_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form gaer. Q. ear. >> aear, gaer
Sindarin
gaear
noun. sea
Cognates
Derivations
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/stone”
- 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
Development Stages Sources ✶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
gaear
noun. sea
gaear
Sea
aear
noun. sea
Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaear
aear
Sea
aear
noun. sea
gaer
noun. sea
gaer
noun. sea
gaer
Sea
gaer
ocean
_ n. _ocean.
gaearon
noun. great sea, ocean
gaearon
ocean
_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _gaear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. >> gaear
aer
noun. sea
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
aearon
noun. great sea, ocean
Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaearon
gaeron
noun. great sea, ocean
gaeron
noun. ocean
_ n. _ocean.
belegaer
noun. ocean
_ n. _ocean.
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
(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
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
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.
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.
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 disambuiguating 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).