melehta

mighty

melehta adj. "mighty" (PE17:115), cf. meletya

melehta

adjective. mighty

An adjective for “mighty” derived from the root √MBELEK in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115), apparently from the primitive form ✱✶mbelektā (with [kt] > [ht]). A variant form meletya appears with the 2nd-plural possessive suffix -lda as Meletyalda “your mighty” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/369), likely from the primitive form ✱✶mbelekya (with [kj] > [tj]). This variant form has a more typical primitive adjective suffix ✶-ya, but is inconsistent with the attested Sindarin cognate S. belaith, so I’d stick with melehta for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

Cognates

• S. belaith “mighty” ✧ PE17/115

Derivations

• √MBELEK “mighty, powerful, strong; power as force or strength; great, large” ✧ PE17/115
  • √BEL “*strong, [ᴹ√] strong” ✧ PE17/115

Element in

• Q. Aran Meletyalda “king your mighty” ✧ WJ/369

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√mbelek > melehta	[mbelekta] > [melekta] > [melexta]	✧ PE17/115

meletya

mighty

#meletya adj. "mighty", isolated from meletyalda adjective with suffix "your mighty" = "your majesty" (see -lda; meletya = *"mighty"). In full Aran Meletyalda "king your mighty" = "your majesty" (WJ:369). Compare melehta.

meletya

adjective. mighty

velicë

great

velicë ("k") adj. "great" _(LT1:254; probably not valid in Tolkien's later Quenya; in the context of the Etymologies it would have to be derived from _BEL, but it is stated that this stem was "not found in Q". Perhaps Tolkien rejected velicë because it was too similar to the Russian word that clearly inspired it.)

taura

mighty, masterful

taura adj. "mighty, masterful" (TUR, PE17:115), "very mighty, vast, of unmeasured might or size" (VT39:10). Cf. túrëa.

beleg

adjective. great, mighty

belaith

adjective. mighty

adj. mighty. Q. melehta.

belaith

adjective. mighty

An adjective for “mighty” derived from the root √MBELEK in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115), apparently from the primitive form ✱✶mbelektā with the ekt vocalizing to eith and then the ei becoming ai in the final syllable.

Cognates

• Q. melehta “mighty” ✧ PE17/115

Derivations

• √MBELEK “mighty, powerful, strong; power as force or strength; great, large” ✧ PE17/115
  • √BEL “*strong, [ᴹ√] strong” ✧ PE17/115

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√mbelek > belaith	[mbelektā] > [mbelekta] > [mbelektʰa] > [mbelexθa] > [belexθa] > [beleiθa] > [beleiθ] > [belaiθ]	✧ PE17/115

daer

adjective. great

beleg

mighty

1) beleg (great), lenited veleg, pl. belig; 2) taur (also tor-, tar- in compounds) (lofty, high, sublime, noble; vast, masterful, overwhelming, huge, awful), lenited daur, pl. toer. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”great wood, forest”.

beleg

mighty

(great), lenited veleg, pl. belig

beleg

great

beleg (mighty), lenited veleg, pl. belig

beleg

great

(mighty), lenited veleg, pl. belig

#dae

great

#dae (lenited nae, no distinct pl. form). Isolated from daedhelos "great fear". Note: Homophones mean "shadow, shade" and also "very, exceedingly".

dae

great

(lenited nae, no distinct pl. form). Isolated from daedhelos "great fear". Note: Homophones mean "shadow, shade" and also "very, exceedingly".

daer

great

daer (large), lenited dhaer, no distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means "bridegroom", but has a different lenited form.

daer

great

(large), lenited dhaer, no distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means "bridegroom", but has a different lenited form.

taur

mighty

(also tor-, tar- in compounds) (lofty, high, sublime, noble; vast, masterful, overwhelming, huge, awful), lenited daur, pl. toer. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”great wood, forest”.

gabil Reconstructed

adjective. great

Element in

• Kh. Gabilân “Great River”
• Kh. Gabilgathol “Great Fortress”

melek

root. great, mighty, powerful, strong

mbelek

root. mighty, powerful, strong; power as force or strength; great, large

The most notable uses of this root were as the basis for the name Q. Melkor and (sometimes) the adjective S. beleg “great”. This root first appeared as ᴱ√mbelek, belek or melek in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, with Gnomish name G. Belcha vs. Qenya name ᴱQ. Melko; its other derivatives indicate the meaning of the root was “✱flame” (GL/20). The Qenya noun ᴱQ. velka “flame” indicates that unstrengthened ᴱ√belek was used along with strengthened ᴱ√mbelek, but there are no obvious derivatives of ᴱ√melek in this period.

There is no evidence of this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s; in this period ᴹQ. Melko was derived from ᴹ√MIL(IK) “✱greed, lust” (Ety/MIL-IK). The root appears a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings, always as the basis for Q. Melkor. The root melk- was mention in notes associated with the essay Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth from around 1959, where Tolkien said it “means ‘power’ as force and strength” (MR/350). The root appears as √MELEK “great, mighty, powerful, strong” (rejected) or mbelek “large, great” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s, connected to both S. beleg and Q. Melkor (PE17/115). The root √MBELEK is implied by Tolkien’s etymology of Q. Melkor in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, being derived from ✶Mbelekōre “He who arises in Might” (WJ/402).

It seems Tolkien vacillated on whether Q. Melkor and S. beleg were related. The root may have been √MELEK, unrelated to √BEL. Alternately, it may have been √MBELEK, but the various mutations of S. beleg “great” show no signs of primitive initial mb-. Thus, it seems the strengthening to mb- either occurred only in Quenya, or it enhanced the meaning of the root from “large, great” to “powerful, mighty”.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer the last of these theories.

Derivations

• √BEL “*strong, [ᴹ√] strong” ✧ PE17/115

Derivatives

• ✶(m)belek- “large, great, big, large, great, big, [ᴹ✶] huge; mighty” ✧ PE17/115
  • Q. velca “large, great, big”
  • S. beleg “great, mighty; large, big, great, mighty; large, big, [ᴱN.] huge” ✧ PE17/115
• Q. melehta “mighty” ✧ PE17/115
• Q. melehtë “might, power (inherent)” ✧ PE17/115
• ᴺQ. meletya- “to magnify”
• Q. Melkor “He who arises in Might; (lit.) Mighty Arising” ✧ MR/350
• S. belaith “mighty” ✧ PE17/115
• S. beleg “great, mighty; large, big, great, mighty; large, big, [ᴱN.] huge” ✧ PE17/115
• ᴺS. beleitha- “to extol, magnify”

Element in

• ✶Mbelekōre “Might(y) Arising” ✧ PE17/115; PE17/115

Variations

• melk- ✧ MR/350
• MELEK ✧ PE17/115 (MELEK); PE17/165
• mbelek ✧ PE17/115

beleg

adjective. great, mighty

taur

adjective. mighty, vast, overwhelming, huge, awful, high, sublime