√DAL “bottom, ground; [ᴹ√] flat” This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√DAL with the gloss “flat” and various derivatives of similar meaning (Ety/DAL). It reappeared again in later notes as √DAL “bottom, ground” written in the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/150). In both places,
Elvish Roots
The ancient roots of Tolkien’s languages analyzed by Paul Strack.
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: BĀ-BOR
ᴹ√√BĀ/ABA “refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), [ᴹ√] deny; [rejected] ️away, go away, depart” The invertible root √BA or √ABA was principally connected to refusal, and its best known derivative was Avari, the group of Elves that refused to travel to Valinor. When Tolkien first introduce the
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: A-AYAN
ᴹ√A “intensive prefix” An “intensive” root addition described by Tolkien in The Etymologies from the 1930s (EtyAC/A). It was one of two basic intensive mechanisms, along with the (syllabic) prefixed N- (EtyAC/N). The prefixed vowel a- seems to have been used originally in Primitive Elvish when the base vowel was
Elvish Roots – Before and After
This word analysis focuses on two opposing concepts: “before” and “after”. These saw numerous vacillations over Tolkien’s life, making it difficult to incorporate them into a coherent paradigm. In English and many other languages, these relationships can be used both temporally and spatially. Temporally, they refer to a sequence of
Elvish Roots – Approaches to Neo-Elvish
I’ve discussed in other posts how Neo-Elvish reconstructions (Neo-Quenya and Neo-Sindarin) are useful tools for learning and using Tolkien’s languages. Many such reconstruction are widely accepted and not especially controversial. For example, we know there is a Quenya verb har- “to sit, stay” (PE17/162; UT/305). We don’t know its past
Elvish Roots – What is Neo-Elvish and Is It Good or Bad?
This is a repost of an article I put up on the Aglardh site. I am putting a copy here as well because I want to talk about related topics in my next post. Many modern books and web sites that examine Tolkien’s Elvish languages take care to distinguish between
Elvish Roots – Negations
This is a repost of an article I originally published on (soon-to-be defunct) Google+. This word analysis has to do with negations. It is a problem that has been discussed repeatedly. Bill Welden’s wrote up a thorough analysis of the conceptual development of negations in Tolkien’s Elvish languages in VT42,
Elvish Roots – In Defense of Hannon Le
This article is a bit of a departure from my usual writings in this series. It explores a single concept: the basis for “thank you” in Quenya and Sindarin, but veers off into a general discussion on the overall viability of words within Neo-Quenya and Neo-Sindarin. This article only reflects
Elvish Roots – Letters and Writing
Another exploration of words, this time “letter, line, write”. This is a bit different from my previous examinations, since the most of the words in question are not in dispute, but their etymologies underwent quite a few changes. The Eldarin words for “letter” are Q. tengwa and S. têw (WJ/396,
Elvish Roots – Ideas from Early Works
So far in this series I’ve focused on the Primitive Elvish of Tolkien’s later works, from the 1930s to the 1960s. This is because in the early to mid-1930s, Tolkien went through a major overhaul of Primitive Elvish, and the conceptual framework for his languages’ development was very different prior