hrai

adjective. awkward, difficult, stiff

hrai-

verb. hrai-

hrai- prefix denoting difficulty (PE17:154, 185), cf. ur(u)-

hrai(a)

adjective. awkward, difficult, stiff, difficult, awkward, stiff

An adjective glossed “awkward, difficult” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 derived from the root √SRAG (PE17/154), and on a rejected page glossed “awry” (PE17/172). In notes from December 1959 (D59) it was given as hrai “stiff, awkward, difficult”, identical in meaning to hranga (PE17/185), but in DLN hranga was glossed “awkward, hard” distinct from hraia.

Conceptual Development: On the rejected page from DLN, hrai(a) was first glossed “easy” rather than “difficult” (PE17/172). See the entry as(a)- for a discussion of the conceptual development of words for “easy”.

Neo-Quenya: I believe that hraia means “difficult, awkward” due to resistance from the thing or people being worked upon, as opposed to urda meaning “difficult” due to the inherent complexity of the task, and hranga which has the additional connotation of “[physically] stiff, hard” when used as an adjective.

hrai-

prefix. hard, *difficult

A prefix in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 meaning “hard, ✱difficult”, based on the root √SRAG (PE17/154). Tolkien contrasted it with ur(u)- “hard, difficult” from the root √GUR “hard, stiff, difficult, cumbrous, slow”. Examples of its use include hraicénima (or hraicene) “scarcely visible, hard to see” (PE17/154) and {hrainote} “✱difficult to count”, the latter appearing unglossed and crossed through on a rejected draft page of these notes (PE17/172).

Neo-Quenya: Although Tolkien did not make it explicit, I believe hrai- implies “hard” due to resistance from the thing or people being worked upon, as opposed to ur(u)- meaning “difficult” due to the inherent complexity of the task; compare hranga- “thwart”.

hraia

awkward, difficult

hraia adj. "awkward, difficult" (PE17:154), ephemerally meant "easy" (PE17:172)

hraicénima

scarcely visible, hard to see

hraicénima adj. "scarcely visible, hard to see" (PE17:154). Also hraicenë.

hrai(a)

adjective. easy

hraicénima

adjective. scarcely visible, hard to see

hrainotë

adjective. *hard to count

hraicenë

adjective. scarcely visible, hard to see

hraita

adjective. meticulous, particular

A neologism for “meticulous, particular” coined by Raccoon posted on 2025-01-30 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), derived from an intensive/dispositional adjective ✱sraitā based on the root √SRIT “complete a design”, patterned after [ᴹQ.] [[mq|[h]laiwa]] < ᴹ✶slaiwā based on ᴹ√SLIW.

hraitasta

noun. detail

see gilruin.gitlab.io

-ima

fair

-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)

cenima

visible

cenima ("k") adj. "visible" (PE17:175); cf. cen- "see". Read possibly *cénima; see -ima and cf. hraicénima "scarcely visible" (PE17:154).

cénima

adjective. visible, visible, [ᴹQ.] able to be seen

alima

fair, good

alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)

alya

fair, good

alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)

ascenë

visible, easily seen

ascenë, ascénima (þ) adj. "visible, easily seen" (PE17:148)

cénima

adjective. visible

hranga

awkward, hard

hranga (2) adj. "awkward, hard" (PE17:154), "stiff, awkward, difficult" (PE17:185)

linda

fair, beautiful

linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.

sarda

hard

sarda adj. "hard" (VT39:17); pl. sardë "hards" may be used in the same sense as sarda tengwi, q.v. (As an independent form we would rather expect a nominal pl. sardar.)

torna

hard

#torna adj. "hard", as in tornanga (q.v.), seemingly -storna after prefixes ending in a vowel, as in the comparative forms aristorna, anastorna (PE17:56; the forms are untranslated and may not necessarily be the same adjective "hard".)

torna

adjective. hard

urda

hard, difficult, arduous

urda adj. "hard, difficult, arduous" (PE17:154)

vanya

fair

vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.

vanë

fair

vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)

vanë

adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely