airë (1) adj. "holy", #Airefëa "the Holy Spirit" (VT43:37, dative airefëan on the previous page), airetári or Airë Tári "holy queen" (a title of Varda, PM:363), genitive aire-tário "holy-queen's" (Nam, RGEO:67). However, according to PM:363, airë is the noun "sanctity", while aira is the adjective "holy". VT43:14 refers to an etymological note of "Sept.-Oct. 1957" where airë is said to be a noun "sanctity, holiness", and the adjective "holy" is given as airëa. However, the verb #airita- "hallow" seems to be formed from an adjective airë, airi- "holy". Evidently airë can function as both adjective ("holy") and noun ("holiness"); if so airë as adj. could represent a primitive adjective gaisi, whereas airë as noun may descend from gaisē. The former but not the latter would have the stem airi- (as observed in the derived verb #airita-), and compounds like airetári (rather than *airitári) would seem to contain properly the noun "holiness".
Quenya
aira
holy
airë
holy
airë
sea
airë (2) noun "sea" (the form airen is given, intended as a genitive singular when Tolkien wrote this; in LotR-style Quenya it would rather be a dative sg.) (AYAR/AIR; cf. airon)
airë
noun. sea
An archaic word for “sea” which fell out of use to due conflict with “holy” words like aira or airë; it was a noun form of primitive ✶gaı̯ră (PE17/27). The more common modern word for “sea” is ëar.
Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. aire “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY); it appeared beside a form ᴹQ. airen that might be a genitive form, or might be a longer form; see the entry on ᴹQ. airon for discussion.
Cognates
- S. gaear “sea” ✧ PE17/027
Derivations
Element in
- Q. airon “ocean” ✧ PE17/027
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶gaı̯ră > aire [gaira] > [ɣaira] > [aira] ✧ PE17/027 Variations
- aire ✧ PE17/027 (aire)
airen
noun. sea
airëa
holy
airëa adj. "holy"; see airë.
ëar
sea
ëar noun "sea" (AYAR/AIR [gives also dat. sg. ëaren],WJ:413; see Letters:386 for etymology). Not to be confused with the pl. form of the verb ëa "be, exist". Pl. ëari "seas" (FS, LR:47); Eär "the Great Sea" (cf. ëaron "ocean"), ablative Eärello "from the Great Sea", et Eärello "out of the Great Sea" (EO). Eärë noun "the open sea" (SD:305). Compound ëaruilë noun "seaweed" (UY). Found in proper names like Eärendil "Sea-friend", Eärendur masc. name, *"Sea-servant"; in effect a variant of Eärendil(Appendix A). Eärendur was also used ="(professional) mariner" (Letters:386).Fem. name Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (Silm); Eärrámë "Sea-wing", "Wings of the Sea", name of Tuor's ship (RAM, AYAR/AIR, SA)
aina
holy
aina (2) adj "holy" (AYAN), derived from Ainu. Adopted and adapted from Valarin. According to VT43:32, the word is "obsolete, except in Ainur", apparently suggesting that airë or airëa (q.v.) was the normal term for "holy" in later Quenya. However, Tolkien repeatedly used aina in his translation of the Litany of Loreto: Aina Fairë "Holy Spirit", Aina Neldië "Holy Trinity", Aina Maria "Holy Mary", Aina Wendë "Holy Virgin". He also used Aina Eruontari for "holy Mother" in his rendering of the Sub Tuum Praesidium(WJ:399, FS, SA, VT43:32, VT44:5, 12, 17-18)
vilya
air, sky
vilya noun "air, sky", also name of tengwa #24. Older wilya. (Appendix E). Early "Qenya" has Vilya (changed from Vilna) "lower air" (LT1:273); also vilya "air" (MC:215)
vilya
noun. air, sky
A word for “air” or “sky” appearing Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings from older †wilya, serving as the name of tengwa #24 [n] (LotR/1123). It is clearly a derivative of the root ᴹ√WIL (Ety/WIL). It has an abnormal plural form wilyar with initial w- in the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem in the phrase yan i wilyar antar miquelis “✱to whom the air gives kisses” (PE16/96).
Conceptual Development: The notion of the “lower air” as a region dates all the way back to the earliest Lost Tales, where the innermost layer of air was called ᴱQ. Vilna (LT1/65). However, in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the term was ᴱQ. Vilya “air (lower)” as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√VILI (QL/101). The word vilya “lower air” appeared English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s but was deleted (PE15/68), and this term appeared as both the singular “air” and plural “airs” in version of Nieninqe and its drafts circa 1930: yan/yar i vilya(r) anta miqilis “to whom the air(s) give kisses” (MC/215; PE16/90, 92).
In the Ambarkanta of the early 1930s, the lower air was {Wilwa >>} Vista (SM/236, 240 note #1), but it was Wilwa again in the earliest tales of Númenor from the 1930s (LR/12) and was ᴹQ. {vilwa >>} wilma in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” (Ety/WIL). Q. vilya “air, sky” in Appendix E seems to be the last iteration in this chain.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think vilya refers mainly to air as the region above the ground, as opposed to ᴹQ. vista “air (as a substance)”. You breath vista, but birds fly through vilya, and breezes flow through vilya like ripples in a lake.
Derivations
- ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air”
Element in
- ᴺQ. vilwis(të) “weather, (lit.) turn of air”
- Q. yan i wilyar antar miquelis “*to whom the air gives kisses” ✧ PE16/096
Variations
- wilya ✧ LotR/1123 (wilya)
wilya
noun. air, sky
aista
holy
aista (1) adj. "holy" (VT43:37)
lírë
song
lírë noun "song", stem #líri- in the instrumental form lírinen "in [the] song" or *"by [the] song" (Nam, RGEO:67)
lírë
noun. song
Derivations
- √LIR “sing, warble, sing, warble, [ᴹ√] trill” ✧ PE17/067
Element in
- ᴺQ. airilírë “hymn”
- Q. ómaryo airetári-lírinen “in the song of her voice, holy and queenly” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. ómaryo lírinen airetário “in [by means of] her voice’s song, of the holy-queen” ✧ RGEO/59
- Q. lírinen ómo i·aire tário “by the song of the voice of the holy queen” ✧ PE17/076
- Q. lírinen ómo i·aire táríva “by the song of the voice of the holy queen” ✧ PE17/076
- Q. tintilar lirinen ómaryo Airë-tário ✧ PM/364
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √LIR > līrĭ- [līri] > [līre] ✧ PE17/067 Variations
- líre ✧ PE17/067
vilwa
air, lower air
[vilwa < wilwa] noun "air, lower air" (distinct from the 'upper' air of the stars, or the 'outer') (WIL; in one place vilwa was not struck out, VT46:21) According to VT46:21, Tolkien considered vilda < wilda as a replacement form, but rejected it.
wilma
air, lower air
wilma noun "air, lower air" (distinct from the 'upper' air of the stars, or the 'outer') (WIL)
váya
sea
váya noun "sea" (considered as "waters, motion"). The wording of the source indicates that Tolkien only tentatively considered such a word (PE17:33)
vëa
sea
vëa (3) noun "sea" (MC:213, 214, 216; possibly obsoleted by #1 and #2 above, though some argue that the initial element of the late names Vëantur and Vëandur [q.v.] could be vëa #3 rather than #2 (it can hardly be #1) . In any case, the normal word for "sea" in LotR-style Quenya seems to be ëar.) Inflected vëan "sea" (MC:220), vëar "in sea" (a "Qenya" locative in -r, MC:213), vëassë "on sea" (MC:220). Cf. also vëaciryo.
lindë
air, tune, singing, song
lindë noun "air, tune, singing, song" (SA:gond, (LIN2, [GLIN]); lindelorendor "music-dream-land"; see laurelindórenan lindelorendor... _(LotR2:III ch. 4, cf. Letters:308). _Also compare lindi- in lindimaitar, q.v. (but the other compounds here cited do not give a lindë a stem-form lindi-).
valcanë
vague
valcanë ("k") adj. "vague" (MC:213; this is "Qenya")
wilwa
vague, fluttering to and fro
wilwa adj. "vague, fluttering to and fro" (_Markirya). _A similar word in the Etymologies was struck out: [wilwa > vilwa] "air, lower air" (distinct from the 'upper' air of the stars, or the 'outer') (WIL) According to VT46:21, Tolkien considered wilda > vilda as a replacement form, but rejected it.
hwesta
breeze, breath, puff of air
hwesta (1) noun "breeze, breath, puff of air" (SWES), also name of tengwa #12 (Appendix E, VT46:17); hwesta sindarinwa "Grey-elven hw", name of tengwa #34 (Appendix E).
hwesta
noun. breeze, breeze; [ᴹQ.] breath, puff of air
A noun in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings glossed “breeze”, the name of tengwa #12 [c] (LotR/1123).
Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. hwesta “breath, breeze, puff of air” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√SWES “noise of blowing or breathing” (Ety/SWES).
Cognates
- ᴺS. hwest “puff, breath, breeze”
Derivations
- ᴹ√SWES “noise of blowing or breathing”
Element in
- ᴺQ. hwestalauca “vapour”
- Q. hwesta sindarinwa “Grey-elven hw” ✧ LotR/1123
eressëa
lonely
eressëa adj. "lonely" (ERE, LT1:269), "solitary" (cf. Letters:386). Eressëa place-name "Lonely (One)", often used by itself for Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle (Silm) or Solitary Isle (Letters:386, footnote)
eressëa
adjective. lonely
Element in
- Q. Eressëa “Lonely (Isle)”
- Q. Tol Eressëa “Lonely Isle”
Variations
- erEssëa ✧ LotR/1116
aira (2) adj. "holy"; see airë #1