léra adj. noun "free", of persons (VT41:5)
Quenya
lehta
free, released
lehta
adjective. free, released
Derivations
- √LEK “loose, unbind, let, permit, loose, unbind, let, permit, [ᴹ√] let loose, release”
leuta
noun. finger
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶lepta > leꝑta > leu̯ta [lepta] > [leɸta] > [leuta] ✧ PE19/084 Variations
- leu̯ta ✧ PE19/084
léra
free
lerina
free
lerina adj. "free" of things: not guarded, reserved, made fast, or "owned" (VT41:5)
leper
finger
leper (pl. leperi given) noun "finger" (VT44:16, VT47:10, 14, 24, VT48:5; an older source gives the word for "finger" as lepsë, q.v.)
leper
noun. finger
The Quenya word for “finger” appearing in various notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from 1968, derived from the root √LEP “pick up” (VT47/10; VT48/5).
Conceptual Development: The Quenya “finger” words went through quite a few conceptual changes, but they were always based on the root √LEP. The earliest of these was ᴱQ. let (lept-) “finger” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LEPE with plural form lepsi (QL/53). In Qenya word lists of the 1920s, however, this became ᴱQ. lepta “finger”, still with the plural lepsi (PE15/72; PE16/137).
The form was ᴹQ. let (leps-) in the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s (PE21/19, 26), expanded to ᴹQ. lepse “finger” in The Etymologies written around 1937, based on the root ᴹ√LEPET of the same meaning (Ety/LEPET). This form demonstrated the 1930s sound change whereby pt became ps (PE19/44 note #44). Tolkien revised this sound change so that the result remained pt (PE19/44), and in 1940s drafts to The Lord of the Rings Tolkien used the word ᴹQ. rakkalepta “✱claw-fingered” in Treebeard’s description of orcs (SD/68), though in the published version this word only appeared in English.
In the Outline of Phonology from the 1950s (OP1) Tolkien considered restoring the sound change pt > ps (PE19/84 note #75), and Q. lepsë appeared in notes from the late 1950s or early 60s on the tree name S. lebethron, so named because “its leaves (like chestnut) [were] shaped like a fingered hand” (PE17/89). However, he again abandoned this, clarifying that the actual result of [[q|[pt] was a spirantal [ɸt]]] (spelled pt to represent the bilabial pronunciation), and that in Tarquesta pronunciation (Exhilic Quenya of the first age) the [ɸ] vocalized to [u̯] so that ✶lepta > leꝑta > Q. leu̯ta “finger” (PE19/84). Q. lepta appeared in several words in the 1960s: Q. leptafinya “clever-fingered” (PE17/17) and Q. Tyelpelepta “✱silver-fingered” (VT47/27).
In drafts of the 1968 notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals, lepta reappeared as an independent word, but with the gloss “thumb” (VT47/27). In the final versions of these notes, however, Tolkien used leper for “finger”, as noted above.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use leper for “finger”, but would retain lepta as an adjective meaning “fingered”, especially in compounds like [ᴹQ.] raccalepta “claw-fingered”.
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Eldarinwë Leperi ar Notessi “Elvish Fingers and Numerals” ✧ VT47/04
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶leper- > leper [leper] ✧ VT47/10 ✶leper- > leper [leper] ✧ VT47/24 ✶leper > leper [leper] ✧ VT48/05
lepsë
finger
lepsë noun "finger" (LEP/LEPET; see leper). According to VT45:27, Tolkien derived lepsë from primitive ¤lepti; if so, lepsë should have the stem-form *lepsi-. However, Tolkien struck out the ancestral form lepti, so we cannot be sure whether this idea was maintained or not. In later sources, the word for "finger" appears as leper.
aranya
free
aranya, also ranya, adj. "free". Another gloss was not certainly legible, but the editors suggest "uncontrolling" (VT46:10)
fairë
free
fairë (4) adj. "free" (LT1:250) (rather léra, lerina or mirima in LotR-style Quenya)
mirima
free
mirima adj. "free" (MIS). ("Free" is rather expressed as léra in Tolkiens later Quenya; mirima would be prone to confusion with mírima above.)
ráva
free, unfettered, uncontrolled, lawless
ráva (1) adj. "free, unfettered, uncontrolled, lawless" (PE17:78), "wild, untamed"_ (RAB). _In PE17:78, the gloss "wild" is given to the variant hráva instead.
lehta (2) adj. "free, released" (VT39:17); #lehta tengwë "free element, released element", a term for "vowel" (only pl. lehta tengwi [ñ] is attested; we would rather expect *lehtë tengwi with the pl. form of the adjective) (VT39:17)