lepne would yield lempe without need to substitute m. See further under Ordinals.
The ordinals in Common Eldarin appear to have been formed by addition of adjectival -yā to a stem in which the second vowel was absent. Not by syncope, but according to the primitive modes of derivation from bases. In Quenya the ending -ea was generalized for 3rd, 4th, 6th-9th inclusive. It was the natural form for Quenya in 3rd, 4th, 6th, 9th, and ousted the oya proper to 7th, 8th.{59} The Quenya forms were: 1st minya; 2nd tatya (Note 4) early replaced by attea; 3rd nelya, also neldea; 4th kantea; 5th lemenya (the usual form; lempea only appears in late Quenya); 6th enquea; 7th otsea; 8th toldea;{60} 9th nertea; 10th quainea. The Sindarin forms were cardinal 1 mîn, er; 2 tâd; 3 nêl; 4 canad; 5 leben; 6 eneg; 7 odog{61} (the historical form odo < otoso occurred in Doriathrin according to the grammarians); 8 toloð;{62} 9 neder; 10 pae. The Sindarin ordinals were mainly formed with suffixed -ui, derived from ō-ya, ū-ya (which were present in 7th and 8th), and generalized as a suffix in these and other adjectives. 1st mein, main (from minya, only used in senses ‘prime, chief, pre-eminent', etc.), minui; 2nd taid (only used in senses ‘supporting, second in command', etc.), tadui; 3rd neil, nail (late S. nelui); 4th canthui; 5th levnui; 6th enchui; 7th othui; 8th tollui;{63} 9th nedrui; 10th paenui (Note 5). Other occasional forms are 6th enecthui, with -thui deduced from 4th, 7th, 8th; 7th odothui. othui is the normal and older form, and is directly derived from C.E. otsōya.
In this setting the aberrant Q. lemenya and S. levnui may be better understood. The form lemenya in Quenya plainly supports the view that the Common Eldarin numeral for 5 differed from the others from 3 to 9: it was not originally a triconsonantal stem, the final nasal was an inflexion, and there was no ómataima beyond it at the primitive time when these adjectives were devised; the adjectival -ya was therefore added direct to the nasal. The m however is a Quenya alteration based on lempe. In Telerin, in contrast to Quenya and Sindarin, the ordinals, under the influence of minya, tatya, nelya, and lepenya, generalized the pattern in which -ya was added direct to the final consonant of the stem: so T. 4th canatya, 6th enetya, 7th ototya,{64} 8th tolodya,{65} 9th neterya, 10th paianya. It may be observed that 5th was lepenya; since the cardinal was lepen and there was no such form as Q. lempe to induce a change to lemen-. That Telerin, though in many ways the most archaic of the Eldarin tongues, was not immune from analogical changes is seen in the form ototya (with tya instead of sya) after -tya in 2nd, 4th, 6th; but it would be unreasonable to suppose that T. lepenya has p after lepen instead of m as in the Q. lemenya; since the m is isolated in Quenya and satisfactorily explicable from lempe, whereas a variant stem *lemen would be obscure in its relations to lepen, which has credible etymological connexions.
The S. levnui does not support *lemen. It is true that *lemnui made on a pattern similar to the other numerals would yield levnui; but so would a stem-form lepn- in Sindarin. In Sindarin voiceless stops [i.e., p, t, k] before nasals became voiced > b, d, g, and then together with the original voiced stops in this position became nasals before homorganic nasals (tn, dn > nn; pm, bm > mm), but before other nasals became spirants as generally medially (pn, bn > vn; tm, dm > ðm, later > ðv, ðw; kn, gn > gn > in; km, gm > gm > im > iv, iw). Since, however, Quenya and Telerin show clearly that the stem lepen was originally a distinct stem not primitively capable of extrusion of the second vowel, the actual history of the Sindarin aberration is probably this: the sequel of C.E. lepenya would have produced *lepein(a) [deleted: more probably lebein(a)], but its aberration from its neighbours would have only the support of the distant *neil(a) 3rd, which was not a triconsonantal stem; it was therefore remodelled to lepni(a) after enki(a) 6th and nerti(a) 9th and the similar pattern of the stems in *kantaia 4th, otsoia 7th, toltoia 8th. This lepni then followed the normal Sindarin development to levni, subsequently adopting as all the others of its neighbours the ending ui.
A torn half-sheet placed among this discussion of Eldarin numerals reads:
Far too complicated.lemenya must be abandoned, the Old Quenya reflex in Vanyarin was lepenya (as in Telerin). In Noldorin Quenya its aberration was corrected by lempea (with -ea of other ordinals) derived from lempe, and before the Exile this was already the usual spoken form of 5th in Noldorin Quenya, though the Noldor all knew lepenya since that was used in Vanyarin and also in Telerin.
Author's notes to the account of the Eldarin numerals
Note 1: The simpler, and probably older, bi-consonantal forms occur, however, in adverbial or prefixed forms: as AT(A) ‘double, bi-, di-’, in numerals signifying ‘doubled'; similarly NEL-, KAN-, etc.{66}
Note 2: Cf. the probable ultimate relationship between five, finger, and fist.{67} It was considered probable that originally it was a plural *lepem—m being certainly an ancient plural indicator in Common Eldarin—‘fingers', sc. of one hand. But if so lepem must have been altered by dissimilation > lepen and the final -n associated with the third consonant of the other numerals.
Note 3: But the chief reason, no doubt, was the strong predilection which Quenya showed for the sequences of sonants: m, n, n; l, r before stops, as against those in which the sonants followed. Transposition also occurs in Quenya in ancient forms of tr, tl, etc. > rt, lt. Of this an example occurs in C.E. *netere which in Quenya appears as nerte.
Note 4: The reason for the Quenya divergence in the ordinal: Q. atta 2, but T. tata, S. tad is not certain. The appearance of at(a) in adverbial or prefixal use in Quenya, Telerin, and Sindarin; [and] of Q. atatya ‘double' and S. edaid ‘double', suggest that the most primitive form was AT, reduplicated to Atat to enforce the duality. Of a primitive atata the normal Quenya development was atta, while atatya remained because the second a was not syncopated, being in a long syllable.{68} But whatever its origin ATATA was treated as a triconsonantal stem: those in which there was no actual initial consonant were in ancient modes of derivation often deprived of the initial vowel when the accent was placed on the second syllable. T. tata, S. tad may thus be referred to (a)táta. The placing of the accent would not affect Quenya since in PQ the accent became placed on the first syllable in all cases, except for words formed with still recognized prefixes.{69}
Note 5: The forms canthui, enchui, tolthui are those of the southern Sindarin dialect adopted by the Noldor. In the Northern dialect (which perished in the course of the war against Morgoth) nt, nc, mp had remained unchanged. In the Southern dialects nt, ñk, mp remained when standing finally—or more probably the spirant was re-stopped in this position; for similarly final lth > lt, though rth remained finally. Medially however nth (nþ), nch (ñx), mf (mp with bilabial f), and lth (lþ) became long voiceless n, ñ, m, l, though the old spelling was mostly retained (beside nh, ñh, mh, lh), and among those to whom Sindarin became a language of lore, as the men of Gondor who were or claimed to be of Númenórean race, the spirant was reintroduced from the spelling. In true Sindarin of the Elves or Elf-friends of the early ages the final form was often introduced medially. In the transcription of Elvish Sindarin in The Lord of the Rings ll is used in the manner of modern Welsh for the medial voiceless l; as in mallorn < malhorn < malþorn < malt ‘gold' and orn ‘tree’.{70}
1
My thanks to Mr. Bibire for providing me with a photocopy of this letter.
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2
That it was two lines from a ‘poem attributed to Cynewulf, the Crist, that inspired Tolkien to create his mythology (cf. L:385, and Carpenter's Biography, pp. 72, 79), is an irony that no doubt keenly sharpened Tolkien's lament.
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3
I.e., LR:1015.
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4
No such corrected edition appeared in 1969, or during the remainder of Tolkien's life. For the corrected map that Tolkien refers to, and its fate, cf. UT:261-62 footnote, and 265.
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5
I.e.,LR:962.
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6
I.e.,LR:1088,entry for PH.
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7
Cf. L:425: "Q. permitted, indeed favoured, the ‘dentals' n, l, r, s, t as final consonants: no other final consonants appear in the Q. lists" Tolkien's list here omits s, no doubt unintentionally.
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8
Original p in most environments disappeared in Celtic.
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9
Tolkien fell down stairs and injured his leg on June 17,1968, while he and Edith were preparing to move house from Oxford to Bournemouth. Cf. L:391ff., and Humphrey Carpenter's Biography, p. 251.
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10
I.e., LR:267,365.
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11
Altered on the typescript from glâna.
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12
Comparing Q. lantalka ‘boundary post or mark’ (?= lan-talka) with S. glandagol ‘boundary mark" (?= glan-dagol) suggests the possibility of a common primitive element *takala ‘post, mark", realized as Q. *talka (with regular syncope of the second a and metathesis of the contact -kl- to -lk-), S. *tagol. Cf. TAK- ‘fix, make fast' (V:389).
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13
The Telerin cognate glania- and the vowel mutation of a > et suggest that this form is perhaps to be corrected to gleinia-. However, Tolkien was exceedingly careful to correct errors in his citation of elements from his languages, so if gleina- here is an uncorrected error, it would be most unusual. Moreover, the phonological development of some of the Telerin and Sindarin ordinals originally ending in -ya discussed at the end of the appendix of this essay suggests that T. glania- and S. gleina- maybe plausible cognates: cf. T. nelya ‘third’, (archaic S.?) *neil(a), S. neil, nail.
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14
I.e., LR:1040. Isen here is an editorial replacement for Gwathlo on the typescript since, as Christopher Tolkien notes, that river must be intended.
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15
Cf. UT:416 s.v. Adorn.
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16
Angast ‘Long Cape' appears to consist of an(n)- ‘long' and *cast ‘cape, headland', the latter evidently a derivative of KAS- ‘head' (V:362). Cf. English cape ‘promontory, headland', ultimately derived from Latin caput 'head'.
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17
Older Q. waþar ‘veil' may also occur in the place-name Avathar, said in the later Quenta Silmarillion (of the late 19505) to mean ‘The Shadows" in "Ancient Quenya," referring to the land beneath the eastern feet of the Pelóri where "the shadows were deepest and thickest in the world" (X:284). Note, however, that in Quendi and Eldar (of 1959-60) Pengolodh says that Avathar was a name derived anciently from the language of the Valar, stating flatly: "This is not Elvish" (XI:404).
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18
Cf. 8:359 s.v. gwath, wath. The form morchaint is analyzable as mar- ‘dark' + chaint ‘shapes', where the latter element presumably represents a spirantized form of underlying *caint ‘shapes', itself the plural of *cant ‘shape'. Cf. KAT- ‘shape' (V:362) and S. echant past tense verb ‘made' (literally, ‘shaped'), LR:297-98.
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19
The figure in this sentence was altered on the typescript from "ăya > oe, ĭya > ei; ŭya > œ, e".
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20
"enchui" is a replacement on the typescript for deleted "enegui".
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21
A difficult note appears in the margin here, seemingly against and made at the same time as these deletions; it appears to read: "purely ui" and "revise". In connection with this, it is to be noted that the brief account of the phonological development of the Eldarin numerals given here differs in some respects from the much longer account arising later in this same essay, in the entry for Levnui: a further sign of the fluid nature of this composition.
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22
The map of Middle-earth actually read Hithaiglin, prior to Christopher Tolkien's correction of the name to Hithaeglir when he redrew the map for Unfinished Tales. On the variation Aiglos vs. Aeglos (of the name of the spear of Gil-galad, LR:237), Christopher Tolkien notes that he substituted the latter for the former in Of the Rings of Power (S:294).
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23
I.e., LR:221.
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24
This was changed to "raime ‘network, lace'," then marked stet.
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25
That is, in Quenya there are two homophonous and etymologically related
verbs raita: raita1 ‘to make a network or lace', synonymous with rea; and raita2 ‘to catch in a net'.
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26
Cf. KAS-'head',V:362.
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27
Altered from WAY. Cf. the base WEY- ‘wind, weave (V:398).
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28
An initial, handwritten version of these last three typescript sentences reads: "Similar was √REB applied to actual nets (as for fishing or snaring). Q. rembe 'a hunter's or fisher's net', S. rem. Cp. remmirath ‘group of jewels caught in a net' = Pleiades."
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29
I.e., LR:1089 n. 1.
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30
Cf. RINGI- ‘cold', V:383.
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31
I.e., mor- ‘dark' + nan 'valley'.
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32
Cf. LR:1087, entry for F.
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33
In other words, the name is pronounced Levnui, with the sound of English v, but is best spelt Lefnui in an English context.
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34
This not uncommon phenomenon of place names is exemplified further in The Lord of the Rings by such forms as Bree-hill, bree being an anglicization of British *brigā (> Welsh bre ‘hill'); and Chetwood, containing an anglicization of British *kaito- (> Welsh coed ‘wood, forest'). Cf. XII:39 n., 81.
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35
With then ‘short' cf. the verse-mode names Minlamad thent / estent *'short alliterating' (XI:311) and ann-thennath *'long-shorts'(LR:189); Lammasethen, the "shorter account of Pengolod" (V:192); and the base STINTĀ- ‘short' (V.388). Patrick Wynne and I discuss the interpretation of the two verse-names just given in our contribution, "Three Elvish Verse Modes", to the anthology Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on the History of Middle-earth (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2000).
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36
The Etymologies has KHOP- *'haven, harbour' (V:364), and the deleted base KOP- (V:365) of the same meaning, but these would be expected to yield Sindarin forms in hôb, hob- and côb, cob-, respectively, not côf.
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37
This was originally written as "Elvish settlement".
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38
Tolkien provides a similar explanation for the initial element of the name Gondor itself: gond ‘stone'; cf. L:409-10. Tolkien (appropriately) adopted this element into his Elvish languages from ond, onn ‘stone', one of a very few words thought to have survived from the pre-Celtic languages of Britain; cf. L:410,VT30:10-14.
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39
Minaþurie is an alteration from Mitaþurie. Ondonóre Nómesseron is clearly "the Place-names of Gondor", with nómesseron readily analyzable as name ‘place' (cf. sinome ‘in this place", LR:946) + esse ‘name' + r plural marker + -on genitive pl. suffix, 'of the". This leaves minaþurie to translate enquiry'. Noting that enquire is ultimately derived from Latin in ‘in, into' + quaerere ‘to seek', we can speculatively analyze minaþurie as *mina ‘in, into' + *þurie verbal noun ‘(the/an act of) seeking'. If so, mina is doubtless to be referred to the base MI- ‘inside', whence Q. mi ‘in, within, mir and minna ‘to the inside, into', and mitya adj. ‘interior'. See also the element mit- ‘in-' in Mittalmar ‘Inlands' (UT:165). þurie is a curious form, the substitution of s for þ ever
ywhere being a distinctive feature of (specifically Noldorin) Quenya as spoken in Middle-earth (cf. XII:331-36, and VT41:7-8). The use of þ here is perhaps meant to convey the conventional use of the tengwa thúle (súle) in those words having s from original þ (cf. LR:1088, entry for TH; XII:332,338-39); and further to convey the antiquity of the work so titled. It is thus likely to be pronounced suríe. Noting the gerundial/infinitival ending -ie (UT:317 n. 43), we may further analyze þurie as
The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor Page 4