Quenya 

alda

tree

alda noun "tree" (GALAD, GÁLAD, SA, Nam, RGEO:66, LR:41, SD:302, LT1:249, LT2:340, VT39:7), also name of tengwa #28 (Appendix E). Pl. aldar in Narqelion; gen. pl. aldaron "of trees" in Namárië. Etymology of alda, see Letters:426 and UT:266-7. The latter source states that primitive ¤galadā, whence Quenya alda, originally applied to stouter and more spreading trees such as oaks or beeches, while straighter and more slender trees such as birches were called ¤ornē, Quenya ornë - but this distinction was not always observed in Quenya, and it seems that alda became the general word. According to PE17:25, primitive galada (sic) referred to "a plant (large) and was a general term". Place-name Aldalómë ""tree-night" or "tree-shade-night" (LotR2:III ch. 4, translated in PE17:82); Aldarion masc. name, *"Son of (the) Trees" (Appendix A), Tar-Aldarion a Númenorean King (UT:210). Aldaron a name of Oromë (Silm); aldinga "tree-top" (VT47:28), aldarembina (pl. aldarembinë attested) adj. "tree-tangled", the cognate of Sindarin galadhremmin**(PM:17:26).Aldúya fourth day of the Eldarin six-day week, dedicated to the Trees (Appendix D). The word seems to include Aldu, a dual form referring to the Two Trees. The Númenóreans altered the name to Aldëa (presumably < aldajā), referring to one tree (the White) only. The dual Aldu seems to occur also in Aldudénië** "Lament for the Two Trees" (a strange word, since Quenya does not permit intervocalic d as in this word perhaps the Vanyarin dialect of Quenya did) (Silm)

alda

noun. tree

Quenya [PE 22:116, 124; PE 22:160] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

alda

noun. tree, tree, [ᴱQ.] branch

The basic Quenya word for “tree” (LotR/1113), derived from primitive ✶galadā and very well attested. This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱQ. alda “tree” appeared under the early root ᴱ√ALA “spread” (QL/29). Tolkien seems to have switched its derivation to ✱galadā in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where ᴹQ. alda “tree” appeared under the root ᴹ√GALAD of the same meaning (Ety/GALAD). See also ornë “(tall) tree” for a discussion of another similar word.

Conceptual Development: There were a few instances where the word alda had a different meaning. In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, alda was glossed “branch” (PE16/139). In notes from 1959 Tolkien said “✱galadā, originally only large flourishing plant, as tree, and especially one that flowered, Q alda, S galað; the general word for ‘tree’ was Q orne ‘upstanding plant’ (PE17/153)”. But in its numerous appearance elsewhere, alda was simply a general word for “tree”.

Cognates

  • S. galadh “tree” ✧ Let/426; LotR/1113; PE17/025; PE17/050; PE17/063; PE17/136; PE17/153; PE17/153; RGEO/65; SA/alda; NM/352
  • Nan. galad “tree” ✧ PE17/050
  • T. galada “tree” ✧ NM/352

Derivations

  • galadā “great plant, tree” ✧ Let/426; NM/352; PE17/025; PE17/050; PE17/063; PE17/135; PE17/153; PE17/153; VT39/07
    • ᴹ√GALAD “tree”
    • ᴹ√GAL “grow, thrive” ✧ Ety/GALA
    • GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ Let/426; PE17/025; PE17/135; PE17/153; PE17/153
  • GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE22/160

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
galadā > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ Let/426
galada > alda[galada] > [galda] > [ɣalda] > [alda]✧ NM/352
galadā > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE17/025
galadā > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE17/050
galadā > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE17/063
galadā > ʒalaðā > ʒalðā > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [ɣalðā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE17/135
galadā́ > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE17/153
galadā > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE17/153
GAL > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ PE22/160
ʒalda > alda[galadā] > [galdā] > [ɣaldā] > [aldā] > [alda]✧ VT39/07

Variations

  • Alda ✧ RC/385
Quenya [Let/426; LotR/0377; LotR/1113; LotR/1123; MR/100; NM/352; PE17/025; PE17/050; PE17/063; PE17/126; PE17/135; PE17/136; PE17/153; PE22/160; RC/385; RGEO/58; RGEO/65; SA/alda; UT/167; VT39/07] Group: Eldamo. Published by

malda

yellow, of golden colour

malda adj. "yellow, of golden colour" (PE17:51), variant of malina. An earlier source (the Etymologies, entry SMAL) has malda as the noun "gold" but LotR gives malta, q.v., and according to VT46:14 the form malta originally appeared in the Etymologies as well. Since Quenya sometimes uses adjectives as nouns (see for instance fanya), malda could still be regarded as a valid side-form of the noun malta "gold".

palda

adjective. wide, broad, wide, broad, *expansive

Derivations

  • palnā “wide, broad” ✧ VT47/08
    • PAL “wide, broad, extended, wide, broad, extended; [ᴹ√] wide (open); [ᴱ√] flatness” ✧ VT47/08

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
palnā > palda[palnā] > [paldā] > [palda]✧ VT47/08

landa

wide

landa (2) adj. "wide" (LAD). Maybe in landatavárë = *"wide-wood"? (TI:415)

palla

wide, expansive

palla adj. "wide, expansive" (PAL)

yanda

wide

yanda adj. "wide" (PE17:115); variant of yána #1, q.v.

yanda

adjective. wide

Cognates

  • S. iand “wide” ✧ PE17/115

culumalda

culumalda

culumalda noun: a kind of tree (evidently orange-tree, culuma + alda) (SA:mal-)

lavaralda

(golden) blossom

lavaralda (changed by Tolkien from lavarin) noun some kind of tree (alda) (LR:57). The initial element lavar- seems to connect with the root LAWAR having to do with golden colour; cf. lávar "(golden) blossom" (PE17:159).

malina

yellow

malina adj. "yellow" (SMAL, Letters:308), "yellow, of golden colour" (PE17:51). Malinalda *"Yellow-tree", a name of Laurelin (SA:mal-; evidently malina + alda), translated "Tree of Gold" in the Silmarillion index. Cf. also malinornë.

loar

(golden) blossom

loar noun "(golden) blossom" (not to be confused with the pl. form of loa). Also lávar. (PE17:159)

löar

noun. (golden) blossom

tulca

yellow

tulca (3) ("k") adj. "yellow". Adopted and adapted from Valarin; the normal Quenya word for "yellow" is rather malina (WJ:399)

yonda

wide, roomy, extensive

yonda adj."wide, roomy, extensive" (PE17:43), also (as alternative form of yonna) glossed "enclosed", with the latter meaning perhaps intended as the passive participle of the verb yor-

lávar

(golden) blossom

lávar noun "(golden) blossom". Also loa. (PE17:159)

lávar

noun. (golden) blossom

A word in notes from the 1960s for a “(golden) blossom” with variants löar and lávar, both based on the √LAWAR having to with the colour “gold” (PE17/159). The element ᴹQ. lavar also appeared as an element in the name for a Númenorean tree ᴹQ. lavaralda in stories from the 1930s which Tolkien described as having “long green leaves [that] were golden on the undersides” and whose “flowers were pale with a yellow flush” (LR/57-68). For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use lávar for “(golden) blossom”, since that form is more distinctive.

Derivations

  • (G)LAWAR “golden light” ✧ PE17/159

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
LAWAR > löar[lawar] > [loar]✧ PE17/159
LAWAR > lávar[lāwar] > [lāβar] > [lāvar]✧ PE17/159

Variations

  • löar ✧ PE17/159

inga

top, highest point

inga (1) noun "top, highest point" (PM:340), "only applied to shapes pointing upwards...[it] referred primarily to position and could be used of tops relatively broad". Compounded in the nouns aldinga "tree-top" (alda + inga) (VT47:28), ingaran "high-king" (PM:340)

ornë

tree

ornë noun "tree" _(Letters:308, SD:302: "when smaller and more slender like a birch or rowan", Etym stem ÓR-NI: "tree, high isolated tree"). For the etymology, see Letters:426; for (original) difference in meaning between ornë and alda, see alda. In ornemalin "tree-yellow"; see laurelindórenan lindelorendor... (LotR2:III ch. 4; cf. Letters:308), also as final element in malinornë "yellow-tree, mallorn" (q.v.) Masc. name Ornendil *"Tree-friend" (Appendix A)_, compound Ornelië "tree-folk" (Quenya name of the Galadhrim, the tree-people of Lórien) (TI:239).

alda

alda

The word derives from the Primitive Quendian root GALÁD.

Quenya [Tolkien Gateway] Published by

ingëa

adjective. top

@@@ Discord 2022-05-23

Elements

WordGloss
inga“top, highest point, top, highest point, [ᴹQ.] first”
Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by