Primitive elvish

tektā

noun. sign, symbol, mark

Primitive elvish [PE17/043; PE22/149] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tekmā

noun. letter

Primitive elvish [PE17/043; PE17/044; PE18/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

taith

noun. sign, symbol, mark, sign, symbol; mark, [N.] stroke; [G.] letter

Sindarin [PE17/043] Group: Eldamo. Published by

andaith

noun. long-mark, sign used in writing alphabetic tengwar over a vowel, to indicate that it is lengthened.

Sindarin [LotR/E, Ety/391, X/EI] and+taith. Group: SINDICT. Published by

glandagol

noun. boundary mark

Sindarin [VT/42:8,28] gland+tagol. Group: SINDICT. Published by

taen

noun. sign

Sindarin [Taengyl, Tengyl MR/385] Group: SINDICT. Published by

taith

noun. mark

Sindarin [Ety/391, X/EI] Group: SINDICT. Published by

tew

letter

(dew), pl1. tiw _ n. _letter. tew << têw; tiw << tîw. >> téw

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:44] < _*teiw_ < _teñwa_ < TEÑ show, sign, indicate. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

têw

noun. letter, written sign

Sindarin [Ety/391, WJ/396, LotR/II:IV, LotR/E, Letters/427] Group: SINDICT. Published by

têw

noun. letter

Sindarin [Let/427; LotR/0305; LotR/1117; PE17/043; PE17/044; PE17/122; PE22/149; WJ/396] Group: Eldamo. Published by

taith

mark

(noun) taith (i daith, o thaith), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thaith). Archaic teith.

taith

mark

(i daith, o thaith), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thaith). Archaic teith.

tann

sign

  1. (etymologically ”something shown/indicated”) tann (i dann), construct tan, pl. tain (i thain) (MR:185); 2) têw (i dêw, o thêw, construct tew) (letter, tengwa), pl. tîw (i **thîw), coll. pl. téwath**;

tann

sign

(i dann), construct tan, pl. tain (i thain)** **(MR:185)

teleg

noun. leg

A Neo-Sindarin word for “leg”, derived from the root ᴹ√TELEK “stalk, stem, leg” coined by Elaran in a Discord chat from 2018-08-29.

Conceptual Development: There is an attested Gnomish word for “leg”, G. bactha (GL/21), but its form is not suitable for Sindarin. There is also a Quenya word for “leg” Q. telco appearing later writings, which also means “stem” (PE17/122, LotR/1118). This Quenya word appears in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “leg”, where its Noldorin equivalent is given as N. telch “stem” (Ety/TÉLEK). It’s possible this word could also mean “leg” in Sindarin, but Tolkien had the opportunity to give it this gloss and chose not to.

Perhaps the Primitive Elvish words were something like ✶téleku “stem” and ✶telékō “leg”, with differing stress patterns. These two words would have blended in Quenya as telco, but would have remained distinct in Sindarin as telch “stem” and teleg “leg”. That’s the theory presented here.

Alternately, you might repurpose S. tâl “foot” to mean both “leg” and “foot” as happens in some real-world languages. This second option is partially supported by the word tad-dal “two-legged, ✱biped”, though the literal meaning of the word could actually be “✱two-footed”.

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

têw

sign

(i dêw, o thêw, construct tew) (letter, tengwa), pl. tîw (i thîw), coll. pl. téwath

têw

letter

têw (i dêw, o thêw, construct tew) (sign, tengwa), pl. tîw (i **thîw), coll. pl. téwath**

têw

letter

(i dêw, o thêw, construct tew) (sign, tengwa), pl. tîw (i thîw), coll. pl. téwath

Quenya 

tehta

noun. (written) mark, sign, symbol, †written letter, (written) mark, sign, symbol, [ᴹQ.] diacritic, [Q.] †written letter

Quenya [LotR/1118; LotR/1121; PE17/043; PE17/122; PE22/149; VT39/08; VT39/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tannemma

 noun. symbol

Quenya [< tann(a-)emma] Group: Neologism. Published by

narwë

sign, token

[narwë (and short nar, unless this is an incomplete form) noun "sign, token"] (VT45:37)

sarat

letter

sarat (pl. sarati given) noun "letter", any individual significant mark, used of the letters of Rúmil after the invention of Fëanor's tengwar (WJ:396). Cf. sarmë.

taina

sign

#taina (2) noun "sign", isolated from Tainacolli *"Sign-bearer" MR:385

tanna

sign, token

tanna (1) noun "sign, token" (MR:385, PE17:186), also tanwa (PE17:186)

tanwa

sign, token

tanwa noun "sign, token" (Tolkien marked this word with a query, but it is not clearly rejected). Also tanna (#1). (PE17:186)

tehta

mark, sign

tehta noun "mark, sign" (TEK, VT39:17, Appendix E), especially diacritics denoting vowels in Fëanorian writing (pl. tehtar is attested); these diacritics are explicitly called ómatehtar "vowel-marks", q.v.

tengwa

noun. sign

sign, indicator, letter

Quenya [PE 19:97] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

tengwa

letter

tengwa (pl. tengwar is attested) (1) noun "letter" Tengwa (ñ) is defined as "any one visible sign representing (theoretically) any one audible teñgwe" (phoneme) (VT39:17). In non-technical usage tengwa was equivalent to "consonant", since only the consonants were full signs (WJ:396, TEK). In the Etymologies, tengwa was apparently emended from tengwë (VT46:17).

Noldorin 

tew

noun. letter

@@@ tîw (Ety/TEK) appears to be plural, but is clearly glossed as singular “letter” with primitive form tekmē

Noldorin [Ety/TEK; PE22/031; TI/182] Group: Eldamo. Published by

andeith

noun. long-mark, sign used in writing alphabetic tengwar over a vowel, to indicate that it is lengthened.

Noldorin [LotR/E, Ety/391, X/EI] and+taith. Group: SINDICT. Published by

gammas

noun. s-sign (special sign used to mark a final -s in Tengwar)

Noldorin [VT/45:14] Group: SINDICT. Published by

teith

noun. mark

Noldorin [Ety/391, X/EI] Group: SINDICT. Published by

tîw

noun. letter


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!

Middle Primitive Elvish

tekmē

noun. letter, symbol, writing

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/TEK; EtyAC/TEK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ndar

root. sign

A rejected root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a single derivative: ᴹQ. narwe “sign, token”, along with an unglossed (and probably incomplete) form nar... (EtyAC/NDAR).

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

Gnomish

bactha

noun. leg

A noun in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s for “a leg” (GL/21), clearly with a different etymology than ᴱQ. pelko “leg” (QL/73), probably derived instead from the early root ᴱ√VAHA “travel” (QL/99).

Early Quenya

pelko

noun. leg

Early Quenya [PE14/052; PE14/076; PE15/74; QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

teket

noun. letter

@@@ used for “letter (epistola)” in NQNT

Early Quenya [QL/090] Group: Eldamo. Published by

teketta

noun. letter

Qenya 

pelko

noun. leg

Qenya [PE21/48; PE21/49; VT28/08] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

tegma

noun. letter

Old Noldorin [PE22/031] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tektha

noun. mark

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