loa

growth

loa, noun literally "growth", used of a solar year (= coranar) when seasonal changes are considered (Appendix D; in PM:126 loa is translated "time of growth". Pl. loar, or "löar", in MR:426) The form loa is also mentioned as the hypothetical Quenya cognate of Sindarin lô ("swampy"), but precisely because it clashed with loa "year", this Quenya cognate was not in use (VT42:10)

löa

noun. (seasonal) year, (lit.) (time of) growth, blooming

Cognates

• ᴺS. lóran “seasonal year, (lit.) growth-cycle”

Derivations

• ✶lawā “growing, blooming” ✧ PE17/159; VT42/10
  • √LAW “flourish (green), grow, flourish (green), grow, [ᴹ√] abound; warm” ✧ PE17/159

Element in

• ᴺQ. illöa(va) “annual, yearly, per annum (year as item)”
• ᴺQ. löasta “season, (lit.) year-part”
• ᴺQ. löacasta “season, (lit.) year-quarter”
• Q. loëndë “mid-year (Númenórean calendar), *(lit.) year-middle”
• ᴺQ. qualöa(va) “annual, yearly, perennial (year as whole)”
• Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶lawā > löa	[lawā] > [loa]	✧ PE17/159
✶lawa > loa	[lawa] > [loa]	✧ VT42/10

Variations

• loa ✧ LotR/1107; LotR/1112; PE17/120; PE22/168; PM/126; UT/327; UTI/loa; UTI/tuilë; UTI/yestarë; VT42/10

loar

(golden) blossom

loar noun "(golden) blossom" (not to be confused with the pl. form of loa). Also lávar. (PE17:159)

löar

noun. (golden) blossom

yén

long year

yén noun, Elvish "long year" of 144 solar years, 52,596 days (Nam, Appendix D, E; RGEO:66. Tolkien earlier defined yén_ as 100 solar years; see PM:126. In the Etymologies, stem YEN, it seems to mean simply "year", but in the LotR Appendices the word for "year" instead appears as _loa or coranar, q.v.) Yénonótië "reckoning of years" (MR:51). Pl. yéni in Nam and Etym, entry YEN though the plural form is misread as "yen-" in the printed version of the Etymologies, cf. VT46:23. Yéni pa yéni "years upon years" (VT44:36). Pl. genitive yénion in yénion yéni "ages of ages" (VT44:36)

lávar

(golden) blossom

lávar noun "(golden) blossom". Also loa. (PE17:159)

lávar

noun. (golden) blossom

A word in notes from the 1960s for a “(golden) blossom” with variants löar and lávar, both based on the √LAWAR having to with the colour “gold” (PE17/159). The element ᴹQ. lavar also appeared as an element in the name for a Númenorean tree ᴹQ. lavaralda in stories from the 1930s which Tolkien described as having “long green leaves [that] were golden on the undersides” and whose “flowers were pale with a yellow flush” (LR/57-68). For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use lávar for “(golden) blossom”, since that form is more distinctive.

Derivations

• √(G)LAWAR “golden light” ✧ PE17/159

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√LAWAR > löar	[lawar] > [loar]	✧ PE17/159
√LAWAR > lávar	[lāwar] > [lāβar] > [lāvar]	✧ PE17/159

Variations

• löar ✧ PE17/159

coi

life

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

lavaralda

(golden) blossom

lavaralda (changed by Tolkien from lavarin) noun some kind of tree (alda) (LR:57). The initial element lavar- seems to connect with the root LAWAR having to do with golden colour; cf. lávar "(golden) blossom" (PE17:159).

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)

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).

Derivations

• √KOY “*live, have life, [ᴹ√] live, have life”

Element in

• ᴺQ. coivenqua “lively, vibrant, vivacious, (lit.) full of life”
• Q. cuivië-lancassë “on the brink of life” ✧ VT42/08
• Q. nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya “*may your (sg.) child be blessed throughout his/her life” ✧ VT49/42
• Q. nai calambar onnalda ter coivierya “*may your (pl.) child be light-fated throughout his/her life” ✧ VT49/42

Variations

• koive ✧ PE17/068
• koivie ✧ PE17/068
• kuivie ✧ VT42/08

coivë

noun. life

cuivië

noun. life

cuilë

life, being alive

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

olmië

noun. growth

Derivations

• √OL “grow, [ᴹ√] grow [into]; become”

yestarë

beginning-day

yestarë noun *"beginning-day", the first day of the year (loa), immediately before the season of tuilë (Appendix D, PE17:120)

olasta

noun. growth

Elements

Word	Gloss
ola-	“to grow [up], to grow, grow up, reach its prime, become”
-sta	“verbal noun suffix”

idhrinn

noun. year

în

noun. year

A Sindarin word for “year”, derived from the primitive root ᴹ√YEN of similar meaning, with its vowel sound the result of [[s|a long [ē] becoming [ī]]].

Conceptual Development: The word în first appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s with the gloss and derivation given above. It did not directly appear in Tolkien’s later writings, but was an element in several later words such as S. ínias “annals” and S. iphant “aged” (lit. “year full”). Furthermore, its Quenya cognate yén did reappear in the Lord of the Rings appendices.

In The Etymologies, both N. în and ᴹQ. yén were glossed “year”, and there were other words for longer periods of time, such as ᴹQ. qantien “century, (lit.) full year” and N. anrand “cycle, age”. In the Lord of the Rings and other later writings, Tolkien changed the meaning Q. yén to an “Elvish century” of 144 years. It is quite likely that S. în also changed to this meaning, but since it did not appear as an independent word in later writing, we have no direct confirmation of this.

Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers continue to use în with the sense “year” (that is, a solar year of 365 days). If you are concerned with this word’s true meaning, you might instead use a neologism for this period of time, such as ᴺS. lóran or ᴺS. coranor, but since these are not in widespread use, it is less likely a reader would understand your meaning.

Cognates

• Q. yén “Elvish long year (144 solar years)”

Derivations

• ᴹ√YEN “year”

Element in

• ᴺS. edinor “anniversary day”
• S. ínias “annals” ✧ MR/200
• S. iphant “*aged, [N.] aged, having lived long, (lit.) year-full”
• ᴺS. penninor “full year (last day of year), *new year’s eve”

Variations

• ín ✧ MR/200

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)

idhrinn

year

(no distinct pl. form).

în

year

1) în, no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. ?íniath. 2) idhrinn (no distinct pl. form). LONG YEAR (Valian year) ennin. No distinct pl. form, but coll. pl. enniniath.

în

year

no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. ?íniath.

galas

growth

galas (i **alas) (plant), pl. gelais (i ngelais = i ñelais), coll. pl. galassath**

galas

growth

(i ’alas) (plant), pl. gelais (i ngelais = i ñelais), coll. pl. galassath

cuil

noun. life

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).

Cognates

• ᴹQ. kuile “life, being alive” ✧ Ety/KUY

Derivations

• ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake” ✧ Ety/KUY

Element in

• ᴺS. cuileb “lively, alive”
• ᴺS. cuilvorn “lifetime”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KUY > cuil	[kujle] > [kuile] > [kuil]	✧ Ety/KUY

idhrin

noun. year

idhrind

noun. year

în

noun. year

în

noun. year

Cognates

• ᴹQ. yén “year” ✧ Ety/YEN

Derivations

• ᴹ√YEN “year” ✧ Ety/YEN

Element in

• N. edinar “anniversary day”
• N. Enedhin “Midyear week”
• N. ennin “Valian year” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. idhrin “year, *(lit.) year-circle”
• N. ingem “old (in mortal sense), suffering from old age, decrepit, (lit.) year-sick” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. ínias “annals” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. ifant “aged, having lived long, (lit.) year-full” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. penninar “full year (last day of year)” ✧ Ety/YEN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√YEN > în	[jēn] > [jīn] > [īn]	✧ Ety/YEN

Variations

• in ✧ Ety/YEN

galas

noun. growth, plant

ennin

noun. Valian year