cendelë

face

cendelë noun "face" (VT49:21)

cendelë

noun. face, face, *visage

A word for “face” in the Ambidexters Sentence of the late 1960s (VT49/8). Patrick Wynne suggested it is likely an abstract noun formation from the verb cenda- “watch, observe”, and hence similar in origin to English/French “visage” which likewise originated from a Latin verb meaning “to see” (VT49/21). Earlier “face” words ᴱQ. alma and ᴱQ. yéma have similar derivations, as pointed out by Patrick Wynne.

Element in

• Q. úsië, an cé mo quernë cendelë númenna, ve senya “on the contrary, for if one turned the face westward, as was usual” ✧ VT49/21

Elements

Word	Gloss
cenda-	“to watch (intensively), observe (for some time); to read”
-lë	“abstract noun, adverb”

Variations

• kendele ✧ VT49/21

-stir

suffix. face

An element meaning “face” in the name Carnistir “Red-Face” (S. Caranthir), derived from primitive ✶stīrē (PM/353; VT41/10). Its form as an independent word would mostly likely be ✱síre (Classical Quenya þíre), but that would conflict with sírë “river” in spoken Quenya (Tarquesta). There are a number of other Quenya “face” words attested, such as cendelë, so it is probably safer to use one of these for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

Cognates

• S. thîr “face, face, [N.] look, expression, countenance”

Derivations

• ✶stīrē “face”
  • √STIR “face”
  • √TIR “watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at, watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at; [ᴹ√] guard”

Element in

• Q. Carnistir “Red-face” ✧ PM/353

anta

face

anta (2) noun "face" (ANA1, VT45:5). Cf. cendelë.

canwa

face

#canwa (2) noun "face", isolated from canwarya ("k") *"his face", evidently an ephemeral form Tolkien abandoned in favour of cendelë, q.v. (VT49:21; see VT49:34 regarding uncertainties as to the manuscript reading)

canwa

noun. face

A word appearing as kanwarya in one of the drafts of the Ambidexters Sentence, apparently a 3rd-sg possessive form meaning “✱his face” (VT49/6, 21). Patrick Wynne suggested it might be derived from √KAT “shape” as in katmā > kanwa, patterned after Latin “faciēs” which also originally meant “shape”. It seems the n in this word was revised, but what the change was intended to be is unclear. Tolkien eventually revised this word to cendelë, so canwa was probably abandoned.

Derivations

• √KAT “shape, shape, [ᴹ√] make”

Element in

• Q. úsië, an cé mo quernë cendelë númenna, ve senya “on the contrary, for if one turned the face westward, as was usual” ✧ VT49/21

nívë

noun. face

A neologism for “face” coined by Petri Tikka in PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s, derived from the root ᴹ√NIB “face, front”, but I see no reason not to use attested [ᴹQ.] anta or cendelë “face” for that purpose for that purpose.

Derivations

• ᴹ√NIB “face, front”

thîr

noun. face, face, [N.] look, expression, countenance

A word appearing as an element in the name Caranthir “Red-face”, derived from primitive ✶stīrē (VT41/10), which was likely tied to the root √TIR “watch”.

Conceptual Development: The same noun N. thîr appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the glosses “look, face, expression, countenance”, but there it was derived from the root ᴹ√THĒ “look (see or seem)” (Ety/THĒ). Earlier “face” words include G. gwint from the 1910s (GL/46) and ᴱN. ant from the 1920s with more elaborate form ᴱN. annas (PE13/137, 160).

Cognates

• Q. -stir “face”

Derivations

• ✶stīrē “face” ✧ VT41/10
  • √STIR “face”
  • √TIR “watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at, watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at; [ᴹ√] guard”

Element in

• S. Caranthir “Red-face” ✧ VT41/10

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶stīrē > þîr	[stīrē] > [stīre] > [sθīre] > [θīre] > [θīr]	✧ VT41/10

Variations

• þîr ✧ VT41/10

nîf

face

1) nîf (construct nif) (front). No distinct pl. form. 2) thîr (look, expression, countenance) (VT41:10)

nîf

face

(construct nif) (front). No distinct pl. form.

thîr

face

(look, expression, countenance) (VT41:10)

stīrē

noun. face

Derivations

• √STIR “face”
  • √TIR “watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at, watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at; [ᴹ√] guard”

Derivatives

• Q. -stir “face”
• S. thîr “face, face, [N.] look, expression, countenance” ✧ VT41/10

Element in

• ✶Karani-stīrē ✧ VT41/10

stir Reconstructed

root. face

The root ✱√STIR is implied by the names Elestirnë “Star-brow” (UT/184) and Carnistir “Red-face” (PM/353), as well as the primitive word ✶stīrē “face” (VT41/10). It is probably an s-fortification of the root TIR “watch”. It likely replaces the root ᴹ√THĒ “look (see or seem)” from The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. thio “to seem” and N. thîr “look, face, expression, countenance”, the latter providing an earlier etymology for N. Cranthir “Ruddy-face” (Ety/THĒ). The original gloss of this 1930s root was “perceive, see” (EtyAC/THĒ). This deleted gloss in turn indicates that 1930s ᴹ√THĒ was itself a later iteration of 1910s ᴱ√SEHE [þeχe] from the Qenya Lexicon, which was mostly connected to eye-words but also had derivatives like ᴱQ. sehta-/G. thê- “see” (PE12/21; QL/82; GL/72); see the entry √KHEN for the later derivation of eye-words.

Derivations

• √TIR “watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at, watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at; [ᴹ√] guard”

Derivatives

• ✶stīrē “face”
  • Q. -stir “face”
  • S. thîr “face, face, [N.] look, expression, countenance” ✧ VT41/10
• Q. estirnë “brow”
• ᴺS. thir- “to seem, appear, look”