13.192 Other Collective Words
- Q. heren n. “order”
-
A word for “order” from the phrase Heren Istarion (UT/388), perhaps derived from √KHER “govern”.
- Q. massë n. “portion, share; capacity, [ᴹQ.] measure; the personal measure or capacity of a man, a talent; [Q.] †handful”
-
A word for “portion, share, capacity” and “measure” (PE19/74 and note #74), originally with the sense “handful” (PE19/100-101 note #154). It might also be used for “the personal measure or capacity of a man, a talent” (PE19/101 note #154). It was derived from primitive ✶mahsē.
Conceptual Development: This word has a complex history due to shifting ideas of its phonological development. ᴹQ. masse first appeared in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s where it was glossed “handful, share, just portion (in distribution), measure or capacity (of a person)”, derived from ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” and illustrating the sound change whereby “ʒs gave hs which however became ss (not ks)” (PE19/48). In the first layer of Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, Tolkien gave it the same derivation and said that it originally meant “handful” but that its PQ meaning was “share; a just portion (in distribution); the personal measure or capacity of a man; a talent” (PE19/100-101 note #154).
In Common Eldarin: Noun Structure, also from the early 1950s, Tolkien first gave masse “originally handful” (PE21/70-71 note #7), but in that document changed its primitive form to ✶mahsi with a modern form of Q. makse and a new meaning: “handiness” (PE21/70). This reflects a new conception of primitive Elvish where the ancient velar spirant was voiceless h rather than voiced ʒ, and a new phonetic development hs > ks. Tolkien made the same alterations in OP2, changing ʒ to h with a new word mare “skill of hand, handiness, dexterity” reflecting a loss of weak h (PE19/74 note #35), but he then restored the sound change of hs to ss (PE19/74 note #34), reintroducing masse “handful, measure, etc.”. In green-ink notes from around 1970 he revised the gloss to “handful, portion, share, capacity” (PE19/74 note #35).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use masse with a blending of its meanings in the 1940s, 50s and 70s, originally with the sense “handful”, but extended to primarily mean “measure, capacity” as well as “portion, share”. It can also be applied metaphorically to a person to mean “the personal measure or capacity of a man”, hence = “a talent, ability”, as in ma masserya (ná) “what is his/her measure [talent]”.
- ᴱQ. nostale n. “species, kind, *type, sort; ⚠️nature”
-
A word appearing as ᴱQ. nostale “species, kind” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a noun form of ᴱQ. nosta- “give birth to” (QL/53). It also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Grammar in the phrase ᴱQ. nostalen mára “good by nature” (GG/10).
Neo-Quenya: Since nosta- still means “to beget” in Tolkien’s later writings, I would retain ᴺQ. nostalë “species, kind, *type, sort” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but for “nature” I would use Q. nassë.
- Q. (o)combë n. “gathering, assembly, assemblage, collection, *congregation”
-
A word appearing as okombe or kombe “gathering, assembly/~age, collection” in notes from around 1959-60, derived from the root √KOB or √KOM “gather, collect” (PE17/157-158).
Neo-Quenya: Helge Fauskanger also used ocombe to mean “*congregation” in his Neo-Quenya New Testament (NQNT).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. soleste “collection”, a combination of ᴱQ. so- “together” and ᴱQ. lesta “gathering” (QL/85).
- Q. olië n. “company, people together”
-
An ancient word for “company” in notes from around 1959, used to refer to the early organization of the elves into tribes, with two variants: olië “people together” and ombari “dwellers together” (NM/117), combinations of o- “together” with lië “people” and √MBAR “dwell” respectively.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume in the modern form of the language these refer to companies of people, with ombari also implying they live together.
- Q. -sta suf. “*part; [ᴹQ.] close grouping, ⚠️land”
-
A collective suffix appearing in words like quentasta “historical account” = “any particular arrangement (by some author) of a series of records or evidences” (VT39/16). In 1998 Carl Hostetter suggested it was connected to the Sindarin class plural suffix -ath (VT39/20 note #27), a suggestion that was confirmed by the 2013 publication of Primitive Quendian Structure (written by Tolkien in 1936), which had -tta, -sta being Quenya suffixes for “close grouping” connected to the Ilkorin and Noldorin class plural -ath, both vaguely related to duals (PE21/57).
However, the root √SAT also meant “space, place; divide, mark off” (VT42/19) or “divide, apportion”, and as such -sta sometimes meant “part” as in fraction words like nel(d)esta “one third”, or in names of the regions within Númenor such as Orrostar “Eastlands” or Forostar “Northlands” (UT/165), more literally “*East-parts” and “*North-parts”. Compare also asta “month” = “year-part” (LotR/1108; VT48/11).
Conceptual Development: Fraction words in the 1920s used ᴱQ. -sto or -nto (PE14/51, 84).
- Q. umba n. “swarm”
-
A word for “swarm” in notes from 1968 based on the root √UM “abound” (VT48/32).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. imbile “swarm, flock” under the early root ᴱ√IBI “to swarm”, said to often apply to groups of small birds (QL/41).
- Q. úmë n. “great collection or crowd of things of the same sort; [ᴹQ.] abundance, ⚠️great quantity; [Q.] throng”
-
A word for a “great collection or crowd of things of the same sort” from around 1968 based on the root √UM “abound” (VT48/32). Another note from the late 1960s has úme “throng” based on √UM “teem, throng”, but this note was marked through (PE17/115).
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. úve “abundance, great quantity” under the root ᴹ√UB “abound” (Ety/UB).
- G. pan n. “arrangement, settlement, *grouping; ⚠️place, spot”
-
A word appearing as G. pan “arrangement, settlement; place, spot” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/63), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√PANA “arrange” (QL/72).
Neo-Sindarin: Since √PAN “arrange” continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings, I would retain ᴺS. pan for purposes of Neo-Sindarin with the senses “arrangement, settlement, *grouping”, but for “place, spot” I would use later S. sad.