Quenya 

súya-

verb. breathe

súya- (þ) vb. "breathe" (THŪ)

fir-

verb. to die, fade, †expire, breathe forth

A verb for “to die”, originally meaning “breathe forth, expire” (MR/250). Tolkien also translated it as “die, fade” in notes for the Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/223). The use of this verb for death was connected to the passing of Míriel and was thus used only for a natural or peaceful death (MR/250); for discussion see the noun form fírië “death”. More unpleasant forms of death would instead use the verb Q. qual-. Based on the glosses from the Markirya poem, it seems this verb may also be applied metaphorically to non-living things that “fade (away)”, as in its more elaborate form fifíru- “to slowly fade away” (MC/222-223).

Quenya [MC/223; MR/250; MR/470; VT43/34] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nef- Reconstructed

verb. to breathe (air)

hac-

verb. to yawn

A verb implied by the active participle hákala “yawning” from the Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/222). The verb form is often assumed to be háca-, but if this adjective is in fact a present active participle (= “is currently yawning”), then the verb may be hac- instead.

hwesta-

verb. to puff

hwesta- (2) vb. "to puff" (SWES)

siqu-

verb. sigh

siqu- ("q")vb. "sigh" (cited in form "siqi"), pa.t. síque (QL:84)

susta-

verb. to blow (tr.)

A verb in notes from around 1957 given as susta or sūta “blow (intr.)”, derived from primitive ✶thusta- or ✶thūta- based on the √THU(S) “blow, cause an air movement” (NM/239 and NM/240 note #9). The first of these appeared in the untranslated phrase __sustanë__ Manwëo súlë ten i indo Sindicollo, probably meaning “✱the spirit of Manwe blew unto the heart of Thingol” as suggested by Carl Hostetter (NM/240 note #7).

Neo-Quenya: Since it appears in a sentence, I prefer susta- over súta- for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

súta-

verb. to blow (tr.)

Quenya [NM/239; NM/240] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yanga-

verb. to yawn

yanga- vb. "to yawn" (YAG)

siqu-

verb. to sigh

@@@ used in NQNT

Noldorin 

thuia-

verb. to breathe

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “breathe” derived from the root ᴹ√THŪ “puff, blow” (Ety/THŪ).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien gave G. festa- “breath” (GL/35), likely derived from the early root ᴱ√ǶEHE “breathe” (QL/41).

Noldorin [Ety/THŪ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thuia-

verb. to breathe

Noldorin [Ety/393] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Primitive elvish

phir

root. exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√PHIR “die of natural causes” with derivatives like ᴹQ. fire/N. feir “mortal man” and ᴹQ. firin/N. fern “dead” (Ety/PHIR; EtyAC/ÑGUR). In one place it had a rejected variant ᴹ√SPIR (EtyAC/ÑGUR). In later notes, Tolkien explained that √PHIRI meant “exhale, expire, breathe out” and was initially unconnected to death (WJ/387). In this scenario, √PHIRI came to be associated with death through the passing of Q. Míriel, the most notable Elf to die of non-violent causes who “overcome by a great sorrow ... gave up her life in the body and went to the keeping of Mandos, [with] a deep sigh of weariness” (WJ/387). In this event, she was given the new name Q. Fíriel “She that died” but also meaning “She that sighed” (MR/250). From there it came to be used of the natural death of mortal men, something which the Elves had little experience with themselves.

Primitive elvish [WJ/387] Group: Eldamo. Published by

phuy

root. breathe out, *darkness; breathe out

The first iteration of this root was ᴱ√ǶUẎU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. hui/G. fui “night” and G. fung “dark” (QL/41; GL/36). Tolkien noted that this early root must be “ƕ because of Noldo [Gnomish] fui” (QL/41). This is because [[g|ƕ [xʷ] > f]] universally in Gnomish but *ƕu-* > *hu-* in Early Quenya (PE12/17).

The root appeared as unglossed ᴹ√PHUY in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives having to do with “darkness” such as ᴹQ. huine “deep shadow, nightshade” and N. fuin “night, dead of night” (Ety/PHUY). The 1930s forms likewise had a hu-/fu- variation between Quenya and Noldorin, because [[mq|phu- > ꝑu- [ɸu] > hu-]] in Quenya. The root √PHUY appeared again in notes from the late 1960s having to do with night, twilight and day. In one of these notes Tolkien gave the gloss “(prob.) fog, mists”, but then struck this out (NM/284 note #2). In a marginal note he gave it the gloss “breathe out” in connection to the notion that Q. huinë/S. fuin represented an ethereal substance that quenched light (NM/285 note #5). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d assume this root simply meant “✱darkness”.

Primitive elvish [NM/279; NM/284; NM/285] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sikw

root. sigh, say alas

Sindarin 

thuia

breathe

thuia-

thuia

breathe

faw-

verb. to puff, blow, pant

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

hwest

puff

(i chwest, o chwest) (breath, breeze), pl. hwist (i chwist)


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

súya-

verb. to breathe

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “breathe” derived from the root ᴹ√THŪ “puff, blow” (Ety/THŪ).

hwesta-

verb. to puff

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “to puff” derived from primitive ᴹ✶swesta- under the root ᴹ√SWES “noise of blowing or breathing” (Ety/SWES).

yanga-

verb. to yawn

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “to yawn” derived from the root ᴹ√YAG “yawn, gape” (Ety/YAG).

Middle Primitive Elvish

swesta-

verb. to puff

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/SWES] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gas

root. yawn, gape

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “yawn, gape” with several derivatives such as ᴹQ. assa/N. gas “hole” and N. gaw “void” (Ety/GAS). The names based on this root like N. Belegast and ᴹQ. Ilmen-assa do not appear in later versions of the legendarium, so the eventual fate of this root is uncertain, especially given that there are other roots of similar meaning like ᴹ√YAG “yawn, gape” (Ety/YAG) that do reappear later (Let/383; PE17/35, 42).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, derivatives of this root are among the best attested words for “hole”, so it’s probably best to retain ᴹ√GAS and its derivatives in Neo-Eldarin writing.

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/DIL; Ety/GAS; Ety/KUM] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thū

root. puff, blow

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/THŪ; Ety/THUS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yag

root. yawn, gape

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/YAG] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

faf-

verb. to puff, blow, pant

A verb appearing as G. faf- “puff, blow, pant” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/33). It was perhaps related to the early root ᴱ√FAGA that was the basis for ᴱQ. Fâ = Vilna “lowest air” (QL/37), but GL indicated that G. Fâ was based on a different root than G. faf-.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would update this verb to ᴺS. faw- “to puff, blow, pant” based on the later root √PHAW “emit”; compare to S. faw that is cognate to Q. föa “breath, puff of breath” (PE17/181). This neologism faw- could be inflected like caw- “to taste” < √KYAW.

Early Primitive Elvish

pusu

root. puff, blow, puff out, make swell

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “puff, blow, puff out, make swell”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. pusse “puff” and ᴱQ. pusulta- “puff out with one’s breath” (QL/76). Another possibly-related form ᴱQ. pustane “blowing” appeared in the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 (MC/213). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s writing after this point.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

siqi

root. sigh, say alas

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “sigh, say alas”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. siqi- “sigh” and ᴱQ. siqilisse “lamentation; weeping willow” (QL/84). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. sibra- “weep, whimper” and G. sigweth “lamentation, weeping” (GL/67). I think it is worth positing an Neo-Root ᴺ√SIKW “sigh” to salvage some of these early words.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/084] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

pus-

verb. to puff, snort

Early Quenya [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pusse

noun. puff

Early Quenya [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pusulta-

verb. to puff out with one’s breath

A verb glossed “puff out with one’s breath” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s based on the early root ᴱ√PUSU “puff, blow, puff out, make swell” (QL/76).

Early Quenya [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

siqi-

verb. to sigh

Early Quenya [QL/084] Group: Eldamo. Published by