11.22 to Return, Give Back Q. entul- v. “to come again, return” A verb for “come again” appearing in its future form entuluva in the sentence aurë entuluva “day shall come again” from The Silmarillion (S/195). It is a combination of en- “re-, again” and tul- “come”. It was also
Select Elvish Words
Studies on selected elvish words to sort out their semantics.
Select Elvish Words 11.21: to Give
11.21 to Give Q. anna v. “gift, (orig.) thing handed, brought or sent to a person, *present” A word for “gift”, also the name of tengwa #23 [h] (LotR/1123), derived from the root √ANA “motion to” and more precisely meaning “a thing handed, brought or sent to a person” (PE17/91).
Select Elvish Words 11.15-11.17: to Hold; to Get; to Keep
11.15 to Hold ᴱQ. vaine n. “sheath, pod” A noun appearing as ᴱQ. vaine “sheath, pod” the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√VAẎA “enfold, wind about” (QL/100). It was followed by -o, probably indicating a variant form [vain]o; compare ᴱQ. vainole “quiver”. Neo-Quenya: I would retain
Select Elvish Words 11.14: to Grasp, Seize, Take Hold of
11.14 to Grasp, Seize, Take Hold of ᴱQ. mahte v. “hold, grip, *grasp; power [over], possession” A word appearing as ᴱQ. makte “hold, grip, power, possession” in the Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√MAHA “grasp” (QL/57). It had a stem form maksi-, the result of the sound change whereby
Select Elvish Words 11.13: to Take
11.13 to Take ᴱQ. lep- v. “to take [with fingers], *pick, pluck” A verb appearing in Qenya Verb Forms from the 1910s as ᴱQ. lep- “take” (PE14/28), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√LEPE having to do with fingers (QL/53). Neo-Quenya: This root was still the basis for finger-words in
Select Elvish Words 11.11-11.12 to Have; to Own
11.11 to Have Q. harya- v. “to have, *hold, [ᴹQ.] possess” A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “possess” under the root ᴹ√ƷAR “have, hold” (Ety/ƷAR). There was another variant arya- “to possess” under the entry for ᴹ√GAR, but this was deleted (EtyAC/GAR). The verb harya- reappeared in
Select Elvish Words 10.82-10.83: Sailor, Boat
10.82 Sailor Q. ciryamo n. “mariner” A word for a “mariner” in the title Indis i·Ciryamo “The Mariner’s Wife” (UT/8), a combination of cirya “ship” with the agental suffix -mo. Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. veniel “mariner” as an elaboration of ᴱQ. vene “small boat”
Select Elvish Words 10.81: Ship
10.81 Ship Q. cirya n. “(sharp-prowed) ship, ⚠️[ᴹQ.] boat; [Q.] swift gliding” Cirya has been the Quenya word for “ship” for much of Tolkien’s life, and is very well-attested with this meaning. ᴱQ. kirya “ship” first appeared in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/46, 79) and in the
Select Elvish Words 10.75-10.78: Cart, Wheel, Axle, Yoke
10.75 Cart, Wagon, Carriage Q. lunca n. “heavy transport wain” A word for a “heavy transport wain” in notes from the late 1960s with variant forms lunka and luqa, both derived from primitive ✶lukma [“*drag-thing”] based on the root √LUK “haul, drag” (PE17/28). The form lunka [lunca] shows metathesis of
Select Elvish Words 10.73-10.74: Street, Bridge
10.73 Street ᴹQ. malle n. “street, (made or stone) road” A word for “street” appearing in Tolkien’s writings of the 1910s-40s. ᴱQ. malle “street” first appeared [albiet marked with “?”] in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MALA¹ “crush, squeeze, pulp” (QL/58), and in early names