motto

blot

motto noun "blot" (MBOTH)

motto

noun. fen, marsh, fen, marsh; [ᴹQ.] blot

The word ᴹQ. motto first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “blot” as a derivative of the root ᴹ√MBOTH (Ety/MBOTH). It reappeared in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 as a derivative of √MOT “fen, marsh”, apparently of the same meaning. Its 1957 Sindarin form both < mbotto implies the root may have been √M(B)OT. For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d keep both the 1957 and 1930s senses, as derivations of slightly different roots.

Cognates

• S. both “fen, marsh, fen, marsh; [N.] puddle, small pool” ✧ PE17/165

Derivations

• √MOT “fen, marsh” ✧ PE17/165

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√MOT > motto	[motto]	✧ PE17/165

(a)moth

noun. fen, marsh

both

noun. fen, marsh, fen, marsh; [N.] puddle, small pool

The word N. both first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “puddle, small pool” as a derivative of the root ᴹ√MBOTH (Ety/MBOTH). It reappeared in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 as a derivative of √MOT “fen, marsh”, apparently of the same meaning, along with variants moth and amoth. For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use the form both and retain the 1957 and 1930s senses as derivations of slightly different roots.

Cognates

• Q. motto “fen, marsh, fen, marsh; [ᴹQ.] blot” ✧ PE17/165

Derivations

• √MOT “fen, marsh” ✧ PE17/165

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√MOT > mbotto > both	[mbotto] > [mbottʰo] > [mboθθo] > [boθθo] > [boθθ] > [boθ]	✧ PE17/165

Variations

• moth ✧ PE17/165
• amoth ✧ PE17/165

mot

root. fen, marsh

A root in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 glossed “fen, marsh” with derivatives like [Q?] motto and [S?] both or moth, apparently of similar meaning (PE17/165). A likely precursor is the unglossed root ᴹ√MBOTH in The Etymologies of the 1930s serving as the basis for words like ᴹQ. motto “blot”, N. both “puddle, small pool”, and Ilk. umboth “large pool”, the last of these being the basis for Ilk. Umboth Muilin “Veiled Pool” (Ety/MBOTH, MUY).

In the Gnomish of the 1910s, the first element of G. Umboth-muilin “Pools of Twilight” was derived from ᴱ√mbaþ-, a strengthened form of ᴱ√MAÞA “dusk”, with the second element muilin meaning “pools”, the plural G. muil (LT2/225; GL/58, 75). Later still this name became S. Aelin-uial, and it seems √M(B)OT was repurposed for swamp words.

Derivatives

• Q. motto “fen, marsh, fen, marsh; [ᴹQ.] blot” ✧ PE17/165
• S. both “fen, marsh, fen, marsh; [N.] puddle, small pool” ✧ PE17/165