Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

karka

noun. tooth

Cognates

  • N. carch “tooth, fang” ✧ Ety/KARAK

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KARAK “sharp fang, spike, tooth” ✧ Ety/KARAK; EtyAC/KARAK

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√KÁRAK > karka[karka]✧ Ety/KARAK
ᴹ√KARAK > karka[karka]✧ EtyAC/KARAK
Qenya [Ety/KARAK; EtyAC/KARAK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

korko

noun. crow

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “crow” derived from the root ᴹ√KORKA of the same meaning, replacing rejected ᴹQ. karko derived from ᴹ√KARKA (Ety/KARKA).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. karon “crow” (QL/45), a word that was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/45). In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, Tolkien had Q. quáco “crow” derived from primitive ✶k(a)wāk (WJ/395), but in notes from the late 1960s Tolkien instead had Q. {koake >>} quácë “frog” < ✶kāwāk, with primitive ✶ for “crow” (VT47/36).

Neo-Quenya: Since quácë “frog” is later than (and possibly replaces) Q. quáco “crow”, I prefer corco as “crow” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

Changes

  • karkokorko “crow” ✧ Ety/KARKA

Cognates

  • N. corch “crow” ✧ Ety/KARKA; Ety/KARKA

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KORKA “crow” ✧ Ety/KARKA; Ety/KARKA

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√KARKA > karko[karko]✧ Ety/KARKA
ᴹ√KORKA > korko[karko]✧ Ety/KARKA

Variations

  • karko ✧ Ety/KARKA (karko)

nelke

noun. tooth

nele

noun. tooth

nelet

noun. tooth

The normal Quenya word for “tooth”, appearing in The Etymologies written around 1937 derived from the root ᴹ√NELEK of the same meaning (Ety/NÉL-EK), where the final k became t. Its plural form nelki [nelci] indicates a stem form of nelk- [nelc-], since in most inflected forms the word would undergo the Quenya syncope and loose the second e. A variant form nelke (EtyAC/NÉL-EK) may reflect a reformation to align with those inflected forms.

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had ᴱQ. nele (neli-) “tooth” under the early root ᴱ√NELE (QL/65), a word also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (PME/65). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien instead had ᴱQ. nyat “tooth” (PE16/136), but that seems to have been a transient idea. ᴹQ. nelet first appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from 1936 alongside variant nelke, but it was replaced by nele and then later nelke was deleted as well (PE21/56 and note #12). Both nelet and variant nelke were restored in The Etymologies (see above).

Primitive √nelek “tooth” was mentioned in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s, but its Quenya derivatives were not listed.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use nelet (nelc-) “tooth” as the traditional form of this word, with nelcë as a modern variant with more regular inflections.

Changes

  • neletnele ✧ PE21/56

Cognates

  • On. nele “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK; Ety/NÉL-EK
  • N. nêl “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK
  • N. neleg “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK

Derivations

  • ᴹ√NELEK “tooth” ✧ Ety/NÉL-EK; PE19/058; PE21/56

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√NÉL-EK > nelet[nelek] > [nelet]✧ Ety/NÉL-EK

Variations

  • nelke ✧ EtyAC/NÉL-EK; PE21/56 (nelke)
  • nele ✧ PE21/56
Qenya [Ety/NÉL-EK; EtyAC/NÉL-EK; PE19/058; PE21/56] Group: Eldamo. Published by