cirya

noun. cleft, pass

A noun for a “cleft”, most notably in Calacirya “Light-cleft” as mentioned in the Namárië poem (RGEO/62; LotR/377).

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name was ᴹQ. Kalakilya (LR/173; MR/102), and the word ᴹQ. kilya “cleft, pass between hills, gorge” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√KIL “divide” (Ety/KIL). The word kilya also appeared with the gloss “chasm” in Lament of Atalante from the 1930s and 40s (LR/47, 56; SD/247, 310), but at some point when composing the final versions of the Namárië poem Tolkien switched to Calacirya, and he made the same change in later versions of Silmarillion drafts (MR/102).

Neo-Quenya: I’d avoid this word for Neo-Quenya, as it is too easily confused with cirya “ship”.

cirya

ship

cirya _("k")_noun "ship" (MC:213, 214, 220, 221), "(sharp-prowed) ship" (SA:kir-, where the word is misspelt círya with a long í; Christopher Tolkien probably confused it with the first element of the Sindarin name Círdan. It seems that Círyon, the name of Isildur's son, is likewise misspelt; read Ciryon as in the index and the main text of the Silmarillion. Cf. also kirya_ in Etym, stem KIR.) _Also in Markirya. In the Plotz letter, cirya is inflected for all cases except plural possessive (*ciryaiva). The curious dual form ciriat occurs in Letters:427, whereas Plotz gives the expected form ciryat. Locative ciryasse "upon a ship" (MC:216). Compounded in ciryaquen "shipman, sailor" (WJ:372), also ciryando (PE17:58), cf. also ciryamo "mariner" (UT:8). Masc. names Ciryaher* "Ship-lord" (Appendix A), Ciryandil "Ship-friend" (Appendix A), Ciryatan "Ship-builder" (Appendix A), also Tar-Ciryatan**, name of a Númenórean king, "King Shipbuilder" (SA:kir-)

cirya tyulma

a ship-mast, ship’s mast, mast of an unspecified ship or any ship

man tiruva fána cirya?

Who shall heed a white ship?

The sixth line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is man “who” followed by the future of tir- “to heed”. The object of the phrase is the noun cirya “ship”, preceded by the adjective fána “white”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> man tir-uva fána cirya? = “✱who heed-(future) white ship”

man tiruva rácina cirya?

Who shall heed a broken ship?

The thirty-second line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is man “who” followed by the future tense of the verb tir- “to heed”. The object of the phrase is the noun cirya “ship”, preceded by the adjective rácina “broken”, itself the passive-particle of the verb rac- “to break”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> man tir-uva rácina cirya = “✱who heed-(future) broken ship”

(cirya)talan

noun. deck (of a ship), main deck

A neologism coined by Parmandil posted on 2024-05-03 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of cirya “ship” and talan “platform”. The full form is ciryatalan, but it is possible to just use talan for “deck” if the context is clear.

man cenuva fána cirya?

Who shall see a white ship?

The first line of the Markirya poem (MC/221). The first word is man “who” (men [sic] in the published version, likely a mistake) followed by the future tense of the verb cen- “to see”. The object of the phrase is the noun cirya “ship”, preceded by the adjective fána “white”. In the published version, the adjective is given in the plural form fáne, but this may be a mistake, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Markirya).

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> man cen-uva fána cirya = “✱who see-(future) white ship”

ciris

cleft, crack

ciris _("k")_noun "cleft, crack" (LT2:337 - obsoleted by cirissë?)

falqua

cleft, mountain pass, ravine

falqua ("q") noun "cleft, mountain pass, ravine" (LT2:341)

hyatsë

cleft, gash

hyatsë noun "cleft, gash" (SYAD), apparently changed by Tolkien from hyassë (VT46:16)

sanca

cleft, split

sanca (þ) ("k") noun? (or adj, or both?) "cleft, split" (STAK)

cair

noun. ship

The Sindarin word for “ship”, most notably appearing as an element in the name Cair Andros “Ship of Long Foam” (LotR/812; PM/371). It is derived from primitive ✶kiryā, with the ancient i becoming e via a-affection [kery(a)], then the y intruding into the main syllable to form the diphthong ei [keir], and ultimately ei becoming ai as usual in final syllables in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s [kair]. This word has a somewhat unusual plural, since ī replaced final ā in its ancient plural [kiryā-ī > kirī], so that a-affection did not occur resulting in a modern plural form cîr “ships” (PE17/147). Its class plural is likewise the somewhat unusual ciriath “[all the] ships” for similar reasons.

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies from around 1937 had N. ceir “ship” under the root ᴹ√KIR “cleave” (Ety/KIR), since in Noldorin of the 1930s ei did not (usually) become ai in final syllables. In Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, Tolkien gave cīr “ship”, first marked “N.”, then “Ilk.”, then “N. & Ilk.” (PE21/57 and note #28). It had the class plurals círiath or ciriath but it is not clear which of these was the intended final form (PE21/57 note #28). I think ciriath is more phonologically plausible; compare class plural S. Firiath “Mortals” vs. ordinary plural Fîr (WJ/387).

Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had the word ᴱN. cair followed by ᴱN. braithgair, but neither word was translated (PE13/139-140).

cair

noun. ship

cirith

noun. cleft, high climbing pass, narrow passage cut through earth or rock, ravine, defile

criss

noun. cleft, cleft, [N.] cut, slash, [G.] gash; [N.] pass, [G.] gully, ravine

A word for a “cleft, cut, slash” (PE21/81; Ety/KIRIS) derived from √KIRIS, a blend of the roots √KIR and √RIS (PE17/87).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to G. criss “cleft, gash, gully” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where it was probably already a derivative of the early root ᴱ√KIRISI as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (GL/27; LT2A/Cris Ilbranteloth). In the Name-list to The Fall of Gondolin Tolkien gave cris with the definition “a cleft, ravine, or narrow way of waters with high walls” (PE15/21), and in this period it typically appeared in this shorter form within names like G. Cris Ilbranteloth or G. Cris Thorn.

N. criss appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “cleft, cut, slash” under the root ᴹ√KIRIS “cut” (Ety/KIRIS). It also appeared under the root ᴹ√KIR with the gloss “cleft, pass”, but this instance was deleted (EtyAC/KIR). S. criss “cleft” was mentioned in passing in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s as derived from primitive ✶kirissi (PE21/80-81), and it was mentioned as a blending of roots in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s as described above (PE17/87). Its use in names diminished over time, however, the only remnant in the final version of The Silmarillion being S. Crissaegrim (S/121).

Neo-Sindarin: In The Etymologies of the 1930s it seems this word was principally used as for a “cleft, cut, slash” independent of geography. I would assume the same is true for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, since criss is used only in a single geographic name in Tolkien’s later writings; S. cirith was use more broadly in geographic features. I would also assume it was a larger and more violent cut (a “gash” or “slash”) compared to S. rest for simple cuts.

falch

noun. deep cleft, ravine

riss

adjective. cleft

_ adj. _cleft, cloven, separate. Q. rista, risse, rinse. >> Imladris

thanc

adjective. cleft, split, forked

cair

ship

cair (in compounds cír-) (i gair, o chair), pl. cîr, i chîr; coll. pl. ciriath.

cair

ship

(in compounds cír-) (i gair, o chair), pl. cîr, i chîr; coll. pl. ciriath.

cirion

shipman

(i girion) (sailor), pl. ciryn (i chiryn), coll. pl. cirionnath.

cirith

cleft

(i girith, o chirith) (cutting, pass), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chirith)

criss

cleft

(i griss, o chriss, construct cris) (cut, slash), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chriss), 4) iaw (gulf, ravine), pl. ioe. Note: a homophone means ”corn”

círdan

shipbuilder, shipwright

(i gírdan, o chírdan) (shipwright), pl. círdain (i chírdain).

cîl

cleft

(i gîl, o chîl) (pass between hills, gorge), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chîl), coll. pl. cíliath. A homophone means ”renewal”.

falch

cleft

(ravine[?]), pl. felch

rest

cleft

(ravine, cut), pl. rist (idh rist)

rist

cleft

(noun) 1) rist (-ris), no distinct pl. except with article (idh rist). Note: a homophone means ”cleaver, cutter”, 2) cirith (i girith, o chirith) (cutting, pass), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chirith), 3) cîl (i gîl, o chîl) (pass between hills, gorge), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chîl), coll. pl. cíliath. A homophone means ”renewal”. 4) criss (i griss, o chriss, construct cris) (cut, slash), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chriss), 4) iaw (gulf, ravine), pl. ioe. Note: a homophone means ”corn”, 5) rest (ravine, cut), pl. rist (idh rist), 6) (deep cleft) falch (ravine[?]), pl. felch

rist

cleft

(-ris), no distinct pl. except with article (idh rist). Note: a homophone means ”cleaver, cutter”

thanc

cleft

(adj.) thanc (forked, split), pl. thainc

thanc

cleft

(forked, split), pl. thainc

ceir

noun. ship

ceir

noun. ship

cirith

noun. cleft, pass

criss

noun. cleft, cut, slash

cîl

noun. cleft, pass between hills, gorge

cîr

noun. ship

thanc

adjective. cleft, split, forked

balak

noun. ship

The noun for “ship”, attested only in the plural (balîk) and objective (balku) forms (SD/247, PM/151). Its plural form indicates that it is a strong-noun (Strong I), so its final vowel must be short. In theory its final vowel could be any of a, i or u, each of which would be replaced by long î in plural nouns. However, its attested objective form uses the variant objective-with-syncope form balku instead of ordinary ✱baluk. Since the Adûnaic syncope seems only to occur for nouns with two identical short vowels, this indicates the singular form of this word is balak.

kirissi

noun. cleft