4.20 Head Q. cas n. “head, [ᴱQ.] top, ⚠️summit” This is the Quenya word for “head”, with a stem form of car- because medial s generally became z and then r, but the s was preserved when final. This word can refer to the head of people and animals, as
Select Elvish Words
Studies on selected elvish words to sort out their semantics.
Select Elvish Words 4.17-4.19: Horn, Tail, Back
4.17 Horn (animal) ᴹQ. hyalma n. “conch, shell, horn of Ulmo” A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “shell, conch, horn of Ulmo” derived from primitive ᴹ✶syalmā under the root ᴹ√SYAL (Ety/SYAL). In this document hyalma was given as the name of tengwa #33 (9), and it appeared
Select Elvish Words 4.15-4.16: Blood, Bone
4.15 Blood ᴱQ. mear (mearn-) n. “gore, blood” A noun appearing as ᴱQ. mear “gore” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√MEHE “ooze‽”, with stem forms mearn- or meas- (QL/60). The H in the root represents voiceless velar spirant χ, which was voiced to ɣ
Select Elvish Words 4.143: Hair (other)
4.143 Hair (other) ᴹQ. fasse n. “tangled hair, shaggy lock” A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tangled hair, shaggy lock” derived from the root ᴹ√PHAS (Ety/PHAS). ᴹQ. fasta- vb. “to tangle” A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tangle” derived from the root ᴹ√PHAS (Ety/PHAS).
Select Elvish Words 4.14-4.142: Hair, Beard
4.14 Hair Q. findë n. “hair (especially of the head); tress or plait of hair, [ᴹQ.] braid of hair” A word mentioned by Tolkien in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 with glosses “hair, especially of the head” (PM/340) and “hair — a tress or plait of hair” (PM/345). The
Select Elvish Words 4.11-4.13: Body, Skin, Flesh
4.11 Body Q. hroa n. “body, bodily form, ⚠️flesh; physical matter” A word for “body” widely used in a variety of documents from 1958-59, derived from primitive ✶srawā based on the root √SRAW (MR/350). This word and derivation was mentioned again in notes from 1968 (VT47/35). In one place Tolkien
Select Elvish Words 3.99: Animals (other)
3.99 Animals (other) Q. ecellë n. “urchin, hedgehog” A word for “urchin, hedgehog” appearing in its plural form ekelli in 1965 notes on the land and beasts of Númenor, though not necessarily describing the terrestrial creature (NM/336). This word is probably based on the root √EK “sharp point”. Q. lopoldë
Select Elvish Words 3.84-3.85: Worm, Snake
3.84 Worm ᴱQ. wembe n. “worm” A noun appearing as ᴱQ. {wembe >>} ’wembe “worm” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√GWEVE; it had a longer variant ’wembil (QL/103). Wembe “worm” was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/103). Neo-Quenya:
Select Elvish Words 3.83: Fly (n)
3.83 Fly (n) ᴱQ. campo n. “flea” The word ᴱQ. kampo “flea” appeared in the Early Qenya Phonology document of the 1920s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶kampu- based on the early root ᴱ√KAPA “leap”, as opposed to ᴱN. caifr, ᴱT. camparon derived from the variant primitive form ᴱ✶kamp’ru (PE14/66). A similar
Select Elvish Words 3.82: Bee
3.82 Bee ᴱQ. nier n. “(honey) bee” A word appearing as ᴱQ. nier (nies-) “honey bee” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶neχier under the early root ᴱ√NEHE that was the basis for “honey” and “bee” words (QL/65). It had a variant form nies (niess-). It