tintila-

twinkle

tintila- vb. "twinkle", present (or maybe rather aorist) pl. tintilar (Nam, RGEO:67)

tintila-

verb. to twinkle, sparkle, glitter, give tremulous light, †tremble

A verb appearing in the Namárië poem, where Tolkien translated it as “tremble” (LotR/377). It is clear form his writings elsewhere that this a poetic rendering, and the actual meaning of the word is “twinkle, give tremulous light” (PE17/66) or “sparkle, glitter” (RGEO/61). It seems to be a combination of the roots √TIN “sparkle” and √THIL “shine silver” (PE17/66), and so is especially appropriate for describing starlight.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies from the 1930s, there was a similar verb ᴹQ. tintina- “to sparkle”, likely a reduplication of the root ᴹ√TIN “sparkle”. For Neo-Quenya writing, it is probably preferable to use the better known tintila-.

Cognates

• ᴺS. tinthiltha- “to twinkle, *sparkle”

Element in

• Q. tintilar lirinen ómaryo Airë-tário ✧ PM/364
• ᴺQ. tintilië “sparkling, twinkling”
• Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “wherein the stars tremble” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “in which twinkle the stars” ✧ RGEO/59

Elements

Word	Gloss
TIN	“sparkle, spark, sparkle, spark, [ᴱ√] twinkle, [ᴹ√] emit slender (silver pale) beams”
THIL	“shine silver; white light”

hiuta-

wink, hint

hiuta- vb. "wink, hint" (VT46:6)

alca-

verb. glitter

glitter

mirilya-

glitter

mirilya- vb. "glitter" (MBIRIL)

tinthiltha-

verb. to twinkle, *sparkle

Cognates

• Q. tintila- “to twinkle, sparkle, glitter, give tremulous light, †tremble”

Element in

• ᴺS. tinthilthad “sparkling, twinkling, scintillation”

Elements

Word	Gloss
TIN	“sparkle, spark, sparkle, spark, [ᴱ√] twinkle, [ᴹ√] emit slender (silver pale) beams”
TIL	“point, horn”

aglar

glitter

aglar (brilliance, glory), pl. eglair if there is a pl.

aglar

glitter

(brilliance, glory), pl. eglair if there is a pl.

ross

glitter

†ross (polished metal), pl. ryss (idh ryss). Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”spray, foam, rain, dew”.

ross

glitter

(polished metal), pl. ryss (idh ryss). Note: homophones mean ”reddish, russet, copper-coloured, red-haired” and also ”spray, foam, rain, dew”.

tithilla-

verb. twinkle

sisilla-

verb. to twinkle, glisten

Derivations

• √SIL “shine (white or silver)” ✧ PE22/136

Derivatives

• Q. sisíla- “to shine (frequentative)”

Variations

• sisilla ✧ PE22/136

tithilla-

verb. to twinkle, glisten

Derivations

• √THIL “shine silver; white light” ✧ PE22/136

Variations

• tithilla ✧ PE22/136

it

root. glitter, shine, shimmer, twinkle

Tolkien (re)introduced the root √IT in 1957 to address a problem he had with the etymology of the name S. Idril. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, he based this name on the root ᴹ√ID “✱desire”, and gave it the form Idhril (Ety/ID). The problem was that in the narratives, he continued to use the form Idril, which could not be derived from √ID. In Notes on Names (NN) he wrote in 1957, he introduced the root √IT to provide a new etymology for Idril, giving the root various meanings such as “(great) enhancement”, “gleaming”, “repeat, multiply” and “glitter, shine, shimmer, twinkle” (PE17/112, 156), along with alternate forms ITH, IS and ƷIT (PE17/156). He seems to have settled on √IT and the last of the listed meanings, since in The Shibboleth of Fëanor written in 1968 Tolkien said her Quenya name was Q. Itarillë based on ita- “to sparkle”, appearing with various other it- words of similar meaning (PM/346, 348 and 363 note #42).

The root √IT was basically a reversion to the original basis for the name G. Idril, which in the 1910s seems to have been based on a (hypothetical) root ✱ᴱ√ITI meaning something like “precious”. For the effects of these revisions on other roots, see the discussion in the entry for √IR “desire”.

Changes

• IT → IT “glitter” ✧ PE17/112

Derivatives

• ✶itrā “gleaming” ✧ PE17/112
  • Q. itara “gleaming” ✧ PE17/112
  • S. Idril ✧ PE17/112
• Q. ita- “to sparkle” ✧ PM/363
• Q. íta “flash” ✧ PM/363
• Q. itila “twinkling, glinting” ✧ PM/363

Element in

• ᴺQ. ítacelmë “electricity”
• Q. Itarillë “*Sparkling Brilliance” ✧ PM/363

Variations

• IT ✧ PE17/112 (IT); PE17/156; PE17/156
• ƷIT ✧ PE17/155 (ƷIT); PE17/156 (ƷIT)
• ITH ✧ PE17/156
• IS ✧ PE17/156 (IS)
• it ✧ PM/363

ith

root. glitter, shine, shimmer, twinkle