sir-

flow

sir- (1) vb. "flow" (SIR)

sir-

verb. flow

sirya

verb. flow

sirilla

flowing

sirilla participle *"flowing", "Qenya" participle of siri- "flow" (Narqelion, cf. QL:xiv)

sirya-

verb. to flow, to flow [smoothly]

Derivations

• ✶sirya- “to flow, to flow [smoothly]”
  • √SIR “flow” ✧ PE22/135

lutta-

flow, float

lutta- vb. "flow, float" (LT1:249)

lutu-

flow, float

lutu- vb. "flow, float" (LT1:249)

celumë

stream, flow

celumë ("k")noun "stream, flow" (KEL, LT1:257); locative pl. celumessen ("k") in Markirya (ëar-celumessen is translated "in the flowing sea", lit. *"in sea-streams").

ulto-

pour

ulto- vb. "pour" (intransitive?) (LT1:270; in Tolkien's later Quenya ulya- pa.t. ullë)

sirea

adjective. flowing, liquid

celu

stream

celu _("k")_noun "stream" (LT1:257; rather celumë in LotR-style Quenya)

ulu-

pour

ulu- vb. "pour" (transitive?) (LT1:270; in Tolkien's later Quenya ulya- pa.t. ulyanë)

ulya-

pour

ulya- vb. "pour", intr. pa.t. ullë, tr. ulyanë (ULU). Cf. ullier "poured", a pl. past tense of ulya- occurring in LR:47; read probably *uller in Tolkien's later Quenya. In SD:247, ullier is translated "should flow".

lut-

verb. to float, sail, *swim, flow

@@@ gloss “swim” from NQNT based on ᴹ√LUT glosses

Derivations

• √LUT “float, float, [ᴹ√] swim”

sirith

noun. flowing

sirith

place name. Flowing

A river in Gondor appearing on the maps of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1186), it is simply the gerund sirith “flowing” used as a name (SA/sîr, VT42/11).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, N. Sirith appeared the list of rivers of Gondor (TI/312).

sirith

noun. flowing

Element in

• S. Sirith “Flowing” ✧ SA/sîr

Elements

Word	Gloss
SIR	“flow”
-th	“abstract noun”

Variations

• Sirith ✧ SA/sîr; VT42/11

rib-

verb. to flow like a (torrent ?)

The reading of the gloss is uncertain

nên

stream

(water, lake, pool, waterland), construct nen, pl. nîn

rant

stream

(watercourse, water-channel, lode, vein), pl. raint (idh raint), coll. pl. rannath.

sirith

stream

(i hirith, o sirith) (flowing), no distinct pl. except with article (i sirith)

sîr

stream

_ n. _stream. >> Nanduhirion

siria

flow

(vb.) siria- (i hiria, i siriar).

siria

flow

(i hiria, i siriar).

cell

flowing

(adj., used of water) cell (running), lenited gell, pl. cill

cell

adjective. flowing

Derivations

• √KEL “flow (down or away), run (of water or rivers), go away, flow (down or away), run (of water or rivers), go away, [ᴹ√] run away especially downwards or at end; [ᴱ√] ooze, trickle”

cell

flowing

(running), lenited gell, pl. cill

sirith

flowing

(noun) sirith (i hirith, o sirith) (stream), no distinct pl. except with article (i sirith)

sirith

flowing

(i hirith, o sirith) (stream), no distinct pl. except with article (i sirith)

rimma

flow like a torrent

(i rimma, idh rimmar)

ol-

verb. to pour

Derivations

• √UL “pour (out), flow, pour (out), flow, [ᴱ√] flow fast”

celeth

stream

(noun) 1) celeth (i geleth, o cheleth), pl. celith (i chelith), 2) sirith (i hirith, o sirith) (flowing), no distinct pl. except with article (i sirith), 3) nên (water, lake, pool, waterland), construct nen, pl. nîn, 4) rant (watercourse, water-channel, lode, vein), pl. raint (idh raint), coll. pl. rannath.

celeth

stream

(i geleth, o cheleth), pl. celith (i chelith)

phurus-

verb. to gush, flow

A verb translated “to-gush” or “flow” appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247 SD/311), in later writings attested only in the form phursâ. This form superficially seems to be the aorist of the triconsonantal verb phurus-. Its two draft forms phurusam > phurrusim further support the idea that the verb stem is phurus-. However, ordinarily aorist forms end in a short -a, so perhaps there is something unusual about this formation. It also lacks the usual plural verb suffix -m appearing in first-draft version of the Lament, which would ordinally be required to agree with the plural subject. Since phursâ appears with the subjunctive or optative prefix du-, perhaps it is a special (infinitive?) form of the verb.

Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/PHUR) the verb stem may be phursâ- instead of phurus, so that it is a derived-verb. This isn’t consistent with earlier forms, but it is possible that Tolkien changed his mind about the basic verb form.

Element in

• Ad. azrîya du-phursâ akhâsada “that [the] seas should gush into [the] chasm” ✧ SD/247
• Ad. azrē nai {phurusam >>} phurrusim akhās-ada “seas might-flow Chasm-into” ✧ SD/311

sir

root. flow

The root √SIR and similar roots meant “flow” for most of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was ᴱ√SIŘI [SIÐI] “flow” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variant sini and derived forms like ᴱQ. sindi “river” and ᴱQ. síre “stream” (QL/84). The latter word became “river” in Tolkien’s later writings, and words appearing in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon like G. sîr “river” and G. siriol “flowing” (GL/67-68) rather than ✱✱sidh- indicate Tolkien very early revised the root to ✱ᴱ√SIRI. Indeed, the root was ᴹ√SIR “flow” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, and the root appeared with this form and essential meaning several times in Tolkien’s later writings (PE22/127, 135).

Derivatives

• ✶siru-
• ✶sīru “stream”
• ✶sirya- “to flow, to flow [smoothly]” ✧ PE22/135
  • Q. sirya- “to flow, to flow [smoothly]”
• Q. sír(ë) “river, river, [ᴱQ.] stream”
• S. sîr “river, stream” ✧ SA/sîr
• ᴺS. siriol “flowing, fluent, liquid, melliflous”

Element in

• ᴺS. ethiria- “to flow out”
• S. sirith “flowing” ✧ SA/sîr

Variations

• sir- ✧ SA/sîr

sirya-

verb. to flow, to flow [smoothly]

Derivations

• √SIR “flow” ✧ PE22/135

Derivatives

• Q. sirya- “to flow, to flow [smoothly]”

Variations

• sirja- ✧ PE22/134
• sirja ✧ PE22/134; PE22/135

ul

root. pour (out), flow, pour (out), flow, [ᴱ√] flow fast

This root was used for “pour, flow” for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√ULU⁽⁾ “pour, flow fast” with derivatives like ᴱQ. Ulmo and ᴱQ. ulto- “pour” (QL/97). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. ulin “liquid” and G. ultha- “pour out” (GL/74), but rejected forms like G. gul- “ooze, trickle” and G. gulta- “pour out” indicate Tolkien considered making the root be ✱ᴱ√ƷULU (GL/43). In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root was ᴹ√ULU “pour, flow” with derivatives like ᴹQ. ulunde “flood”, ᴹQ. ulya- “pour”, N. eil- “it is raining”, and N. oll “torrent, mountain-stream” (Ety/ULU). The root √UL(U) appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings with glosses like “flow” (PE17/168), “pour” (PE22/133), and “pour out” (WJ/400). It may have been connected to ᴹ√LU “time” (PE17/168); see that entry for discussion.

Derivatives

• ✶ul- “to pour” ✧ PE22/133
• Q. lúmë “time, period of time, hour” ✧ PE17/168
• ᴺQ. minul(da) “ingot”
• Q. ul- “to rain”
• Q. ulo “rain”
• ᴺS. minol “ingot”
• ᴺS. ol- “to pour”
• ᴺS. olla- “to ooze, *trickle”
• ᴺS. ylin “liquid”

Element in

• ᴺQ. ulma “flagon, *pitcher”
• Q. Ulmo “Pourer”
• ᴺS. olf “jar, flagon, *pitcher”

Variations

• ULU ✧ PE17/168; PE17/188

kel

root. flow (down or away), run (of water or rivers), go away, flow (down or away), run (of water or rivers), go away, [ᴹ√] run away especially downwards or at end; [ᴱ√] ooze, trickle

√KEL was established as the root for “flow” very early in Tolkien’s Elvish languages, also with the variant vocalic extension √KELU. ᴱ√KELE appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “flow, run” and also “ooze, trickle”, though the latter sense did not appear in later writing (QL/46). It also had a variant ᴱ√KELU elsewhere compared to ᴱ√QEL+U of similar meaning (QL/75). It had derivatives in both Qenya and Gnomish such as ᴱQ. kelu- “flow”, G. celu- “trickle” and ᴱQ. kelu(me)/G. celu “stream” (QL/75; GL/25).

The root ᴹ√KEL reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s where it seems to have an added connotation of “flow downwards”, given its gloss “go, run (especially of water), flow away downhill” (Ety/KEL). This more specific meaning to the root continued to appear in later writings, with glosses such as 1930s “flow, flow away, run (of rivers)” (PE18/58), 1940s “run away especially downwards or at end” (PE22/114), 1950s “go away, flow away or flow down (of water)” (PE18/103), and 1960s “flow (down)” (PE17/157). The u-extension ✶kelu with the (continuative?) sense “flow, well up” remained common throughout all these periods as well (PE18/86; PE22/98, 133, 135).

Starting with The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien compared this root with etymological variants √KWEL “fade (away), die away, grow faint” and √KYEL “come to an end, cease, run out” (Ety/KWEL, KYEL; PE18/58, 103), and indeed Tolkien used it as one of his basic examples of such etymological variations:

> There existed in Quenderin 1. √KEL “flow, flow away, run (of rivers)”. Of this simple base, since the initial variation is possible, while the sundóma is the same 2. √KJEL “cease, come to an end”, and 3. √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” may be regarded as differentiated variants (second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa, TQ2, circa 1950, PE18/103).

A similar note appeared in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) from the 1930s (PE18/58). Likewise ✶kelu was one of his main examples of variant vocalic extensions:

> This “variant extension” always had the form i or u. It appears in many cases where its original function is no longer discoverable, if indeed that was more than to serve as a euphonic connecting link to affixes. But the added element [u] often appears as a differentiator as in kel¹-u beside kel², and some old verbs have a fixed u as the end of their base (TQ2, PE18/86).

In the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, it seems that √KYEL “end” was replaced by √TEL “close, end, come to an end” (WJ/411) as indicated by the replacement of 1930s ᴹQ. tyelma “ending” (LR/72) by later Q. telma “conclusion” (WJ/411). In a 1967 note the etymological variant √KYEL seems to have been assigned a new meaning “go down slowly”, which served as the basis for Q. tyellë “grade, a step in a stairway or ladder” (PE17/157).

To summarize, the base root √KEL meant “flow (down)” for pretty much all of Tolkien’s life, usually used with a variant vocalic extension √KELU, and starting in the 1930s it had etymological variants √KWEL and √KYEL, with √KWEL always meaning “fade (away), die” and √KYEL meaning “cease, end” from the 1930s to 40s, but changing to “go down slowly” sometime between the 1950 and 1967 (but probably before the 1st edition of LotR), with “end” being reassigned to √TEL by 1960. See the entry on √TEL for further discussion of those developments.

Derivatives

• ✶kelu- “to well up, flow (out swiftly), well forth” ✧ PE18/086; PE22/133
• ✶kelumē ✧ PE18/086
• ✶kelus “brook”
• ᴺQ. celeta “trickle”
• ᴺQ. celu “source, origin”
• Q. celumë “flowing, flood (tide), stream, flow(ing), stream, flood (tide); [ᴱQ.] fountain, spring”
• ᴺQ. celwë “spring, source”
• ᴺS. celf “channel”
• ᴺS. cell “flowing”
• ᴺS. celu “spring, source, spring, source; [G.] rill, stream, runlet”

Element in

• ✶ektel- “to spring out (of water), spurt out, gush”
• ✶et-kelē “spring, issue of water”
• √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint, fade, die away, grow faint, [ᴹ√] fade away; wither, [ᴱ√] decay, perish, die” ✧ PE18/103
• √KYEL “go down slowly” ✧ PE17/157
• √KYEL “(come to an) end, cease, run out” ✧ PE18/103
• ᴺQ. aucelië “sewer, (lit.) away-flowing”
• Q. celima “fluent, fluent, *(lit.) able to flow freely”
• ᴺQ. ítacelmë “electricity”
• S. Celduin “River Running”
• S. Celon “stream flowing down from heights” ✧ SA/kel

Variations

• KEL¹ ✧ PE18/086 (KEL¹)
• kel- ✧ PE18/091; SA/kel

ul-

verb. to pour

Derivations

• √UL “pour (out), flow, pour (out), flow, [ᴱ√] flow fast” ✧ PE22/133

sīru

noun. stream

Derivations

• √SIR “flow”

Variations

• sīrŭ ✧ PE21/80

likwis

root. clear, transparent

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. liquis “clarity, transparence, limpidity”

siria-

verb. to flow

siria-

verb. to flow

Cognates

• ᴹQ. sir- “to flow” ✧ Ety/SIR

Derivations

• On. sirya- “flow” ✧ Ety/SIR
  • ᴹ√SIR “flow” ✧ Ety/SIR

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. sirya- > sirio	[sirja-] > [siria-]	✧ Ety/SIR

rhib-

verb. to flow like a (torrent ?)

The reading of the gloss is uncertain