vil- vb. "to fly" (The forms given are the 1st pers. aorist vilin "I fly" and the pa.t. villë. Tolkien replaced wilin with wil-, pa.t. presumably *wille, but this may not render vil- obsolete; rather, Tolkien simply decided to cite the verb in its Old Quenya form, before the merger of w- with v- that occurred in Exilic Quenya.) (WIL)
Quenya
tsette
noun. fly
wil-
fly
vil-
to fly
pí
small insect, fly
pí noun "small insect, fly" (VT47:35)
pí
noun. small insect, fly, small insect, fly, *mite, gnat; [ᴱQ.] speck, spot, dot, mote
A noun for a “small insect, fly” appearing in notes from 1968 as an example of a primitive monosyllabic noun that survived in modern Quenya (VT47/35). Its primitive form was originally glossed “small bird”. I think it might apply to other tiny insects like mites or gnats, based on its conceptual precursors. Likely it is related to the root √PI(N) for tiny things.
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had ᴱQ. pī “speck, spot, dot, mote” and ᴱQ. pin or pink “a little thing, mite”, the latter also serving as a diminutive ending, all under the early roots ᴱ√PINI, ᴱ√PIKI, or ᴱ√PĪ (QL/73). It is unclear whether or not ᴱQ. pin(k) “mite” could refer to an insect or only a tiny thing. In the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s, Tolkien had ᴹQ. mí “fly” (PE21/40).
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. pímótar “ant, (lit.) insect-worker”
- ᴺQ. sandanasto “turtle, (lit.) shield-being”
- ᴺQ. tixipi “ladybug, (lit.) insect of [many] dots”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶pī > pī [pī] ✧ VT47/35 Variations
- pī ✧ VT47/35
círa
sail
círa ("k")vb. "sail" (apparently the continuative stem of #cir-) (Markirya)
lútë
sail
lútë noun "sail" (MC:213; this is "Qenya")
alaco
rush, rushing flight, wild wind
alaco ("k")noun "rush, rushing flight, wild wind" (VT45:5 cf. ÁLAK)
ráma
wing
ráma noun "wing", pl. rámar (RAM, Nam, RGEO:66, LT2:335); Markirya has both nominative pl. rámar "wings" and instrumental pl. rámainen *"with wings" (translated "on wings" by Tolkien); rámali "wings" in MC:213 would be a partitive pl. in LotR-style Quenya. Variant rámë in the names Eärrámë, Alquarámë, q.v.
ráma
noun. wing, wing; [ᴱQ.] arm
The Quenya word for “wing”, derived from the root ᴹ√RAM (PE17/63; Ety/RAM).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. ráma “wing” was derived from the early root ᴱ√RAHA “stretch forward” (QL/78). The word appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writings with the gloss “wing”, though at one point in the 1920s it was glossed both “arm, wing” (PE16/137), and in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s it was given as the Qenya word meaning “arm”, but this was revised to ᴱQ. ranko (PE15/79). The use of ráma for “arm” was a brief and rejected idea, and in The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ráma “wing” was transferred to a new root ᴹ√RAM, while ᴹQ. ranko “arm” remained under ᴹ√RAK “stretch out” (Ety/RAK, RAM).
Cognates
- S. raw “wing” ✧ PE17/063
Element in
- Q. Eärrámë “Sea-wing”
- Q. Númerrámar “West-wings”
- Q. rámainen elvië “on wings like stars” ✧ MC/222
- Q. rámar sisílala “the wings shining” ✧ MC/222
- Q. yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron “long years numberless as the wings of trees” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. yéni únótimë ve aldaron rámar “long-years not-countable as trees’ wings” ✧ RGEO/58
Variations
- rāma ✧ PE17/063
itsë
noun. fly
Derivations
- ᴺ✶. ITITH “annoy, *itch, irritate; peck, bite (of flies)”
veluntë
noun. sail
Derivations
- ᴺ✶. BELU “unroll”
ramya-
verb. to fly, sail; to wander
Derivations
wil- vb. "fly" (1st pers. aorist wilin "I fly"; changed from vilin pa.t. villë, which would be the forms used in later Exilic Quenya. The older pa.t. would be willë.) (WIL). The early "Qenya" lexicon haswili- "sail, float, fly" (LT1:273)