miruvor

mead

miruvor, full form miruvórë noun "mead", "a special wine or cordial"; possessive miruvóreva "of mead" (Nam, RGEO:66; WJ:399).In the "Qenya Lexicon", miruvórë was defined "nectar, drink of the Valar" (LT1:261).

matso

food

matso noun "food" (PE16:141)

matl

food

matl noun "food"; read *matil in LotR-style Quenya (in which language final syllabic -l becomes -il) (QL:59); however, the word matso from a later source may be preferred.

matta

noun. food

matta

noun. food

A noun for “food” from the Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) of the early 1950s, derived from primitive ✶matnā, originally an ancient adjective meaning “eaten” (PE22/136).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “food” was ᴱQ. matl under the early root ᴱ√MATA (QL/59). This became ᴱQ. {masta} >> matso in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). In EVS2 the word was originally manna “food”, but this was struck through and replaced by matta (PE22/136 note #36), which likely reflects Tolkien’s shift in the phonetic developments of primitive tn, so that tn became tt rather than nn as it did in Tolkien’s earlier writings (PE19/85 and note #79).

Neo-Quenya: I find the phonetic developments associated with the above sound change to be problematic for various reasons. Therefore, I prefer to assume the primitive form of this word was an ancient noun: ✱mattā.

Changes

• manna → matta ✧ PE22/136

Cognates

• ᴺS. math “food”
• ᴺS. mann “food”

Derivations

• ✶matnā “eaten, eaten, [ᴹ✶] food” ✧ PE22/136

Element in

• ᴺQ. celvamatta “animal food”
• ᴺQ. laimamatta “vegetable food, (lit.) plant food”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶matnā > matta	[matnā] > [mattā] > [matta]	✧ PE22/136

Variations

• manna ✧ PE22/136 (manna)

nes

noun. food, feed, fodder

Derivations

• ᴺ✶. NES “give to feed; feed, pasture; graze”

math

noun. food

Cognates

• Q. matta “food”

Derivations

• √MAT “eat”

mann

food

mann (i vann, construct man), pl. main (i main) (VT45:35).

mann

noun. food

Cognates

• Q. matta “food”

Derivations

• ✶matnā “eaten, eaten, [ᴹ✶] food”

mann

food

(i vann, construct man), pl. main (i main) (VT45:35).

salph

liquid food

(i halph, o salph) (soup, broth), pl. seilph (if the word goes like alph ”swan”), with article i seilph.

nes

root. feminity (apart from sex)

neth

root. (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young

This root had a variety of meanings over Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴹ√NETH “young” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with various Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of similar meaning, the most notable being the name ᴹQ. Nessa (Ety/NETH). In rough notes probably from around 1959, Tolkien redefined √NETH or √NES to mean “feminity apart from sex”, contrasted with √WEG or √WEƷ for masculinity, but he abandoned this line of reasoning deciding that √WĒ simply meant “person” independent of gender (PE17/189-190).

In notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, Tolkien again redefined √NETH, this time as the basis for Elvish “sister” words, either specifically meaning “sister” (VT47/12, 26, 34), meaning “(young) woman” (VT47/15, 32, 39) or perhaps “fresh, lively, merry” (VT47/32), the last of these probably a callback to its 1930s meaning “young”. In notes from 1959-60, however, the name Q. Nessa was disconnected from the root √NETH, derived instead from ✶Neresā meaning “she that has manlike valour or strength” (WJ/416).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best for √NETH to retain its essential 1930s meaning “young, fresh, lively”, but with an association to young women as described in Tolkien’s notes from the 1960s, and thus by extension “sister” as named from the perspective of the parents.

Derivatives

• Ad. nithil “girl”
• ✶nesī/nese “a person of female nature” ✧ PE17/190
• ✶nēthā “sister” ✧ VT47/12
  • Q. nésa “sister” ✧ VT47/14
  • Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/14
  • S. nîth “sister” ✧ VT47/14
  • T. néþa “sister” ✧ VT47/14
• ✶nethē “young woman, girl” ✧ VT47/32
• ✶nēthā “gay, lively, girlish” ✧ VT47/32
  • T. nétha “gay, lively, girlish” ✧ VT47/32
• ✶netthi “girl approaching the adult, sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/15; VT47/39
  • Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/16; VT47/33; VT47/39
  • S. neth “(little) girl; sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/33
  • T. nettë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/16; VT47/33
• Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/12; VT47/26; VT47/32; VT47/34
• S. neth “(little) girl; sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/12
• T. nettë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/12

Variations

• NES ✧ PE17/167; PE17/190 (NES)
• neth ✧ VT47/26; VT47/34

nes

root. give to feed; feed, pasture; graze

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. nes “food, feed, fodder”
• ᴺQ. nesselë “pasture, mead[ow]; pasturage”
• ᴺQ. nesta- “to graze, pasture, give to feed, feed”
• S. ness “headland, *headland; [G.] (water) meadow; long grass”
• ᴺS. nethor “herd, flock”

aes

noun. cooked food, meat

mann

noun. food

The earliest word for “food” in precursors to the Sindarin language was G. môs “food (of men)” (GL/56, 58), probably based on the early root ᴱ√M(B)ASA “cook, bake” (QL/59). This became ᴱN. math “food” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, appearing only in its lenited form vath as an element in ᴱN. orvath “foodless” (PE13/155). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had N. mann “food” as a derivative of primitive ᴹ✶matna under the root ᴹ√MAT “eat”, but the version of the entry where this form appeared was struck out (EtyAC/MAT). The primitive form ✶matnā “food” did reappear in the early 1950s, however (PE22/136).

Neo-Sindarin: Of the above, I prefer ᴺS. math for “food”. I first saw math proposed as the Neo-Sindarin word for “food” in a list of neologisms by Elaran on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) from 2018. I prefer math because I tend to assume Q. matta is derived from ✱mattā rather than ✶matnā to avoid certain phonological difficulties; see that entry for discussion. If you are not concerned with those difficulties, ᴺS. mann “food” is also viable.

Derivations

• ᴹ✶matna “food” ✧ EtyAC/MAT
  • ᴹ√MAT “eat” ✧ EtyAC/MAT

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶matna > mann	[matna] > [madna] > [manna] > [mann]	✧ EtyAC/MAT