall and massive” (PE17/22, 61). In these notes Tolkien said it was derived from √BARAT (PE17/22), but that root would probably produce **brant so I think it is more likely to be based on (or blended with) √BARAD. The Etymologies from around 1937 had N. brand, brann “lofty, noble, fine” derived from primitive ᴹ✶b’randā under the root ᴹ√BARAD (Ety/BARÁD). In a phrase from Thrór’s Map written in 1936, brann was translated “high”: lheben teil brann i annon ar neledh neledhi gar godrebh “five foot high the door and three may walk abreast” (TAI/150).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume brand was a blending of various ancient words meaning both “tall” and “noble”, so useable for either depending on context. I further assume it can only be used for “high, tall (and massive)” of things mostly of exceptional height, while of people it means “lofty, noble, fine”. For tall people I would probably instead use tond.
- S. orchal adj. “tall; [N.] superior, eminent, lofty”
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A word for “tall” as an epithet for Galdor, as in Galdor Orchal = “Galdor the Tall” (WJ/305 note #48). It also appeared as an element in the (untranslated) name Orchaldor (UT/210). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. orchall, orchal, or orchel was glossed “superior, lofty, eminent” as a combination of N. or- “above” and N. hall “exalted, high” (Ety/KHAL², ORO; EtyAC/KHAL², ORO). Christopher Tolkien noted that the e in orchel was uncertain, and Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested that orchal was a possible reading, which is in better keeping with its Old Noldorin form ON. orkhalla.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume orchal “tall; [N.] superior, eminent, lofty” is a somewhat emphatic variant of N. hall “high; exalted” for things that are notably tall or noble.
- N. tonn adj. “tall”
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An adjective appearing as tond, tonn “tall” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶tundā under the root ᴹ√TUN (Ety/TUN).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the standalone form of this word is ᴺS. tond since “nd remained at the end of fully accented monosyllables” in Sindarin (LotR/1115).