tamo
noun. smith, builder, wright, artificer
tamo
pronoun. *that person
A pronominal form of ta “that” in notes 1969 (PE23/135), so likely meaning “✱that person”.
Conceptual Development: Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 had ᴹQ. tane “that thing or person” as the pronominal form of ᴹQ. ta “that”, with masculine and feminine variants tano and {tare >>} tanie (PE23/85, 102-103). The Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s had ᴱQ. santo for pronominal “that” (PE14/55).
tano
craftsman, smith
tano noun "craftsman, smith" (TAN), cf. final element -tan in calmatan "lampwright" (PE17:123), Ciryatan *"ship-builder" (Appendix A).
ontamo
noun. mason (sculptor), mason, sculptor
A word a “mason (sculptor)” in notes from the late 1960s, a combination of ondo “stone” and tamo “smith” (PE17/107-108).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use this word mainly for stone craftsmen = “mason”. For a stone artist = “sculptor” I would use ondomaitar.
sintamo
noun. smith
A word specifically for a “[metal] smith” based on primitive ✶sinkitamo, as opposed to more generic tamo “smith, ✱builder” which can refer to a variety of craftsman (PE17/107-108). Its initial element seems to be a restoration of ᴱQ. sink “mineral, metal, gem” from the 1910s (QL/83), and might be related to Q. sinca “flint”. If so, this word may have originally meant “✱mineral smith”, perhaps referring to the extraction of metal from minerals.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. tongar “smith”, apparently an agental form ᴱQ. tonga “great hammer” under the early root ᴱ√TOŊO, so more literally “✱hammerer” and thus likely referring to metal smithing (QL/94).
ontamo
mason (sculptor)
ontamo noun "mason (sculptor)" (PE17:107-108); this is a compound on(do) "stone" + tamo "smith".
sintamo
smith
sintamo noun "smith" (PE17:107-108), cf. more usual variant tamo, q.v.
This word appeared in notes from the late 1960s, where Tolkien said that it was “translated ‘smith’, but meaning a craftsman in wood, stone, or metal: carpenter (carver), mason (sculptor), or [metal] smith (PE17/107)”. Tolkien further gave sintamo specifically for “[metal] smith”, but said “tamo unspecified, especially among the Noldor, was usually employed = sintamo, our ‘smith’ (PE17/108)”. In this 1960s note the word tamo was derived from the root √TAM “construct” (PE17/107).
Based on its use as an element in other words, tamo could be translated as “smith, builder, wright, artificer” = “✱one who crafts things from some material”. As a reduced element in compounds it becomes -tan, since final m became n in Quenya (PE19/104). This can be seen in words like calmatan “lampwright” (PE17/96) and ciryatan “shipbuilder” (S/265). The element tamo can also be seen in one of the names for Aulë: Martamo “World-artificer” appearing a very late note according to Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Talka Marda).
Conceptual Development: Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. talka “smith” (PE16/138) as in ᴱQ. Talka Marda “Smith of the World” from the early Lost Tales (LT1/180). This 1920s word was probably a cognate of ᴱN. taglon “smith” (PE13/153) and was likely based on the early root ᴱ√TAKA “fix, fasten”. A remnant of talka “smith” can be seen in primitive ᴹ✶talkō “craftsmen, wright”, which appeared in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) from the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√TAK (PE18/54).
The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. tano “craftsman, smith” derived from primitive ᴹ✶tanō under the root ᴹ√TAN “make, fashion” (Ety/TAN). In this document Aulë’s name was ᴹQ. Martan(o) “Earthbuilder, Earth-smith” (Ety/MBAR, TAN). Remnants of this √TAN derivation can be seen a few later names like Q. Artano “High-smith” (UT/254), but it seems Tolkien decided sometime in the 1960s to make the root √TAM instead. Some of the 1950s and 60s compounds with -tan were probably originally from √TAN, but these remain fine after the change in root since final m became n as noted above.