lambe

noun. tongue

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.

lambina

of tongue, spoken with tongue

lambina adj. "of tongue, spoken with tongue" (PE17:46). Cf. lambë.

lambina

adjective. of tongue, spoken with tongue

Cognates

• S. lammen “of tongue, spoken with tongue” ✧ PE17/046

Elements

Word	Gloss
lambë	“language, tongue, dialect”
-ina	“adjective suffix; passive participle”

lamba

tongue

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")

lamba

noun. (physical) tongue

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).

Cognates

• S. lam “(physical) tongue; language, (physical) tongue; language, [G.] speech” ✧ WJ/394
• T. lamba “physical tongue” ✧ WJ/394

Derivations

• ✶lambā “physical tongue” ✧ WJ/394
  • √LAB “lick, move the tongue”
  • ✶labmā “*(physical) tongue” ✧ WJ/416
• ✶labmā “*(physical) tongue” ✧ WJ/416

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶lambā > lamba	[lambā] > [lamba]	✧ WJ/394
✶lab-mā > lamba	[labmā] > [lambā] > [lamba]	✧ WJ/416

quetil

tongue, language

quetil ("q")noun "tongue, language" (KWET)

-nya

my

-nya pronominal suffix, 1st person sg. possessive, "my" (VT49:16, 38, 48), e.g. tatanya "my daddy" (UT:191, VT48:17), meldonya "my [male] friend" (VT49:38), meldenya "my [female] friend" (Elaine inscription), omentienya "my meeting" (PE17:68), tyenya "my tye" (tye being an intimate form of "you"), used = "dear kinsman" (VT49:51, 56). This ending seems to prefer i as its connecting vowel where one is needed, cf. Anarinya "my sun" in LR:72, so also in hildinyar "my heirs". It was previously theorized by some that a final -ë would also be changed to -i- before -nya, but the example órenya "my heart [órë]" indicates that this is not the case (VT41:11).

-nya

suffix. my

Element in

• Q. amya “mummy, (orig.) my mother”
• Q. atya “daddy, (my) father”
• Q. onya “my child”

ninya

my

ninya _possessive pron _occurring in Fíriel's Song, evidently meaning "my"; see indo-ninya. It may be derived from the dative form nin "for me" by adding the adjectival ending -ya. Compare menya, q.v.

lammen

noun. my tongue

There was a long controverse between linguists, as to know whether this form was an adjective ("of the tongue, related to the tongue") or the word lam.1 with a suffixed possessive ("my"). See guren for a similar form

lammen

suffix. my tongue

_ n. & poss. suff. my tongue. fennas nogothrim lasto beth lammen _'doorway of the Dwarf-folk listen to the words of my tongue'. Q. lambenya. >> -en, lam

lammen

adjective. of tongue, spoken with tongue

An adjective for “of tongue, spoken with tongue” appearing in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/46). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 Tolkien instead gave lammen as the first singular possessive (“my”) form of S. lam “tongue” as part of a paradigm of possessive suffixes (PE17/46), which is more consistent with the translation “of my tongue” from The Lord of the Rings in the phrase fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen (LotR/307). The existence of the possessive form doesn’t necessarily preclude the existence of the adjective; see the discussion of Sindarin possessive pronouns for more information.

Cognates

• Q. lambina “of tongue, spoken with tongue” ✧ PE17/046

lam

noun. physical tongue

lam

tongue

_ n. _tongue. Q. lambe. >> lammen

lam

noun. (physical) tongue; language, (physical) tongue; language, [G.] speech

Cognates

• Q. lambë “language, tongue, dialect” ✧ PE17/046; PE17/046; VT39/15; WJ/394
• Q. lamba “(physical) tongue” ✧ WJ/394

Derivations

• ✶lambē “tongue, language, dialect” ✧ VT39/15; WJ/394
  • √LAB “lick, move the tongue” ✧ VT39/15
  • ✶labmē “*language” ✧ WJ/416
• ✶lambā “physical tongue” ✧ WJ/394
  • √LAB “lick, move the tongue”
  • ✶labmā “*(physical) tongue” ✧ WJ/416

Element in

• S. fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen “doorway of the Dwarf-folk listen to the word of my tongue” ✧ LotR/0307; PE17/046
• S. Lammas “Account of Tongues”
• S. lammen “of tongue, spoken with tongue” ✧ PE17/046
• ᴺS. tallam “conlang”
• ᴺS. úlam “dumb, unable to speak, (lit.) untongued”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶lambē > lam(m)	[lambē] > [lambe] > [lamb] > [lamm] > [lamm] > [lam]	✧ VT39/15
✶lambē > lam	[lambē] > [lambe] > [lamb] > [lamm] > [lamm] > [lam]	✧ WJ/394
✶lambā > lam	[lambā] > [lamba] > [lamb] > [lamm] > [lamm] > [lam]	✧ WJ/394

Variations

• lam ✧ PE17/046; WJ/394; WJ/394
• lam(m) ✧ VT39/15

-en

suffix. my

_1st sg. poss. suff. my.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Later -nin_. >> lammen, -nin

nín

adjective. my

The acute accent in nín has sometimes been regarded as an error for a slanted macron in the manuscript, since all the other attested personal adjectives from Sauron defeated all have a circumflex accent. It was however noted that if the acute accent is confirmed, then this word is probably an enclitic, see HL/73. The acute accent is now confirmed by VT/44

nín

pronoun. my

Derivations

• ✶ni “I, me”

Element in

• S. ae Adar nín i vi Menel “our Father who [art] in Heaven” ✧ VT44/22
• S. alae! ered en Echoriath, ered e·mbar nín “[?behold!] the mountains of Echoriath, the mountains of my home!” ✧ UT/040; UT/054

lammen

my tongue

.

lammen

my tongue

lammen.

lam

tongue

(both body-part and = ”dialect, language”) lam (pl. laim, coll. pl. lammath). (WJ:394, 416) Not: lam is also used = ”echo, voice, echoing voice”.

lam

tongue

(pl. laim, coll. pl. lammath). (WJ:394, 416) Not: lam is also used = ”echo, voice, echoing voice”.

lammas

account of tongues

nín

my

nín (following a noun with article: i adar nín, ”my father”). Not to be confused with nîn ”watery, wet” or as noun ”tear”, or the pl. form of nên ”water”. In a very few attested cases, the pronoun ”my” appears as an ending -en added to a noun (lammen ”my tongue”, guren ”my heart”).

nín

my

(following a noun with article: i adar nín, ”my father”). Not to be confused with nîn ”watery, wet” or as noun ”tear”, or the pl. form of nên ”water”. – In a very few attested cases, the pronoun ”my” appears as an ending -en added to a noun (lammen ”my tongue”, guren ”my heart”).

nia

pronoun. my

Derivations

• ✶ni “I, me”

Element in

• T. óre nia pete nin “my heart tells me” ✧ VT41/11

lamben

place name. Tongue

A transient name for the Naith in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, glossed “Tongue” (TI/280). It seems to be an elaboration or variant form of N. lham(b) “tongue”.

Elements

Word	Gloss
lham(b)	“tongue”

lham

noun. physical tongue

lhamb

noun. physical tongue

lham(b)

noun. tongue

Cognates

• ᴹQ. lamba “tongue” ✧ Ety/LAB

Derivations

• ᴹ✶lambe
  • ᴹ√LAB “lick” ✧ Ety/ÑGAL
• ᴹ√LAB “lick” ✧ Ety/LAB

Element in

• N. Lamben “Tongue”
• N. Lhammas “Account of Tongues, Linguistic History”
• N. Lhamthanc “Forked Tongue”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√LAB > lham(b)	[lambe] > [lamb] > [l̥amb] > [l̥amb] > [l̥amm] > [l̥am]	✧ Ety/LAB

Variations

• lham ✧ PE22/035
• lhamb ✧ PE22/035 (lhamb)