vanya
fair
vanya
adjective. fair, beautiful, unmarred; fair-haired (yellow to golden), fair, beautiful, unmarred; fair-haired (yellow to golden); [ᴱQ.] good (not evil), holy
Cognates
Derivations
- √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/056; PE17/149; PE17/150
- ✶wanya “fair-haired (yellow to golden)” ✧ PE17/150; PE17/150
- √(G)WAN “pale, fair” ✧ PE17/150
- √(G)WAN “pale, fair” ✧ PE17/154; PE17/165
- ✶banya “beautiful” ✧ PE17/165
- √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/165
Element in
- Q. Arda Vanya “Arda Unmarred” ✧ PE17/150
- Q. ilvan(y)a “perfect” ✧ PE17/150
- Q. úvana “marred” ✧ PE17/150
- Q. Vanya “Fair Elves, the Fair”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √BAN > vanya [banja] > [βanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/056 √ɃAN > vanya [banja] > [βanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/149 √BAN > vanya [banja] > [βanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/150 ✶wanya > vanya [wanja] > [βanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/150 ✶wana > văna [wanja] > [βanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/150 √GWAN > vanya [gwanja] > [ɣwanja] > [wanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/154 ✶banya > vanya [banja] > [βanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/165 √GWAN > wana [gwanja] > [ɣwanja] > [wanja] > [vanja] ✧ PE17/165 Variations
- văna ✧ PE17/150
- wana ✧ PE17/165 (wana)
- wanya ✧ PE17/165 (wanya)
vanya
proper name. Fair Elves, the Fair
An Elf of the first tribe, known as “The Fair” (S/53). Their name developed from the primitive root √(G)WAN “pale, fair” referring to their fair hair (WJ/383).
Conceptual Development: Tolkien also considered deriving this name from primitive ✶banya “beautiful” (PM/402) from the root √BAN (PE17/165). In Quenya, these two roots were blended, so both origins could have been true in a sense.
Cognates
- T. Vania “Vanya” ✧ WJ/383; WJI/Vanyar
Derivations
Derivatives
- T. Vania “Vanya” ✧ WJ/383
Element in
- Q. Vanyarin “*of the Vanyar; language of the Vanyar”
Elements
Word Gloss vanya “fair, beautiful, unmarred; fair-haired (yellow to golden), fair, beautiful, unmarred; fair-haired (yellow to golden); [ᴱQ.] good (not evil), holy” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶Banyai > Vanyar [banjar] > [βanjar] > [vanjar] ✧ PM/402 ✶wanjā > Vanyar [wanjar] > [βanjar] > [vanjar] ✧ WJ/380 ✶wanjā > Vanyar [wanjar] > [βanjar] > [vanjar] ✧ WJ/383
vanima
beautiful, fair
vanima adj. "beautiful, fair" (BAN, VT39:14) (glossed "proper, right, fair" in early "Qenya", LT1:272, though a later source says the word is used "only of living things, especially Elves and Men", PE17:150); nominal pl. vanimar "beautiful ones", partitive pl. genitive vanimálion, translated "of beautiful children", but literally meaning *"of [some] beautiful ones") (LotR3:VI ch. 6, translated in Letters:308). Arwen vanimalda "Beautiful Arwen", literally "Arwen your beauty" (see -lda for reference; changed to Arwen vanimelda in the second edition of LotR; see vanimelda).
vanima
adjective. beautiful
vanima
adjective. beautiful, fair, beautiful, fair, *handsome; [ᴱQ.] proper, right, as it should be, fair
A word for “beautiful, fair” derived from the root √BAN of similar meaning (PE17/55, 143, 150, 165). Tolkien specified that this word was used “only of living things, especially Elves or Men” (PE17/150). Tolkien further stated that this would did not mean only “fair (blond)”, because it was applicable to Arwen who had dark hair (PE17/165). Thus it applied to any physically beautiful living creature.
Conceptual Development: The first appearance of this word was the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. {vana >>} vanĭma was glossed “proper, right, as it should be, fair” under the early root ᴱ√VANA (QL/99). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was ᴹQ. vanima “fair” under the root ᴹ√BAN (Ety/BAN). In this document it was the basis for ᴹQ. Vanimo “the Beautiful”, indicating that by the 1930s its base meaning had shifted from “proper” to “beautiful”.
Neo-Sindarin: In the “Neologism of the Day” (NotD) series on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server as posted 2023-05-30, Delle pointed out that this word was not specifically feminine, so could also mean “✱handsome” when applied to males.
Derivations
- √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/149; PE17/150; PE17/165
Element in
- Q. úvanima “not fair, ugly; hard to call beautiful, hideous” ✧ PE17/143; PE22/156; VT39/14
- Q. úvanimo “monster, corrupt or evil creature” ✧ PE17/150
- Q. vanimelda “beautiful and beloved, elven-fair” ✧ PE17/056; PE17/057
- Q. vanimalda “most beautiful, exceeding fair; thou beautiful, thou beautiful; most beautiful, exceeding fair” ✧ PE17/055 (
vanimalda)Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √ɃAN > vanima [banima] > [βanima] > [vanima] ✧ PE17/149 √BAN > vanima [banima] > [βanima] > [vanima] ✧ PE17/150 √BAN > vanima [banima] > [βanima] > [vanima] ✧ PE17/165 Variations
- vanima ✧ PE17/055 (vanima); PE17/056; PE17/057; PE17/143; PE17/149 (vanima); PE17/150; PE17/165 (vanima); VT39/14
- vănĭmā ✧ PE17/057
- vănima ✧ PE22/156
alya
fair, good
alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)
vanë
fair
vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)
vanë
adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely
Derivations
- √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/056
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √BAN > vane [bani] > [bane] > [βane] > [vane] ✧ PE17/056 Variations
- vane ✧ PE17/056
vanië
beauty
vanië noun "beauty" (PE17:56), apparently formed from vanya #1. Synonym vanessë.
vanië
noun. beauty
Elements
Word Gloss vanë “fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely” Variations
- vanie ✧ PE17/056; PE17/057
vannë
vannë
vannë pa.t. of vanya-(WAN)
vanessë
beauty
vanessë noun "beauty" (LT1:272, PE17:56). Also vanië.
vanessë
noun. beauty
Cognates
- ᴺS. banath “beauty”
Variations
- vanesse ✧ PE17/056
alima
fair, good
alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)
calwa
beautiful
calwa ("k") adj. "beautiful" (LT1:254)
linda
fair, beautiful
linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.
látie
noun. openness
Elements
Word Gloss láta “open (not closed)” -ië “abstract noun, adverb”
látië
openness
látië noun "openness" (VT39:23)
mairëa
beautiful
mairëa adj. "beautiful" (of things made by art) (PE17:163). An alternative (and peculiar) form "mairia" is also implied in the source.
mírya
beautiful
mírya adj. "beautiful" (of work of art only) (PE17:165)
-ima
fair
-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)
-ië
openness
-ië (2) abstract ending, often used to derive abstracts from adjectives, e.g. látië "openness" vs. láta "open", mornië "darkness" vs. morna "black, dark", vanië (for *vanyië) "beauty" vs. vanya "fair".
vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.