Sindarin 

gaear

noun. sea

Sindarin [Ety/349, PM/363, RGEO/73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaear

Sea

_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form gaer. Q. ear. >> aear, gaer

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:27] < GAY(AR). Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaear

noun. sea

A word for “sea” variously attested as gaear (PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400), gaer (PE17/27; PE17/149), and aear (Let/386; RGEO/65) in later writings. Of these, I prefer gaear for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reduced to gaer in compounds.

Possible Etymology: The presence or absence of the initial g- depends on whether the word’s root is √AY(AR) (as it appears in The Etymologies and some later writings) or √GAY(AR) (as it appears in other later writings). See the entry of the root √GAY(AR) for a discussion of this vacillation. Similarly, the form gaer appears primarily as an element in compounds, and can be explained as a reduced form of gaear in that context. For these reasons, this entry uses gaear as the ordinary Sindarin word for “sea”. This has the additional advantage of disambiguating it from the adjective gaer “dreadful”.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. oer or oear “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, reflecting the Noldorin sound change of ai to oe (Ety/AY). However name for the “Great Sea” was N. {Belegar >>} Belegaer in the narratives of this period (LR/19), and the name N. Rhûnaer “Eastern Sea” appeared in draft Lord of the Rings maps from 1943 (TI/307). The element N. oer did appear in the day-of-the-week name N. Aroeren “✱Sea-day” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices, but this was revised to S. Oraeron (PM/130, 138).

Cognates

  • Q. airë “sea” ✧ PE17/027
  • Q. ëar “sea, great sea, sea, great sea, [ᴹQ.] open sea; water” ✧ Let/386; PE17/027; PM/363; RGEO/65; SA/ëar; WJ/400

Derivations

  • AY(AR) “sea” ✧ Let/386
  • GAY(AR) “awe, dread; astound, make aghast; sea” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/149; SA/gaer
  • gayār “sea, the terrifier” ✧ PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400
    • GAY(AR) “awe, dread; astound, make aghast; sea” ✧ PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400

Element in

  • S. Aerandir “Sea-wanderer”
  • S. Belegaer “Great Sea” ✧ PM/363; SA/ëar; SA/gaer
  • S. gaearon “ocean, (lit.) great sea” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/149; PM/363; RGEO/65
  • S. Gaerdil “*Sea-lover” ✧ PE17/027
  • ᴺS. gaeruil “seaweed”
  • S. Gaerys “Ossë” ✧ SA/gaer
  • ᴺS. gaessarn “pearl, (lit.) sea-pebble”
  • S. nef aear, sí nef aearon “here ... beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea” ✧ LotR/0238; PE17/027; RGEO/63; RGEO/64
  • S. Tirith Aear “Sea-ward Tower”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
gaı̯ră > gaer[gaira] > [gair] > [gaer]✧ PE17/027
Gayar- > gaear[gaiara] > [gaiar] > [gaear]✧ PM/363

Variations

  • aear ✧ Let/386; RGEO/65
  • gaer ✧ PE17/027; PE17/149; SA/ëar; SA/gaer
Sindarin [Let/386; LotR/0238; PE17/027; PE17/149; PM/363; RGEO/63; RGEO/64; RGEO/65; SA/ëar; SA/gaer; WJ/400] Group: Eldamo. Published by

aear

noun. sea

Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaear

Sindarin Group: SINDICT. Published by

aear

Sea

_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Q. ear. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> gaear, gaer

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:20-1:27] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

aear

noun. sea

gaer

noun. sea

Sindarin [Ety/349, S/431, PM/363] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaer

Sea

_n._Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form of gaear.Q. aire (obsolete). >> aear, gaear

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:27] < _gaı_9_ră _< GAY(AR). Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaer

noun. sea

gaer

ocean

_ n. _ocean.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:149] < GAYA Sea. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaearon

noun. great sea, ocean

Sindarin [PM/363, PM/348, RGEO/72-73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaearon

ocean

_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _gaear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. >> gaear

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:27] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

aer

noun. sea

Tolkien changed this word several times, see aear , gaear

Sindarin Group: SINDICT. Published by

aearon

noun. great sea, ocean

Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaearon

Sindarin Group: SINDICT. Published by

aearon

ocean

_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _aear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> aear

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:20-1:27] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaeron

noun. great sea, ocean

Sindarin [PM/363, PM/348, RGEO/72-73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaeron

noun. ocean

_ n. _ocean.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:149] < GAYA Sea. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

belegaer

noun. ocean

_ n. _ocean.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:149] < ? + GAYA Sea. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaear

ocean

gaear (i **aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair** = i ñaeair).

gaear

ocean

(i ’aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair).

aear

sea

aear (ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i **aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i **aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".

aear

sea

(ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i ’aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i ’aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".

aear

ocean

aear (sea), pl. aeair.

aear

ocean

(sea), pl. aeair.

gaearon

great ocean

(i ‘Aearon), pl. Gaearyn (i Ngaearyn = i Ñaearyn) if there is a pl.