lanya

thread

#lanya (3) noun "thread", isolated from hísilanya "mist thread" (PE17:60)

lanya

noun. thread, warp

A word appearing only in a note from the late 1960s as an element in Q. hísilanya, cognate to S. hithlain, name of the grey elvish rope which in this note was glossed “mist thread” and was derived from √LAN “stretch, extend; ?twine” (PE17/60). As such, the word lanya probably meant “thread”. Tolkien later wrote “warp” after hithlain, probably an alternate meaning of S. lain/Q. lanya. This is probably “warp” in the sense of cross-threads, as in the “warp and weft” that are part of weaving in a loom.

Cognates

• S. lain “thread, warp, ‽twine, thread, warp” ✧ PE17/060

Derivations

• √LAN “stretch, extend; ‽twine, stretch, extend; ‽twine; [ᴹ√] weave” ✧ PE17/060

Element in

• Q. hísilanya “mist thread, grey elvish rope” ✧ PE17/060
• ᴺQ. urulanya “wick, (lit.) fire-thread”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√LAN > lanya	[lanja]	✧ PE17/060

lanya-

verb. to bound, enclose, separate from, mark the limit of

Cognates

• S. gleina- “to bound, enclose, limit” ✧ VT42/08
• T. glania- “to bound, limit” ✧ VT42/08

Derivations

• √(G)LAN “rim, edge, border, boundary” ✧ VT42/08

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√(G)LAN > lanya	[lanja-]	✧ VT42/08

Variations

• lanya ✧ VT42/08

lanya-

verb. to cross

lahta-

verb. to cross, pass over, go over; to surpass, excel

Derivations

• √LAƷ “cross, pass over, go beyond” ✧ PE17/065; PE17/092

Element in

• ᴺQ. lahtalë “passover”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√LAŊ > langa-	[laŋga-]	✧ PE17/065
√LAŊ > lanya	[laŋja-] > [lanja-]	✧ PE17/065
√LAŊ > langa-	[laŋga-]	✧ PE17/065
√LAƷA > lahta-	[laɣta-] > [laxta-]	✧ PE17/092

Variations

• langa- ✧ PE17/065; PE17/065
• lanya ✧ PE17/065

were-

verb. to weave

A verb based on √WER “weave” that Tolkien coined in notes from around 1957 while exploring the development of the name S. Gwaihir (PE17/33). The section where this verb appeared was marked out, and in notes 1959-60 Tolkien changed the root to √WIR “weave” (PE17/191; VT39/10).

Neo-Quenya: This verb might be updated to ✱vir- “to weave” from the later form of the root, but I prefer to stick to attested [ᴹQ.] lanya- for “to weave” (Ety/LAN).

Derivations

• √WIR “weave, twine, weaving with cross-threads or withes” ✧ PE17/033

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√WER > were-	[gwer-] > [ɣwer-] > [wer-]	✧ PE17/033

sar-

verb. to cross

Derivations

• √THAR “*across, beyond, [ᴹ√] across, beyond”