ala- (4) vb. "plant, grow" _(the first gloss would suggest that the following one is transitive: to "grow" plants) (PE17:100). _Compare al- "thrive, *grow" (which however seems intransitive).
Quenya
'al-
thrive
ala-
plant, grow
ala-
verb. grow
ala-
verb. to plant, grow, to grow (of plants) [intr. and trans.], plant; *to thrive, flourish (of other creatures)
A verb glossed “plant, grow” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s discussing the derivation of S. galenas “pipeweed” (PE17/100). The verb ala- was used several times in verb charts, such as illustrating pronominal suffixes (PE17/132) or giving the inflections of a-verbs (PE22/164).
Conceptual Development: As suggested by Gilson, Welden and Hostetter, the earliest appearance of this verb might be in the phrase ᴱQ. alildon ornin lassevarnen, which seems to mean something like “✱grow trees leaf-brown” (PE16/80). The word element (and verb?) ᴹQ. ’al appeared under the root ᴹ√GALA “thrive” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/GALA); an earlier iteration of this root had the glosses “grow, thrive, prosper, be healthy, be glad” along with a word element (and verb?) al-, but the gloss “grow” was deleted along with a statement that “grow is ol-” (Ety/GAL(AS)).
Indeed, the verb ᴹQ. ’alā- “grow” appeared in Quendian & Common Eldarin Verbal Structure (EVS1: PE22/98) from the late 1940s and again in Quenya Verbal System from 1948 (QVS: PE22/106 note #39), but in the latter document it was replaced by ᴹQ. ola- “grow” (PE22/113 note #80). However, in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s, primitive ✶galā- was restored, but with a more specific sense “grow (of plants)”, as opposed to ✶olā- “become, come into being, turn into (another state)” (PE22/134). This plant-growth meaning seems to have carried forward into Tolkien’s later writings (see above: PE17/100).
Neo-Quenya: For purpose of Neo-Quenya, I would assume the verb ala- only means “grow” when applied to plants, but more generally could mean “✱thrive, flourish” when applied to other living creatures, as in i lótë ala “the flower grows” but i Elda ala “the Elf thrives/flourishes”. Based on its glosses from PE17/100, I would assume it can also be used transitively when applied to plants to mean “cause to grow = plant”, as in i Elda ala lóti “the Elf grows/plants flowers” or álëa lóti “... is planting flowers”.
Cognates
- S. gala- “to grow” ✧ PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132; PE17/132
Derivations
- √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive”
- ✶galā- “to grow (of plants)” ✧ PE22/164
- √GAL “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom, [ᴹ√] thrive” ✧ PE22/133
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶galan > alan [galan] > [ɣalan] > [alan] ✧ PE22/164 Variations
- ala- ✧ PE17/100
alta-
grow
[alta- (3) vb. "grow" (VT45:13) or "make grow" (VT45:14)]
ol-
grow
ol- vb. "grow" (VT45:13; this may be a primitive root rather than a Quenya verb)
ola-
verb. grow
empanya-
plant
*empanya- vb. "plant" (deduced from the "Qenya" pl. past tense empannen, VT27:20-22)
laima
plant
laima noun "plant" (PE17:159). Cf. olvar.
laima
noun. plant
A noun for “plant” appearing in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 derived from the root √LAY (PE17/159).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. laute (lausi-) “living thing, (esp.) vegetable” and ᴱQ. lauke (lauki-) “vegetable, plant species”, both derived from the early root ᴱ√LAWA (QL/52). The word lauke also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa with the gloss “plant” (PME/52) and appeared again in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s with the gloss “vegetable” and an accusative form of lautya (PE16/141), indicating a new stem form lauty-.
Derivations
- √LAY “*be alive, flourish, [ᴱ√] be alive, flourish” ✧ PE17/159
Element in
- ᴺQ. laimamatta “vegetable food, (lit.) plant food”
- ᴺQ. laimamatya “herbivorous, vegetarian, (lit.) plant-eating”
- ᴺQ. nastalaima “thistle, (lit.) spear plant”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √LAY > laima [laima] ✧ PE17/159
alála-
to continually grow
#alála- vb *"to continually grow" (VT27:20, 25), maybe the frequentative form of a simpler verb al- or ala- "to grow". Cf. 'al- "thrive".
'al- (1) vb."thrive" (GALA; the 'simply indicates that the original initial G has disappeared and needs not normally be included, PE17:100) Other sources hint at the meaning "grow" (cf. the root GAL meaning "grow, be healthy; to grow [like a plant]", PE17:153). Compare ala- #4 and #alála- (and cf. ol-).