anto (1) noun "mouth", also name of tengwa #13 (Appendix E)
Quenya
anto
noun. mouth, mouth [as a thing for eating]; [ᴱQ.] jaw
Derivations
- √MAT “eat”
Element in
- ᴺQ. antolatta “bridle, (lit.) mouth-strap”
anto
mouth
carpa
mouth
carpa ("k") (1) noun "mouth", including lips, teeth, tongue etc. (PE17:126); also used for "language", in particular the phonetic system.Cf. náva and páva.
náva
mouth
náva ("ñ")noun "mouth", apparently not only the lips but also the inside of the mouth (VT39:13 cf. 8). Possibly, but probably not, the same element that is translated "hollow" in Návarot, q.v.
páva
mouth
páva noun "mouth" (including tongue, lips and teeth). Apparently changed by Tolkien to náva, q.v. (VT39:19)
songa
mouth
songa noun "mouth", in the sense of "interior cavity behind the teeth, containing tongue" (PE17:126)
ópa
mouth
ópa noun "mouth", in the sense of mouth-opening with lips as the edges (PE17:126)
páva
noun. mouth
Element in
- Q. pávatengwë “consonant” ✧ VT39/19
assa
hole, perforation, opening, mouth
assa "hole, perforation, opening, mouth" (GAS)
peu
the two lips, the mouth-opening
peu dual noun "the two lips, the mouth-opening" (VT39:9); the dual of pé, q.v.
pempë
noun. lip
A word for “lip” appearing only in its plural form pempi in 1964 notes on the parts of the mouth, where it was related to Q. pé “the closed mouth” (PE17/126). In 1968 notes on monosyllabic nouns, Tolkien said the primitive ✶pē “lip” was reduplicated to ✶pē̆pe; this is likely connected to an irregular plural form péti in the (untranslated) phrase et i péti “✱out of the mouth/lips”, with dissimilation of the second p to t as suggested by Patrick Wynne (VT47/35): ✱pēpi > péti. The 1964 form pempe is probably also the result of reduplication, likely ✱peñ-peñ > pempe(ñ), since √PEÑ was the usual root for “lip” (PE21/70; PE19/102).
Conceptual Development: The earliest “lip” word was ᴱQ. kilme from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√KILI “edge” (QL/46), a form also appearing in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/46). A similar form ᴱQ. kilma “lip” appeared in a list of body parts from the 1920s, along with an alternate word ᴱQ. kaile “lip” (PE14/117). There are no signs of these early lip-words after that point.
Neo-Quenya: Tolkien also sometimes used Q. pé for “lip”; see that entry for discussion. For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I recommend using Q. pé mainly for “closed mouth” and pempë for a single “lip”. However, the dual form peu of pé was used of “the two lips, the mouth-opening” (VT39/9), which I would use for “a pair of lips for one person (open or closed)”, functioning as an irregular dual of pempë.
Cognates
- ᴺS. pemp “lip”
Derivations
- √PEÑ “*lip, mouth”
Element in
- Q. et i péti “*out of the lips, out of the mouth” ✧ VT47/35
Návarot
nogrod
Návarot noun "Nogrod" (< Novrod), Hollowbold, name of a dwelling of the Dwarves (WJ:389). If the element that is here translated náva is the same as náva "mouth", the initial n comes from earlier ng (ñ) and should be represented by the letter noldo rather than númen in Tengwar writing. However, Tolkien in WJ:414 reconstructs the primitive form of the náva in Návarot as ¤_nābā _rather than ngābā or ngāwā (the likely source of náva "mouth"), so this appears doubtful. The initial n of Návarot should evidently be represented by the letter númen in Tengwar writing.
pé
lip
pé noun "lip", dual peu "the two lips, the mouth-opening" (VT39:9; VT47:12, 35). In an earlier source, the Etymologies, pé was glossed "mouth" (PEG), whereas in PE17:126 it is more specifically "the closed mouth".
ecca
hole
ecca ("k")noun "hole", apparently associated with Sindarin torech "secret hole, lair" (PE17:188)
latta
hole, pit
latta (1) noun "hole, pit" (DAT/DANT, VT45:8)
pempë
lip
#pempë noun "lip" (attested only in pl. pempi, PE17:126); cf. pé.
unquë
hole, hollow
unquë noun "hole, hollow" (VT46:20, UNUK), also name of tengwa #16 _(Appendix E; there spelt unque, while the Etymologies has unqe)_
The basic Quenya word for “mouth”, appearing as the name of tengwa #13 (4) in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E (LotR/1123). It is likely derived from the root √MAT “eat” from primitive ✱amtō, and hence refers to the mouth as a thing for eating. Quenya has a number of other more specialized words for the mouth, however, such as Q. pé for the closed mouth, Q. ópa for the mouth opening, Q. songa for the interior of the mouth and Q. náva for the entire mouth apparatus (tongue, lips and teeth) used for speech.
Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. anto “mouth” first appeared in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1940s, where it replaced ᴹQ. anta “jaws” (PE22/50 note #50). In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. anto (antu-) was itself glossed “jaw” and was based on the early root ᴱ√MATA “eat” (QL/31, 59).