Hi there,
I'm creating a logo for an online community for trauma survivors. I thought the concept of Laito (vigour, new life) was appropriate, but want to make sure that if we incorporate the Quenyan it looks right. Could someone help me get the lettering correct? Thanks!
Shannon
Let's clarify a few things:
Firstly, Quenya (not "Quenyan") cannot look and have lettering but rather sound this or that way, because it is not a writing system but a language. So what you actually want is a Tengwar (aka the "Elvish Alphabet") transcription in the Classical Mode of Tengwar (which is used for transcribing Quenya).
Secondly, "laito" is not a good option because it comes from the earliest drafts of the language (which sadly this website still brings up without much warning). Meaning that it is not actually in Quenya but in "Early Qenya", and it does not fit the canon form of the language. I would suggest picking another word, but it would be better if you tell me the meaning(s) that you wish to use and then I provide the best options.
Thanks for the information! I appreciate it. I've been scouring this website and Ruth Noel's The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth for an appropriate word or term.
The specific purpose of the website/community is for child sex abuse (in particular, child pornography) survivors to share resources for healing. I am struggling finding a term that fits the purpose and isn't too complex/long to be said aloud or read online. I would need to claim it on social/.org, likely. Welcome any ideas. Thanks! :)
Another clarification: Tolkien's notes on his languages are still being published, which means that older books are bound to be farther away from Tolkien's vision (due to the lesser amount of source material at the time of their publication). And while some books which were good enough for their time can be considered "still (partially) useful" for a scholar (despite being outdated), Ruth Noel's book is sadly not even that. Never mind the fact that it was published even before the Silmarillion (thus as outdated as it could get, which makes it basically useless already), many scholars found it to be problematic even back then. So I strongly recommend ignoring it.
How about:
Q. ceulë ceulë "renewal"
S. cŷl cŷl "renewal"
I can provide larger Tengwar transcriptions as images if you like (one of) them.
Thanks so much! I really appreciate how helpful you've been. I've had that book since I was a kid, and didn't know it was so outdated.
My challenge now is that whatever I choose for naming this resource will also need to be easy to say/share. I'm afraid ceulë / cŷl would be too challenging for folks to pronounce.
What about vinya? I see it as an option listed here: www.elfdict.com. It's simple, pleasant to the ears imo, and available as a .org.
Thanks again for your help.
I would say that vinya "young, new (& fresh)" is rather generic and unfitting with regard to "healing" (without further inflections). I had the idea to use the same root for something new, but it runs into some other issues. I suppose, we can go for the Vanyar "Fair-ones" route, where the adjective vanya "fair" (whose plural would normally be vanyë) is treated as a noun, Vanya "Fair-one". So in this case we would have Vinyar "Young/New/Fresh-ones". Alternatively one could use these in the same way: alya "prosperous, blessed", (a)manya "good, blessed", arya "excelling, better", *lirya "sweet, graceful", mirya "beautiful, lovely / precious", ranya "free, wandering", verya "bold, brave, valiant".
Agree on vinya being not quite fitting, although available and market-ready. I like the concept and sound of amanya, but there's already an organization using the name.... Verya is a perfect concept, just doesn't have quite the right sound in my opinion.
Are there any similar routes we could take with the concepts of tantara / resilience? I'm also open to modifying adjectives into something more akin to "the ____ ones" or going with a verb in either unconjugated or "-ing". Hope that makes sense, and again, really appreciate your help. Thank you!!
I'm also open to modifying adjectives into something more akin to "the ____ ones"
What I last offered was literally that. Using (for example) verya "brave", you would get Veryar "Brave-ones" as a name. The same goes for all of the adjectives that I listed.
doesn't have quite the right sound in my opinion
Liking vinya but disliking verya could be considered a bit too picky in the context of such limited languages.
Are there any similar routes we could take with the concepts of tantara / resilience?
I had no idea what you meant with "tantara" until I searched for "resilien...". Again, like "laito", this is an early draft word, meaning that it is not really Quenya and should not be used. I could suggest voronwa as "endurant" and voronwë as "endurance" (the "ë" is simply "e", only marked so that it would not be omitted like in English, not always necessary).
What I last offered was literally that. Using (for example) verya "brave", you would get Veryar "Brave-ones" as a name. The same goes for all of the adjectives that I listed.
Ahh, okay - thanks. I didn't quite catch that.
Liking vinya but disliking verya could be considered a bit too picky in the context of such limited languages.
That's helpful - maybe vinya is alright. Ending in a "yar" sound using the options above seems to create an unpleasant sound somehow, whereas I see vinya as pleasant to write, read, and hear...I'm sorry to be so picky, I just don't want to go through a branding exercise again later if I can get it right the first time. If it's too difficult to say and share, or looks too complex, people just scroll by. The "best practices" route would be to choose a non-symbolic name (in this case, something like "CSA Survivors") but I find that a bit lacking, too.
I had no idea what you meant with "tantara" until I searched for "resilien...". Again, like "laito", this is an early draft word, meaning that it is not really Quenya and should not be used. I could suggest voronwa as "endurant" and voronwë as "endurance" (the "ë" is simply "e", only marked so that it would not be omitted like in English, not always necessary).
Ahh, OK. Other ideas I've been researching are sharing, awakening, connection, togetherness, comfort, and strength. I'm running into bits of language that I'm not sure how to piece together, if at all.
Thanks so much for all the help you've provided, really appreciate your expertise.
I will reiterate that vinya is simply an adjective with the sense "new", and so going for "vinya.org" would be like going for "new.org" meaning-wise. If that is fine by you, then you can go ahead. Here are my suggestions for the rest:
Q. *satië satie "sharing"
Q. cuivë cuive "awakening"
Q. limë lime "link, *joint [& connection?]"
Q. *uomë uome "community [& togetherness]"
Q. aþië (or asië) aþie "ease, comfort"
Q. túrë túre "might, mastery, strength, power"