mam

noun. grandmother, mother

A noun appearing as mam “grandmother, mother” in the Gnomish Lexicon, derived from ᴱ√maƀ or mam “something nice” (GL/57).

Neo-Sindarin: As we have no other attested alternatives, I would use ᴺS. mam for “grandmother” in Neo-Sindarin, based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√MAB (from primitive ✱mamba), but would not use it as “mother” for which we have plenty of later words.

Derivations

• ᴱ√MAɃA “something nice” ✧ GL/57

mama

root. something nice

maƀa

root. something nice

A root given as maƀ or mam in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “something nice”, with derivatives like G. mab(a) “mother”, G. mam “grandmother”, G. mav- “like”, and G. mavri “appetite” (GL/57). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, but I think it is worth positing a Neo-Sindarin root ᴺ√MAB to salvage some of these early words.

Derivatives

• G. mam “grandmother, mother” ✧ GL/57
• G. maus “pleasure; pleasant taste, pleasant” ✧ GL/57
• G. mav- “to like” ✧ GL/57
• G. mavri “appetite” ✧ GL/57
• G. mavra “eager after” ✧ GL/57
• G. mavros “desire, eager longing” ✧ GL/57
• G. mavrog “eager” ✧ GL/57
• G. mavwin “wish” ✧ GL/57
• G. mavwin “ancestress, †mother” ✧ GL/57
• G. mab(a) “mother” ✧ GL/57

Variations

• maƀ ✧ GL/57
• mam ✧ GL/57

haruni

noun. grandmother

The word ᴱQ. haruni “grandmother” appeared in both the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s (QL/39; PME/39). It is a combination of ᴱQ. haru “grandfather” with the female suffix -ni. As there are no other alternatives, I would retain ᴺQ. haruni “grandmother” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.