A shorter variant of Fírima (WJ/219, 387). It is the adjectival form of the root √PHIR produced by the suffix -ya.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies, the word ᴹQ. firya is glossed “human” and is derived from the same root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR).
Quenya
Fírimo
mortal
firya
proper name. Mortal
Cognates
- S. Feir “Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man” ✧ WJ/219; WJI/Feir; WJ/219
Derivations
- √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387
Derivatives
- S. Feir “Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man” ✧ WJ/387
Elements
Word Gloss firya “mortal; human, [ᴹQ.] human; [Q.] mortal” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √PHIRI > Firyar [pʰirja] > [ɸirja] > [firja] ✧ WJ/387
fírima
mortal
fírima adj. "mortal" (PHIR; firima with a short i in VT46:4); also used as noun: Fírima pl. Fírimar "those apt to die", "mortals", an Elvish name of Mortal Men (WJ:387). This adj. is also the source of an explicit noun, personalized #Fírimo = mortal, mortal man. Pl. Fírimor (VT49:10-11), dative pl. fírimoin "for men" in Fíriel's Song; cf. also the pl. allative fírimonnar in VT44:35.
Firya
mortals
Firya pl. Firyar noun "Mortals", an Elvish name of Mortal Men _(WJ:387). Etym has firya "human", literally *"mortal" (PHIR)_
firë
mortal man
firë noun "mortal man" (PHIR), pl. firi given (the latter is not clearly glossed and may also be the archaic form from which firë is derived, since word-final short i became e in Quenya but since we would rather expect the spelling phiri if it were an archaic form, it is best taken as the pl. of firë.)
firya
adjective. mortal; human, [ᴹQ.] human; [Q.] mortal
An adjective translated as “mortal” appearing only in the proper name Firya “Mortal” used of Men in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/387). ᴹQ. firya was instead translated as “human” in The Etymologies of the 1930s where it was derived from the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR). I would use firya primarily in this second sense “human”, and for “mortal” would use Q. fírima (WJ/387).
Element in
- Q. Firya “Mortal”
Elements
Word Gloss PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” -ya “adjective suffix” Variations
- Firya ✧ WJ/387
fírima
adjective. mortal, *(lit.) able to die
A word for “mortal” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, literally meaning “one apt to die” and based on the root √PHIRI “exhale, expire, breathe out” (WJ/387). It is likely based on the verb fir- “to die”. Like English, it can be used as a both an adjective and a noun. It was used as noun in the Quendi and Eldar essay: Fírimar “Mortals”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. fírima “mortal” was simply an adjective derived from the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR).
Element in
- Q. Fírima “Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die”
Elements
Word Gloss fir- “to die, fade, †expire, breathe forth” -ima “-able, possibility, -able, [ᴹQ.] -ible, able to be done, [ᴱQ.] possible” Variations
- Fírima ✧ WJ/387
fírima
proper name. Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die
A name of Men as mortal beings (S/102, WJ/387). It is the adjective fírima “mortal” used as a noun.
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the form of this word was ᴹQ. Fírimo ending with an -o (LR/245). This form also appeared in Fíriel’s Song from the same time period. The form Fírima appeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/387), and this was the form used in the published version of The Silmarillion (S/102).
In later writings, the older form form still appeared, however. The form fírimonnar appeared later in a draft version of Alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun, Tolkien’s partial translation of Gloria in Excelsis Deo from the 1950s, but it was eventually replaced with híni “children [of God]”. Also, fírimor appeared in a draft version of the Ambidexters Sentence from the late 1960s, but it did not appear in the final version. Tolkien seems to have vacillated between Fírimo and Fírima in his later writings, but Fírimo was always replaced with something else, while Fírima was allowed to stand.
Cognates
- S. Fíreb “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
Derivations
- √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387
Element in
- Q. ar mi cemen rainë i hínin “and on earth peace, good will toward men” ✧ VT44/35
- Q. Firindil “Friend of Men”
- Q. náner ataformaitë ve fírimor quetir “*were ambidextrous as mortals say” ✧ VT49/11
Elements
Word Gloss fírima “mortal, *(lit.) able to die” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √PHIRI > Fírimar [pʰīrimar] > [ɸīrimar] > [fīrimar] ✧ WJ/387
#Fírimo noun "mortal", see fírima