máma noun "sheep" (WJ:395)
Primitive elvish
māmā
noun. sheep
mbā
noun. sheep
mat-
verb. to eat
mab
root. something nice
Quenya
máma
noun. sheep
máma
sheep
mat-
verb. to eat
The verb for “to eat” derived from the root √MAT of the same meaning (VT39/7).
Conceptual Development: This verb and root are quite well established, dating all the way back to ᴱQ. mat- and ᴱ√MATA of the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/59) and appearing as ᴹQ. mat- and ᴹ√MAT in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MAT), as well as numerous other places albeit with occasional variants like mata- (PE12/26). This verb was one Tolkien often used in examples of verb conjugations and as such its inflected forms changed considerably over time, but that is more a topic of the evolution of the Quenya verb system itself.
Sindarin
maf
noun. sheep
A neologism for “sheep” coined by Elaran in 2022 on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), derived from a variant form ✱mămā of primitive ✶māmā “sheep”, the basis of Q. máma “sheep”. This is only one of various possibilities for neologisms for “sheep”: in VQP (VQP) Gábor Lőrinczi suggested ᴺS. maw “sheep” as a direct cognate of Q. máma, and Fiona Jallings suggested ᴺS. ✱baw as a derivative of ✶mbāba, a primitive form that appeared on VT47/35. Both maw and baw have other meanings in Sindarin, however. I used to recommend a word of my own, bam from a reduplicated primitive form ✱mbambā, but I now prefer Elaran’s suggestion of maf.
maw
noun. sheep
mad-
verb. to eat
The Sindarin verb for “to eat” derived from the root √MAT of the same meaning (PE17/131; Ety/MAT). In Tolkien’s later writing it appears only in inflected forms, but the verb itself is well established, dating back all the way to G. mad- in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/56). This verb was one Tolkien often used in examples of verb conjugations and as such its inflected forms changed considerably over time, but that is more a topic of the evolution of the Sindarin verb system.
bam
noun. sheep
Noldorin
mad-
verb. to eat
Telerin
mat-
verb. to eat
Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!
Early Primitive Elvish
mama
root. something nice
maƀa
root. something nice
A root given as maƀ or mam in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “something nice”, with derivatives like G. mab(a) “mother”, G. mam “grandmother”, G. mav- “like”, and G. mavri “appetite” (GL/57). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, but I think it is worth positing a Neo-Sindarin root ᴺ√MAB to salvage some of these early words.
mat-
verb. to eat
Gnomish
mad-
verb. to eat
moth
noun. sheep
A noun for “sheep” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s given as {mô >>} moth (GL/58), likely derived from the early root ᴱ√MAWA “cry, bleat” that was the basis for “sheep” words in Early Qenya (QL/60).
Early Noldorin
mad-
verb. to eat
Early Quenya
mat-
verb. to eat
mata-
verb. to eat
moa
noun. sheep
sauve
noun. sheep
Qenya
mat-
verb. to eat
Middle Primitive Elvish
mat-
verb. to eat
Middle Telerin
mat-
verb. to eat
A word for “sheep” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 as a derivative of ✶māmā (WJ/395). It appeared again in notes from 1968 as a derivative of ✶mbāba (VT47/35), apparently with some amount of assimilation since the second primitive b > m as suggested by Patrick Wynne (VT47/36).
Conceptual Development: A similar word ᴱQ. moa “sheep” appeared in both the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s, in the former under the entry for the early root ᴱ√MAWA “cry, bleat” (QL/60). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, the word for “sheep” was instead ᴱQ. sauve (PE16/132).