Quenya 

ola-

verb. to become, to become; [ᴹQ.] to grow (up)

An a-verb appearing with the gloss “grow” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 (PE22/113, 125), replacing ᴹQ. ala- of the same meaning (PE22/113 note #80). In the same document Tolkien coined a distinct basic verb ᴹQ. ol- “become” (PE22/113). Various other inflections throughout the document belonged to one or the other of these verbs. There are glosses indicating that Tolkien was not entirely certain of the distribution of meaning between the two, however. For example, he had ᴹQ. olinwa (not ✱olanwa) with the sense “fully grown, adult” (PE22/116). Also ola- was given both a weak and strong past tense: olane “grew, were growing” and óle “grew, finished growing, grew up, became” (PE22/116), as opposed to the past tense of ol- which was olle “became” (PE22/103).

In QVS the perfect form of both verbs were the same: (ol)ólie “it has grown up, it has reached its prime, become” (PE22/103, 116), and such similarity of inflected forms may have been the basis for the confusion of meanings. The perfect form olōlie “has become” reappeared in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure of the early 1950s (PE22/133), and again could be from either verb. However, in that document Tolkien had a primitive a-verb ᴹ✶olā- “become, come into being, turn into (another state)”, appearing along with a restored ᴹ✶galā-, which had the more limited sense “grow (of plants)” (PE22/134).

Q. ala- “grow” continued to appear in Tolkien’s latter writings, but its root was usually connected more specifically to the growth of plants (PE17/25, 135, 153). Meanwhile, in notes from around 1959, Tolkien had several words indicating that √OL continued to be the basis of growth-words for people: Q. olmen “growth-year”, Q. olmië “growth” and Q. quantolië “maturity” (NM/84, 119-120).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use just the a-verb ola- with the sense “grow (up); grow into or become”. It can be used intransitively with people and animals with the sense “grow (up)” as in i Elda olane lintavë “the Elf grew quickly”; for plants, however, the word for “grow” would be ala- (see that entry for discussion). Used transitively, the verb ola- has the sense “grow into or become”, as in i Elda olólie nisse “the Elf has become/grown into a woman”. In this sense it can also apply to inanimate or abstract things: i taure olane ráva yonde “the forest became a lawless region”. Thus ola- refers to the process of growing, maturing and transitioning. If it has a direct object, that object is the thing one grows into or becomes.

Note that this verb is similar in form to óla- “to dream”, but confusion is unlikely since “dream” is an impersonal verb, where the purported subject would be in the dative: óla i Eldan “the Elf dreams, (lit.) dreams [come] to the Elf”, as opposed to i Elda ola lumba “the Elf becomes/grows weary”.

ola-

verb. grow

Quenya [PE 22:113,116,124] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

óla-

verb. to dream (impersonal)

An impersonal verb for “to dream” based on the root √OLO-S, so that presumably the purported subject would be in the dative: óla nin “[it] dreams to me = I dream”. This verb says something interesting about Elvish psychology, in that dreams are seen as things that happen to a dreamer rather than an action of the dreamer themselves. This may be related to the Elvish experience of receiving telepathic visions through dreams, from other Elves or from greater powers.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s has a verb G. oltha- that could likewise be used in an impersonal construction with the dative to mean “I dream” (GL/62).

ol-

grow

ol- vb. "grow" (VT45:13; this may be a primitive root rather than a Quenya verb)

ala-

verb. grow

Quenya [PE 22:98; PE 22:164] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

alta-

grow

[alta- (3) vb. "grow" (VT45:13) or "make grow" (VT45:14)]

li(n)-

prefix. many

Quenya [PE17/081; VT42/18; VT48/32] Group: Eldamo. Published by

limbë

many

limbë (2) adj. "many", probably obsoleted by #1 above (LT2:342)

lin-

many

lin- (1) (prefix) "many" (LI), seen in lindornëa, lintyulussëa; assimilated lil- in lillassëa.

lina

adjective. many

A neologism for the adjective “many” derived from the root √LI, typically appearing in its plural form linë. Like English, it has the sense “many but not all, a majority (of)”: compare with nótima which can be used with the “some”. Early versions of this lexicon recommended using ᴱQ. lia, but that word’s plural form collides with Q. lië “people”.

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Primitive elvish

olā-

verb. to become, come into being, turn into (another state)

Primitive elvish [PE22/134] Group: Eldamo. Published by

li

root. many

This root was connected to words for “many” throughout Tolkien’s life. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s it appeared as ᴱ√, with variant ᴱ√ILI “many” and extended form ᴱ√LIYA (LI + ya) “unite many as one” with derivatives like ᴱQ. lia- “entwine” and ᴱQ. liante “tendril” (QL/42, 53). In later writings there is no sign of the inversion √IL “many” (later √IL meant “all”), whereas ᴱ√LIYA seems to have shifted to unrelated ᴹ√SLIG with derivatives like ᴹQ. lia “fine thread, spider filament” and ᴹQ. liante “spider” (Ety/SLIG).

The base root ᴹ√LI “many” did reappear in The Etymologies of the 1930s, however (Ety/LI), and √LI “many” appeared again in etymological notes from the late 1960s (VT48/25). The long-standing connection between this root and the Quenya (partitive) plural suffixes indicates its stability in Tolkien’s mind.

Primitive elvish [VT48/25] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

oltha-

verb. to dream, to dream; [G.] to appear as an apparition

A verb for “to dream” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶olsa- based on the root ᴹ√OLOS “dream” (Ety/LOS, ÓLOS), where the primitive ls became lth as was usual.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s G. oltha- was glossed “to appear as an apparition”, but could be used for “I dream” as an impersonal verb with the purported subject in the dative (GL/62). This seems to be similar to how Q. óla- “dream” was used in Tolkien’s later writings, which likewise was an impersonal verb (UT/396). The Gnomish Lexicon had another verb G. olma- “I dream” as well (GL/62). These Gnomish verbs were clearly based on the early root ᴱ√OLO (QL/69).

Noldorin [Ety/LOS; Ety/ÓLOS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gala-

verb. to grow

Noldorin [Ety/357] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gala-

verb. to grow

Noldorin [Ety/GALA; EtyAC/GAL²] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

ol-

verb. to become

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

gala-

verb. to grow

Sindarin [PE17/131; PE17/132] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gala

grow

gala- (i **ala, i ngalar** = i ñalar)

gala

grow

(i ’ala, i ngalar = i ñalar)

laew

many

laew (frequent); no distinct pl. form.

laew

many

(frequent); no distinct pl. form.


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!

Qenya 

ola-

verb. to grow [up], to grow, grow up, reach its prime, become

Qenya [PE22/107; PE22/109; PE22/111; PE22/113; PE22/116; PE22/124; PE22/125] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ol-

verb. to become

Qenya [PE22/099; PE22/100; PE22/103; PE22/113; PE22/116] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ala-

verb. to grow

Qenya [PE22/098; PE22/106; PE22/107; PE22/109; PE22/112; PE22/113; PE22/116] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lin-

prefix. many

Qenya [Ety/DÓRON; Ety/LI; Ety/YEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

ola-

prefix. many

oli-

prefix. intensive

Early Quenya [PE14/048; PE14/081; PE15/78; QL/069] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ole-

prefix. intensive

aka-

prefix. intensive

Early Quenya [PE14/081; PE15/78] Group: Eldamo. Published by

are-

prefix. intensive

ari-

prefix. intensive

Early Quenya [PE14/048; PE14/081; PE15/78] Group: Eldamo. Published by

li(n)-

prefix. many

Early Quenya [LT1A/Tinwë Linto; PE16/077; QL/042; QL/053; QL/069] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lia(r)

adjective. many

Early Quenya [QL/053] Group: Eldamo. Published by

limba

adjective. many

Early Quenya [QL/053] Group: Eldamo. Published by

olli

adjective. many

Early Quenya [QL/069] Group: Eldamo. Published by

olli-

prefix. many

sa-

prefix. intensive

Early Quenya [LT1A/Samírien; QL/081] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

golā-

verb. to grow

Middle Primitive Elvish [PE22/113] Group: Eldamo. Published by

olsa-

verb. to dream

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ÓLOS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ol

root. grow

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/GAL(AS); PE22/103] Group: Eldamo. Published by

galā-

verb. to grow

Middle Primitive Elvish [PE22/026; PE22/098; PE22/106; PE22/113] Group: Eldamo. Published by

n-

root. intensive

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/N; PE19/055] Group: Eldamo. Published by

olro-

verb. to dream

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/ÓLOS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

olma-

verb. to dream

-lim

suffix. many

Gnomish [GG/15; LT2A/Balcmeg; LT2A/Gondothlim; PE15/26; QL/053] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lim

adjective. many

Gnomish [GG/15; GL/17; GL/54] Group: Eldamo. Published by

murtha-

verb. to dream

A verb for “dream” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/58), based on the early root ᴱ√MURU “slumber” (QL/63).

Old Noldorin 

-lin

suffix. many

Old Noldorin [Ety/LI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gala-

verb. to grow

Old Noldorin [PE22/026; PE22/027] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

ili

root. many

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/042; QL/053] Group: Eldamo. Published by