amoth

noun. shoulder

A word appearing as ᴱN. amoth “shoulder” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of 1920s derived from ᴱ✶a-mbod-t’ (PE13/137, 159) and related to ᴱN. bost “back” (PE13/139). In these documents amoth was an element in the name ᴱN. Egallmoth “He of the Wide Shoulders” with an initial element of ᴱN. egall “very broad” (PE13/142, PE13/159).

In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the name G. Egalmoth was glossed “Broad-back” and it contained G. alm “back, shoulders” from primitive ᴱ✶alđam- (GL/19), while in Gnomish Lexicon slips modifying this document, the word for “a shoulder” was G. {awlan >>} alan derived from ᴱ✶aldǝmā (PE13/109). These 1910s words were probably based on the early root ᴱ√ALA “spread”, from which ᴱQ. almo or aldamo “back, shoulders” was derived (QL/29).

In Tolkien’s later writings, S. Egalmoth was given an entirely new etymology as “Pointed Helm-crest” (WJ/318).

Neo-Sindarin: Despite the change in the meaning if Egalmoth, I think ᴺS. amoth “shoulder” can be retained for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reconceived as a derivative of √AM “up” (< ✱ammots-) and perhaps originally an augmentative using the suffix -oth = “✱most up (part of the torso)”.

am(b)

noun. breast

bod

adverb. back

bod-

prefix. back, back, [G.] again; un- (= backwards)

bôn

noun. back

rôma

noun. shoulder

A noun for “shoulder” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, related to G. ram “wing” (GL/64, 66) and so probably derived from the early root ᴱ√RAHA “stretch forward”.

alan

noun. shoulder

alm

noun. back (from shoulder to shoulder), shoulders

amoth

noun. breast

almo

noun. shoulder(s), back

The word ᴱQ. almo or aldamo “back, shoulders” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ALA “spread”, and the longer form was an element in the name ᴱQ. Aikaldamor “Broad Back” (QL/29). This pair of words (along with deleted {alma}) reappeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, but there they had the gloss “shoulder” (PE16/144).

Neo-Quenya: The early root ᴱ√ALA “spread‽” was the basis for ᴱQ. alda “tree”, which in later writings was derived from ✶galadā. Thus ᴺQ. almo “shoulder” might be retained as a derivative of the later form of the root: √GAL. The sense of the later root was “grow (like plants), flourish” rather than “spread”, so this is a bit of a reach semantically, though not impossible since ✶galadā referred to broad, spreading trees as opposed to ✶ornē for tall trees (NM/349). I would use ᴺQ. almo only for “shoulder”; for “back” I recommend the neologism ᴺQ. catta.

aldamo

noun. shoulder(s), back

ambos

noun. breast

ambor

noun. breast, breast, *chest

The word ᴹQ. ambor “breast” appeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, derived from ᴹ✶amƀus (PE21/33). This word shows the Early Qenya sound change whereby [[eq|final [s] became [r]]]; in Tolkien’s later writings this change applied mainly to intervocalic [s]. This word also had the unusual development of u to o in final syllables, a sound change Tolkien used for Quenya in the Declension of Nouns but nowhere else.

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien gave ᴱQ. ambar “breast” with stems ambar- or ambas- (QL/30); the word also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa, but only with the stem ambas- (PME/30). ᴱQ. ambos was glossed “breast” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/136), and in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, ᴱQ. ambos (ambost-) appeared as a word related to both ᴱN. bost “back, from shoulder to shoulder” and ᴱN. amoth “shoulder” (PE13/137, 139, 159), the latter with primitive forms ᴱ✶a-mbod-t’ (PE13/137) or ᴱ✶a-mbos-t (PE13/159).

ᴱQ. ambar reappeared in the phrase ᴱQ. níve qímari ringa ambar “the pale phantoms in her cold bosom” from the Oilima Markirya poem written around 1930. Early 1930s ᴹQ. ambor seems to be the last published iteration of this word, as discussed above.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would adapt this word as ᴺQ. ambos (ambor-) “breast, chest” to fit better with later Quenya phonology. It might be an ancient combination of √AM “up” and ᴹ√OS “around”, perhaps with the original sense “upper enclosure (of the body)”.

opto

noun. back

dôn

noun. back

A Doriathrin word for “back” explicitly marked as a noun (Ety/NDAN). Its primitive form might have been ✱✶ndān, so that the primitive long [[ilk|[ā] became [ō]]] and the [[ilk|initial nasal [n] was lost before the stop]] (as suggested by Helge Fauskanger, AL-Doriathrin/dôn).

amƀus

noun. breast