linqe

adjective. wet, wet, [ᴱQ.] flowing; water, stream

Cognates

• N. lhimp “wet” ✧ Ety/LINKWI

Derivations

• ᴹ√LINKWI “*wet” ✧ Ety/LINKWI
  • ᴹ√LIN “pool” ✧ Ety/LIN¹

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√LINKWI > linqe	[liŋkwi] > [liŋkwe]	✧ Ety/LINKWI

miksa

adjective. wet, wet, *damp

Cognates

• N. mesg “wet” ✧ Ety/MISK; EtyAC/MISK

Derivations

• ᴹ√MISIK “*wet” ✧ Ety/MISK

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MISK > miksa	[miska] > [miksa]	✧ Ety/MISK

Variations

• misse ✧ EtyAC/MISK (misse)

mêd

adjective. wet

Mêd is a Doriathrin adjective for “wet” derived from primitive ᴹ✶mizdā, appearing as an element in the mountain name Dolmed “Wet Head” (Ety/MIZD). First the [[ilk|short [i] became [e] preceding the final [a]]], then the [e] lengthened due to the [[ilk|vocalization of [z] before voiced stops]]. It is unclear, though, whether the vowel lengthened directly (as suggested by Helge Fauskanger, AL-Doriathrin/méd), or whether it first became the diphthong [ei] after which [[ilk|[ei] became [ē]]] (the theory used here).

Conceptual Development: After abandoning the Ilkorin language, Tolkien retained the name Dolmed. It is possible Tolkien reconceived of this word as Sindarin, but if so, its Sindarin form should perhaps be ✱mêdh, not mêd, since voiced stops became spirants after vowels in Sindarin. In Silmarillion map revisions from the 1950s-60s, Tolkien did write Dolmeð (WJ/183 section F14), but he never made the corresponding change in the narratives.

Neo-Sindarin: For the purposes of Neo-Sindarin writing, it would be better to use one of the other attested Sindarin words for “wet”, such as nîn.

Derivations

• ᴹ✶mizdā “wet” ✧ Ety/MIZD
  • ᴹ√MIZDI “*fine rain, dew” ✧ Ety/MIZD

Element in

• Ilk. Dolmed “Wet Head” ✧ Ety/MIZD

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶mizdā > mēd	[mizdā] > [mizda] > [mezda] > [meida] > [meid] > [mēd]	✧ Ety/MIZD

Variations

• mēd ✧ Ety/MIZD (Dor. mēd)
• méd ✧ EtyAC/MIZD (Dor. méd)

mer

root. wish (for), want, desire

In The Etymologies of the 1930s there were two roots: unstrengthened ᴹ√MER “wish, desire, want” and strengthened ᴹ√MBER, unglossed but with derivatives like ᴹQ. meren(de)/N. bereth “feast, festival” and ᴹQ. merya/N. beren “festive, gay, joyous” (Ety/MBER, MER). It is not clear whether Tolkien intended these roots to be related; the entry for ᴹ√MBER first gave the root as ᴹ√MER with N. mereth and meren, only to change it to ᴹ√MBER, N. bereth and beren when ᴹ√MER “wish, desire, want” was introduced (Ety/MBER; EtyAC/MBER).

In both earlier and contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts of the 1930s, however, Tolkien used N. Mereth Aderthad for “Feast of Reuniting” (SM/329; LR/126, 253) and continued to use S. Mereth Aderthad in the Silmarillion narratives of the 1950s and 60s (S/113; WJ/34). Possibly also related was the revision of the name Beril “Rose” to S. Meril in the unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Ring written from the end of the 1940s (SD/117; SD/126). Conversely, {√MED >>} √MER “wish for, want” appeared in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/102; 103 note #23) and Q. mer- “hope” appeared in the so-called “Merin Sentence”: Q. merin sa haryalyë alassë nó vanyalyë Ambarello “I hope that you have happiness before you pass from the world”, of unknown date but certainly written after the 1st edition of The Lord of the Rings (MS).

Thus it seems Tolkien merged ᴹ√MBER back into ᴹ√MER, though the meaning of the combined root isn’t clear given its various derivatives with senses like “feast”, “rose” and “wish, hope”. The last of these probably remained the core meaning, perhaps with “festive” extrapolated from “hopeful”.

Derivatives

• Q. mer- “to hope, to hope, [ᴹQ.] wish, desire, want”
• ᴹQ. mer- “to wish, desire, want” ✧ Ety/MER; PE22/102; PE22/103
• ᴺS. mer- “to hope, wish, desire, want”

Variations

• MED ✧ PE22/102 (MED)

mizdā

adjective. wet

Derivations

• ᴹ√MIZDI “*fine rain, dew” ✧ Ety/MIZD

Derivatives

• Ilk. mêd “wet” ✧ Ety/MIZD

lhim(p)

adjective. wet

Derivations

• ᴱ√LIQI “flow, water; clear, transparent”

Variations

• lhim ✧ PE13/149
• lhimp ✧ PE13/149

nûd

adjective. wet

Changes

• nûd → nûd “back” ✧ PE13/122

Cognates

• Eq. nóte “dew” ✧ PE13/122

Derivations

• ᴱ√NOSO “*damp, wet”

Variations

• núd ✧ PE13/151

uqu

root. wet

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “wet”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. úqa “wet” and ᴱQ. úqil “rain” (QL/98). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had derivatives like G. ub⁽⁾ “wet” and G. uch “rain” (GL/74). In later writings Tolkien used different roots for “wet”.

Derivatives

• ᴱ✶ukko “rain”
  • G. uch “rain” ✧ GL/74
• Eq. ukku “rainbow” ✧ QL/098
• Eq. uqu- “to rain” ✧ QL/098
• Eq. úqil “rain” ✧ QL/098
• Eq. úqa “wet” ✧ QL/098
• G. ub “wet, moist, damp”

nenda

adjective. wet

Derivations

• ᴱ√NENE “flow”

liqin(a)

adjective. wet

Cognates

• G. glaib “dripping wet”

Derivations

• ᴱ√LIQI “flow, water; clear, transparent” ✧ LT1A/Nielíqui; QL/054

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ√LIQI > liqin(a)	[liqin]	✧ QL/054

Variations

• liqin ✧ LT1A/Nielíqui; PME/054

úqa

adjective. wet

Cognates

• G. ub “wet, moist, damp”

Derivations

• ᴱ√UQU “wet” ✧ QL/098

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ√UQU > ūqa	[ūkʷā] > [ūkʷa]	✧ QL/098

Variations

• ūqa ✧ QL/098