lamba (1) noun "tongue" (physical tongue, while lambë = "language") (WJ:394, LAB; according to VT45:25, Tolkien first wrote lambe, but as noted, this alternative form is rather used for "tongue" in the sense of "language")
Quenya
lamba
noun. (physical) tongue
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶lambā > lamba [lambā] > [lamba] ✧ WJ/394 ✶lab-mā > lamba [labmā] > [lambā] > [lamba] ✧ WJ/416
lamba
tongue
lamba
hammer
lamba (2) noun ?"hammer" (possibly an alternative form of namba, q.v., but the source is obscure and namba is to be preferred) (VT45:37)
lambë
tongue, language
lambë noun "tongue, language" (the usual word for 'language' in non-technical use) (WJ:368, 394, ÑGAL/ÑGALAM), "the language or dialect of a particular country or people...never used for 'language' in general, but only for particular forms of speech" (VT39:15); also name of tengwa #27 (Appendix E). (In early "Qenya", lambë was defined as "tongue" of body, but also of land, or even = "speech" [LT2:339]. In LotR-style Quenya lambë only means "tongue = speech", whereas the word for a physical tongue is lamba.) Lambë Valarinwa "Valarin tongue" (WJ:397), lambë Quendion "the language of the Elves" (PM:395), Lambengolmor pl. noun "Loremasters of Tongues", a school founded by Fëanor (WJ:396); sg. #Lambengolmo. Spelt Lambeñgolmor in VT48:6.
namba
hammer
namba noun "a hammer" (NDAM), namba- vb. "to hammer" (NDAM). According to VT45:37, Tolkien may have considered the alternative form lamba, but the source is obscure and lamba is assigned a quite different meaning ("tongue") elsewhere.
lambe
noun. tongue
quetil
tongue, language
quetil ("q")noun "tongue, language" (KWET)
A word for the physical tongue appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, derived from primitive ✶lab-mā = “✱lick-thing” (WJ/394, 416). It was distinct from Q. lambë “tongue” = “language” (WJ/394). ᴹQ. lamba “tongue” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√LAB “lick” (Ety/LAB), where it was likewise distinct from ᴹQ. lambe “language”, as in ᴹQ. parmalambe “book-language” (Ety/PAR).