oro (1) noun "mount, mountain" (PE17:64), cf. Qenya oro noun "hill" (LT1:256; rather ambo in LotR-style Quenya, though #oro "mountain, hill" appears in Orocarni and orofarnë, q.v. [PE17:83], also with the meaning "high" in oromar, q.v.) Cf. oro- element "up, aloft" (PE17:64).
Quenya
oro
noun. mount, mountain, hill
Derivations
- √RŌ/ORO “up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount, up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount; [ᴹ√] high, [ᴱ√] steepness, rising” ✧ PE17/063
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √OR/ORO > oro [oro] ✧ PE17/063
oro
mount, mountain
oro
(high) above
orto
noun. mount, mountain, hill, [ᴹQ.] mountain-top; [Q.] mount, mountain
A word meaning “mount, mountain” given as a derivative of √ORO/RŌ in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/64). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. orto “mountain-top” appeared as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT (Ety/ÓROT).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think it is best to use orto with its 1930s sense “mountain-top”, and use Q. oron for “mountain”; see that entry for more details on the conceptual developments of this and related words.
Cognates
- S. orod “mountain” ✧ PE17/064
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √OR/ORO > orto [orto] ✧ PE17/063
oron
noun. mountain
A word for “mountain” in Quenya whose stem form was oront-, so that it’s plural would be oronti (Ety/Ety/ÓROT).
Conceptual Development: There were a number of competing “mountain” words in Quenya of similar derivation, all based on the root √ORO “rise”; its Sindarin cognate S. orod “mountain” was much more stable in form. The earliest iteration of these Quenya words was ᴱQ. oro “hill” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√ORO, unglossed but with other derivatives like ᴱQ. oro- “rise” and ᴱQ. orto- “raise” (QL/70). The word oro “hill” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa from this period, alongside a variant form oron(d) of the same meaning (PME/70).
The variant oron reappeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, now with the gloss “mountain” (PE21/33); its inflected forms indicate a stem form of {orom- >>} orum- (PE21/34 and note #125). ᴹQ. oron “mountain” appeared again in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT, this time with a stem form oront- as indicated by its plural oronti (Ety/ÓROT). Oron appeared once more in the name Q. Oron Oiolossë “Mount Everwhite” from the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/403).
In Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s Tolkien gave the variant forms oro, orto “mountain” as derivatives of √ORO/RŌ “rise, mount” (PE17/63-64). ᴹQ. orto had previously appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT but with the gloss “mountain-top” (Ety/ÓROT). Hints of this earlier meaning can be seen in the 1968 word Q. orotinga “mountain-top” though in this compound the second element Q. inga also means “top” (VT47/28). Orto “mountain” may be the final element of the 1968 name Q. Tarmacorto “High Mountain Circle”, but more likely the last element is derivative of √KOR “round”, perhaps ✱Q. corto “circle” (NM/351).
As for oro, it meant “mountain” as an element in many late names: Q. Orocarni “Red Mountains” (MR/77), Q. Orofarnë “Mountain Ash” (PE17/83), Q. oromandi “mountain dweller[s]” (PE16/96), and Q. Pelóri “Mountain Wall” (PE17/26), though in one place Tolkien glossed the prefix oro- as “hill” (PE17/83), perhaps a callback to its meaning in the 1910s.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I feel oron(t) for “mountain” is better established among Neo-Quenya writers; it is the form used in Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT), for example. The word Q. orto was not used for “mountain” until quite late, and I would stick with its 1930s meaning “mountain-top”. As for Q. oro, I would use it as “mountain” only in compounds, not as an independent word.
Derivations
- ᴹ√OROT “height, mountain”
Element in
- Q. Oron Oiolossë “Mount Everwhite” ✧ WJ/403
Variations
- Oron ✧ WJ/403
oro-
rise
oro- (2) vb. "rise" (LT1:256; Tolkien's later Quenya has orta-, but cf. oro #1)
oron
mountain
oron (oront-, as in pl. oronti) noun "mountain" (ÓROT; the root occurs in orotinga, q.v.) Oron Oiolossë "Mount Everwhite" (WJ:403)
orta-
rise
orta- vb. "rise", also transitive "raise, lift up", pa.t. ortanë (Nam, RGEO:67, ORO; misreading "ortani" in Letters:426). According to PE17:63-64, this pa.t. form ortanë is only transitive ("raised"), whereas the intransitive pa.t. ("rose") is orontë. Cf. orya-.
orya-
rise
orya- vb. "rise" (intrasitive only, contrast orta-), pa.t. oronyë (PE17:64)
Túna
hill, mound
Túna (also Tún) place-name, used of the hill on which Tirion was built (Silm, TUN, KOR), derived from a stem (TUN) apparently meaning simply *"hill, mound".
amba
adverb. up(wards)
Cognates
- S. am “up, up, [G.] upwards, towards head of, above”
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. ambahep- “to maintain, (lit.) upkeep”
- ᴺQ. ambalasar “stalagmite, (lit.) up-growing stone”
- Q. ambalotsë “uprising-flower”
- Q. Ambaráto “*High Champion”
- Q. Ambaróna “Eastern (Land)” ✧ PE17/082; PE17/091; RC/385
- Q. ambarónë “dawn, dawn; [ᴹQ.] uprising, sunrise, Orient”
- Q. Ambarto “*High and Lofty” ✧ PM/354
- Q. Ambarussa “Top-russet” ✧ PM/354
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √AMA > amba [amba] ✧ PE17/091 √AM > amba- [amba] ✧ PE17/157 Variations
- amba- ✧ PE17/082; PE17/157
- amba ✧ PE17/091; PM/354; RC/385; UT/255
ambo
hill, rising ground
ambo noun "hill, rising ground" (Markirya, PE17:92), "mount" (PE17:157), allative pl. ambonnar "upon hills" in Markirya (ruxal' ambonnar "upon crumbling hills") According to VT45:5, ambo was added to the Etymologies as a marginal note.
ambona
noun. hill
amun
hill
amun (amund-) noun "hill" (LT2:335; in Tolkien's later Quenya ambo)
orta/orya
verb. rise
tundo
hill, mound
tundo noun "hill, mound" (TUN)
umbo
hill, lump, clump, mass
umbo, umbon noun "hill, lump, clump, mass" (PE17:93)
An element meaning “mountain” or “hill” given as a derivative of √ORO/RŌ (PE17/64, 83) and appearing in various Quenya compounds in the 1950s and 60s: Q. Orocarni “Red Mountains” (MR/77), Q. Orofarnë “Mountain Ash” (PE17/83), Q. oromandi “mountain dweller[s]” (PE16/96), and Q. Pelóri “Mountain Wall” (PE17/26). It also appeared as ᴱQ. oro “hill” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√ORO (QL/70).
See the discussion in the entry for Q. oron “mountain” for more details on the conceptual developments of this and related words.