Comments by Ríon Gondremborion

These are the 10 posts of 50 by Ríon Gondremborion.

  • Research for a book

    An uncommon name...

    Well off the bird's beak I can tell you that Ud`Raan definitely isn't from either of Tolkien's major elven tongues (Quenya, High Elven; and Sindarin, Grey Elven). For all I know it could be Grelvish and that's uhm, a long story.

    So... here's a few options in Sindarin (Grey Elven, the common tongue of the elves: presuming you aren't too familiar with this study)

    *Adelas : Behind-Hole (Adel + Gas)

    (If gendered you could go with male Adelass(i)on or female Adelasseth, but in compound names this isn't the most common. Then again my Sindarin surname...)

    Keep in mind the following (though for your use it mightn't matter):

    The preposition used here, "*Adel" - for "behind (of locations)" was coined from this Languages of Middle Earth discussion by Paul Strack.

    There isn't an Elvish word that directly translates as what you request: nor is there a word for "donkey" or "mule" and I'd be doubtful such a word would have developed to have the same colloquial meaning in either Elvish language as the word does in English, my second proposition covers a more likely alternative, and one.

    *Hachas : Buttocks-Hole ( Hach + Gas )

    might spell as Hakhas to help readers with pronunciation

    If gendered (same disclaimer as before): M. Hachass(i)on, F. Hachasseth

    A more likely alternative using a reconstructed word for "Buttocks" and the already appearing "Gas" - meaning "hole/gap".

    In Quenya (High-Elven: the tongue of lore and history, not used in Middle Earth as a common language: most relatable to the dual system of English and Latin in Fuedalist Britain) please note that my skills with Quenya compound names are far less experienced than with Sindarin, so definitely wait for a few more opinions crop up after mine.

    *Assanó: Hole-Behind, ( Assa + Nó ), same meaning as first Sindarin Example

    *Haccassa: Buttocks-Hole, (Hakka + Assa)same meaning as second Sindarin Example

    Sorry about that answer being a lot more ambiguous and lengthy than you probably anticipated :/

    Ríon Gondremborion ríon gondremborion

  • Useless words

    Doing flashcards and I came across this word which I suppose might be something that you're looking for. It's something of a stretch but given it has a very indistinct meaning and it's a very basic sound (heck, it's even more basic than the supposed first word ever spoken by an elf!) this might be used as something roughly resembling an elven "uh".

    Edit: Also ran into this one which would probably be less of a stretch to call it a filler word

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  • Useless words

    Well,

    Filler/Useless words aren't something we can reconstruct in NeoQuenya like we can other parts of the vocabulary: these words evolve over many years of slang. It would be useful if we had been furnished with recordings of adolescent elves, but alas.

    The closest we can get is through "Yé" found in "I have found it!" but even that can be glossed as "Lo!/Behold!".

    At least, that's my two cents, I'd keep mind until more experienced people show up.

    Farewell, Novaer

    Ríon Gondremborion Ríon Gondremborion

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  • A Quenya word for "why"

    Well call me odd but personally I just use the dative case of ma, for "why". A construction of "For What?" can seem a little odd to the English speaker, but it mostly makes sense. Take for example Spanish, where there isn't one pronoun, "¿por qué?", which also translates to "For What?"

    A similar word is found in Neo-Sindarin: *amman?, a combination of an + man

    So while neither is Tolkien-vetted, it is what I use

    Savo aur vaer!

    Ríon Gondremborion

  • ‘O Light of Pleiades’ [Translation]

    The simple answer to your question: no, it shouldn't.

    The simple genitive in Sindarin is shown by word order, not by linking/mutation/assimilation. As we see in the Moria Gate Inscription, "Ennyn Durin" does not make use of a hyphen nor assimilation, and appropriately it is of a noun and a proper noun, like your translation.

    Best wishes,

    Ríon Gondremborion

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  • Trouble to "Begin"

    Thank you!

  • Linking vowels (Quenya)

    Tom you're becoming a bit of a ahem Riddle here, and that's a bit concerning.

    right, wrong nerdverse, ehm

    So, what Tamas was saying was that in some of your examples of compounded words, the were not actually connecting vowels. The vowels you saw just happened to be there because the vowel already existed. In example Heceldamar: the bolded a is in there not because it is a connecting vowel but because it is part of the adjective (which was not made for use in the compound, it already existed) hekelda. Thus "Forsaken Home" as Heceldamar is just the phrase hecelda mar shortened to form one word.

    Connecting vowels are not there by explicit Noldorin Linguistic Court Order, so you don't need to put a word through the taffy puller to make it into a version of itself that ends in a vowel, they are present only when needed, meaning when two words are being compounded and a consonant cluster forms that is not allowed by Quenya phonology. Then the stem vowel of the first word is repeated at its end. This sort of phenomona can be seen all the way back from Primitive Elvish, and is one of the reasons why we see some verbs ending in "-a" turn out to be primary verbs (seen in both Quenya and Sindarin).

    You point out that "i" seems to be the universal linking vowel in primitive verbs between the stem and suffix. Well, yeah, but not for the sake of simply linking the two. Basic stems for primitive verbs (as far as we can tell) took a suffix of -i in their infinitive forms (which, seeing as infinitives are not conjugated would aptly explain why an aorist tense in Quenya would take up such a suffix). During the shift from Common Eldarin to Quenya, this final "-i" when left alone on the end of the verb became an "-e", yet where the verb had a suffix, the "i" was medial and therefore left alone.

    Edit: Seeing as I just made a post about myself having very little skill in making Quenya compounds this may seem a little hypocritical, but it's the actual doing of the action not the theory that I'm unfamiliar with, so... yeah.

    Hoping I haven't made more of a mess,

    Ríon Gondremborion.

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  • Need help naming a sword

    significant rubbing of hands together Here we go...

    So, conveniently for me (as my experience with compounding words in Quenya is basically nonexistent) the sword used by a ranger would most likely have a Sindarin name, which I have more confidence with.

    Here are a few ideas, all of which (except for one case) are Neologisms, and come from the fact that you mentioned a silver star.

    Silver Star: *Gilgeleb, "Star" Gîl + "Silver" Celeb. Note that this would be a bit poetic as the use of "Silver" Celeb as a noun and not an adjective implies the star is actual silver, not just silvery. For a more literal name one might go with *Gilgelebren

    Greystar: *Thingil/*Gilthin(d), "Pale Grey" Thind + "Star" Gîl. The latter name would be if the name you're going for is fashioned to be a little older as in Middle Earth, old is always in style. Now, there is an attested name Gilmith, but if you want to name your sword after a lady from Dol Amroth, be my guest.

    Starfist: *Elbor, "Star" El + "Fist" Paur. Self explanatory.

    Starfire: *Elnor/*Gilnor, "Star" El/Gil + "Fire" Naur.

    Star of the Wilderness: *Elthrovan, "Star" El + "Wilderness" Rhovan. Themed on Star + Ranger.

    There are many other names along these lines, but these were a few of my favorites (save for #1, but I felt I needed to include a literal name).

  • Trouble to "Begin"

    Recently I've been wondering what a simple Neo-Sindarin verb for "To Begin" might be (I use Neo here because this is in a casual non-exact setting and I find using Edra "To Open" To be something of a stretch).

    There exists the Neo Quenya verb *Yesta- on Eldamo (yet I find this a little strange in contrast with the verb Yesta "To Desire"). Anywho since there already is Aníra in Sindarin for "To Desire" I'd think that an Exilic loanword of *Iesta- "To Begin" might be acceptable, but it's the more original Doriath version that I'd prefer. On Eldamo's version I can't tell if their Neo-Quenya *Yesta- is from primitive √YESET + Á or √YESET + TÁ, as both (I believe) would lead to a Quenya *Yesta.

    I prefer the latter for a NS word because it would undergo a process something (Once again, I believe, if not smack me upside the head with the Etymologies if you please) like the following:

          Yesettá- -> Iesetta- -> Iesettha- -> Iehetha- -> Ieetha- -> Iétha

    Then I get to the question of what-in-blazes would the past tense of the latter look like if - in accordance to Neo-Sindarin verb conjugation as found in Fiona Jalling's book - the past tense of a "Ta-" verb is formed by dropping the "Ta-" and treating it like an I-stem verb? The phonetic development of "√E-YESET-NE" is something a bit hideous to me, so I felt it was high time to get some advice.

    Sorry about the mess and possible headache I've gone and made,

    ~Ríon Gondremborion

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  • Tanen - in that way (Quenya)

    Uhm, interesting question/ dig at your old teacher.

    I'd have to say that while "in that way" isn't a phrase I use daily but I have used/seen it used and that yes, "I did not do it in that way" can but must not necessarily mean "in this spirit", as it could also imply the method the action was done with, not exclusively the emotional intention.