Qenya
malta
noun. gold (as metal)
malta launen
gold abounded to me, I had lots of gold
malda
noun. gold (as metal)
kina malta
some gold
laka malta
much (abundant) gold
sempa malta
(very) little gold
sempe malta
not much gold
laure
noun. gold
mál
noun. grit
A word in Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s glossed “grit” with various forms representing the inflections of nouns with lost ancient vowels: malǝ- (PE21/19, 24). It may be a later iteration of ᴱQ. mar (mard-) “grit, course grain or powder” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a derivative of the root ᴱ√MṚŘṚ [MṚÐṚ] “grind” (QL/63). Later still Tolkien gave the primitive form ✶smalŭ with the gloss “dust, grit” in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s, though this primitive form had no derivatives.
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer to use ᴹ✶smalu with its 1930s sense “pollen, yellow powder”, as this form has derivatives in The Etymologies (Ety/SMAL), and its root meaning ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” is a better match to the later root √MAL “yellow, gold”. I think it is possible to retain ᴹQ. mál “grit”, however, by assuming that it is a derivative of ᴹ√MBAL “✱pound”, which is a better match with 1910s ᴱQ. mar < ᴱ√MṚÐṚ “grind”.