cuil

noun. life, life, [G.] lifetime

A noun for “life” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake” (Ety/KUY).

Conceptual Development: This word dates back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where Tolkien clarified that G. cuil “life” was “usually [the] quality of being alive, but [was] also used = lifetime” (GL/27). ᴱN. cuil “life” also appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141).

cuil

noun. life

cuin

adjective. alive

An adjective for “alive” in The Etymologies of the 1930s based on the root ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake” (Ety/KUY).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had G. cuib “alive” (GL/27) and in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱN. cuif (cuiv-) “alive” (PE13/141).

cuin

adjective. alive

cuia-

verb. to live

echui(w)

noun. awakening

cuina-

verb. to be alive

echui

noun. awakening

echuiw

noun. awakening

godrebh

adverb. through together

lembas

noun. waybread

nîth

noun. youth

nîth

noun. youth

rhaug

noun. a powerful, hostile and terrible creature, a demon

tre-

prefix. through (but denoting completeness when prefixed to verbs, cf. English idioms like "talk something through")

tre-

prefix. through

A prefixal form of N. trî “through” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, appearing as tre- when unstressed (the norm) and tri- when stressed, though there are no examples of the latter (Ety/TER). Presumably this refers to ancient rather than modern stress.

tri

prefix. through (but denoting completeness when prefixed to verbs, cf. English idioms like "talk something through")

trî

preposition. through

trî

preposition. through

A preposition meaning “through” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from ON. trī under the root ᴹ√TER(ES) “pierce” (Ety/TER), so presumably derived from ✱trē with ancient ē > ī as usual in Noldorin and Sindarin. In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road Christopher Tolkien gave the Noldorin and Old Noldorin forms as trî and trí following the usual orthographic conventions of those languages (LR/392), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne indicated they were both trī in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT46/18).

ûn

noun. creature

ûn

noun. creature

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “creature” derived from the root ᴹ√ONO “beget” (Ety/ONO), perhaps from a primitive form ✱ōno with ancient ō becoming ū.

coivië

noun. life, life, [ᴱQ.] liveliness; awakening

The usual word for “life” in Tolkien’s later writings based on the root √KOY (NM/84, 119; VT49/42), in one place appearing with the variant koive (PE17/68). In another place Tolkien instead used kuivie for “life” in the phrase kuivie-lankasse “on the brink of life”, reflecting Tolkien’s ongoing vacillation between √KOY and √KUY as the root for life.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. koivie was “awakening” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/48) as reflected in the name ᴱQ. Koivie-néni “Waters of Awakening” from this period (QL/48), but the word was glossed “liveliness” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/29). The noun for “life, being alive” was ᴹQ. kuile in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake” (Ety/KUY), but was usually coivie in Tolkien’s writings from the 1950s and 60s, as noted above.

Neo-Quenya: I prefer √KOY as the root for “life” for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, so I’d use coivie as the noun “life, liveliness”, and use cuivië for “awakening” as seen in the later form of the name Q. Cuiviénen “Water of Awakening” (S/48).

coi

life

coi ("k")"life" (LT1:257; in Tolkien's later Quenya cuilë)

coivië

life

coivië _("k")_noun "life" (coivierya, *"his/her life", VT49:41, 42). In early material, the word is glossed "awakening" instead (LT1:257; in LotR-style Quenya cuivië, as in Cuiviénen)

coivë

noun. life

cuivië

noun. life

vehtë

noun. [a span of] life; habitat, haunt

A noun for “life” appearing in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 derived from primitive {✶we’te [weʒte] >>} ✶weg-tē “activity, occupation” (PE17/189). Tolkien said that vehte meant:

> not Life in general or as a principle, but (a period of) individual activity, as in vehtequentale “biography”. It was used therefore sometimes almost like nóre “land” - of the place where a person, people etc. lived and had their business, i.e. habitat, haunt. So Beleriand might be described as an Eldavehte, a habitation, haunt or place occupied by Eldar.

Thus vehte refers to a span of life or activity (temporal or physical), and in this sense was the basis for words like vehtequentalë “biography = ✱life-history” as well as various place names as habitats where people lived.

coimas

life-bread

coimas noun "life-bread" = Sindarin lembas(SA:cuivië, PM:395); coimas Eldaron "the coimas of the Eldar" (PM:395)

cuilë

life, being alive

cuilë ("k")noun "life, being alive" (KUY)

laisi

youth, vigour, new life

laisi, laito noun "youth, vigour, new life" (LT1:267; rather vië or nésë, nessë in Tolkien's later Quenya)

vehtë

life - not life in general or as a principle, but (a period of) individual activity

vehtë noun "life - not Life in general or as a principle, but (a period of) individual activity", thus also "the place where a person, people &c. lived and had their business, i.e. habitat, haunt" (PE17:189)

coimas

noun. life-bread, lembas

A Quenya term for “lembas” (Elven waybread) but of different etymological origins appearing in notes from the 1950s, a combination of √KOY “live” and a reduced form of massa or masta “bread” (PM/395, 403-4). As such, its stem form is likely to be either coimass- or coimast-; I prefer the first of these. Tolkien also had Q. lerembas in notes from the 1960s as a more direct cognate of S. lembas (PE17/51).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I’d stick to coimas, as the etymology of lerembas is rather muddled.

coita-

verb. live, be alive, have life

cuivië-lancassë

on the brink of life

nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya

*may your (sg.) child be blessed throughout his/her life

nai calambar onnalda ter coivierya

*may your (pl.) child be light-fated throughout his/her life

coina

alive

coina _("k")_adj. "alive" (LT1:257; Tolkien's later Quenya also has cuina, though coina may still be a valid word: properly, the root of words for "life" is coi- rather than cui-, the latter referring to "awakening" instead)

cuita

verb. live

cuina

alive

cuina ("k")adj. "alive" (KUY). See coina.

ter

preposition. through

The word ter was the common Quenya word for “through” for most (but not all) of Tolkien’s life. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. pen “through” under the early root ᴱ√PENE, a variant of ᴱ√PERE “go through, pierce; endure, undergo” (QL/73), so probably meaning “through” both spatially and temporally. In ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya drafts from around 1930, Tolkien instead had ᴱQ. ter “through” in the phrase ᴱQ. karnevaite úri kilde hīsen ter nie nienaite (PE16/62, 72), translated “when the sky was red; the Sun gazed through a haze of tears” (PE16/68); this new preposition may have been based on the early root ᴱ√TEŘE [TEÐE] “pierce” (QL/91; PME/91).

Indeed, in The Etymologies from about 1937 Tolkien had ᴹQ. tere or ter “through” under the root ᴹ√TER “pierce” (Ety/TER). This ter “through” continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings from the 1950s and 60s, in phrases like et sillumello ter yénion yéni tenn’ ambarmetta “✱from this hour, through years of years until the ending of the world” (VT44/33) and nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya “✱may your child be blessed through his/her life” (VT49/41).

Most of the later uses for ter “through” seem to be temporal in nature, such as in the phrase vanda sina termaruva Elenna·nóreo alcar enyalien “This oath shall stand in memory of the glory of the Land of the Star” (UT/305), where the verb termar- “stand” is more literally ter + mar- = “through-abide” (UT/317 note #43). However, it I think it is reasonable to assume ter “through” retained its spatial sense as well, given its 1930s connection to the root ᴹ√TER “pierce”, indicating a physical penetration.

coivenqua

adjective. lively, vibrant, vivacious, (lit.) full of life

@@@ Discord 2022-07-18

lómivehtë

noun. night life

celvatarwa

noun. zoo, (lit.) life-garden

A neologism for “zoo” from the NQW (NQW), a combination of celva “animal” and a noun form of [ᴱQ.] tarwa “animal”.

laulesta-

verb. to lead a life, gain a living

laulë

noun. mode of life, *lifestyle

-rya

his, her

-rya 3rd person sg. pronominal ending "his, her" and probably "its" (VT49:16, 38, 48, Nam, RGEO:67), attested in coivierya *"his/her life", máryat "her hands", ómaryo "of her voice" (genitive of *ómarya "her voice"), súmaryassë "in her bosom" (locative of súmarya "her bosom"); for the meaning "his" cf. coarya "his house" (WJ:369). The ending is descended from primitive ¤-sjā via -zya (VT49:17) and therefore connects with the 3rd person ending -s "he, she, it". In colloquial Quenya the ending -rya could be used for "their" rather than "his/her", because it was felt to be related to the plural ending -r,e.g. símaryassen "in their [not his/her] imaginations" (VT49:16, 17). See -ya #4.

coirë

stirring

coirë noun "stirring", in the calendar of Imladris a precisely defined period of 54 days (Appendix D), but translated "the first day of Spring" in the Silmarillion Appendix (SA:cuivië). Early "Qenya" has coirë ("k")"life" (LT1:257; in Tolkien's later Quenya, the word for "life" is cuilë or coivië; however, cf. the adj. coirëa from a late source).

cuivië

awakening

cuivië noun "awakening" (early "Qenya" coivië, q.v., but this word Tolkien later used = *"life"). In Cuiviénen, "Water of Awakening" (SA:cuivië, SA:nen, KUY; spelt with a k_ in the Etymologies). Somewhat surprisingly, cuivië is used to mean "life" in cuivie-lancassë ("k"), literally 'on the brink of life' ("of a perilous situation in which one is likely to fall into death") (VT42:8)_ The form coivië is used for "life" elsewhere.

lanca

sharp edge (not of tools); sudden end

lanca ("k")noun "sharp edge (not of tools); sudden end" _("as e.g. a cliff-edge, or the clean edge of things made by hand or built, also used in transferred senses, as in kuivie-lankasse, literally 'on the brink of life', of a perilous situation in which one is likely to fall into death" VT42:8)_

onna

creature

onna noun "creature" (ONO), "child" (PE17:170), also translated "child" in the plural compound Aulëonnar "Children of Aulë", a name of the Dwarves (PM:391), and apparently also used = "child" in the untranslated sentence nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya ("k") "be it that your child [will be] blessed thoughout his/her life" (VT49:41). The form onya (q.v.), used as a vocative "my child", is perhaps shortened from *onnanya.

ter

through

ter (1), also terë, prep. "through", "throughout" (Notes on CO, UT:317, TER/TERES, Narqelion, VT44:33, 35, VT49:41, 42). The preposition is used both with spatial and temporal reference: ter i·aldar "through the trees" (Narqelion, cf. VT49:42), ter coivierya "throughout his/her life", ter yénion yéni "through years of years" (VT49:42, VT44:33, 35)

cuita-

verb. to live

A word appearing as Q. kuita “live” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, most notably in the phrase kuita’r pare “live and learn”, derived from the root √KUY “live” (PE22/154, 156).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer to use √KUY for “wake” (NM/274) and √KOY for “live”; see those roots for discussion. As such, I would use Q. coita- for “to live” and would assume ᴺQ. cuita- means to “to waken, rouse”, as did its primitive form from the 1950s: ✶kuitā- (PE22/136). I further assume cuita- “to waken, rouse” is a transitive/causative verb (taking a direct object) based on the long ā in this primitive form, with a past tense cuitane “woke, roused”.

cuivië

noun. awakening

A word for “awakening”, most notably an element in the word Cuiviénen “Water of Awakening” (S/48). It was derived from the root √KUY (Ety/KUY). In a few places it appeared as kuive instead (PE17/68; Ety/KUY).

Conceptual Development: The earliest form for “Waters of Awakening” was ᴱQ. Koivie-néni (LT1/85), and ᴱQ. koivie was glossed as “awakening” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/48). It was glossed “liveliness” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, however, and ᴱQ. qîvie was “awakening” (GL/29).

-ya

his

-ya (4) pronominal suffix "his" (and probably also "her, its"), said to be used in "colloquial Quenya" (which had redefined the "correct" ending for this meaning, -rya, to mean "their" because it was associated with the plural ending -r). Hence e.g. cambeya ("k") "his hand", yulmaya "his cup" (VT49:17) instead of formally "correct" forms in -rya. The ending -ya was actually ancient, primitive ¤-jā being used for "all numbers" in the 3rd person, predating elaborated forms like -rya. It is said that -ya "remained in Quenya" in the case of "old nouns with consonantal stems", Tolkien listing tál "foot", cas "head", nér "man", sír "river" and macil "sword" as examples. He refers to "the continued existence of such forms as talya his foot", that could apparently be used even in "correct" Quenya (VT49:17). In PE17:130, the forms talya "his foot" and macilya ("k") "his (or their) sword" are mentioned.

-zya

his, her, its

-zya, archaic form of the pronominal ending -rya "his, her, its", q.v. (VT49:17)

cuivë

awakening

cuivë ("k")noun "awakening" (KUY)

cuivë

noun. awakening

nessë

youth

nessë noun "youth"; also nésë (NETH)

nésë

youth

nésë (Þ) noun "youth", also nessë (NETH). Not to be confused with nésë "he was"; see ná #1.

oia-

verb. live, pass one’s days

vinyarë

noun. youth, youth, *young adulthood

vínë

youth

vínë noun "youth" (probably as abstract) (VT47:26, PE17:191)

vínë

noun. youth, youth, *childhood

vírië

youth

vírië noun "youth" (as abstract) (VT46:22)

koy

root. *live, have life, [ᴹ√] live, have life

Tolkien regularly used roots like √KOY for “life” words, but they were often in competition with √KUY. The earliest appearance of this root was as ᴱ√KOẎO “have life” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives such as ᴱQ. koire “life” and ᴱQ. koiva “awake” (QL/48). The corresponding Gnomish derivatives such as G. cuib “alive” and G. cuil “life” had the diphthong ui (GL/27) since [[g|[oi] became [ui]]] in Gnomish (PE15/13). But the Gnomish “awake” words had cwiv-, cwib-, or cwip- such as: G. cwiv- “be awake”, G. cwivros “awakening”, and G. cwimp “alert” (GL/28-29). Tolkien said:

> There is confusion between QIV-, QIPI-, KOI̯-(VI) or perhaps original connection. They are more confused in Qenya. Note Qenya confusion between koiva (lively, living), Qîva (awake) and similarly koivie, qîvie, liveliness, awakening, respectively (GL/29).

There are no direct signs of ᴱ√QIVI or ᴱ√QIPI in the Qenya Lexicon, so Tolkien may have introduced or refined this notion in the Gnomish Lexicon.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave only the root ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake”, which had both Quenya and Noldorin derivatives connected to both senses “life” and “awakeness” (Ety/KUY). However, in the Quenya Verbal System Tolkien gave ᴹ√KOY [√KOJ] as the basis for “life” words (PE22/125). In the 1940s, 50s and early 60s there were quite a few Quenya “life” words that must have been derived from √KOY:

• ᴹQ. koita- “live, be alive” (PE22/103, 125).

• Q. coirë “spring, stirring” (LotR/1107).

• Q. koive or koivie “life” (PE17/68).

• Q. coimas “life-bread” (PM/404).

• Q. coirëa “living” (PM/399).

In this same period, Tolkien continued to use derivatives of √KUY for words having to do with being “awake”, most notably in Q. Cuiviénen “Water of Awakening” (<< ᴱQ. Koivie-néni). In Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s he gave √KOJ as the root for “life” versus √KUJ as the root for “awake” (PE22/135). In notes from 1957 Tolkien said √KUY meant “awake not live” (NM/274).

Later, however, he seems to have changed his mind, and Quenya “life” words again started to show cui-, such as kuivie “life” in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69 (VT42/8). In Late Notes on Verbs from 1969, Tolkien again gave the root √KUY and the verb Q. kuita- for “live” (PE22/154, 156), and Q. cuima “animal” from these same notes was probably also based on √KUY “life”. To summarize, the conceptual development seems to be 1910s ᴱ√KOẎO “have life” (blended with ᴱ√QIVI and ᴱ√QIPI “awake”) >> 1930s ᴹ√KUY “life, awake” >> 1940s through early 1960s √KOY “life” vs. √KUY “awake” >> late 1960s √KUY “life” (and probably also “awake”).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to retain the distinct √KOY “life” and √KUY “awake”, especially given the appearance of coirë “stirring” in The Lord of the Rings, which must be from √KOY. These late vacillations makes almost no difference in Sindarin, since the roots √KOY and √KUY would have blended in cui- because [[os|[oi] became [ui]]] in Sindarin as it did in Gnomish.

etkoiru-

verb. to come to life

koiru-

verb. to come to life

koitā-

verb. to bring to life

et-koiru/et-koilu

verb. come to life

koiru

verb. come to life

koitā

verb. bring to life

cuil

life

cuil (i guil, o chuil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chuil)

cuil

life

(i guil, o chuil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chuil)

cuida-

verb. to bring to life, enliven, energize

A neologism for “to bring to life, enliven, energize” coined by Elaran based on primitive ✶koitā-.

echui

noun. awakening

A noun for “awakening”, most notably in Nen Echui “Water of Awakening” (SA/cuivië, LR/406). It appeared as N. echui(w) “awakening” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶et-kuiwē under the root ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake” (Ety/KUY).

Conceptual Development: The earliest name for the “Waters of Awakening” was G. Nenin a Gwivros from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, and in that document G. cwivros “awakening” appeared as a noun form of G. cwivra- “awaken (intr.)” (GL/29). ᴱN. {cuibros >>} cuivros “awakening” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141) before the word became echui(w) in The Etymologies of the 1930s, as noted above.

cuith

noun. [biological process of] life, the vital principle; living body

cuithas

noun. life (period of life); living, livelihood

echuira-

verb. to come to life

echuiru-

verb. to come to life

A neologism coined by Paul Strack in 2018 specifically for Eldamo, the Sindarin equivalent of Quenya u-verb [ᴹQ.] (ek)koiru-. However, while it is likely Sindarin also has u-verbs, we currently have no idea how they are inflected. Elaran suggested using ᴺS. echuira- instead to avoid the question of Sindarin u-verb inflections.

cuia

live

(i guia, i chuia; the attested form is the imperative cuio). Also cuina (i guina, i chuinar).

cuin

alive

cuin (lenited guin; no distinct pl. form).

cuin

alive

(lenited guin; no distinct pl. form).

cuia-

verb. to live

A verb for “to live” appearing only in the imperative form cuio in the phrase cuio i Pheriain anann “long live the Halflings” or “may the Halflings live long” (LotR/953; Let/448; PE17/102). It already had this form when it appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (SD/46).

-deid

suffix. his

_3rd sg. poss. suff. his, her.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ed_. >> -deith, -dyn, -ed, [[]]

-deith

suffix. his

_3rd sg. poss. suff. his, her.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ed_. >> -deid, -dyn, -ed, [[]]

-dyn

suffix. his

_3rd sg. poss. suff. his, her.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ed_. >> -deid, -deith, -ed, [[]]

cuia-

verb. to live

echui

noun. awakening

godref

adverb. through together

graug

noun. a powerful, hostile and terrible creature, a demon

gwîn

noun. youth

n. youth. Q. víne. >> gwein

gwîn

noun. youth

ledhbas(t)

noun. waybread

raug

noun. a powerful, hostile and terrible creature, a demon

tîn

adjective. his

tîn

pronoun. his

Non-lenited form suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT31/21).

în

adjective. his (referring to the subject)

cuina

be alive

(i guina, i chuinar)

echui

awakening

echui (echuiw). No distinct pl. form. Coll. pl. echuiwath.

echui

awakening

(echuiw). No distinct pl. form. Coll. pl. echuiwath.

echuir

stirring, season of

. No distinct pl. form.

graug

powerful, hostile and terrible creature

(i ’raug), pl. groeg (in groeg), coll. pl. grogath (WJ:415)

iphant

long-lived

(aged,  literally ”year-full”), pl. iphaint. The spelling used in the source is ”ifant” (LR:400 s.v. YEN), but since the f arises from earlier (n > m +) p via nasal mutation, it should be written ph according to the spelling conventions described in LotR Appendix E.

nîth

youth

(construct nith; no distinct pl. form)

tre

through

(adverbial prefix, sometimes = ”completely”) tre-, tri-. For an example of this prefix, see TELL TO END.

tre

through

tri-. For an example of this prefix, see

trî

through

(prep.) trî ;

trî

through

;

tín

his

*tín (only attested in lenited form dín, following a noun with article). Possibly, the word also covers ”her(s)” and ”its” as a general 3rd person form. If ”his” refers to the same person as the subject, the form ín* is used instead (e.g. i venn sunc i haw ín** ”the man drank his (own) juice”, but *i venn sunc i haw dín ”the man drank his (somebody elses) juice”.

tín

his

(only attested in lenited form dín, following a noun with article). Possibly, the word also covers ”her(s)” and ”its” as a general 3rd person form. If ”his” refers to the same person as the subject, the form ín is used instead (e.g. ✱i venn sunc i haw ín ”the man drank his (own) juice”, but ✱i venn sunc i haw dín ”the man drank his (somebody else’s) juice”.

ín

his

(pronoun referring to the subject, e.g. ✱i venn sunc i haw ín ”the man drank his [own] juice”, as opposed to ✱i venn sunc i haw dín ”the man drank his [= another’s] juice”)

ûn

creature

ûn (pl. uin).

ûn

creature

(pl. uin).