silef

noun. crystal

_n. _crystal (white). >> silivren

silef

noun/adjective. crystal (white), (white) crystal; [N.] silver, shining white

A word for “crystal (white)” (PE17/23) or “silver, shining white” (Ety/SIL) based on the root √SIL “shine (white or silver)”. It seemed to function as both a noun (1950s-60s) and an adjective (1930s), and was the basis for the adjective silivren appearing in the A Elbereth Gilthoniel prayer (PE17/23).

Conceptual Development: Earlier words for “crystal” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, such as G. glint (GL/39) and G. sincli (GL/67), both elements in G. Crosailin(t) or Crosincli “Crystal Globe”, a Gnomish name for the Moon.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use S. silef mainly as the noun “(white) crystal”, and would use silivren as the adjective form.

ivren

adjective. (?) of crystal, crystalline

The reading Eithel Ivrin in S/392 seems erroneous and should probably be corrected into the plural Eithil Ivrin as in WJ/85, unless Ivrin is actually a proper noun (Eithil Ivrin is also rendered as "Ivrin's Well", see WJ/139). The meaning is interpolated from the description of this place in various sources: 'crystal fountains' (Lay of Húrin, verse 1526), 'reflecting their pallid faces' (ibid., verse 2177), 'glassy pools' (Lay of Leithian, verses 1932-1940)

silivren

adjective. (white) glittering, crystalline

A word in the A Elbereth Gilthoniel prayer (LotR/238), loosely translated “[from] glittering crystal” or “[jewels of] crystal clear” (PE17/21) but actually an adjective meaning “(white) glittering” or “crystalline” (PE17/20-21; RGEO/64-65). It was based on the noun silef “crystal (white)” and in one place was given as silevren (PE17/23).

ivor

crystal

analogical pl. ivyr;

bril Speculative

noun. glass, crystal

ivrin

crystalline

no distinct pl. form.

celeb

noun. silver

celeb

silver

_n. _silver. >> Celebdil, Celebrant, celebrin

celeb

noun. silver

The word celeb was the word for “silver” in Sindarin and its conceptual precursors throughout Tolkien’s life.

Conceptual Development: G. celeb “silver” appeared all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was related to the early root ᴱ√TELEPE of the same meaning (GL/25; QL/91). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s ᴱN. celeb was derived instead from ᴱ✶kelekwé with the sound change of primitive kw to p and later to b (PE13/140), though in that same document he considered (but rejected) ᴱ✶t’lépe > ᴱN. tlub “silver” (PE13/154). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien introduced a new root ᴹ√KYELEP “silver” to be the basis of N. celeb, with the sound change whereby intial ky became k (c) (Ety/KYELEP). This sound change continued to be a feature of Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, and Tolkien retained this derivation going forward.

heledh

noun. glass

heledh

noun. glass

The basic Sindarin word for “glass”, a loan word from Khuzdul kheled (PE17/37; RS/466). The Eldar of Valinor invented glass independently, so the Quenya “glass” words were distinct.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. celc “glass” along with (archaic) variants G. celeg and caileg, all derived from the early root ᴱ√kail(i)k (GL/25). These apparently replaced rejected forms {talp}, {calp}, and {telc} of the same meaning (GL/69). The “glass” word became ᴱN. celch or caileg “glass” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/140).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the “glass” word became N. hele derived from the root ᴹ√KHYEL(ES) “glass” like its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. hyelle (Ety/KHYEL(ES)). In the 1930s Noldorin and Quenya were direct contact for most of their history, but this was no longer the case for Sindarin and Quenya of the 1950s and 60s. As a result, Tolkien decided that glass was an independent invention in both Valinor and Middle Earth, so that the Quenya and Sindarin words were no longer related as described above.

ithildin

noun. a silver-colored substance, which mirrors only starlight and moonlight

mithril

noun. true-silver, a silver-like metal

celeb

silver

1) (noun) celeb (i geleb, o cheleb), pl. celib (i chelib) if there is a pl. form. 2) (adj., "of/like silver") celebren (lenited gelebren, pl. celebrin; also celebrin- as first element of compounds, as in Celebrindal). Also celefn (lenited gelefn, pl. celifn). As for ”silver” as adjective, see also SHINING WHITE. Adj.

heledh

glass

heledh (i cheledh, o cheledh), pl. helidh (i chelidh) if there is a pl.

heledh

glass

(i cheledh, o cheledh), pl. helidh (i chelidh) if there is a pl.

silma

noun/adjective. crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹQ.] silver, shining white

A word for “crystal (white)” (PE17/23) and “silver, shining white” (Ety/SIL) based on the root √SIL “shine (white or silver)”. It seems to function as both an adjective and a noun, and is related to silima, the substance Feanor used to craft the Silmarils. Given this word’s strong association with the Silmarils, it probably could no longer be used for other kinds of crystals.

silima

noun. crystal substance devised by Fëanor

A name “that Feanor gave to the crystal substance he devised and alone could make” (RGEO/65). This material was used to create the Silmarilli.

maril

glass, crystal

maril noun "glass, crystal" (VT46:13; if this is to be the same word as the second element of Silmaril, the stem-form would be marill-, cf. pl. Silmarilli)

imirë

noun. crystal

A neologism for “crystal” appearing in ABNW (ABNW) from the early 2000s, based on S. ✱ivor a hypothetical basis for S. Ivrin (unglossed), making the whole derivation rather dubious.

silma

silver, shining white

silma adj. "silver, shining white" (SIL), "crystal (white)" (PE17:23)

mirilta-

verb. to crystallise; to summarise, sum up

A neologism for “crystallise” coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-12-09 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a causative verb form of ᴹ√MBIRIL “crystal”. It has the extended sense “summarise, sum up”.

calca

glass

calca noun "glass" (VT47:35); compare hyellë, cilin.

calca

noun. glass

A word for “glass” appearing in notes from around 1968 as a derivative of √KALAK (VT47/35).

Conceptual Development: There was a similar form ᴱQ. talqe (talqi-) “glass” in the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s (PME/88; QL/88). It also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon with a Gnomish cognate G. celc, both words being based on variant early roots ᴱ√kail(i)k and ᴱ√tail(i)k (GL/25).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the word for “glass” was ᴹQ. hyelle from the root ᴹ√KHYEL(ES) “glass” with Noldorin cognate N. hele (Ety/KHYEL(ES)). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien instead said that “there was no common Eldarin word for glass”, and that the Sindarin word for “glass” was borrowed from Khuzdul while the Quenya word was cilin (PE17/37). Tolkien’s last published word for “glass” was calca as noted above (VT47/35), which seems to be a restoration of the early root ᴱ√kail(i)k.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use calca as the main Quenya for “[clear] glass”, but would retain cilin as another word for transluscent or reflective glass.

cilin

glass

cilin noun "glass" ("often used as in English ("often used as in English for any thing or implement made of glass") (PE17:37). Compare calca, hyellë.

cilin

noun. glass, glass [transluscent or reflective]

hyellë

glass

hyellë noun "glass" (KHYEL(ES), VT45:23; the later source also provides the unglossed form hyelma, which may be a synonym of hyellë; alternatively hyellë could be "glass" as a substance, whereas hyelma_ rather refers to "a glass" as a drinking vessel). _In later sources, cilin or calca is given as the word for "glass".

telempë

silver

telempë noun "silver" (LT1:268; in Tolkien's later Quenya telpë, which is actually also found in early "Qenya")

telepta

silver

telepta adj. "silver" (as adj.: silvery) (LT2:347), used as noun in the phrase mi telepta of someone clad "in silver", where the context (involving other colour-words) shows that this adj. describes something of silver colour(PE17:71). Compare telemna, telepsa, telpina.

telepta

adjective. silver, silver, *silver-coloured

An adjective for “silver” appearing in the phrase Sanome tarne Olórin, Arakorno, Eomer, Imrahil, mi mīse, mi telepta yo morna, mi laiqua yo ninque, mi luini, ta Gimli mi losseä “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil in grey, in silver and black, in green and white, and in blue, and also Gimli in white” in notes from the mid-1960s (PE17/71).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had unglossed ᴱQ. telepta under the early root ᴱ√TELEPE whose derivatives had to do with silver (QL/91). A similar form ᴹQ. telepsa “of silver” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KYELEP “silver”, which Tolkien equated to ᴹQ. telpina (Ety/KYELEP). This form telepsa may reflect the 1930s sound change whereby pt became ps; compare ᴹQ. lepse “finger” from ᴹ√LEPET (Ety/LEPET). Tolkien revised the entry for ᴹ√KYELEP, replacing telepsa with (unglossed) ᴹQ. telemna (Ety/KYELEP). The adjective telepta “silver” was restored in the 1960s (see above) after Tolkien abandoned the ps > pt sound change.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would use this word primarily for silver as a color.

telpë

silver

telpë noun "silver" (in one example with generalized meaning "money", PE14:54), telep- in some compounds like Teleporno; assimilated telem- in Telemnar and the adj. telemna (KYELEP/TELEP, SA:celeb, LT1:255, 268; also tyelpë, telep-, UT:266). The true Quenya descendant of primitive ¤kyelepē is tyelpë, but the Telerin form telpë was more common, "for the Teleri prized silver above gold, and their skill as silversmiths was esteemed even by the Noldor" (UT:266). In various names: Telperion the White Tree of Valinor; Telperien ("Telperiën"), fem. name including telp- "silver" (Appendix A); Telperinquar "Silver-fist, Celebrimbor" (SA:celeb - also Tyelperinquar); Telporno, Teleporno "Silver-high" = Sindarin _Celeborn(Letters:347, UT:266). _It seems that Teleporno is properly Telerin, Quenyarized as Telporno. Compare adjectives telemna, telpina, telepsa, telepta (q.v.)

telpë

noun. silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money

This was the Quenya word for “silver” throughout Tolkien’s life. The word was derived from the root √KYELEP, which became †tyelpë in Quenya and S. celeb in Sindarin. However, the Quenya form of the word was influenced by Telerin telpë “because the Teleri in their lands, to the north of the Noldor, found a great wealth of silver, and became the chief silversmiths among the Eldar” (Let/426). The archaic Quenya form †tyelpë was retained for the name of the palatal series of tengwar consonants, the tyelpetéma (LotR/1120), but in ordinary use (and most names) the forms telpë or telep- (in compounds) were used.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. telpe based on the early root ᴱ√TELEPE, but its Gnomish cognate was G. celeb (QL/91). Tolkien did not explain this difference in these early documents from the 1910s. In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s he had ᴱQ. telqe and ᴱN. celeb “silver” derived from primitive ᴱ✶kelekwé, explaining initial t in the Qenya form as the result of dissimilation away the kw (PE13/140).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien introduced a root ᴹ√KYELEP “silver” as an alternate to ᴹ√TELEP, with derivatives ᴹQ. telpe or tyelpe, N. celeb and ᴹT. telpe (Ety/KYELEP). He then said “Q telpe may be Telerin form (Teleri specially fond of silver, as Lindar of gold), in which case all forms may refer to KYELEP”. It seems that he stuck with this idea thereafter and abandoned ᴹ√TELEP.

Note that in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s Tolkien used ᴱQ. telpe for “money” (PE14/54), and I would give telpë this meaning for purposes of Neo-Quenya as well, much like the French word argent means both “silver” and “money”.

tyelpë

silver

tyelpë noun "silver" (KYELEP/TELEP), etymology also in Letters:426 and UT:266. Tyelpë is the true Quenya descendant of primitive ¤kyelepē, but the Telerin form telpë was more common, "for the Teleri prized silver above gold, and their skill as silversmiths was esteemed even by the Noldor" (UT:266). In the Etymologies, tyelpë is also the name of Tengwa #1 with overposed dots, this symbol having the value ty (VT45:25). Cf. tyelpetéma as the name of the entire palatal series of the Tengwar system.

tyelpë

noun. silver

silimā

noun/adjective. crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹ✶] silver, shining white

sil[i]marin[a]

adjective. *crystalline

kalak

root. glass

A root appearing in etymological notes from 1968 glossed “glass” with Quenya and Telerin derivatives Q./T. calca of the same meaning (VT47/35). It seems to be a late restoration of the much earlier root ᴱ√kail(i)k or ᴱ√tail(i)k that was the basis of “glass” words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s; in this early period the Qenya derivatives began with t- and the Gnomish derivatives with c- [k-] (GL/25). It may also have replaced Q. cilin (< ✱√KILIN?) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/37). Given its Quenya/Telerin derivatives, √KALAK was probably coined in Aman as was also the case with earlier Q. cilin, since the Sindarin word for “glass” is the unrelated word S. heledh borrowed from Khuzdul (PE17/37).

kyelep

root. silver

This root and ones like it were used for Elvish words for “silver” throughout Tolkien’s life. The earliest iteration of the root began with T-, however, appearing as unglossed ᴱ√TELEPE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. telpe “silver” (QL/91). Even at this early stage, however, the Gnomish equivalent was G. celeb (GL/25), but the reason for the t/c variation isn’t clear. The closest explanation is that palatal consonants like [c] became [tʲ] in Qenya vs. [k] in Gnomish (compare ᴱQ. tyava- vs. caf- “taste” from ᴱ√TYAVA) but this doesn’t explain why the Qenya form has initial t- rather than ty-.

Elsewhere in the Elvish languages of the 1910s there seem to be etymological variations of [k] vs. [t], such as ᴱQ. kitya- vs. G. tisca- “tickle” (QL/47; GL/70) and ᴱQ. talqe vs. G. celc “glass” (QL/88; GL/25), so perhaps ᴱQ. telpe vs. G. celeb “silver” is another example of this. Another explanation appeared in Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s, where the primitive form was ᴱ✶kelekwé which produced ᴱN. celeb as usual but the Qenya form was ᴱQ. telqe with “k = t by dissimilation” (PE13/140), presumably away from q.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had the root ᴹ√KYELEP with variant ᴹ√TELEP, producing N. celeb but ᴹQ. tyelpe or ᴹQ. telpe (Ety/KYELEP). But Tolkien revised this entry, marking ᴹ√TELEP as questionable and introducing the Telerin form ᴹT. telpe < ᴹ√KYELEP, concluding that ᴹQ. telpe must be a loan from Telerin. This finally put N. celeb vs. ᴹQ. telpe (borrowed from Telerin) on a solid phonological foundation. Tolkien seems to have stuck with this explanation, mentioning this borrowing from Telerin to Quenya several times in his later writings, with the proper but now archaic Quenya form being Q. †tyelpë (Let/426; PM/356; UT/266).

kyelepē

noun. silver

celeb

noun. silver

celeb

noun. silver

celebren

adjective. like silver (in hue or worth)

celefn

adjective. of silver

celevon

adjective. of silver

cenedril

noun. looking-glass, mirror

hele

noun. glass

kheled

noun. glass

kibil

noun. silver

calca

noun. glass

telpe

noun. silver