foa (1) noun "breath, puff of breath" (VT47:35, 36)
Quenya
fá
noun. breath, puff of breath
fá
noun. *ray of light, flame
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶phāy > fá [pʰāj] > [pʰā] > [ɸā] > [fā] ✧ PE19/104 Variations
- fá ✧ PE19/104
foa
breath, puff of breath
fëa
noun. (indwelling or incarnate) spirit, soul
Cognates
- S. fae “incarnate spirit, incarnate spirit, *soul” ✧ MR/165
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶phăya > fëa [pʰaja] > [ɸaja] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ MR/349 ✶phăya > fëa [pʰaja] > [ɸaja] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ MR/470 ✶phắyā > fëa [pʰajā] > [ɸajā] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ NM/237 ✶fáyā > fëa [pʰajā] > [ɸajā] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ PE17/124 ✶phayā > făyā > fea [pʰajā] > [ɸajā] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ PE19/104 √PHAYA > fëa [pʰaja] > [ɸaja] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ PM/352 ✶phayā > fea [pʰajā] > [ɸajā] > [ɸea] > [fea] ✧ VT41/14 Variations
- fea ✧ PE19/104; VT41/14
föa
noun. breath, puff of breath
A word appearing as fā in 1968 notes on primitive monosyllables as a derivative of ✶phā “breath, puff of breath” (VT47/35). Tolkien said this word survived in Quenya, but in a later sentence he wrote Q. fawa, foa, perhaps indicating its more common form was foa. The form foa appeared unglossed in 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD), and also in 1957 Quenya Notes (QN) as a derivative of √PHAW “emit (foul breath etc.)” and an element in foalóke, probably = “✱breath-dragon” (PE17/181). As such, I consider foa the most likely Quenya form and “breath, puff of breath” its most likely meaning.
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, this word appeared as ᴱQ. foa “hoard, treasure” under the early root ᴱ√FOƷO “hide, hoard, store up, lay up in secret”, also as an element in ᴱQ. Foalôke as the name of a dragon (QL/38).
Cognates
- S. faw “*breath, puff of breath” ✧ PE17/181
Derivations
- √PHAW “emit (foul breath), *breath, puff of breath, breath, puff of breath; blow, emit (foul breath); [ᴹ√] gape” ✧ PE17/181
- √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)”
- ✶phā “breath, puff of breath” ✧ VT47/35
- √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)”
- ✶phawa ✧ VT47/35
Element in
- Q. föalócë “*breath-dragon” ✧ PE17/181
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √PHAW > foa [pʰawa] > [ɸawa] > [ɸoa] > [foa] ✧ PE17/181 ✶phā > fā [pʰā] > [ɸā] > [fā] ✧ VT47/35 ✶fawa > foa [pʰawa] > [ɸawa] > [ɸoa] > [foa] ✧ VT47/35 Variations
- foa ✧ PE17/181; VT47/35
- fā ✧ VT47/35
An (archaic) Parmaquesta (PQ) noun in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s derived from primitive ✶phāy as an example of how ancient final y vanished after long vowels in monosyllables (PE19/104). A few pages earlier, primitive ✶phāy was glossed “flame, ray of light” (PE17/102), so perhaps this was the intended meaning of fá also. But Tolkien said it was given up in favor of the longer form fëa (PE19/104), which elsewhere was usually translated as “spirit”.
Neo-Quenya: Given that this word is archaic and is of uncertain meaning, I would avoid its use for purposes of Neo-Quenya, using words like ᴹQ. alka for “ray of light” and Q. fëa for “spirit”.