12.13: to Sit
- ᴱQ. haka- v. “to squat”
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A verb appearing as ᴱQ. haka- “squat” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a cognate to G. hag- “sit, sit down” (GL/47).
Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. hac- “to squat” for purposes of Neo-Quenya as a derivative of a Neo-Root ᴺ√KHAK.
- ᴹQ. hamu- v. “to sit down, take a seat”
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The verb ᴹQ. hamu- “sit down, take a seat” appeared in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 as an example of an inceptive verb based on ᴹQ. ham- “sit” (PE22/114).
Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writings the usual verb for “sit” was Q. har-, so I would update the 1948 verb hamu- to ᴺQ. haru- “to sit down, take a seat”.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. {sosta- >>} sorta- “sit down” under the early root {ᴱ√SOŘO >>} ᴱ√SORO [ÐORO] (QL/85-86).
- Q. har- v. “to sit, stay, [ᴱQ.] remain; ⚠️[ᴹQ.] to dwell, abide, reside”
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This is the common Quenya verb for “to sit” (UT/305, 317), also used to mean “stay” (PE17/162) or “remain” (QL/39). An elf might say in greeting hara máriessë, but this means “stay in happiness” rather than being a literal invitation to sit down. The verb har- was derived from the root √KHAD “sit” (PE18/95; PE22/148). When describing buildings (and shorter hills) in Quenya, they are said to “sit” rather than “stand” unless they are particularly tall (PE22/125).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. har- dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was glossed “remain” under the early root ᴱ√HAŘA [HAÐA] “cleave [to], remain” (QL/39). The Qenya Lexicon had ᴱQ. soro- as the verb for “sit” under the early root ᴱ√SORO [ÐORO] (QL/85). The English-Qenya Dictionary (EQG) of the 1920s also had soro “sit” (PE15/77), and the Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) from this period had the past form sórie “sat” (PE14/46, 78).
The verb ᴹQ. har- reappeared with the gloss “sit” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KHAD of the same meaning, but this verb and its root were revised to ᴹQ. ham- and ᴹ√KHAM (Ety/KHAM; EtyAC/KHAM). At some point Tolkien introduced a new root ᴹ√KHAM² “call to, summon, name by name”, writing “KHAM sit (replacing KHAD, cancelled)”, which apparently meant ᴹ√KHAD “sit” was restored.
The Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 had both har- and ham-, but in that document ham- meant “sit” and har- meant “dwell, abide, reside” (PE22/125). In that document Tolkien said “Q ham- ‘sit’ is used often of cities, towns, houses (and also of hills that are not very high): dwellings, buildings (except high towers) are not said to stand”. √KHAD “sit” appeared in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) written around 1950 (PE18/95), and there are no signs of ham- “sit” thereafter, only har-.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume that Tolkien’s 1948 statements about the use of ham- “sit” for buildings also applies to har- “sit”. I would also ignore the 1948 use of har- to mean “dwell, abide, reside”, using Q. mar- for that purpose instead.
- ᴹQ. seru- v. “to settle on, sit or lie down, come to rest on”
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The verb ᴹQ. seru- “settle on, sit or lie down, come to rest on” appeared in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 as an example of an inceptive verb (PE22/114). It was based on ᴹQ. ser- “rest, tarry, stay” (PE22/125).
- S. hadhwa- v. “to seat”
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A verb appearing as haðma > haðwa “to seat” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, based on ✶khadmā that was also the basis for the noun haðw [hadhu] “seat” (PE22/148).
- N. haf- v. “to sit”
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The verb N. hadh- “sit” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KHAD of the same meaning, but the verb and its root were revised to N. haf- and ᴹ√KHAM (Ety/KHAM; EtyAC/KHAM).
Neo-Sindarin: In Tolkien’s later writings √KHAD “sit” was restored, so I would use ᴺS. hadh- “to sit” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin; compare the 1969 verb S. hadhwa- “to seat” < ✶khadmā (PE22/148).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hag- “sit, sit down” (GL/47).
- G. hagra v. “seated”
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An adjective appearing as G. hagra “seated” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s based on G. hag- “sit” (GL/47).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would updated this to ᴺS. hannen “seated”, the passive participle of ᴺS. hadh- “sit”.