malta noun "gold", also name of tengwa #18 (Appendix E). The Etymologies (entry SMAL) instead has malda, q.v. for discussion, but according to VT46:14, the form malta originally appeared in the Etymologies as well. Also compare the root MALAT listed in PM:366.
Quenya
malda
yellow, of golden colour
malda
adjective. yellow, of golden colour
malta
gold
malina
yellow
malina adj. "yellow" (SMAL, Letters:308), "yellow, of golden colour" (PE17:51). Malinalda *"Yellow-tree", a name of Laurelin (SA:mal-; evidently malina + alda), translated "Tree of Gold" in the Silmarillion index. Cf. also malinornë.
malina
adjective. yellow, of golden colour
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. lalië-malina “daffodil, (lit.) yellow laughter”
- Q. Malantur “?Golden Lord”
- Q. Malinalda “Tree of Gold”
- Q. malinornë “mallorn, (lit.) golden/yellow tree” ✧ Let/308; PE17/051; PE17/051; PE17/080
- Q. ornemalin “[tree] bearing yellow flowers” ✧ Let/308; PE17/080
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶malnā > malda [malnā] > [maldā] > [malda] ✧ PE17/051 ✶malnā > malina [malinā] > [malina] ✧ PE17/051 Variations
- malda ✧ PE17/051
- mălĭna ✧ PE17/080
maldornë
maldornë
maldornë noun (fictional species of tree, Sindarin mallorn). Variant of malinornë (apparently arising by shortening to *malnornë and the normal development ln > ld, unless the shorter adjective malda is present from the beginning). (PE17:51)
melehta
mighty
melehta adj. "mighty" (PE17:115), cf. meletya
melehta
adjective. mighty
An adjective for “mighty” derived from the root √MBELEK in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115), apparently from the primitive form ✱✶mbelektā (with [kt] > [ht]). A variant form meletya appears with the 2nd-plural possessive suffix -lda as Meletyalda “your mighty” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/369), likely from the primitive form ✱✶mbelekya (with [kj] > [tj]). This variant form has a more typical primitive adjective suffix ✶-ya, but is inconsistent with the attested Sindarin cognate S. belaith, so I’d stick with melehta for purposes of Neo-Quenya.
Cognates
- S. belaith “mighty” ✧ PE17/115
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Aran Meletyalda “king your mighty” ✧ WJ/369
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √mbelek > melehta [mbelekta] > [melekta] > [melexta] ✧ PE17/115
meletya
mighty
#meletya adj. "mighty", isolated from meletyalda adjective with suffix "your mighty" = "your majesty" (see -lda; meletya = *"mighty"). In full Aran Meletyalda "king your mighty" = "your majesty" (WJ:369). Compare melehta.
meletya
adjective. mighty
Tar-culu
gold
Tar-culu ("k"), name listed in the Etymologies but not elsewhere attested. The second element is apparently culu "gold" (a word Tolkien seems to have abandoned); Hostetter and Wynne suggest that this may be an alternative name of Tar-Calion (= Ar-Pharazôn "the Golden"); see VT45:24.
culo
gold
[culo, culu ("k")noun "gold" (substance)] (KUL, VT49:47; the word culu_ also occurred in early "Qenya" [LT1:258], but in the Etymologies it was struck out; the regular Quenya word for "gold" is apparently _malta. In another version, culo meant "flame" [VT45:24], but this is apparently also a word Tolkien abandoned.)
laurë
gold
†laurë noun "gold", but of golden light and colour, not of the metal: "golden light" (according to PE17:61 a poetic word). Nai laurë lantuva parmastanna lúmissen tengwiesto "may (a) golden light fall on your book at the times of your reading" (VT49:47). In Etym defined as "light of the golden Tree Laurelin, gold", not properly used of the metal gold (LÁWAR/GLÁWAR, GLAW(-R), VT27:20, 27, PE17:159). In early "Qenya", however, laurë was defined as "(the mystic name of) gold" (LT1:255, 258) or simply "gold" (LT1:248, 268). In Laurelin and Laurefindil, q.v., Laurenandë "Gold-valley" = Lórien (the land, not the Vala) (UT:253) and laurinquë name of a tree, possibly *"Gold-full one" (UT:168). Laurendon "like gold" or "in gold fashion" (but after citing this form, Tolkien decided to abandon the similative ending -ndon, PE17:58).
taura
mighty, masterful
taura adj. "mighty, masterful" (TUR, PE17:115), "very mighty, vast, of unmeasured might or size" (VT39:10). Cf. túrëa.
tulca
yellow
tulca (3) ("k") adj. "yellow". Adopted and adapted from Valarin; the normal Quenya word for "yellow" is rather malina (WJ:399)
malda
noun. pulp, paste, mash, mush
A neologism coined by Paul Strack in 2023 specifically for Eldamo, a combination of ᴹ√MBAL “✱crush” and ✶-dā “product of an action”, hence “a product of crushing”. Röandil had previously suggested malma with suffixal ma “thing”, but that could be mistaken as an instrument for crushing via instrumental ✶-mā. I prefer malda as having a cleaner derivation, and also being distinct from ᴺQ. malma “lemon”. Röandil also proposed using malma for “dough, grume” as a replacement for [ᴹQ.] makse “dough” whose meaning may have changed, but I prefer to retain this attested word for “dough”.
Elements
Word Gloss MBAL “?crush, pound, [ᴱ√] crush, *pound; hurt, pain, damage, give maim to” -dā “product of an action”
malda adj. "yellow, of golden colour" (PE17:51), variant of malina. An earlier source (the Etymologies, entry SMAL) has malda as the noun "gold" but LotR gives malta, q.v., and according to VT46:14 the form malta originally appeared in the Etymologies as well. Since Quenya sometimes uses adjectives as nouns (see for instance fanya), malda could still be regarded as a valid side-form of the noun malta "gold".