Quenya 

aldinga

noun. tree-top

A word for “tree-top” in notes from the late 1960s, a combination of alda “tree” and inga “top” (VT47/28).

Elements

WordGloss
alda“tree, tree, [ᴱQ.] branch”
inga“top, highest point, top, highest point, [ᴹQ.] first”

aldinga

treetop

aldinga noun "treetop" (VT47:28)

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

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).

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