A word appearing in its plural form tyeller “grades” in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E as applied to the rows of the tengwar chart (LotR/1118). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s Tolkien said its proper meaning was “grade, order” (PE17/122), but in notes from the late 1960s Tolkien said it meant “grade, also a step in a stairway, ladder”, and was derived from the root √KJEL “go down slowly, especially go down by degrees” (PE17/157).
Quenya
tyellë
grade
tyellë
noun. grade, order, step (in a stairway or ladder), grade, step (in a stairway or ladder), order
Derivations
- √KYEL “go down slowly” ✧ PE17/157
Element in
- ᴺQ. empatyellë “advancement, progress”
- ᴺQ. móletyeller “career, (lit.) work-steps”
- ᴺQ. tyellesta “ladder”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √KJEL > tyelle [kjelle] > [tjelle] ✧ PE17/157 Variations
- tyelle ✧ PE17/122; PE17/122; PE17/157
-a
it is said
-r nominative plural ending regularly used on nouns ending in -a, -i, -ië, -o, -u, e.g. Ainur, Valar, tier. Occasionally it is added also to nouns ending in -ë (that normally take the ending -I in the pl.). This seems to regularly happen in the case of nouns in -lë (see #fintalë, mallë, tyellë), sometimes also otherwise (see Ingwë, wendë, essë #1). This plural ending was ("it is said") first used by the Noldor (PM:402).
tyellë noun "grade" (pl. tyeller is attested) (Appendix E), "grade, order; a step in a stairway, [or in a] ladder" (PE17:122, 157)