cuita

verb. live

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”.

mar-

verb. to abide, be settled or fixed, dwell, to dwell, abide, be settled or fixed, [ᴱQ.] live [in a place]

A verb meaning “abide, be settled or fixed”, most notably used in Elendil’s Oath (LotR/967; UT/317), clearly derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell”. This verb appeared as far back as the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. mara- “dwell, live” was derived from the early root ᴱ√MBARA (QL/63).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would only use mar- intransitively, mostly in the sense “dwell, live (in a place)”.

coita-

verb. *to live, be alive, have life, [ᴹQ.] to live, be alive, have life

A verb for “to live, be alive, have life” appearing as [ᴹQ.] koita- in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 (PE22/103, 125). It had a strong past form koine (PE22/103). This strong past appeared (unglossed) in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 hinting at its ongoing validity (PE22/152), although this same set of notes used Q. cuita- for “live” (PE22/154, 156).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I prefer to use the root √KOY for “live” and √KUY for “awake”, so I’d use coita- for “to live”, and assign cuita- the meaning: “to waken, rouse”.

coita-

verb. live, be alive, have life

cuita’r parë

live and learn

nórë

noun. land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family

oia-

verb. live, pass one’s days

cuina-

verb. to live, be alive

A neologism for the verb “to live, be alive” appearing in ABNW (ABNW) from the early 2000s based on [ᴹQ.] kuina “alive”. I prefer using attested coita- for this purpose; this verb was published in 2015.

cuita-

verb. to waken, rouse; to live

cuio

verb. live!

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).

dor firn-i-guinar

place name. Land of the Dead that Live

Home of Beren and Lúthien after their return to life, translated “Land of the Dead that Live” (S/188). This name is a combination of dôr “land”, the plural firn of fern “dead”, the relative pronoun i “who” and the present plural inflection of the cuina- “live”, lenited to guinar by the preceding pronoun.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name first appeared as G. (i·)Cuilwarthon “(The) Dead That Live Again” (LT2/41, 51). In the earliest Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s this form first persisted as Cuilwarthien (SM/133), but was soon revised to N. Gwerth-i-Cuina “(Land of) the Dead that Live” (SM/135). This name N. Dor Firn i Guinar first appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/KUY, PHIR). Nevertheless, the form Gwerth-i-guinar appeared in the initial Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/71) before Tolkien settled on its final form.

In both the 1930s and later, Tolkien occasionally used Gyrth as the word for “The Dead”, in N. Gyrth-i-Guinar (LR/305) and S. Dor Gyrth i Chuinar. See those entries for further discussion.

dor gyrth i chuinar

place name. Land of the Dead that Live

A variant form of Dor Firn-i-Guinar appearing in one of Tolkien’s letters from 1972 (Let/417). It differs from the common form in that it uses the plural gyrth of gorth for “The Dead” and that the verb inflection of cuina- “live” undergoes nasal mutation instead of soft mutation. The latter implies that the relative pronoun i is elided from a plural form in.

Conceptual Development: A similar variation N. Gyrth-i-Guinar appeared in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/305).

Dor Firn-i-Chuinar

noun. land of the dead who live

(n-)dôr (“land, dwelling-place”), firn (pl. of fern “mortal”) + in (here: plural relative pronoun) + cuinar (3p pl. of cuina - “be alive”)

Gyrth i Chuinar

noun. dead who live

gyrth (#pl. of? dead) + in (here: plural relative pronoun) + cuinar (3p pl of cuina- “be alive”) #Given as Gyrth i Guinar, in the Silmarillion, which is probably a mistake.

cuio i pheriain anann

may the Halflings live long

dôr

noun. land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land

cuia-

verb. to live

dor

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

dôr

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

cuia

live

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

cuia

live

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

Dor Firn-i-Guinar

Land of the dead that live

Dor Firn-i-Guinar is the name appearing in the published Silmarillion, apparently consisting of the Sindarin elements dor "land" + firn "dead" + in "who, that" + cuinar "live".

In his manuscripts, Tolkien experimented with many variations on how to translate Land of the Dead that Live: I·Cuilwarthon, I·Guilwarthon, Cuilwarthien, Gwerth-i-cuina, and Gwerth-i-guinar. In a 1972 letter, Tolkien used the name Dor Gyrth i chuinar.

bar-

verb. to live, dwell, stay

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.

estola- Speculative

verb. to encamp, *erect tents

A rather speculative verb for “to encamp, ✱erect tents”, assuming estolad “encampment” is verbal noun; see that entry for discussion.

gwerth-i-cuina

place name. (Land of) the Dead that Live

An earlier name for S. Dor Firn-i-Guinar appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, glossed “Living Dead” (SM/116) or “Land of the Dead that Live” (LR/305). It is a combination of the plural of G. gwarth “dead (only of persons)”, i “that” and the present form of cuina- “to live”. It is unclear why the verb was not plural or lenited, as it was in other forms of this name (and as it was on WJ/71).

gyrth-i-guinar

proper name. Dead that Live

A variant of Gwerth-i-Cuina appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, glossed “Dead that Live” (LR/305). It is a combination of the plural of S. gorth “dead (person)”, i “that” and the lenited present plural form of cuina- “to live”.

cuia-

verb. to live

dor firn i guinar

place name. Land of the Dead that Live

dôr

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

cuio i pheriain anann

long live the halflings

dor

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

kew

root. new, fresh; anew, repeated; live of vegetables

This root appeared as KEWE, KWĒ “live of vegetables” in 1957 Quenya Notes with derivatives Q. quëa “vegetable” and (unglossed) Q. ceula, as well as being an element in Q. laiquë “herb” (PE17/159). The root KEWE reappeared in various notes from the late 1960s with the gloss “new, fresh” and “anew, repeated” where Tolkien connected it to the final element of Q. minquë, which roughly had the ancient sense of “✱a new ‘one’ (as in a second round of counting)” (VT48/7-8). In these 1960s notes √KEWE had a variety of derivatives having to do with newness and freshness in Quenya, Sindarin and Telerin.

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.

kuy

root. awake; live, awake; live, [ᴹ√] come to life

A root Tolkien used in the 1930s through 1960s, sometimes meaning both “live” and “awake” and sometimes just “awake”.

mbar

root. settle, dwell; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision, settle; establish, fix, decide, determine, make a decision; dwell, [ᴹ√] inhabit, [ᴱ√] live

This root was connected to the sense “dwell” for all of Tolkien’s life. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s it appeared as ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live”, though in Qenya it was blended with ᴱ√ŊWAÐA “tarry, linger” since [[eq|initial [ŋʷ] became [m]]] (QL/60). In Gnomish the two roots remained distinct: G. bar “home” (GL/21) vs. G. gwadh- “dwell” (GL/46). However, other Gnomish derivatives hint at an unstrengthened variant ᴱ√MARA: G. mar “Earth, ground, soil” and G. Môr “The Earth”, of which Tolkien said “mar and môr probably conceal two roots and a confusion; mbara” (GL/56). The source of this confusion might be ᴱ√MARA “ripe” (QL/59, 63).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” (Ety/MBAR); an earlier version of this entry had the extra gloss “build” (EtyAC/MBAR). In The Etymologies, it seems this root was a strengthened form of ᴹ√BAR “raise” (Ety/BAR), but the root ᴹ√MBARAT “fate” seems to be unrelated at this point (Ety/MBARAT). The root mbar- was mentioned in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s (PE19/36) and again as √MBAR “{house >>} dwell” in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 (PE18/92).

The root √MBAR still had the basic sense “dwell” in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/64); in those notes it seems it was distinct from both √BAR “raise” and √MAR(AT) or √MBART “doom, fate” (PE17/66). But in notes on Fate from 1968 (NM/226-231; PE17/104-109), Tolkien shifted the meaning of the root:

> English “settle” in its various branches of meaning closely resembles the development of the meanings of √MBAR: thus settlement can mean the act of colonizing or taking up an abode, or the area or place so occupied (by a family or community); or (the terms of) an agreement fixed after debate. The development was not, however, the same: the senses of settle proceed from a sense “place in or take up” a firm position, especially in a place that seems suitable; from which the sense of settling affairs that were in confusion or doubt arose. √MBAR meant basically to make a decision, and the meanings relating to dwelling or occupying land proceeded from that (PE17/105).

This new definition for √MBAR was to support a more direct connection between this root and words like Q. umbar “fate”, hence establishing an etymological relationship to extended √MBARAT for the first time, for example with √MBAR > ✶mbartā- “to define, decree, destine” (PE17/104).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think this late 1960s meaning “settle, decide, establish; (by extension) dwell” is probably the best.

weg

root. live, be active, live, be active; [ᴹ√] (manly) vigour

This root was connected to vigour and masculinity for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest iteration of this root seems to be primitive ᴱ√gu̯eg- from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s that served as the basis for various words such as G. gweg “man”, G. gwectha- “impregnate; generate”, and G. gwionert “deed of valour” (GL/44). Tolkien mentioned a few Qenya cognates like ᴱQ. wie and ᴱQ. wenga, but they were unglossed (GL/44). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips Tolkien gave {ᴱ√we >>} ᴱ√waik as the primitive form beside {ᴱ✶u̯ē+kĕ >> ᴱ✶u̯ĕ+kĕ >>} ᴱ✶u̯ǝkḗ (PE13/117).

In the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s Tolkien gave ᴱ✶wikā > ᴱN. gweg “man” vs. ᴱQ. vika “valiant”; the Qenya form indicates this 1920s primitive was not specifically masculine, and it also had a primitive feminine variant ᴱ✶wiktā (PE13/162). It was nonetheless related to other words likes ᴱ✶wiqē > ᴱN. gwib “teors”, which is Old English = “penis” (PE13/162). Some similar forms like ᴱQ. via “male” and ᴱQ. vie “teors” appeared in Early Qenya Word-list of the 1920s as well (PE16/135). These 1920s forms seem to be based on primitive ✱ᴱ√WI instead of ᴱ√(g)weg.

In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s Tolkien gave primitive weʒ- as the basis for N. gwe, ᴹQ. †wé “man, warrior” and the masculine suffix ᴹQ. -we common in names (PE21/1). In The Etymologies of the 1930s this masculine suffix was derived from ᴹ√WEG “(manly) vigour” along with other derivatives like ᴹQ. vea “adult, manly, vigorous”, ᴹQ. vie “manhood, vigour” and N. gweith “manhood; man-power, troop of able bodied men, host, regiment” (Ety/WEG; EtyAC/WEG).

In some notes from the late 1950s Tolkien again gave the suffix Q. -wë as masculine and derived it from √WEG or √WEƷ, but then changed his mind and decided it was derived from √WĒ or √WEƷ “person” (PE17/189-190), an idea he seems to have stuck with thereafter; see the entry on √WĒ/EWE for further discussion. In Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 Tolkien gave {√WEK >>} √WEG as distinct from √WĒ, giving it the gloss “live, be active” where it served as the basis for words like Q. vëo/S. gwê “living creature” and Q. vehtë “life”, though he clarified that this last word was “not Life in general or as a principle, but (a period of) individual activity, as in vehtequentalë ‘biography’ (PE17/189)”. This use for “active” can also be seen in the primitive name ✶Denwego “Light-and-active” in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/412).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume this root had to do with vigour and activeness, characteristics that were generally (but not absolutely) attributed as masculine. This allows us to retain the largest array of derivatives of this root from various periods. I also think it is best to assume it remains distinct from √WĒ/EWE “person”, though the two roots may originally have been related.