9.12 Work, Labor
- Q. mólë n. “labour, *work”
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A form appearing as mōle after the verb mol- “labour” in notes on “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115). The section where these words appeared was deleted. The form mōle might be a noun, or might be the past tense of the verb = “worked”.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I assume ᴺQ. mólë is a noun meaning “labour, *work”. Helge Fauskanger instead used ᴺQ. molië “labour, work” in his Neo-Quenya New Testament (NQNT), but I think that is too similar to ᴺQ. mólië “slavery”. Petri Tikka coined ᴺQ. tarassë “labour” in Parma Penyanë Quettaron (PPQ) from the early 2000s as a cognate of [N.] tass “labour, task”, but since the root meaning was “trouble” I think it is unlikely the Quenya word would have the same meaning as Sindarin, and I prefer ᴺQ. tassa “trouble” as the cognate.
- ᴹQ. mólome n. “hard work, burden”
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A noun for “hard work” (PE22/119-120) or “burden” (PE22/124) from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, clearly based on the root √MŌ “labour”
- G. drab n. “labour, toil, irksome work”
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A noun appearing as G. drab “labour, toil (irksome work)” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/30).
Neo-Sindarin: I retain ᴺS. drab for (unpleasant) work for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, since it does not conflict with any later words or roots. [N.] tass “labour, task” can be used for work without the unpleasant connotation.
- G. drabri adj. “labouring”
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A word appearing as G. drabri “labouring” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s based on G. drab- “to labour” and similar words (GL/30).
Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt this adjective ᴺS. drabol for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, as the active-participle of the verb ᴺS. drab- “to labour”.
- N. tass n. “labour, task”
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A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “labour, task” derived from ON. tarsa “trouble” under the root ᴹ√TARAS (Ety/TARAS), where rs became ss.
9.13 to Work, Toil
- Q. moia- v. “to be afflicted, *be laboured; ⚠️to labour”
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A verb in notes from the 1950s derived from primitive ✶mōjă based on the root √MŌ “labour, be afflicted”, and so presumably of similar meaning. It was followed by note stating “but ?better √mol” (VT43/31).
Conceptual Development: In notes on “large & small” words from the late 1960s Tolkien had mol- “labour” derived from √MBOL, but the section where it appeared was deleted (PE17/115). Going backwards, The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. móta- “labour, toil” under the root ᴹ√MŌ (Ety/MŌ).
Neo-Quenya: I would ignore the late change of the root √MŌ >> √M(B)OL since Tolkien seems not to have embraced it. I would assume moia- and [ᴹQ.] móta- were passive and active verbs, respectively meaning “be afflicted, *be laboured” and “labour, toil”.
- G. drab- v. “to labour, work; (impersonal) to irk, annoy”
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A verb appearing as G. drab- meaning “labour, toil” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/30), with the sense “to irk, annoy” when used impersonally.
Neo-Sindarin: I retain ᴺS. drab- for (unpleasant) work for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, since it does not conflict with any later words or roots. [N.] muda- “labour, toil, *work” can be used for work without the unpleasant connotation.
- N. muda- v. “to labour, toil, *work”
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A verb appearing as a (Noldorin) infinitive mudo “labour, toil” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MŌ (Ety/MŌ).