airë (2) noun "sea" (the form airen is given, intended as a genitive singular when Tolkien wrote this; in LotR-style Quenya it would rather be a dative sg.) (AYAR/AIR; cf. airon)
Quenya
airë
noun. sea
Cognates
- S. gaear “sea” ✧ PE17/027
Derivations
Element in
- Q. airon “ocean” ✧ PE17/027
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶gaı̯ră > aire [gaira] > [ɣaira] > [aira] ✧ PE17/027 Variations
- aire ✧ PE17/027 (aire)
airë
sea
váya
sea
váya noun "sea" (considered as "waters, motion"). The wording of the source indicates that Tolkien only tentatively considered such a word (PE17:33)
vëa
sea
vëa (3) noun "sea" (MC:213, 214, 216; possibly obsoleted by #1 and #2 above, though some argue that the initial element of the late names Vëantur and Vëandur [q.v.] could be vëa #3 rather than #2 (it can hardly be #1) . In any case, the normal word for "sea" in LotR-style Quenya seems to be ëar.) Inflected vëan "sea" (MC:220), vëar "in sea" (a "Qenya" locative in -r, MC:213), vëassë "on sea" (MC:220). Cf. also vëaciryo.
ëar
sea
ëar noun "sea" (AYAR/AIR [gives also dat. sg. ëaren],WJ:413; see Letters:386 for etymology). Not to be confused with the pl. form of the verb ëa "be, exist". Pl. ëari "seas" (FS, LR:47); Eär "the Great Sea" (cf. ëaron "ocean"), ablative Eärello "from the Great Sea", et Eärello "out of the Great Sea" (EO). Eärë noun "the open sea" (SD:305). Compound ëaruilë noun "seaweed" (UY). Found in proper names like Eärendil "Sea-friend", Eärendur masc. name, *"Sea-servant"; in effect a variant of Eärendil(Appendix A). Eärendur was also used ="(professional) mariner" (Letters:386).Fem. name Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (Silm); Eärrámë "Sea-wing", "Wings of the Sea", name of Tuor's ship (RAM, AYAR/AIR, SA)
airen
noun. sea
ëar
noun. sea, great sea, sea, great sea, [ᴹQ.] open sea; water
The most common Quenya word for “sea”, derived from the root √GAYAR (or sometimes √AYAR), where the vowel combination was the result of the frequent Quenya sound change whereby aya > ëa.
Conceptual Development: As an element in the name ᴱQ. Earendel, this word first appeared as ᴱQ. ea or ᴱQ. earen “eagle” (QL/34). But by the 1940s Tolkien changed the form and meaning of this name to ᴹQ. Earendil “Friend of the Sea” (SD/237), and the word ᴹQ. ear “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY). In The Notion Club Papers of the 1940s it had the form eare and the gloss “open sea” (SD/241, 305). The first appearance of the “sea” meaning of this word seems to be in a word-list associated with the Ambarkanta “Shape of the World” from the early 1930s, where ear had the glosses “water, sea” (SM/241), though in later writings only “sea” remained.
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Eälótë “*Sea Flower”
- Q. Eämbar “Sea-dwelling”
- Q. ëar amortala “the seas heaving” ✧ MC/222
- Q. ëar-celumessen “in the flowing sea” ✧ MC/222
- ᴺQ. ëarel “starfish, (lit.) sea-star”
- Q. ëaren “ocean, great sea” ✧ PE17/027; PM/363
- Q. Eärendil “Lover of the Sea” ✧ PE17/027; PM/363; RGEO/65; SA/ëar
- Q. Eärendur “Mariner, *(lit.) Servant of the Sea”
- Q. ëarendur “(professional) mariner, *(lit.) servant of the sea”
- Q. ëar falastala “the sea surging” ✧ MC/222
- ᴺQ. ëarina “of the sea”
- Q. Eärnil “*Lover of the Sea”
- Q. Eärnur “*Servant of the Sea”
- ᴺQ. ëarra “seal, sea lion”
- Q. Eärrámë “Sea-wing” ✧ SA/ëar
- ᴺQ. ëarsil “pearl, (lit.) sea-sheen”
- ᴺQ. ëassar “pearl, (lit.) sea-pebble/stone”
- Q. Eärwen “*Sea-maiden”
- Q. et Eärello Endorenna utúlien “Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come” ✧ LotR/0967; PE17/103
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √AYAR > ëar [ajar] > [ear] ✧ Let/386 √GAY(AR) > ëar [gajar] > [ɣajar] > [ɣear] > [ear] ✧ PE17/027 ✶Gayar- > Eär [gajar] > [ɣajar] > [ɣear] > [ear] ✧ PM/363 ✶gayār > ëar [gajār] > [ɣajār] > [ɣear] > [ear] ✧ WJ/400 Variations
- Eär ✧ PM/363; PMI/Eär
- eär ✧ WJ/413
váya
noun. ocean, sea, ocean, [stormy] sea
A word in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 that Tolkien described as “used of sea (as waters, motion)”, a derivative of √WAYA “blow, or be disturbed” (PE17/33). This note was crossed through, but a similar note appeared afterwards with a (archaic?) word waya “ocean” (PE17/34).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, Tolkien had ᴱQ. Vai “Outer Ocean” (LT1/85), a word that also appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of ᴱ√VAẎA “enfold, wind about” (QL/100). The word ᴱQ. vea “sea” appeared in a number of poems Tolkien wrote in the late 1920s (MC/213-214, 216, 220; numerous references in PE16). ᴹQ. vea “sea” also appeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ✶vaı̯ā (PE21/8, 17), and as an element in the name ᴹQ. Veaneldar “Sea-elves” from the 1930s and possibly Q. Vëantur, a name in later writings for a ship captain in Númenor (UT/171).
In Silmarillion drafts of the 1930s Tolkien used ᴹQ. Vaiya for “Enfolding Ocean” (SM/236) or “Outer Sea” (LR/209). This word was mentioned in The Etymologies as wai(y)a/vai(y)a “envelope” that was used “especially of the Outer Sea or Air enfolding the world within the Ilurambar”, a derivative of ᴹ√WAY “enfold” (Ety/WAY). In the Ambarkanta of early 1930s Tolkien likewise said that the ordinary meaning vaiya was “fold, envelope”, meaning “Outer Sea” when used as a proper name (SM/241). In Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957, the similar word váya/waya was given a new etymology from the root √WAYA “blow” rather than “enfold” as noted above, along with other derivatives having to do with “wind” (PE17/33-34).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think the form váya is the best form, and given its derivation from the root for “wind”, I think it refers mainly to rough or stormy seas. The name Vëantur may contained a reduced form of this word.
Derivations
- √WAY “blow (of wind), be disturbed” ✧ PE17/033; PE17/034
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √WAYA > váya [wāja] > [βāja] > [vāja] ✧ PE17/033 √WAYA > waya [wāja] > [βāja] > [vāja] ✧ PE17/034 Variations
- waya ✧ PE17/034
airon
noun. ocean
An (archaic) word for “ocean”, an augmentative form of airë mentioned in a couple of later notes (PE17/27, 149). A more modern form is ëaron.
Conceptual Development: The form ᴹQ. airen appeared in parenthesis beside ᴹQ. aire “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/AY). Helge Fauskanger suggested that it might be a genitive form (QQ/airë), but in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s, aire “sea” >> airen (PE22/23 note #70), suggesting it is an alternate (augmentative?) form. If so, it is probably a precursor to airon.
Cognates
- S. gaearon “ocean, (lit.) great sea” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/149
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶airō > airon [airon] ✧ PE17/149
Vëandur
vigorous servant
Vëandur, masc. name (PM:191), either "Vigorous servant" or "Sea-servant" (= mariner; compare ëarendur, etymologically very similar if the Qenya form vëa "sea" was maintained in later Quenya). See vëa #1 and 2 and compare Vëantur.
Vëantur
vigorous lord
Vëantur, masc. name (UT:171), either "Vigorous lord" or "Sea-lord" (see vëa #1 and 2; those who prefer the translation *"Sea-lord" see this name as evidence that Tolkien maintained the Qenya noun vëa "sea" in later Quenya). Compare Vëandur.
áya
noun. awe
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶gāyā > áya [gājā] > [ɣājā] > [ājā] > [āja] ✧ PM/363
airon
ocean
airon noun "ocean" (PE17:27). Also ëaron, q.v.
solor
surf
solor noun "surf" (SOL); solor, solossë noun "surf, surge" (LT1:266)
solossë
surf, surge
solossë noun "surf, surge" (LT1:266); also solor
waya
noun. ocean
áya
awe
áya noun "awe" (PM:363)
ëaron
ocean
ëaron noun "ocean" (PE17:27), also airon. Cf. ëar.
An archaic word for “sea” which fell out of use to due conflict with “holy” words like aira or airë; it was a noun form of primitive ✶gaı̯ră (PE17/27). The more common modern word for “sea” is ëar.
Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. aire “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY); it appeared beside a form ᴹQ. airen that might be a genitive form, or might be a longer form; see the entry on ᴹQ. airon for discussion.