har-

verb. dwell, abide, reside permanently

lat-

verb. lie, be situated

dortha

dwell

dortha- (i northa, i ndorthar) (stay)

dortha

dwell

(i northa, i ndorthar) (stay)

bar-

verb. to live, dwell, stay

Cognates

• Q. mar- “to abide, be settled or fixed, to abide, be settled or fixed, [ᴱQ.] dwell, live”

Derivations

• √MBAR “settle, dwell; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision, settle; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision; dwell, [ᴹ√] inhabit, [ᴱ√] live”

mbar-

verb. to dwell

Derivations

• √MBAR “settle, dwell; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision, settle; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision; dwell, [ᴹ√] inhabit, [ᴱ√] live” ✧ PE22/131

Derivatives

• Q. mar- “to abide, be settled or fixed, to abide, be settled or fixed, [ᴱQ.] dwell, live”

kay

root. lie, lie, [ᴹ√] lie down; [ᴱ√] rest, dwell

Tolkien used this root for “lie (down)” for most of his life. It appeared as ᴱ√KAYA “lie, rest; dwell” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/46), but in that document there was another root ᴱ√KAMA “lie down”, with the derivative ᴱQ. kama- “to lie down” (QL/44). There is no sign of ᴱ√KAMA¹ being used this way after the 1910s, and in the 1920s Early Qenya Grammar, the verb for “lie down” was kaita- (PE14/58), which in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had the transitive sense “to place” (QL/44).

The root ᴹ√KAY “lie down” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KAY), and it appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s as the basis for the verb ᴹQ. kaita- “to lie (down)” (PE22/126). The root and associated Quenya verb continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings all the way up through the late 1960s, always with the sense “lie” (PE17/72; PE22/156).

Derivatives

• Ad. khay- “to lie (down)”
• ✶kainu- “to lie down” ✧ PE22/136
  • ᴺQ. cainu- “to lie down, *bend down; [with locative] to endure, suffer (from)”
• ✶kaita- “to lie, be on the ground” ✧ PE22/136
  • Q. caita- “to lie (down)”
• Aq. caia- “[unglossed]”
• Q. cairë “[unglossed]” ✧ PE17/101
• Q. caita- “to lie (down)” ✧ PE17/072; PE22/156
• Q. caita- “to lay (transitive), to lay (transitive); [ᴱQ.] to place, lie down”
• Q. cëa “*hedge” ✧ PE17/101
• ᴺS. caeda- “to lie; to lay (down)”
• S. caer “*flat isle on a river, [N.] flat isle on a river” ✧ PE17/101
• S. cai “hedge” ✧ PE17/101

Element in

• ᴺS. osgaef “surroundings, environs, milieu”

Variations

• KAYA ✧ PE17/101
• KAJ ✧ PE22/136

mbar

root. settle, dwell; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision, settle; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision; dwell, [ᴹ√] inhabit, [ᴱ√] live

This root was connected to the sense “dwell” for all of Tolkien’s life. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s it appeared as ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live”, though in Qenya it was blended with ᴱ√ŊWAÐA “tarry, linger” since [[eq|initial [ŋʷ] became [m]]] (QL/60). In Gnomish the two roots remained distinct: G. bar “home” (GL/21) vs. G. gwadh- “dwell” (GL/46). However, other Gnomish derivatives hint at an unstrengthened variant ᴱ√MARA: G. mar “Earth, ground, soil” and G. Môr “The Earth”, of which Tolkien said “mar and môr probably conceal two roots and a confusion; mbara” (GL/56). The source of this confusion might be ᴱ√MARA “ripe” (QL/59, 63).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” (Ety/MBAR); an earlier version of this entry had the extra gloss “build” (EtyAC/MBAR). In The Etymologies, it seems this root was a strengthened form of ᴹ√BAR “raise” (Ety/BAR), but the root ᴹ√MBARAT “fate” seems to be unrelated at this point (Ety/MBARAT). The root mbar- was mentioned in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1930s (PE19/36) and again as √MBAR “{house >>} dwell” in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 (PE18/92).

The root √MBAR still had the basic sense “dwell” in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/64); in those notes it seems it was distinct from both √BAR “raise” and √MAR(AT) or √MBART “doom, fate” (PE17/66). But in notes on Fate from 1968 (NM/226-231; PE17/104-109), Tolkien shifted the meaning of the root:

> English “settle” in its various branches of meaning closely resembles the development of the meanings of √MBAR: thus settlement can mean the act of colonizing or taking up an abode, or the area or place so occupied (by a family or community); or (the terms of) an agreement fixed after debate. The development was not, however, the same: the senses of settle proceed from a sense “place in or take up” a firm position, especially in a place that seems suitable; from which the sense of settling affairs that were in confusion or doubt arose. √MBAR meant basically to make a decision, and the meanings relating to dwelling or occupying land proceeded from that (PE17/105).

This new definition for √MBAR was to support a more direct connection between this root and words like Q. umbar “fate”, hence establishing an etymological relationship to extended √MBARAT for the first time, for example with √MBAR > ✶mbartā- “to define, decree, destine” (PE17/104).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think this late 1960s meaning “settle, decide, establish; (by extension) dwell” is probably the best.

Derivatives

• ✶ambar(a) “the settlement, establishment, the world” ✧ NM/228; PE17/104; PE17/105; PE17/124
  • Q. Ambar “The World, Earth, (lit.) Habitation, Settlement” ✧ NM/228; PE17/104; PE17/105; PE17/124
  • S. amar “world, the Earth, (lit.) settlement, the great habitation” ✧ NM/228; PE17/104; PE17/105; PE17/124
  • T. ambar “the world, the great habitation” ✧ NM/228
• ✶asmarō “*neighbor”
  • Q. armaro “*neighbor” ✧ VT48/20
  • S. sammar “*neighbor” ✧ VT48/20
• ✶mbar- “to dwell” ✧ PE22/131
  • Q. mar- “to abide, be settled or fixed, to abide, be settled or fixed, [ᴱQ.] dwell, live”
• ✶ṃbar
  • Q. umbar “fate, doom, curse” ✧ PE17/104; PE17/104
  • Os. ambar “fate, doom” ✧ PE17/104
• ✶mbar(ă) “dwelling, habitation”
  • Q. már “home, dwelling, habitation, home, dwelling, habitation; [ᴹQ.] house; earth” ✧ PE17/106; PE19/076; SA/bar
  • Q. mar(da) “dwelling, (great) house, residence, mansion, a thing or place dwelt in, home, dwelling, (great) house, residence, mansion, a thing or place dwelt in, home; [ᴱQ.] world” ✧ PE17/163; PE17/164
  • S. bâr “house, dwelling, home, house, dwelling, home; [N.] earth” ✧ PE17/109; PE17/109; PE17/163; PE17/164; SA/bar
• √M(B)ARAT “doom, fate”
  • ✶mbartā- “to define, decree, destine”
  • Q. marta- “to define, decree, destine, to define, decree, destine; [ᴱQ.] to happen (impers.), chance” ✧ PE17/104
  • S. amarth “fate, doom” ✧ PE17/104
  • S. amartha- “to define, decree, destine” ✧ PE17/104
  • Q. marto “tower” ✧ NM/228
  • Q. umbar “fate, doom, curse” ✧ PE17/066
  • S. amarth “fate, doom” ✧ PE17/066
  • S. barad “tower, great towering building, tower, great towering building, [N.] fort, fortress” ✧ NM/228
• ✶mbartā- “to define, decree, destine” ✧ PE17/104
  • Q. marta- “to define, decree, destine, to define, decree, destine; [ᴱQ.] to happen (impers.), chance” ✧ PE17/104
  • S. amarth “fate, doom” ✧ PE17/104
  • S. amartha- “to define, decree, destine” ✧ PE17/104
• ✶ṃbart(ă) “fate, doom; (orig.) permanent establishment” ✧ NM/228; PE17/124
  • Q. umbar “fate, doom, curse” ✧ NM/228; PE17/123; PE17/124; PE18/092; PE19/077
  • S. amarth “fate, doom” ✧ NM/228; PE17/124; PE18/092; VT41/10
• Q. Ambar “The World, Earth, (lit.) Habitation, Settlement” ✧ NM/226; PE17/064; PE17/066; PE17/078; PE17/090; PE17/163
• Q. mar(da) “dwelling, (great) house, residence, mansion, a thing or place dwelt in, home, dwelling, (great) house, residence, mansion, a thing or place dwelt in, home; [ᴱQ.] world” ✧ PE17/064
• ᴺQ. marindo “settler”
• ᴺQ. marya- “to found, establish, settle (as dwelling)”
• Q. umbar “fate, doom, curse” ✧ PE17/104; PE17/105
• S. amar “world, the Earth, (lit.) settlement, the great habitation” ✧ NM/226
• S. amarth “fate, doom” ✧ NM/226; PE17/104
• ᴺS. bar- “to live, dwell, stay”
• ᴺS. barna- “to till (land), *cultivate; (orig.) to dwell in (a land)”
• ᴺS. baron “tilled, inhabited”
• T. ambar “the world, the great habitation” ✧ NM/226

Element in

• √M(B)ARAT “doom, fate” ✧ NM/228
• ✶tura-mbar “master of fate” ✧ PE17/104
• Q. armaro “*neighbor”
• Q. colbamarië “gestation, *(lit.) womb-residence”
• Q. Hröambari “Incarnate[s]”
• Q. martan “dwelling-house” ✧ PE17/105
• Q. ombari “company, dwellers together”
• Q. Turambar “Master of Doom, Master of Fate” ✧ PE17/163
• Q. umbar “fate, doom, curse” ✧ PE17/163

kait-a

verb. lie, be on the ground

dortha-

verb. to dwell, stay

dortha-

verb. to dwell, stay, to dwell, stay, [G.] settle

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dwell, stay” and appearing in its (Noldorin) infinitive form dortho- under the root ᴹ√NDOR “dwell, stay, rest, abide” (Ety/NDOR).

Conceptual Development: The verb G. dortha- “to settle” also appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where Tolkien said it was both “tr. & intr.” (GL/30). In this document it appeared beneath G. dorn “seat”, and thus likely was a cognate of ᴱQ. sorto- “to set, settle” based on the early root ᴱ√ÐORO “sit” (QL/85).

Neo-Sindarin: In Tolkien’s later writings, √NDOR was glossed “land” rather than “settle”, but I think this verb might still be a valid verbal elaboration for the later meaning of the root, with an original sense “✱to take residence in a land”.

Cognates

• ᴺQ. norta- “to stay”

Derivations

• ᴹ√NDOR “dwell, stay, rest, abide” ✧ Ety/NDOR

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√NDOR > dortho-	[ndorta-] > [ndortʰa-] > [ndorθa-] > [dorθa-]	✧ Ety/NDOR

Variations

• dortho- ✧ Ety/NDOR