Select Elvish Words 2.35-2.37: Father, Mother, Parent

2.35 Father

Q. atar n. “father”

The Quenya word for “father”, derived from the root √AT(AR) (PM/324; WJ/402; VT48/19).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. atar “father” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though in that document it was “a more solemn word … usually to 1st Person of the Blessed Trinity”, as opposed to more ordinary ᴱQ. attu “father” (QL/33). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, ᴱQ. atar was the ordinary word for “father”, but with variant archaic form †attar (PE15/72). ᴹQ. atar “father” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ATA of the same meaning (Ety/ATA). It appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s in various inflected forms (PE22/118-119). It continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s later writings. Thus this word was established early and retained its form throughout Tolkien’s life with only minor variations.

Q. atto n. “daddy, father (familiar/family)”

A family or familiar word for a father, roughly equivalent to English words like “daddy” (VT47/10, 26; VT48/19), a simplified form based on the root √AT(AR) (VT48/19).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the familiar form was ᴱQ. atta, as opposed to the normal form for “father” which was ᴱQ. attu (QL/33), and likewise in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/33). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, ᴱQ. atto or tatto was the ordinary word for “father” (PE16/135). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. atto was a hypocoristic (familiar or pet name) for “father” derived from the root ᴹ√ATA “father” (Ety/ATA). Atto seems to be generally used as a familiar word in later writings, most notably in Tolkien’s notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (see above).

Q. atya n. “daddy, (my) father”

An affectionate word for one’s own father, a reduction of Q. atarinya “my father” (PE17/170; VT47/26). Tolkien also toyed with alternate forms like atyo and (a)taryo (VT47/10, 27, 32; VT48/19).

N. ada n. “father (hypocoristic), [G.] daddy”

A hypocoristic (affectionate) word for “father” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, hence roughly equivalent to English “daddy”, derived from the root ᴹ√ATA “father” (Ety/ATA).

Conceptual Development: A similar set of affection words appeared the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s: G. ada or nada, adi or nadi (GL/17, 59).

S. adar n. “father”

The Sindarin word for “father”, derived from the root √AT(AR) (PM/324; VT44/21-22; VT48/19).

Conceptual Development: N. adar “father” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ATA of the same meaning (Ety/ATA). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, however, G. †ador “father” was marked as archaic, and it seems {athon >>} G. nathon was the ordinary word for ”father” (GL/17, 59).

S. atheg n. “[little] father; thumb”

A play-name for thumb, as well as an affection word for “father”, in notes Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (VT48/6). It is a combination of the root √AT with the diminutive suffix -eg¹. Tolkien considered but rejected several alternate forms including aderig and tadeg (VT48/17 note #13).

2.36 Mother

Q. amil(lë) n. “mother”

Tolkien used a number of similar forms for “mother” for most of his life. The earliest of these are ᴱQ. amis (amits-) “mother” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s along with variants ᴱQ. ambi, âmi, amaimi under the root ᴱ√AMA (QL/30). An additional variant ammi appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/30). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱQ. ambe or mambe “mother” (PE16/135). This became ᴹQ. amil “mother” in The Etymologies under the root ᴹ√AM¹ “mother” (Ety/AM¹).

This 1930s form amil appears to have survived for some time. It appeared in a longer form Amille in Quenya Prayers of the 1950s (VT43/26; VT44/12, 18), and as an element in the term amilessi “mother-names” in a late essay on Elvish naming (MR/217). In the initial drafts of Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s Tolkien used the form amilye or amye as an affectionate word for “mother”, and amaltil as the finger name for the second finger (VT47/26-27 note #34 and #35).

However, in those documents Tolkien seems to have revised the root for “mother” from √AM to √EM and the affectionate forms from amye to emya or emme (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19). The revised word for “mother” appears to be emil based on the 1st person possessive form emil(inya) (VT47/26).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain the root √AM for “mother”, since that is what Tolkien used for 50 years, and ignore the very late change to √EM. As such, I would recommend amil(le) for “mother” and affectionate forms amme “mommy” and amya. However, if you prefer to use Tolkien’s “final” forms, then emil(le), emme and emya seem to be what Tolkien adopted in the late 1960s.

Q. amya n. “mummy, (orig.) my mother”

An affectionate word used by a child to address his or her mother (PE17/170), also appearing as emya (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19) along with other variants like amye or amilye (VT47/26-27, 32). It is a reduction of the possessive form: amilinya “my mother”. See amil(lë) “mother” for a discussion of the am-/em- variation.

Q. emmë n. “mummy, mother (familiar/family)”

The affectionate word for “mother” (= “mummy”) was Q. emmë in notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the 1960s, based on the late 1960s root √EM for mother (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19).

Conceptual Development: The earliest hypocoristic (pet-name) word for “mother” was the “childish word” ᴱQ. ama in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√AMA (QL/30); it was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/30). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it became ᴹQ. amme “mother” derived from the root ᴹ√AM of the same meaning (Ety/AM¹), though in this document it seems to be an ordinary word and not a pet name, a variant of ᴹQ. amil. In late 1960s notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals Tolkien revised the Elvish root from “mother” from √AM to √EM, and the affectionate form became emme as noted above.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain the √AM for “mother” since it is what Tolkien used for 50 years, and as such recommend restoring the 1930s form ammë to use as affectionate “mummy, mommy”; see the entry on Q. amil(lë) for further discussion.

S. emel n. “mother”

A word for “mother” in notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, along with a diminutive form emelig (VT48/17 note #13). These forms were struck through and replaced by emig as the proper diminutive form from the root √EM (VT48/6), but that doesn’t necessarily invalidate emel = “mother”, which appeared elsewhere as (probably primitive) emel, emer in rough versions of these notes (VT48/19 note #16). These Sindarin forms are unusual in that the medial m did not become v, which means the primitive form was likely based on *emm- as suggested by Patrick Wynne (VT48/17 note #14).

Conceptual Development: G. amil “mother” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along with rejected forms {anwin, amril} and an archaic variant †amaith (GL/19). The forms {emaith >>} amaith appeared unglosssed in Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising that document (PE13/109). In The Etymologies of the 1930s there was a form N. †emil for “mother” under from the root ᴹ√AM¹ of the same meaning, but Tolkien said this word was archaic, apparently replaced by N. naneth (Ety/AM¹; EtyAC/AM¹). With N. emil, the a became e via i-affection, but the medial m failing to become v requires an explanation similar to that of 1960s S. emel.

Neo-Sindarin: I generally prefer derivatives of the earlier root √AM for “mother” words in Quenya, but in the case of Sindarin, I find emel and emig from √EM to be better and more widely accepted.

S. emig n. “[little] mother, *mommy”

A diminutive word for “mother” in Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (VT48/6), replacing a longer but rejected diminutive emelig (VT48/6). It is based on either emel “mother” or the primitive root √EM.

N. nana n. “mother (hypocoristic), *mommy”

A hypocoristic (pet name) for “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√NAN (Ety/NAN).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the affectionate or childish diminutives {ami, ama >>} G. (m)ami, (m)ama “mummy” (GL/19), as well as G. babi “mummy, mamma” (GL/21).

Neo-Sindarin: I would use S. emig from the late 1960s as the normal diminutive word for “mother” in Neo-Sindarin, but would retain N. nana as a variant.

N. naneth n. “mother”

A noun for “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√NAN (Ety/NAN). It apparently replaced archaic/poetic N. †emil (Ety/AM¹; EtyAC/AM¹).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon had a similar set of words for “mother”: G. maba, mabir, baba, and mavwin from the early root ᴱ√maƀ “something nice” (GL/57). The last of these appeared as G. mavwen “ancestress” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document, with an archaic meaning of “mother” and variant forms mafwyn and mavuin (PE13/115). In these slips, it seems the normal “mother” word was G. nân (originally glossed “father”) with variant nanwin (PE13/115). This last word is likely the direct percursor of N. naneth.

Neo-Sindarin: I would use S. emel from the late 1960s as the normal word for “mother” in Neo-Sindarin, but would retain N. naneth as a dialectical or more formal variant.

2.37 Parent

Q. nostar n. “parent, begetter”

A word for “parent” appearing only in its plural form nostari in the phrase a vanimar, vanimálion nostari “O beautiful ones, parents of beautiful children” (LotR/981; Let/448). Its singular form is probably nostar, a combination of the verb nosta- “beget” and the agental suffix -r(o).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had masculine and feminine forms ᴹQ. ontaro and ᴹQ. ontare “begetter, parent” under the root ᴹ√ONO “beget” (Ety/ONO), along with a dual form ontaru referring to both parents as a pair (EtyAC/ONO). Feminine variants ontaril or ontari appeared in Quenya prayers from the 1950s (VT43/32; VT44/7). The plural form ontari appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts in the precursor to the phrase mentioned above: ᴹQ. O vanimar vanimalion ontari (SD/64, 73).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d stick to nostar as a neutral word for “parent”.

N. odhril n. “parent (f.)”

A feminine variant of N. odhron “parent” from the The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/ONO), using the feminine agental suffix -ril rather than -ron. See N. odhron for further discussion.

N. odhron n. “parent”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “parent” derived from the root ᴹ√ONO “beget” (Ety/ONO), where [nr] became [ðr]. It was originally based on primitive ᴹ✶onrō, but suffixal -ro did not survive in Noldorin/Sindarin, and was replaced by other agental suffixes like -ron.