telempë

silver

telempë noun "silver" (LT1:268; in Tolkien's later Quenya telpë, which is actually also found in early "Qenya")

telepta

silver

telepta adj. "silver" (as adj.: silvery) (LT2:347), used as noun in the phrase mi telepta of someone clad "in silver", where the context (involving other colour-words) shows that this adj. describes something of silver colour(PE17:71). Compare telemna, telepsa, telpina.

telepta

adjective. silver, silver, [ᴱQ.] of silver

Element in

• Q. sanomë tarnë Olórin, Aracorno, Eomer, Imrahil, mi mísë, mi telepta yo morna, mi laiqua yo ninquë, mi luinë, ta Gimli mi lossëa “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil in grey, in silver and black, in green and white, and in blue, and also Gimli in white” ✧ PE17/071

Elements

Word	Gloss
telpë	“silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money”

telpë

silver

telpë noun "silver" (in one example with generalized meaning "money", PE14:54), telep- in some compounds like Teleporno; assimilated telem- in Telemnar and the adj. telemna (KYELEP/TELEP, SA:celeb, LT1:255, 268; also tyelpë, telep-, UT:266). The true Quenya descendant of primitive ¤kyelepē is tyelpë, but the Telerin form telpë was more common, "for the Teleri prized silver above gold, and their skill as silversmiths was esteemed even by the Noldor" (UT:266). In various names: Telperion the White Tree of Valinor; Telperien ("Telperiën"), fem. name including telp- "silver" (Appendix A); Telperinquar "Silver-fist, Celebrimbor" (SA:celeb - also Tyelperinquar); Telporno, Teleporno "Silver-high" = Sindarin _Celeborn(Letters:347, UT:266). _It seems that Teleporno is properly Telerin, Quenyarized as Telporno. Compare adjectives telemna, telpina, telepsa, telepta (q.v.)

telpë

noun. silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money

Cognates

• S. celeb “silver” ✧ PE17/036; SA/celeb; UT/266
• T. telpe “silver” ✧ UT/266

Derivations

• T. telpe “silver” ✧ NM/349
  • ✶kyelepē “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • √KYELEP “silver”
  • √KYELEP “silver” ✧ UT/266
• ✶kyelepē “silver” ✧ PE17/036; PE21/80
  • √KYELEP “silver”
• Q. tyelpë “silver” ✧ UT/266
  • ✶kyelepē “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • √KYELEP “silver”
  • √KYELEP “silver” ✧ UT/266

Element in

• Q. Telemmaitë “Silver-handed”
• Q. Telemnar “*Silver Fire”
• Q. telepta “silver, silver, [ᴱQ.] of silver”
• Q. Telperien
• Q. telperin “like silver (in hue or worth)” ✧ SA/celeb
• Q. Telperion “?Silver Tree” ✧ NM/349; SA/celeb; UT/266
• ᴺQ. telpetan “silversmith”
• ᴺQ. telpevistando “money-changer”
• ᴺQ. telpilin “silver piece, *silver coin”
• ᴺQ. telpingwë “silverfish”
• Q. Telporno “*Silver Tall”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶kelep/kyelep > telep-	[kjelepe] > [kjelpe] > [tjelpe]	✧ PE17/036
✶t/kjelepi > telpe	[kjelepe] > [kjelpe] > [tjelpe]	✧ PE21/80
Q. tyelpe > telpe	[tjelpe] > [telpe]	✧ UT/266

Variations

• telpe ✧ Let/426; PE21/81; UT/266
• telpe- ✧ PE18/093

tyelpë

silver

tyelpë noun "silver" (KYELEP/TELEP), etymology also in Letters:426 and UT:266. Tyelpë is the true Quenya descendant of primitive ¤kyelepē, but the Telerin form telpë was more common, "for the Teleri prized silver above gold, and their skill as silversmiths was esteemed even by the Noldor" (UT:266). In the Etymologies, tyelpë is also the name of Tengwa #1 with overposed dots, this symbol having the value ty (VT45:25). Cf. tyelpetéma as the name of the entire palatal series of the Tengwar system.

tyelpë

noun. silver

Cognates

• S. celeb “silver” ✧ Let/426
• T. telpe “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349

Derivations

• ✶kyelepē “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • √KYELEP “silver”
• √KYELEP “silver” ✧ UT/266

Derivatives

• Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ UT/266

Element in

• Q. Tyelpelepta
• Q. Tyeleptalëa “Silver-footed” ✧ NM/349
• Q. Tyelperion “?Silver Tree” ✧ NM/349; UT/266
• Q. tyelpetéma “palatal series”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶kyelepē > tyelpe	[kjelepē] > [kjelpē] > [tjelpē] > [tjelpe]	✧ Let/426
✶kyelep- > tyelpë	[kjelepē] > [kjelpē] > [tjelpē] > [tjelpe]	✧ NM/349
√kyelep- > tyelpe	[kjelepē] > [kjelpē] > [tjelpē] > [tjelpe]	✧ UT/266

Variations

• tyelpe ✧ Let/426; UT/266 (tyelpe)
• tyelep- ✧ NM/349

sil-

shine

sil- vb. "shine" (white), present tense síla "shines, is shining" (FG); aorist silë, pl. silir (RS:324), frequentative sisíla- (Markirya comments), future tense siluva (VT49:38), dual future siluvat (VT49:44, 45)

accal(a)-

verb. shine

shine (suddenly and) brilliantly, blaze

cal-

shine

#cal- vb. "shine", future tense caluva ("k") "shall shine" _(UT:22 cf. 51). Compare also early "Qenya" cala- ("k")"shine" (LT1:254)_. It is possible that the verbal stem should have a final -a in later Quenya as well, since this vowel would not appear in the future tense caluva (compare valuvar as the pl. future tense of vala-, WJ:404).

calta-

shine

calta- ("k")vb. "shine" (KAL)

silma

silver, shining white

silma adj. "silver, shining white" (SIL), "crystal (white)" (PE17:23)

silma

noun/adjective. crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹQ.] silver, shining white

Cognates

• S. silef “crystal (white), (white) crystal; [N.] silver, shining white” ✧ PE17/023

Derivations

• ✶silimā “crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹ✶] silver, shining white” ✧ PE17/023
  • √SIL “shine (white or silver)”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶silimā > silma	[silimā] > [silmā] > [silma]	✧ PE17/023

silima

silima

silima noun the substance the Silmarils were made of, invented by Fëanor (SA:sil)

imirë

noun. crystal

silef

noun. crystal

_n. _crystal (white). >> silivren

silef

noun/adjective. crystal (white), (white) crystal; [N.] silver, shining white

Cognates

• Q. silma “crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹQ.] silver, shining white” ✧ PE17/023

Derivations

• ✶silimā “crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹ✶] silver, shining white” ✧ PE17/023
  • √SIL “shine (white or silver)”

Element in

• S. silivren “(white) glittering, crystalline” ✧ PE17/023

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶silimā > silef	[silimā] > [silima] > [silema] > [silem] > [silev]	✧ PE17/023

celeb

noun. silver

celeb

silver

_n. _silver. >> Celebdil, Celebrant, celebrin

celeb

noun. silver

Cognates

• Kh. kibil “silver” ✧ PE17/036
• Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ PE17/036; SA/celeb; UT/266
• Q. tyelpë “silver” ✧ Let/426
• T. telpe “silver” ✧ NM/349

Derivations

• ✶kyelepē “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349; PE17/036
  • √KYELEP “silver”
• √KYELEP “silver” ✧ UT/266

Element in

• S. Argeleb
• S. Celebdil “Silvertine” ✧ PE17/036; RC/775; TI/174
• S. Celeborn “Silver-tree; Silver Tall” ✧ UT/266
• S. Celeborn “Tree of Silver” ✧ SA/celeb; UT/266
• S. Celebrant “Silverlode, Silver-course” ✧ PE17/049; RC/775; SA/celeb; TI/174
• S. Celebrían “Silver-queen” ✧ Let/423
• S. celebrin “like silver (in hue or worth), like silver (in hue or worth), [G.] of silver” ✧ PE17/042; SA/celeb
• S. Celebros “Silver Foam, Silver Rain” ✧ SA/celeb

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶kyelepē > celeb	[kjelepē] > [kelepē] > [kelepe] > [kelep] > [keleb]	✧ Let/426
✶kyelep- > celeb	[kjelepē] > [kelepē] > [kelepe] > [kelep] > [keleb]	✧ NM/349
✶kelep/kyelep > celeb	[kjelepē] > [kelepē] > [kelepe] > [kelep] > [keleb]	✧ PE17/036
√kyelep- > celeb	[kjelepē] > [kelepē] > [kelepe] > [kelep] > [keleb]	✧ UT/266

Variations

• Celeb ✧ Let/423 (Celeb); RC/775; RC/775

mithril

noun. true-silver, a silver-like metal

ithildin

noun. a silver-colored substance, which mirrors only starlight and moonlight

silef

shining white

is listed in LR:385 s.v. SIL as the cognate of Quenya silma of this meaning, but silef is there asterisked, apparently to indicate that it only appears as part of the word Silevril ”Silmaril”. The word silef may also be used = Quenya silima (noun), the crystal substance of the Silmarils.

silef

silima

(Quenya: the crystal substance of the Silmarils) silef (i hilef), pl. silif (i silif) if there is any pl. form. The derived adj. silivren ”glittering white” (q.v.) may perhaps also imply ”made of silima”.

silef

silima

(i hilef), pl. silif (i silif) if there is any pl. form. The derived adj. silivren ”glittering white” (q.v.) may perhaps also imply ”made of silima”.

silef

shining white

(or ”silver”, as adj.): The form silef is listed in LR:385 s.v. _

silef

sil

_ as the cognate of Quenya silma of this meaning, but silef is there asterisked, apparently to indicate that it only appears as part of the word Silevril ”Silmaril”. The word silef may also be used = Quenya silima (noun), the crystal substance of the Silmarils.

celeb

silver

1) (noun) celeb (i geleb, o cheleb), pl. celib (i chelib) if there is a pl. form. 2) (adj., "of/like silver") celebren (lenited gelebren, pl. celebrin; also celebrin- as first element of compounds, as in Celebrindal). Also celefn (lenited gelefn, pl. celifn). As for ”silver” as adjective, see also SHINING WHITE. Adj.

síla

shine white

(i híla, i sílar) Adj.

ivrin

crystalline

no distinct pl. form.

glóren

shining with golden light

(glórin-) (golden), lenited ’lóren; pl. glórin.

ivor

crystal

analogical pl. ivyr;

telpe

noun. silver

Cognates

• Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ UT/266
• Q. tyelpë “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
• S. celeb “silver” ✧ NM/349

Derivations

• ✶kyelepē “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • √KYELEP “silver”
• √KYELEP “silver” ✧ UT/266

Derivatives

• Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ NM/349

Element in

• T. Teleporno “Silver-tall; Silver-tree” ✧ NM/349; UT/266
• T. telperin “like silver (in hue or worth)”
• T. Telperion ✧ Let/426

Variations

• telepi ✧ Let/426
• telep- ✧ NM/349
• telep-/telpe ✧ UT/266

kibil

noun. silver

Cognates

• S. celeb “silver” ✧ PE17/036

Element in

• Kh. Kibil-nâla “Silverlode, Silver-course” ✧ PE17/036; PE17/037; TI/174

Variations

• Kibil ✧ PE17/036; TI/174

kyelep

root. silver

This root and ones like it were used for Elvish words for “silver” throughout Tolkien’s life. The earliest iteration of the root began with T-, however, appearing as unglossed ᴱ√TELEPE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. telpe “silver” (QL/91). Even at this early stage, however, the Gnomish equivalent was G. celeb (GL/25), but the reason for the t/c variation isn’t clear. The closest explanation is that palatal consonants like [c] became [tʲ] in Qenya vs. [k] in Gnomish (compare ᴱQ. tyava- vs. caf- “taste” from ᴱ√TYAVA) but this doesn’t explain why the Qenya form has initial t- rather than ty-.

Elsewhere in the Elvish languages of the 1910s there seem to be etymological variations of [k] vs. [t], such as ᴱQ. kitya- vs. G. tisca- “tickle” (QL/47; GL/70) and ᴱQ. talqe vs. G. celc “glass” (QL/88; GL/25), so perhaps ᴱQ. telpe vs. G. celeb “silver” is another example of this. Another explanation appeared in Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s, where the primitive form was ᴱ✶kelekwé which produced ᴱN. celeb as usual but the Qenya form was ᴱQ. telqe with “k = t by dissimilation” (PE13/140), presumably away from q.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had the root ᴹ√KYELEP with variant ᴹ√TELEP, producing N. celeb but ᴹQ. tyelpe or ᴹQ. telpe (Ety/KYELEP). But Tolkien revised this entry, marking ᴹ√TELEP as questionable and introducing the Telerin form ᴹT. telpe < ᴹ√KYELEP, concluding that ᴹQ. telpe must be a loan from Telerin. This finally put N. celeb vs. ᴹQ. telpe (borrowed from Telerin) on a solid phonological foundation. Tolkien seems to have stuck with this explanation, mentioning this borrowing from Telerin to Quenya several times in his later writings, with the proper but now archaic Quenya form being Q. †tyelpë (Let/426; PM/356; UT/266).

Derivatives

• ✶kyelepē “silver”
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ PE17/036; PE21/80
  • Q. tyelpë “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ UT/266
  • S. celeb “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349; PE17/036
  • At. tele(pe) “silver” ✧ PE21/71
  • Os. kele(pe) “silver” ✧ PE21/71
  • T. telpe “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ NM/349
• Q. tyelpë “silver” ✧ UT/266
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ UT/266
• S. celeb “silver” ✧ UT/266
• T. telpe “silver” ✧ UT/266
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ NM/349

Variations

• kyelep- ✧ UT/266

kyelepē

noun. silver

Derivations

• √KYELEP “silver”

Derivatives

• Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ PE17/036; PE21/80
• Q. tyelpë “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ UT/266
• S. celeb “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349; PE17/036
• At. tele(pe) “silver” ✧ PE21/71
• Os. kele(pe) “silver” ✧ PE21/71
• T. telpe “silver” ✧ Let/426; NM/349
  • Q. telpë “silver, silver; [ᴱQ.] money” ✧ NM/349

Variations

• kyelep- ✧ NM/349
• kelep/kyelep ✧ PE17/036
• kjelep ✧ PE21/71
• t/kjelepi ✧ PE21/80

silimā

noun/adjective. crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹ✶] silver, shining white

Derivations

• √SIL “shine (white or silver)”

Derivatives

• Q. silma “crystal (white), crystal (white); [ᴹQ.] silver, shining white” ✧ PE17/023
• S. silef “crystal (white), (white) crystal; [N.] silver, shining white” ✧ PE17/023

silef

adjective. silver, shining white

Cognates

• ᴹQ. silma “silver, shining white” ✧ Ety/SIL

Derivations

• ᴹ✶silimā “silver, shining white” ✧ Ety/SIL
  • ᴹ√SIL “shine silver” ✧ Ety/SIL

Element in

• N. Silevril “Silmaril” ✧ Ety/SIL

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶silimā > silef	[silimā] > [silima] > [silema] > [silem] > [silev]	✧ Ety/SIL

celeb

noun. silver

celeb

noun. silver

Cognates

• ᴹQ. telpe “silver” ✧ Ety/KYELEP; Ety/KYELEP

Derivations

• ᴹ√KYELEP “silver” ✧ Ety/KYELEP
• On. kelepe “silver” ✧ Ety/KYELEP
  • ᴹ√KYELEP “silver” ✧ Ety/KYELEP

Element in

• N. Celeb(?)rhein “?Silver-footprint”
• N. Celebdil “Silvertine”
• N. Celebras “Silverhorn”
• N. Keleborn
• N. Celeborn “Tree of Silver”
• N. Celebrant “Silverlode”
• N. Celeb(rind)rath “Silverlode”
• N. celebren “of silver, like silver” ✧ Ety/KYELEP; Ety/KYELEP
• N. Celebrond “Silver-mace”
• N. Celebros “Silver Foam, Silver Rain”
• N. erceleb “*true-silver”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. kelepe > celeb	[kelepe] > [kelep] > [keleb]	✧ Ety/KYELEP

celefn

adjective. of silver

celevon

adjective. of silver

síla-

verb. to shine white

celebren

adjective. like silver (in hue or worth)