súya-

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).

nef- Reconstructed

verb. to breathe (air)

fir-

die, fade

fir- vb. "die, fade" (cf. fifíru-); aorist (?) fírë "expire"; augmentless perfect fírië, translated "she has breathed forth"(but no explicit element meaning "she" seems to be present) (MR:250, 470, VT43:34)

qual-

verb. die

qual-

verb. to die

A verb for “to die” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/152), clearly based on the root √KWAL having to do with pain and death (PE18/91, 103; Ety/KWAL). As such, I would use this verb for undesirable or painful death, as opposed to fir- “to die (a natural or peaceful death)”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. qal- meant “die” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/134), and the root √KWAL had a long history of connection to death and pain in Tolkien’s writings.

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).

thuia-

verb. to breathe

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.

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”.

thuia

breathe

thuia-

thuia

breathe

fir

die

1) fir- (i fîr, i firir) (fade), 2) gwanna- (i **wanna, in gwannar**) (depart)

fir

die

(i fîr, i firir) (fade)

gwanna

die

(i ’wanna, in gwannar) (depart)