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

löar

noun. (golden) blossom

loar

(golden) blossom

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

cornë

loaf

cornë _("k")_noun "loaf" (LT1:257)

yelmë

loathing

yelmë (1) noun "loathing". In the Etymologies as printed in LR, entry DYEL, the word appears as **yelma, but according to VT45:11 this is a misreading of Tolkien's manuscript. According to VT46:22, yelmë briefly appeared as a word for "daughter" (?)

yelwa

loathsome

yelwa (1) adj. "loathsome" (DYEL; according to VT45:11, Tolkien changed this word from yelva.)

masta

noun. bread, cake, loaf, bread, cake, loaf, *baked good

This was the basic Quenya word for “bread” for much of Tolkien’s life, appearing as ᴱQ. masta “bread” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (QL/59) and appearing again in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). It was ᴹQ. masta “bread” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MBAS “knead” (Ety/MBAS) and the word appeared again in sentences from the Quenya Verbal System written in 1948 (PE22/119).

Starting with Quenya prayers in the 1950s Tolkien began to experiment with other forms, however. In the Átaremma “prayer” Tolkien revised mastamma “our bread” to massamma in the final version of the prayer (VT43/11-12), and in notes on lembas from the late 1950s he had massánië “Lady, breadgiver” as the title of the keeper of lembas (PM/404). This change seems to have been inspired by the Sindarin word lembas itself, and the problem of how to explain its final s rather than st. In notes probably from the mid-1960s (PE17/51-52) Tolkien wrote:

> lembas “waybread”. This seems meant to be associated with Primitive Eldarin stems ✱LED “go” and ✱MBAS “bake” but is not readily derived from them according to Sindarin developments. Something like ✱leðbast would be expected.

He resolved this quandary by separating the basic word for “bread” from masta:

> Assume a Primitive Eldarin derivation ✱mbassē “(baked) bread”. The other derivatives were ✱mbasta with short final, an infinitive or verbal noun formation denoting a single action of the stem .. and ✱mbazdā denoting the passive result of the action, and when used substantivally a single product of this: mbazda would thus mean baked or a baked thing ... In Quenya we have masse “bread” as a material, and masta “a cake or loaf” (zd > st).

Thus it seems that massa or massë was the word for “bread” (giving a clean explanation for the final s in lembas) while masta was a more general term for baked goods, including other items like cakes and loafs. Note, however, that Tolkien continued to use masta for “bread” in later sentences, including one in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969: vá matuvatyë mastanya “you are not to eat my bread” (PE22/162).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I prefer to use massa as the typical word for “bread” rather than massë, to avoid conflict with other words like [ᴹQ.] masse “where”. I reserve masta as a more general word for baked goods, including bread but also other baked things like cakes and loafs.

yelta-

to loathe, abhor

yelta- vb. "to loathe, abhor" (DYEL, VT45:11)

lávar

(golden) blossom

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

yestarë

beginning-day

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

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)

cornë

noun. loaf

yutya-

verb. to lend, loan

A neologism for “lend, loan” coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), perhaps derived from YUK-yā as suggested by Shihali.

massa

noun. bread

A word for “bread” appearing as massa (VT43/12) or massë (PE17/52) in Tolkien’s later writings, most notably as an element in Q. massánië “breadgiver” (PM/404). It was in competition with, and possibly replaced, the word masta “bread”. The distinction between the two was discussed in notes from 1960s (PE17/52):

> Assume a Primitive Eldarin derivation ✱mbassē “(baked) bread”. The other derivatives were ✱mbasta with short final, an infinitive or verbal noun formation denoting a single action of the stem .. and ✱mbazdā denoting the passive result of the action, and when used substantivally a single product of this: mbazda would thus mean baked or a baked thing ... In Quenya we have masse “bread” as a material, and masta “a cake or loaf” (zd > st).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I prefer to use massa as the typical word for “bread” rather than massë, to avoid conflict with other words like [ᴹQ.] masse “where”. I would also use masta as a more general word for baked goods, including bread but also other baked things like cakes and loafs.

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.

löa yucainen avar anduinë sí valútier

twenty years have flowed away down the Long River

i aluvar coivienyo ëarello nantulë

that never in my life will return from the Sea

caurë

fear

caurë _("k")_noun "fear" (LT1:257)

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)

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).

coivë

noun. life

coron

mound

coron (1) noun "mound" (SA); Coron Oiolairë ("Koron"), place-name: the "Mound of Eversummer" where the Two Trees grew. Also contracted Corollairë (WJ:401) and Corlairë (MR:107); both are spelt with an initial k in the sources.

coron

noun. mound, mound; [ᴹQ.] globe, ball

A word glossed “mound” in the name Q. Koron Oiolaire “Mound Ever-summer” in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (SA/coron; WJ/401). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, ᴹQ. koron was glossed “globe, ball” and was derived from the root ᴹ√KOR “round” (Ety/KOR). If this was its primary meaning, then perhaps it could also refer to round hills as hemispheres. In The Etymologies, its stem form was korn- as indicated by its (Middle Quenya) genitive kornen, likely the result of the Quenya syncope; the same reduction in inflected forms may have applied to the later version of the word as well.

cuilë

life, being alive

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

cuivië

noun. life

cumbë

mound, heap

cumbë ("k")noun "mound, heap" (KUB)

hahta

pile, mound

hahta noun "pile, mound" (KHAG)

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).

löa yucainen

Löa Yucainen

massa

bread

#massa noun "bread" (massamma "our bread", VT43:18); massánië "breadgiver", used as a title of the highest woman among any Elvish people, since she had the keeping and gift of the coimas (lembas). Also simply translated "Lady" (PM:404)

massë

bread

massë noun "bread" (as a material), variant of massa, q.v. (PE17:52). Notice that *massë has also been extrapolated as a question-word "where?"

massë

noun. bread

masta

noun. bread

nor-

prefix. fear

norta

horrible

norta (ñ) (2) adj. "horrible" _(VT46:4. In Tengwar writing, the initial N would be represented by the letter noldo, not númen.)_

olmië

noun. growth

thosso

fear

†thosso (þossë) noun "fear" in Old Quenya (PE17:87, there spelt with the letter þ, not the digraph th)

tévië

hatred

tévië noun "hatred" (LT1:268; according to QL:90 the first vowel should be long)

ñor

fear

[ñor noun? prefix? "fear" (PE17:172)]

þossë

noun. fear

löacasta

noun. season, (lit.) year-quarter

löasta

noun. season, (lit.) year-part

olasta

noun. growth

sossë

noun. fear

basgorn

noun. loaf, loaf, [G.] loaf of bread, [ᴱN.] round loaf, cake

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “loaf”, combination of N. bast “bread” and N. corn “round” (Ety/MBAS).

Conceptual Development: The word G. basgorn appeared in Gnomish Grammar and Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with the glosses “loaf” (GG/8), “a loaf” (GL/22), and “loaf of bread” (GL/26) as a combination of G. bast “bread” and G. corn “loaf”; in the last of these appearances its form was basgo(r)n indicating the r was optional. The word appeared as ᴱN. basgorn {“loaf” >>} “round loaf, cake” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/138).

deleb

adjective. horrible, abominable, loathsome

deloth

noun. abhorrence, detestation, loathing

dor-daideloth

place name. Land of (the Shadow of) Dread, Loathly Land

delos

noun. abhorrence, detestation, loathing

bast

noun. bread

cum

noun. mound, heap, mound, heap, [G.] burial mound

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “mound, heap” derived from the root ᴹ√KUB (Ety/KUB). The forms ᴱN. cum(b) “mound” and G. cûm “mound (especially grave), burial mound” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141) and Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/27), but these earlier forms were probably derived from ᴱ√KUMU “heap up” (QL/49). This word appeared in the name N. Cûm-na-Dengin “Mound of Slain” in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/312, LR/147) as well as its precursors in earlier versions of the tales, but later this name became S. Haudh-en-Ndengin.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d avoid this word and use S. haudh. In later writings the root √KUB was given the new meaning “hide, secrete” (PE22/155).

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).

în

noun. year

cûl

noun. load

deloth

noun. abhorrence, abhorrence, [N.] detestation, loathing

bas(t)

noun. bread

This was the word for “bread” in Sindarin and its conceptual precursors for much of Tolkien’s life, derived from the equally long-lived root √MBAS “bake”. The word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where G. bast “bread” was derived from the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (GL/22). ᴱN. bast “bread” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/138) and appeared again as N. bast “bread” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MBAS “knead” (Ety/MBAS).

It appeared without a final t in the Sindarin version of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s: anno ammen sír imbas ilaurui vín “give us this day our daily bread” (VT44/21). However the t was restored in the phrase penim vast “we have no bread” from around 1959 (PE17/144). The late vacillations on the presence and absence of t are likely connected to Tolkien challenges with the derivation of lembas; see that entry for discussion. Likewise, the mutated forms mbas vs. vast indicate some late uncertainty on whether the primitive form began with mb- or b-.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the normal form was bast “bread” from ancient mbasta, so that lenited forms show m(b)-. However, I would assume there is a variant bas(s) [< ✶mbassē] that appears occasionally in compounds like lembas.

gorthob

adjective. horrible

thos

noun. fear

_ n. _fear. O.Q. þosse. >> di'nguruthos

thoss

noun. fear

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. ifant “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.

tevas

noun. hatred

urkā

adjective. horrible