axo

bone

axo noun "bone"; pl. axor in Markirya

axo

noun. bone

A word for “bone” appearing in the Markirya poem from the 1960s in its plural form axor (MC/222-223). It might be related (conceptually if not etymologically) to the root √AKAS “neck, ridge” (PE17/92).

Conceptual Development: A similar word ᴱQ. as (ass-) bone dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/33). The locative plural of this noun assari “of bones” appeared in the Oilima Markirya poem written around 1930. The form ᴹQ. astŭ- “bone” appeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/27).

Neo-Quenya: While this word could be derived from ✱aksō, I prefer to assume it is derived from ✱ᴺ✶askō with metathesis sk > ks in Quenya. This makes it more etymologically distinct from axë “neck” and also allows a (Neo) Sindarin form ᴺS. asg “bone”, since a Sindarin derivative of ✱aksō would collide with S. ach “neck”.

axo

noun. neck

axor ilcalannar

on bones gleaming

The thirty-sixth line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is the plural of axo “bone” followed by the active-participle form of the verb ilca- “gleam” with the allative plural suffix -nnar (“on[to]”), which modifies the entire phrase, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Markirya).

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> axo-r ilca-la-nna-r = “✱bone-(plural) gleam-ing-on-(plural)”

axë

noun. neck (vertebrae), rock ridge, neck [vertebrae], *(upper) spine; rock ridge

A word for “neck” appearing in notes written around 1967 as akse with (archaic) variant akas, derived from the root √AKAS “neck, ridge” (PE17/92). Tolkien specified that it was “referring properly only to the vertebrae (the bony part of the neck not including throat)”, so a more accurate translation might be “✱(upper) spine”. This word could also apply to rock ridges. In an earlier version of this note Tolkien gave the form Q. axo “neck” (PE17/146), but that conflicts with Q. axo “bone” from the Markirya poem (MC/222-223).

ilca-

gleam (white)

ilca- ("k") vb. "gleam (white)", participle ilcala with pl. allative ending ilcalannar in Markirya (axor ilcalannar "on bones gleaming")

acas

neck

acas ("k") noun "neck" (the bony part of the neck, not including throat), pl. axi ("ks") (and so perhaps general stem-form ax-). Also sg. axë (said to be a "later" form apparently replacing acas). The word is also used geographically of rock ridges. (PE17:92)

acas

noun. neck

axë

neck

axë ("ks")noun "neck" (the bony part of the neck, not including throat), pl. axi given. Also sg. acas (the alternative form axë is said to be "later" and seems to be an analogical back-formation from the pl. axi). The word is also used geographically of rock ridges. (PE17:92)

lango

noun. neck, neck, [ᴹQ.] throat

A word for “neck” appearing in notes written around 1967, derived from primitive ✶langō < √LAƷA “cross, pass over, go beyond” (PE17/92). Its primitive form meant “a passage (physical), originally applied to any route or connecting link between two places or large objects, especially such as enabled one to cross or surmount an obstacle: such as a mountain-pass, a ridge of higher land across fen-land, an isthmus etc.” (PE17/91-92). This word was then “later applied to narrower parts of a structure serving to join larger parts, especially the ‘neck’ of men and animals”. The word lango “neck” also appeared in notes from 1965, but there it was derived from √LAG, as opposed to the then-distinct root for “beyond”: √LAŊ (PE17/65).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to 1920s, where ᴱQ. lango “neck” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists (PE16/136). It was glossed “neck” in drafts of the ᴱQ. Earendel poem (PE16/100), and as “throat” in the poem itself (MC/216). ᴹQ. lango “throat” appeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/8), but in The Etymologies of the 1930s it was {lango >>} ᴹQ. lanko “throat” from the root ᴹ√LAK “swallow” (Ety/LANK). In later writings, Q. lango “neck” was restored (see above).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think lango can refer to both “neck” and “throat”, since its later derivation was from a word meaning “passage”, and hence could refer the passage from the mouth to the stomach and lungs. For the actual interior mechanism of the throat, however, I’d recommend the neologism ᴺQ. hlunco “pharynx, gullet” < ᴹ√SLUK “swallow”.

yat

neck

yat (yaht-) noun "neck" (YAK)