olva

noun. plant, growing things with roots in the earth

A word for plants appearing only in its plural form olvar “plants” (S/45; NM/270). It may be related to the roots √OLOB “branch” and √OL “grow”, hence “growing thing” as opposed to a celva = “moving thing” (WJ/341). For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think this word refers mainly to plants as a category of beings (as in the Plant Kingdom), as opposed to an individual plant which would laima.

olvar

growing things with roots in the earth, *plants

olvar (sg. #olva) noun "growing things with roots in the earth, *plants" (Silm). Apparently more or less the same word as olwa, olba, which is however glossed "branch". Cf. laima.

tarmasundar

place name. Roots of the Pillar

A set of ridges extending from Meneltarma into each of the five regions (points of the “star”) of Númenor, translated “Roots of the Pillar” (UT/166). This name is a compound of tarma “pillar” and the plural form sundar, a variant sunda of sundo “base”.

sulca

root

sulca ("k") noun "root" (especially as edible) (SÚLUK)

tarma

noun. pillar

A word for “pillar” attested as an element in several words like Meneltarma “Pillar of Heaven” (SA/tar) and Tarmasundar “Roots of the Pillar” (UT/166). Christopher Tolkien suggested it was related to tar- “high” (SA/tar), but it could also be related to tar- “stand”.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. sūle “pillar, column” under the early root ᴱ√SULU (QL/87) and ᴱQ. taule “pillar” under the early root ᴱ√TAW̯A (QL/90). The word súle “column” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/87), while the plural form Tauler appeared in the Official Name List (PE13/104), both documents also from the 1910s.

sundo

base, root, root-word

sundo (þ) noun "base, root, root-word" (SUD), sc. a Quendian consonantal "base". According to VT46:16, Tolkien changed the root to STUD, thereby implying that sundo was earlier þundo (compare Sindarin thond "root"). PE18:95 gives the pl. form as sundur, seemingly implying a stem-form sundu-. It is not, however, used in the compound sundocarmë "base-structure" (PE18:84 not **sunducarmë), a term used in the description of the structure of the various Quendian "bases" or roots.

tarma

pillar

tarma noun "pillar" (SA:tar); Tarmasundar (þ) "the Roots of the Pillar", the slopes of Mt. Meneltarma in Númenor (UT:166)

numbë

root, foundation

[numbë noun "root, foundation", also núvë (VT45:38)]

núvë

root, foundation

[núvë noun "root, foundation", also numbë (VT45:38)]

sundo

noun. base

base

talma

base, foundation, root

talma noun "base, foundation, root" (TALAM), also translated "bottom" in the expression "top to bottom", see below.% Talmar Ambaren (place-name, *"Foundations of the World" - this is pre-classical "Qenya" with genitive in -en instead of -o as in LotR-style Quenya) (TALAM). Allative talmanna in the phrase telmello talmanna** "from hood to base**, top to bottom" _(VT46:18; notice misreading "telmanna" in the Etymologies as printed in LR, entry TEL-, TELU-)_

tulwë

pillar, standard, pole

tulwë noun "pillar, standard, pole" (LT1:270)

kulbu

noun. root

A noun appearing only in its plural form kulbî “roots”, corresponding to the collective-noun kulub “roots, edible vegetables that are roots not fruits” (SD/431). As such, it most likely refers to root vegetables only, rather than other senses of the English word “root”.

kulub

collective noun. roots, edible vegetables that are roots not fruits

A collective-noun meaning “all edible root vegetables”, as opposed to kulbu used for an individual root (SD/431).

thond

noun. root, root, [N.] base; root-word

A noun in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E glossed “root”, given as an examples of how “nd remained at the end of fully accented monosyllables” (LotR/1115). It was an element in the river-name S. Morthond “Black Root” (LotR/770), so named “because its source was in the dark caverns of the Dead Men” (RC/766). As such this word refers to things that are the root or base of something, not just plant roots.

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. sunn and sonnas as cognates to ᴹQ. sundo “base, root, root-word” under ᴹ√SUD “base, ground” (Ety/SUD; EtyAC/SUD). These Noldorin forms were revised to N. thund/thonn and N. thonnas while the root was revised to ᴹ√STUD (EtyAC/SUD). The Etymologies also had N. dum “root, foundation” derived from {ᴹ√(N)DUM >>} ᴹ√(N)DUB “lay base, foundation, root; found”, but this entry was deleted (EtyAC/NDUB).

Possible Etymology: This words seems to be a counterexample to the general rule that short u was preserved before nasals]]: compare it to S. mund “bull” and N. lhunt “boat” where the u remained unchanged. The Quenya cognate of this word is typically Q. sundo, so a-affection]] cannot be used to explain the shift of u to o. However in one place Tolkien gave the Quenya form as sunda in Tarmasundar “Roots of the Pillar” (UT/166), so perhaps the Sindarin form was derived from a variant primitive form ✱stundā.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume thond refers only to an ordinary base or root, and more abstract [N.] thonnas refers to things like root-words or a “✱foundation”.

thond

noun. root

thond

noun. root

n. root.

thond

root

1) thond (construct thon; pl. thynd; coll. pl. thonnath), 2) thonnas, pl. thennais (archaic *thönnais) (VT46:16), 3) thund (construct thun; pl. thynd; coll. pl. thunnath) (VT46:16), 4) (esp. of edible roots) solch (i holch, o solch), pl. sylch (i sylch)

solch

root

(i holch, o solch), pl. sylch (i sylch)

thond

root

(construct thon; pl. thynd; coll. pl. thonnath)

thonnas

root

pl. thennais (archaic ✱thönnais) (VT46:16)

thund

root

(construct thun; pl. thynd; coll. pl. thunnath) (VT46:16)

thafn

pillar

(wooden pillar) thafn (post), pl. ?thefn, coll. pl. thavnath

thafn

pillar

(post), pl. ?thefn, coll. pl. thavnath

solch

noun. root (especially as edible)