mat-

eat

mat- (1) vb. "eat" (MAT, VT45:32), also given as mata- (VT39:5), pa.t. mantë "ate" (VT39:7). The form matumnë is said to be future-past: "was going to eat", with the "OQ" (Old Quenya?) future-past element umnë (VT48:32; possibly this could function independently as a form of the verb "to be", hence "was to be"). It is not clear if the form matumnë is itself "Old Quenya" as if this is an archaic future-past formation, or it is just umnë (as an independent word) that is archaic. (Note: Tolkien's translation of matumnë is actually "I was going to eat", but the pronoun "I" does not seem to be expressed in the Quenya form.) Adj. or pseudo-participle #matya "eating" in melumatya "honey-eating" (PE17:68)

mat-

verb. eat

mat-

verb. to eat

The verb for “to eat” derived from the root √MAT of the same meaning (VT39/7).

Conceptual Development: This verb and root are quite well established, dating all the way back to ᴱQ. mat- and ᴱ√MATA of the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/59) and appearing as ᴹQ. mat- and ᴹ√MAT in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MAT), as well as numerous other places albeit with occasional variants like mata- (PE12/26). This verb was one Tolkien often used in examples of verb conjugations and as such its inflected forms changed considerably over time, but that is more a topic of the evolution of the Quenya verb system itself.

Cognates

• S. mad- “to eat”
• T. mat- “to eat”

Derivations

• ✶mat- “to eat” ✧ PE22/132; PE22/157
  • √MAT “eat”
• √MAT “eat” ✧ VT39/07

Element in

• ᴺQ. accamátala “over-eating”
• ᴺQ. accamatië “over-eating”
• ᴺQ. avamat- “to fast, (lit.) refuse to eat”
• Q. en i matinye “I shall eat then soon” ✧ PE22/131
• Q. lamate “fasting, a fast”
• Q. mátima “edible”
• ᴺQ. matimar “restaurant, (lit.) eating hall”
• ᴺQ. matina “eaten”
• Q. -matya “-eating”
• Q. umbestë matë “he was going to eat” ✧ PE22/132
• Q. vá matuvatyë mastanya “you are not to eat my bread, you shan’t eat my bread” ✧ PE22/162

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶mat-ubā-ni/njē > matuvanye	[matubānjē] > [matuβānjē] > [matuβanjē] > [matuβanje] > [matuvanje]	✧ PE22/132
√MATA > mante	[mante]	✧ VT39/07

quanta

full

quanta (1) ("q") adj. "full" (KWAT, Narqelion, VT39:8, VT43:28), "filled, full" (PE17:68); the gloss "filled" would suggest that quanta can be regarded as a passive participle of quat- (q.v.) In these phrases: quanta sarmë "full writing", writing with separate letters for vowels (VT39:8); #quanta tengwë "full sign" (only pl. quantë tengwi is attested), in early Elvish analysis of Quenya the term for a consonant + a vowel (then analyzed as a kind of unitary phoneme rather than two phonemes); hence a stem like mata- "eat" was analyzed as two quantë tengwi, namely ma + ta. (VT39:5)

-ya

elvish

-ya (5) adjectival ending, as in the word Quenya "Elvish" itself; when added to a verbal stem it may derive a kind of short active participle, as in melumatya "honey-eating" (mat- "eat"), saucarya "evil-doing" (car- "do"). (PE17:68)

linda

fair, beautiful

linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.

-ima

fair

-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)

alya

fair, good

alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)

ná-

verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist

Changes

• nā → nāner ✧ VT49/09
• nār → năr ✧ VT49/30

Cognates

• Ad. -n “predicate suffix”
• S. na- “to be”

Derivations

• √NĀ “be (the same as another), exist” ✧ PE17/093

Element in

• Q. á hyamë rámen úcarindor “pray for us sinners” ✧ VT43/34
• Q. aistana elyë imíca nísi “blessed art thou amongst women” ✧ VT43/30; VT43/30
• Q. alasaila ná lá carë tai mo nave mára “it is unwise not to do what one judges good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
• Q. alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun “glory [be] to God in the highest” ✧ VT44/34; VT44/34
• Q. A (ná) calima lá B “A is brighter than B; (lit.) A is bright beyond B” ✧ PE17/090; PE17/090
• Q. A anamelda na ar ilyan “A is dearest of all” ✧ PE17/057
• Q. A anamelda na epë B “A is dear before B” ✧ PE17/057
• Q. A anamelda na ep’ ilya “A is dearest of all” ✧ PE17/057
• Q. A arimelda na epe B “A is (very much) [dearer] than B” ✧ PE17/057 (A arimelda na epe B)
• Q. A arimelda na ilyaron “A is dearest of all” ✧ PE17/057
• Q. á na márië “be well” ✧ PE17/162
• Q. aranielya na tuluva “thy kingdom come” ✧ VT43/14; VT43/14
• Q. Átaremma i ëa han Eä “our Father who art in Heaven” ✧ VT43/13
• Q. cemendë tambe Erumandë “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT43/16
• Q. cé tulis, ní nauva tanomë “*if he/she comes, I will be there” ✧ VT49/19
• Q. cé tulis, tanomë nauvan “*if he/she comes, I will be there” ✧ VT49/19
• Q. eldar ataformaiti “the Elves were ambidexters” ✧ VT49/09; VT49/09; VT49/09; VT49/09
• Q. essë úpa nas “he is dumb” ✧ PE17/126
• Q. i Héru aselyë “the Lord is with thee” ✧ VT43/30
• Q. lá carita i hamil mára alasaila ná “not to do (in this case) what you judge good (would be) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
• Q. lá caritas alasaila cé nauva “not doing this may be/prove unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34
• Q. lá caritas, navin, alasaila ná “not doing this would be (I think) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
• Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23
• Q. mára ná “it is good” ✧ PE17/093
• Q. ná “yes, it is so, it is a fact”
• Q. na airë esselya “hallowed be thy name” ✧ VT43/14
• Q. na carë indómelya “thy will be done” ✧ VT43/15
• Q. nai “maybe; be it that, may it be that; perhaps, it may be, there is a chance or possibility, maybe; be it that, may it be that; perhaps, it may be, there is a chance or possibility; [ᴱQ.] remoter possibility” ✧ RGEO/60; VT49/28
• Q. naitë “true” ✧ VT49/28
• ᴺQ. nalumë “sometime(s)”
• Q. namárië “farewell, (lit.) be well, let it be well (to you)” ✧ PE17/058; PE17/059; PE17/059; PE17/074
• Q. námo “person, somebody (unnamed)”
• Q. náner ataformaitë ve fírimor quetir “*were ambidextrous as mortals say” ✧ VT49/10
• ᴺQ. nanomë “someplace, somewhere”
• Q. nanwa “existing, actual (true), existing, actual (true), *real; [️ᴱQ.] being” ✧ VT49/30
• Q. nár (naitië) “they are (indeed = truly)” ✧ PE22/166
• Q. násië “*amen, (lit.) may it be so”
• Q. násan “*amen, (lit.) may it be so”
• Q. nás mára nin “I like it” ✧ VT49/30
• Q. nassë “nature, true-being, *essence; person, individual” ✧ VT49/30
• Q. návë “being”
• Q. nésë nórima rocco “he was a horse strong/swift at running” ✧ VT49/29
• Q. quí(ta) la tuldes, nánë márië (nin) “[if he had not come], it was well to me (I was glad)” ✧ PE22/158
• Q. roccor i Erulingaron márë nár (ma naitë)? “the horses of the Rohirrim are good (are they not, lit. is it true)” ✧ PE22/166
• Q. savin Elessar ar i nánë aran Ondórëo “I believe that E[lessar] really existed and that he was a King of Gondor” ✧ PE22/158; VT49/27
• Q. sínen i·anda nyarnë metta ar taina andaurenya na quanta “*with this the long tale ends and my extended long day is complete” ✧ Minor-Doc/1955-CT
• Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost, lost to those from the east is Valimar!” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost is, [to one] from the East lost, Valimar!” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168
• Q. yá hríve menë, ringa ná “when winter comes/arrives/is with us, it is cold” ✧ VT49/23 (yá hríve tene, ringa ná)
• ᴺQ. yonávë “company, *companionship, camaraderie”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NĀ > ná	[nā]	✧ PE17/093

Variations

• ná ✧ LotR/0377; PE17/090; PE17/093; PE22/154; PE22/167; VT42/33; VT49/09; VT49/23
• na ✧ Minor-Doc/1955-CT; PE17/057; PE17/074; PE17/074; PE17/090; PE17/162; VT43/13; VT43/30
• nā ✧ PE17/058; RGEO/59; VT49/09 (nā); VT49/28; VT49/30
• nā- ✧ PE22/166; VT49/27; VT49/28 (nā-)
• nā̀ ✧ RGEO/58
• Nā ✧ RGEO/60
• nā̆ ✧ VT49/30
• nār ✧ VT49/30 (nār)

vanya

fair

vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.

vanë

fair

vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)

vanë

adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely

Derivations

• √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/056

Element in

• Q. úvanë(a) “without beauty”
• Q. vanessë “beauty” ✧ PE17/056
• Q. vanië “beauty” ✧ PE17/056
• Q. vanima “beautiful, fair, beautiful, fair, *handsome; [ᴱQ.] proper, right, as it should be, fair” ✧ PE17/056

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√BAN > vane	[bani] > [bane] > [βane] > [vane]	✧ PE17/056

Variations

• vane ✧ PE17/056

alima

fair, good

alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)

mad-

verb. to eat

The verb for “to eat” derived from the root √MAT of the same meaning (PE17/131; Ety/MAT). In Tolkien’s later writing it appears only in inflected forms, but the verb itself is well established, dating back all the way to G. mad- in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/56). This verb was one Tolkien often used in examples of verb conjugations and as such its inflected forms changed considerably over time, but that is more a topic of the evolution of the Sindarin verb system.

Cognates

• Q. mat- “to eat”
• T. mat- “to eat”

Derivations

• ✶mat- “to eat” ✧ PE17/131; PE17/131
  • √MAT “eat”

Element in

• ᴺS. madui “edible”
• S. madweg “gluttonous”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶mantinā > manthen > mannen	[mantinā] > [mantina] > [mantʰina] > [manθina] > [manθena] > [manθen] > [mannen]	✧ PE17/131
✶matina > maden	[matina] > [matena] > [maten] > [maden]	✧ PE17/131

pant

adjective. full

pant

adjective. full, full; [G.] (with article) the whole, all the

Derivations

• √KWAT “fill; full”
  • √KWA “complete, full, whole, all, every, complete, full, whole, all, every; [ᴹ√] something” ✧ WJ/392

Element in

• S. Araphant
• S. iphant “*aged, [N.] aged, having lived long, (lit.) year-full”
• ᴺS. nabant “almost, (lit.) towards full”
• S. Panthael “Fullwise” ✧ SD/126
• ᴺS. penninor “full year (last day of year), *new year’s eve”

na-

verb. to be

Changes

• dôd → dád ✧ VT44/22
• dád → hae ✧ VT44/22
• hae → no ✧ VT44/24

Cognates

• Q. ná- “to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist”

Derivations

• √NĀ “be (the same as another), exist”

Element in

• S. no aer i eneth lín “hallowed be thy name” ✧ VT44/24
• ᴺS. novaer “goodbye, farewell, (lit.) be well”
• ᴺS. navaer “farewell, (lit.) be well”
• S. sí il chem en i Naugrim en ir Ellath thor den ammen “*now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) to us” ✧ VT50/23

Variations

• dôd ✧ VT44/22 (dôd)
• dád ✧ VT44/22 (dád)
• hae ✧ VT44/22 (hae)

bain

fair

_ adj. _fair, good, blessed, wholesome, favourable, without evil/bad element, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bân

bân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, good, wholesome, favourable, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bain

fael

adjective. fair minded, just, generous

gwain

adjective. fair

adj. fair. . This gloss was rejected.

gwana

noun/adjective. fair

Changes

• gwain → gwana “fair, general word for Elves” ✧ PE17/140

Derivations

• ✶wanasō ✧ PE17/140

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶wanasō > gwana	[wanasō] > [wanaso] > [wanaho] > [gwanaho] > [gwanah] > [gwana]	✧ PE17/140

Variations

• gwain ✧ PE17/140 (gwain)

gwân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, pale.

lind

adjective. fair

Derivations

• √LIN “sing, make a musical sound, sing, make a musical sound, [ᴱ√] gentle”

Element in

• S. Linhir “Fair Stream” ✧ RC/587

Variations

• lin ✧ RC/587 (lin)

edhellen

adjective. Elvish

_ adj. _Elvish. annon edhellen edro hi ammen! 'Elvish gate open now for us'. >> edhel

edhellen

adjective. elvish, of the Elves

mad

eat

mad- (i vâd, i medir). HONEY-EATER, see BEAR

mad

eat

(i vâd, i medir).

pant

full

pant (lenited bant; pl. paint) (complete, whole)

pant

full

(lenited bant; pl. paint) (complete, whole)

bain

fair

bain (beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

bain

fair

(beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

edhellen

elvish

edhellen (of language apparently = ”Sindarin”), pl. edhellin

mat-

verb. to eat

Cognates

• Q. mat- “to eat”
• S. mad- “to eat”

Derivations

• ✶mat- “to eat”
  • √MAT “eat”

mat

root. eat

This was the root for eating words for all of Tolkien’s life, appearing very regularly. It was ᴱ√MATA “eat” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/59), ᴹ√MAT “eat” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MAT), and √MAT “eat” in etymological notes from the late 1960s (VT48/26), among its many other appearances. This puts it among the most conceptually stable of Elvish roots.

Derivatives

• ✶ammat- “to devour, eat up” ✧ PE18/085; PE18/088
• ✶amtā ✧ PE18/085; PE18/087
  • Q. anta “jaw” ✧ PE18/085
• ✶mammata- “to gobble up, devour” ✧ PE22/136
  • Q. mammata- “to gobble up; to go on eating, gorge oneself, to gorge (oneself), gobble up, [ᴹQ.] devour; [Q.] (lit.) to go on eating”
• ✶masta- “to feed up, fatten” ✧ PE18/095
  • ᴺS. masta- “to [put to] feed, graze”
• ✶mat- “to eat”
  • Q. mat- “to eat” ✧ PE22/132; PE22/157
  • S. mad- “to eat” ✧ PE17/131; PE17/131
  • T. mat- “to eat”
• ✶matwā
  • S. maud “[unglossed]” ✧ PE17/148
• ✶matyā- “to feed”
  • ᴺQ. matya- “to feed”
  • ᴺS. media- “to feed”
• ✶maita- “to feed” ✧ PE18/095
• Q. anto “mouth, mouth [as a thing for eating]; [ᴱQ.] jaw”
• Q. maita “hungry” ✧ VT39/11
• Q. mat- “to eat” ✧ VT39/07
• ᴺS. mâd “meal”
• ᴺS. mast “fodder, feed, food, nourishment”
• ᴺS. math “food”

Element in

• ᴺ✶. womātē “*community, (lit.) eating-together”

Variations

• mata ✧ VT39/05
• MATA ✧ VT39/07

mat-

verb. to eat

Derivations

• √MAT “eat”

Derivatives

• Q. mat- “to eat” ✧ PE22/132; PE22/157
• S. mad- “to eat” ✧ PE17/131; PE17/131
• T. mat- “to eat”

Element in

• ✶aumata- “to eat away, corrode” ✧ PE22/136
• ✶matnā “eaten, eaten, [ᴹ✶] food”
• ✶matulā “edacious”
• ✶matˢtimā “edible”

Variations

• mata ✧ VT39/09

bani

adjective. fair

Element in

• Q. vanië “beauty” ✧ PE17/057
• Q. vanima “beautiful, fair, beautiful, fair, *handsome; [ᴱQ.] proper, right, as it should be, fair” ✧ PE17/057

Variations

• vanĭ ✧ PE17/057

wanyā

adjective. fair

Derivations

• √(G)WAN “pale, fair” ✧ WJ/383

Derivatives

• Q. Vanya “Fair Elves, the Fair” ✧ WJ/380; WJ/383
  • T. Vania “Vanya” ✧ WJ/383

Variations

• wanjā ✧ WJ/380; WJ/383

mad-

verb. to eat

mad-

verb. to eat

Cognates

• ᴹQ. mat- “to eat” ✧ Ety/MAT; EtyAC/MAT
• ᴹT. mat- “to eat”

Derivations

• ᴹ√MAT “eat” ✧ Ety/MAT; EtyAC/MAT

Element in

• N. megli “bear, (lit.) honey-eater”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MAT > medi	[mat-] > [mad-]	✧ Ety/MAT
ᴹ√MAT > mad-	[mat-] > [mad-]	✧ EtyAC/MAT

pant

adjective. full

pant

adjective. full

Cognates

• ᴹQ. qanta “full” ✧ Ety/KWAT

Derivations

• On. panta “full” ✧ Ety/KWAT
  • ᴹ√KWAT “*fill; full” ✧ Ety/KWAT

Element in

• N. Cambant “Full Hand” ✧ Ety/KWAT
• N. ifant “aged, having lived long, (lit.) year-full” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. penninar “full year (last day of year)”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. panta > pant	[panta] > [pantʰa] > [panθa] > [panθ] > [pant]	✧ Ety/KWAT