Quenya 

camba

the whole hand, but as flexed, with fingers more or less closed, cupped, in the attitude of receiving or holding

camba noun "the whole hand, but as flexed, with fingers more or less closed, cupped, in the attitude of receiving or holding" (VT47:7)

camba

noun. (cupped) hand, hollow of the hand

A word for “hand” in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √KAB “hold, contain, retain” (VT47/7-8). Tolkien said that it “referred to the whole hand, but as flexed, with fingers more or less closed, cupped, in the attitude of receiving or holding”, so it thus referred more specifically to a “cupped hand”. In drafts of these notes Tolkien gave it the glosses “closed or hollowed hand (facing up) for receiving or offering” or simply “hollow of the hand” (VT47/20 note #16). In these drafts he also considered changing the form of the root to √KAM, but that seems to have been a transient idea; see the entry on that root for discussion.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien instead had ᴹQ. kambe {“closed hand” >>} “hollow (of hand)” with final -e instead of -a, although with the same root ᴹ√KAB “hollow” (Ety/KAB; EtyAC/KAB). In notes from 1968, Tolkien had Q. kambeya “his hand” (VT49/17), indicate final e was still a possibility in his later writings. For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d stick to the better documented camba with the sense “(cupped) hand, hollow of the hand”.

Cognates

  • S. cam “(cupped) hand, holding hand; handful”

Derivations

  • kambā “(cupped) hand” ✧ VT47/07
    • KAB “hold, contain, retain, possess, have in hand, hold, contain, retain, possess, have in hand; [ᴹ√] hollow” ✧ VT47/07
    • KAM “fit, suit, agree, be agreeable, fit, suit, agree, be agreeable; [ᴹ√] bind, join” ✧ VT47/20

Element in

  • Q. Ercambo “Onehand(ed), One-hand Man” ✧ VT47/08

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
kambā > kamba[kambā] > [kamba]✧ VT47/07

Variations

  • kamba ✧ VT47/08; VT47/20
Quenya [VT47/08; VT47/20] Group: Eldamo. Published by

cambë

noun. hand, (hollow of) hand

Derivations

  • KAB “hold, contain, retain, possess, have in hand, hold, contain, retain, possess, have in hand; [ᴹ√] hollow”

noun. hand

hand

Quenya [PE 18:35] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

hand

noun "hand" (MA3, LT2:339, Narqelion, VT39:10, [VT45:30], VT47:6, 18, 19); the dual "a pair of hands" is attested both by itself as mát (VT47:6) and with a pronominal suffix as máryat "his/her (pair of) hands" (see -rya, -t) (Nam, RGEO:67). The nominative plural form was only máli, not **már (VT47:6), though plurals in -r may occur in some of the cases, as indicated by the pl. allative mannar "into hands" (FS). Mánta "their hand", dual mántat "their hands" (two hands each) (PE17:161). Cf. also the compounds mátengwië "language of the hands" (VT47:9) and Lungumá "Heavyhand" (VT47:19); also compare the adj. -maitë "-handed". See also málimë.

noun. hand

Quenya [PE 22:160] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

noun. hand

The most common Quenya word for “hand”, which Tolkien usually derived from a root √MAH or √MAƷ “hand; handle, wield”. The weak consonant h or ʒ in the root was lost very early, so that primitive ✶ was one of a rare set of ancient monosyllabic nouns ending in a vowel. Tolkien said that of the various hand words, was “the oldest (probably) and the one that retained a general and unspecialized sense — referring to the entire hand (including wrist) in any attitude or function” (VT47/6).

As a part of the body, “hand” was usually referred to in the singular () or dual (mát). This was true when referring to the hands of groups of people as well. For example, to say that “the Elves raised their hands”, you would say either i Eldar ortaner mánta (singular, one hand each) or i Eldar ortaner mántat (dual, both hands each), with the possessive suffix -nta “their”.

The plural form már “hands” (or archaic †mai) was almost never used, in part because it conflicted with Q. már “dwelling”. The singular form was also used in general statements and proverbs: “hand is cleverer than foot” má anfinya epe tál (ná). A collection of otherwise unrelated hands would likely use the partitive-plural form: máli “some hands”, which in this case could also serve as the general plural (VT47/12 Note 2). See the discussions on PE17/161 and VT47/6 for more information.

This word is also unusual in that it retains its long vowel before consonant clusters in inflected forms such as mánta “their hand” (PE17/161) or márya “his/her hand” (PE17/69). As Tolkien described it:

> is usually shortened to la before 2 consonants, according to the usual Q. procedure, but the long vowel can be retained, especially for additional emphasis, as in other cases where pronominal affixes follow a long vowel, as in márya “his hand” (PE22/160).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to ᴱQ. “hand” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√MAHA “grasp” (QL/57). ᴹQ. “hand” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” (Ety/MAƷ). Tolkien mentioned this word with great frequency, usually derived from √MAH or √MAƷ (as noted above) though he sometimes considered deriving it from √MAG instead.

Cognates

  • S. maw “hand” ✧ PE17/162; VT47/06
  • T. “hand” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/06

Derivations

  • MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ PE17/069; PE17/162; PE19/100; VT39/11; VT47/19
  • MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ PE17/161; VT47/18
  • “hand” ✧ PE19/102; VT47/06
    • maha “hand, the manager” ✧ PE19/074; PE19/102; VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/35
    • MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/18
    • MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
    • MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ PE21/70
    • MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
  • maha “hand, the manager” ✧ PE19/106; VT47/18
    • MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/18
    • MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
MAƷ > [maɣa] > [mā]✧ PE17/069
MAG > [maga] > [maɣa] > [mā]✧ PE17/161
MAƷ > [mā]✧ PE17/162
MAƷ > [maɣa] > [mā]✧ PE19/100
māh > [māh] > [mā]✧ PE19/102
māʒ > [māɣ] > [mā]✧ PE19/106
maha > [maha] > [mā]✧ VT39/11
> [mā]✧ VT47/06
māʒ(ă) > [māɣa] > [mā]✧ VT47/18
mag > [māga] > [māɣa] > [mā]✧ VT47/18
MAƷA > [maɣa] > [mā]✧ VT47/19

Variations

  • ✧ PE17/069; PE17/161; VT39/09; VT39/11; VT47/18; VT47/18
  • ✧ PE19/102
  • ✧ PE19/106
Quenya [LotR/0377; PE17/069; PE17/070; PE17/130; PE17/135; PE17/161; PE17/162; PE19/100; PE19/102; PE19/106; PE22/160; RGEO/58; RGEO/59; VT39/09; VT39/11; VT47/03; VT47/06; VT47/12; VT47/18; VT47/19; VT49/10] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nonda

hand, especially in [?clutching]

nonda noun "hand, especially in [?clutching]" (VT47:23; Tolkien's gloss was not certainly legible)