10.50 to Fade
- Q. fifíru- v. “to slowly fade away”
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A verb translated “slowly fade away” in notes associated with the Markirya “poem” of the 1960s, a frequentative form of fir- “die, fade” (MC/223). In the poem itself it appeared in its active participle form fifírula “fading” (MC/222).
Conceptual Development: The version of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 had histane “fading” (MC/213), presumably the active participle of a verb ᴱQ. *hista- “to fade”. The verb was probably based on the early root ᴱ√HISI having to do with “mist” and “dusk”; compare ᴱQ. hiswa “dim, fading” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/40).
- Q. pic- v. “to lessen, dwindle, wane”
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A verb given as píka- “lessen, dwindle” in notes associated with the Markirya “poem” of the 1960s (MC/223). In the poem itself it appeared in its locative active participle form píkalasse (píka-la-sse) “in … waning” (MC/222).
It may be related to the root ᴹ√PIK having to do with tiny things from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/PIK). As such, it is possible that the form píka- is actually the present-tense stem of a basic verb *pic-. That is the theory presented here.
Conceptual Development: The version of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 had ᴱQ. minga “waning” (MC/213). This may be a revision of the verb ᴱQ. minda- “to diminish, fade, lessen, vanish” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MINI¹ having to do with small things (QL/61).
- Q. quel- v. “to fade; ⚠️[ᴹQ.] †to fail; [ᴱQ.] to perish”
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A verb for “to fade” indicated by the season and month names quellë “fading” and Narquelië “Sun-fading” in The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1110). It was clearly derived from the root √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” (PE18/103).
Conceptual Development: This verb dates back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. qele- “perish, etc.” appeared under the early root ᴱ√QELE “perish, die, decay, fail” (QL/76). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, qel- was glossed “fade” (PE16/134). In ᴹQ. Fíriel’s Song from the 1930s it appeared in its future form ᴹQ. qeluva “faileth” (LR/63, 72).
- Q. quelië n. “*fading”
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A noun for “fading” indicated by the month name Narquelië “Sun-fading” in The Lord of the Rings appendices and its drafts (LotR/1110; PM/134). It was likely the gerund (verbal noun) of the verb quel- “to fade”.
Conceptual Development: The Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s had ᴹQ. qelesta “dying, fading” (PE21/8).
- Q. sinta- [þ] v. “to fade, *(lit.) become grey”
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A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “fade” derived from the root ᴹ√THIN having to do with grey things (Ety/THIN), so perhaps more literally “*become grey”.
Conceptual Development: In this same document the root ᴹ√WIN/WIN(I)D “pale blue, blue grey” had a similar verb {vinta- >>} vinda- “fade”, but this root and its derivatives were rejected (Ety/WIN; EtyAC/WIN).
- S. pel- v. “*to fade, wane”
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A verb indicated by the month name Narbeleth “October, Sun-waning” from The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1107). It was clearly derived from the root √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” (PE18/103), where ancient [kw] became [p] in Sindarin.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had a similar verb G. cwel- “fade, wither” (GL/28), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√QELE “perish, die, decay, fade” (QL/76). The sound change of [kw] to [p] did not occur in Gnomish of the 1910s.
- S. peleth v. “waning, *fading”
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A noun form of pel- “*to fade, wane” indicated by the month name Narbeleth “October, Sun-waning” from The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1107). It was clearly derived from the root √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” (PE18/103), where ancient [kw] became [p] in Sindarin.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. cweloth “fading” based on a similar verb G. cwel- “fade, wither” (GL/28); the Sindarin sound change of [kw] to [p] did not occur in Gnomish of the 1910s. The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. *pelin < ᴹ✶kwelēnē in its mutated form -belin as an element in N. lhasbelin “autumn” (Ety/LAS¹), presumably “*leaf-fading”.
- N. thinna- v. “to fade, *(lit.) become grey”
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A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “fade” derived from ON. thintha- under the root ᴹ√THIN having to do with grey things (Ety/THIN), so perhaps more literally “*become grey”.