ambos (ambost-) noun "breast" (chest). PE16:82
Quenya
ambar
breast
ambos
breast
tittë
noun. breast [of a woman], teat
Cognates
- ᴺS. tith “breast [of a woman], teat”
Sindarin
tith
noun. breast [of a woman], teat
Cognates
- ᴺQ. tittë “breast [of a woman], teat”
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!
Qenya
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)”.
Derivations
- ᴹ✶amƀus “breast” ✧ PE21/33
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ✶amƀus- > ambor [amβus] > [ambus] > [ambur] > [ambor] ✧ PE21/33
Middle Primitive Elvish
amƀus
noun. breast
Derivatives
- ᴹQ. ambor “breast, breast, *chest” ✧ PE21/33
Variations
- amƀus- ✧ PE21/33
Gnomish
amoth
noun. breast
Early Noldorin
tith
noun. breast, teat
A noun appearing as ᴱN. tith “breast, teat” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s derived from primitive ᴱ✶titté (PE13/154).
Neo-Sindarin: I think ᴺS. tith “breast, teat” is worth retaining for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, as there are no other attested words with this sense.
Cognates
- Eq. titte “breast, teat” ✧ PE13/154
Derivations
- ᴱ✶titté “breast, teat” ✧ PE13/154
am(b)
noun. breast
Changes
amuith→ amb “breast” ✧ PE13/137Element in
- En.
am(b)os“breastplate” ✧ PE13/137 (am(b)os)Variations
amb✧ PE13/137 (amb)am✧ PE13/137 (am)amuith✧ PE13/137 (amuith)
Early Primitive Elvish
titté
noun. breast, teat
Derivatives
Early Quenya
titte
noun. breast, teat
A noun appearing as ᴱQ. titte in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, the cognate of ᴱN. tith “breast, teat” derived from primitive ᴱ✶titté (PE13/154).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think ᴺQ. tittë is worth retaining with the sense “breast (of a woman)”, but for “teat, ✱nipple” I’d used ᴺQ. tyetsë.
Cognates
- En. tith “breast, teat” ✧ PE13/154
Derivations
- ᴱ✶titté “breast, teat” ✧ PE13/154
ambos
noun. breast
Cognates
Derivations
- ᴱ✶a-mbod-t’ ✧ PE13/137; PE13/159
Element in
- ᴺQ. russambos “robin”
- Eq. unlunke naiqe yu vaile·na ar elle ha men ambostuva “*he pulled his sword from the sheath and drove it into the breast” ✧ PE16/146
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ✶a-mbod-t’ > ambos [ambodt] > [amboðt] > [ambozt] > [ambost] > [ambos] ✧ PE13/137 ᴱ✶a-mbos-t > ambos [ambost] > [ambos] ✧ PE13/159
ambar (3) noun ""breast" (chest), with stem in -s- or -r- (QL:30). The form ambar, translated "in bosom", occurs in MC:213 (this is "Qenya"). Note: if this word were to be adapted to LotR-style Quenya, we should probably have to read *ambas with stem ambar-; compare olos, olor- "dream" from a late source. However, the form ambos (q.v.) is less ambiguous and may be preferred.