achad

noun. rock ridge, neck (geographically)

A noun mentioned in several places as a translation of “neck” as in Tarlang’s Neck (LotR/790), in Sindarin properly S. Achad Tarlang (PE17/92, 146; RC/537). It was a derivative of √AKAS “neck, ridge” (PE17/146). Somewhat curiously, S. lang “neck” was also an element in the name S. Tarlang. As Tolkien explained it:

> It is not certain whether this was named after some ancient man with the Sindarin name Tarlang (“stiff-neck” sc. “proud”) or was due to the obsolescence of Tarlang “the stiff, tough, passage” to which S achad had been prefixed in explanation, so that Achad Tarlang “the crossing called Tarlang” was interpreted as “Tarlang’s Neck”. Achad is another word for “neck”, referring properly only to the vertebrae (the bony part of the neck not including throat). √AKAS: Q akas (later akse) pl. aksi, S ach, geographically achad (< aks). This was also applied geographically to rock ridges. The Neck was not the name of the passage but of the lower, narrower ridge (crossed by the road) between the main mountains, and the mountainous region at southern end of the spur (PE17/92).

Hence S. lang refers to the entire throat, the passage from the mouth to the lungs/stomach, whereas S. ach was the vertebrae and upper spine, and achad was for geographic features resembling the spine, hence rock ridges.

ach

noun. neck, neck, *(upper) spine

A word for “neck” appearing in notes written around 1967, derived from primitive aks based on the root √AKAS “neck, ridge” (PE17/92), where the ks became ch (IPA [x]). Tolkien specified that it was “referring properly only to the vertebrae (the bony part of the neck not including throat)”, so a more accurate translation might be “✱(upper) spine”. A more ordinary word for “neck” as a passage from mouth to the stomach and lungs would be lang.

achad

noun. neck (properly referring only to the bony vertebral part not including the throat)

ach

noun. neck

n. neck, refeering properly to the vertebrae (the bony part of the neck not including throat). 'geographical' form achad. Q. akas (later akse) pl. aksi. Fachad

achad

neck

n. neck, refeering properly to the vertebrae (the bony part of the neck not including throat). This is a 'geographical' form, S. ach. Q. akas (later akse) pl. aksi. Fach, AchadTarlang

iaeth

neck

1) iaeth; no distinct pl. form. 2) lanc (throat), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”sharp edge, sudden end, brink”.

iaeth

neck

; no distinct pl. form.

lanc

neck

(throat), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”sharp edge, sudden end, brink”.

axë

noun. neck (vertebrae), rock ridge, neck [vertebrae], *(upper) spine; rock ridge

A word for “neck” appearing in notes written around 1967 as akse with (archaic) variant akas, derived from the root √AKAS “neck, ridge” (PE17/92). Tolkien specified that it was “referring properly only to the vertebrae (the bony part of the neck not including throat)”, so a more accurate translation might be “✱(upper) spine”. This word could also apply to rock ridges. In an earlier version of this note Tolkien gave the form Q. axo “neck” (PE17/146), but that conflicts with Q. axo “bone” from the Markirya poem (MC/222-223).

acas

neck

acas ("k") noun "neck" (the bony part of the neck, not including throat), pl. axi ("ks") (and so perhaps general stem-form ax-). Also sg. axë (said to be a "later" form apparently replacing acas). The word is also used geographically of rock ridges. (PE17:92)

axë

neck

axë ("ks")noun "neck" (the bony part of the neck, not including throat), pl. axi given. Also sg. acas (the alternative form axë is said to be "later" and seems to be an analogical back-formation from the pl. axi). The word is also used geographically of rock ridges. (PE17:92)

acas

noun. neck

axo

noun. neck

lango

noun. neck, neck, [ᴹQ.] throat

A word for “neck” appearing in notes written around 1967, derived from primitive ✶langō < √LAƷA “cross, pass over, go beyond” (PE17/92). Its primitive form meant “a passage (physical), originally applied to any route or connecting link between two places or large objects, especially such as enabled one to cross or surmount an obstacle: such as a mountain-pass, a ridge of higher land across fen-land, an isthmus etc.” (PE17/91-92). This word was then “later applied to narrower parts of a structure serving to join larger parts, especially the ‘neck’ of men and animals”. The word lango “neck” also appeared in notes from 1965, but there it was derived from √LAG, as opposed to the then-distinct root for “beyond”: √LAŊ (PE17/65).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to 1920s, where ᴱQ. lango “neck” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists (PE16/136). It was glossed “neck” in drafts of the ᴱQ. Earendel poem (PE16/100), and as “throat” in the poem itself (MC/216). ᴹQ. lango “throat” appeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/8), but in The Etymologies of the 1930s it was {lango >>} ᴹQ. lanko “throat” from the root ᴹ√LAK “swallow” (Ety/LANK). In later writings, Q. lango “neck” was restored (see above).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think lango can refer to both “neck” and “throat”, since its later derivation was from a word meaning “passage”, and hence could refer the passage from the mouth to the stomach and lungs. For the actual interior mechanism of the throat, however, I’d recommend the neologism ᴺQ. hlunco “pharynx, gullet” < ᴹ√SLUK “swallow”.

yat

neck

yat (yaht-) noun "neck" (YAK)

iaeth

noun. neck

iaeth

noun. neck

A word for “neck” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶yakta- under the root ᴹ√YAK (Ety/KEM), where the primitive k spirantalized and vocalized to i and the resulting diphthong ai became ae, sound changes that remain plausible in Sindarin as well.

Conceptual Development: There was a similar word G. gath “neck” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s from primitive ᴱ✶yatt- (GL/36), with the Gnomish sound change of initial y to g.

Neo-Sindarin: For purpose of Neo-Sindarin, I would use iaeth for “neck” as a joining between the head and torso, as opposed to lang as a passage from the mouth to stomach and lungs [including the “✱throat”] and S. ach referring the vertebrae in the neck [“✱(upper) spine”].