The basic building blocks for words in Primitive Elvish were “roots”, also known as “bases” or “stems”, which Tolkien usually designated by putting them in ALLCAPS or by using square root symbol √ (and sometimes both). A “root” consists single vowel (called the base vowel or sundóma) and one or
Quenya
Elvish Roots – Parent/Child Part 2
Yet another conflux of words, this time “parent/child, grandparent/grandchild, boy/girl and baby” On the Quenya side, we have Q. nostari “parents” from LotR, so we really have no choice but to use nostar for “parent”. We also have ᴹQ. “male and female parents” ontare/ontaro from the Etymologies, which may also
Elvish Roots – Vowels
Several weeks ago I posted about Primitive Elvish consonants. This posts discusses the primitive vowels. Like its child languages, Primitive Elvish has the five basic short vowels i, e, a, o, u. Unlike the child languages, it has 7 long vowels, with the addition of ę̄ (sometimes written ǣ) and
Elvish Roots – Parent, Child, Sibling
Here is another exploration of Eldarin words, this time “father/mother, son/daughter, sister/brother” “Father” is dead easy. The words Q. atar, S. adar from the root √ATAR were established early on and Tolkien used them pretty consistently. “Mother” is trickier. Tolkien established √AM as the root for “mother” very early on
Elvish Roots – Consonants
If we really want to understand Primitive Elvish roots, we first need to understand what sounds were used in the Primitive Elvish language. Tolkien like to arrange his sound systems into tables of “series” and “grades”. The series were organized in columns by the area in the mouth where the
Elvish Roots – Man and Woman
This post is an exploration of the conflux of Eldarin words having to do “man/woman, husband/wife, bride/groom”. In Quenya, I think Q. nér “man” is quite well established, and Q. nís/nisse “woman” also well attested. I can’t imagine using anything else. These words point to the roots √N(D)ER and √N(D)I(S)
Elvish Roots – An Introduction
Fiona has asked me to update my writings on primitive Elvish roots and repost them on her site, something I am happy to do. This post is an introduction to that material for those unfamiliar with it. Since I don’t know who will be reading this, I’d first like to
Fragile Mortality
Some of you may know this already, but last Saint Nicolas’ Day, my grandfather died. We were quite close. He was a brilliant anthropologist and quite gifted at learning languages. If you want to know more about him, do a search on Frank Bessac. I miss him terribly, to the
Awards?
Please forgive me for neglecting you for so long! I have a lot of updates to get through. I decided that the Sindarin subtitle was a silly idea. In its place, I put a pretty banner that I made in MSPaint. I learned some CSS coding! Now the navigation bar
Quenya
I have great news today! The Quenya and Noldorin name lists are finally completed and up on the website! Three cheers for Tyrhael and Gildor! HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY! Quenya Namelists Exilic Quenya Namelists In celebration, I’ve put up the summer colors. This skin I