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,
Sindarin
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
Elvish Roots – Words Related to “And”
Another word analysis, this time for a single word: the conjunction “and”. We know the net result: Q. ar and S. a. Knowing its development is nevertheless very important, because it effects a number of secondary words and its history is very complex. In the Quenya Lexicon of the 1910s,
Elvish Roots – Shapes of Primitive Roots
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
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