Saturday, October 31, 2009

Wolf, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya words for wolf are narmo and ráca.

The Sindarin words for wolf are draug and garaf.

J.R.R. Tolkien also had words for werewolf. Fitting for a post on Halloween! The Quenya word for werewolf is nauro. In Sindarin guar is werewolf, gaurhoth is a group of werewolves, and gaurwaith is wolf-men.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Wolf, in my words

lupwu : wolf

The Illunse word for wolf is lupwu. In the Micronesian language of Ponapean, kehpin lupwu is a variety of yam. Similar name Lupwe is a city in Nigeria.

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for wolf which is lupus, and the Old English word for wolf which is wulf.

This word is admittedly odd, so I'll see if it sticks. It was difficult having U as my only available vowel.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Fifty, in my words

fincanig : fifty

The Illunse word for fifty is fincanig. Fincanig is a misspelling of financing.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for fifty which is fíftig, and the Latin word for fifty which is quinquaginta.

To make my Illunse word for fifty, fincaning, I modified one letter and transposed another. It's not quite the word for five plus the suffix nig. My Illunse word for five is finec.

I think this is enough number words for now. I'll come back to numbers again later.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Forty, in my words

ceutarnig : forty

The Illunse word for forty is ceutarnig. Ceutarnig is an unique word.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for forty which is féowertig, and the Latin word for forty which is quadraginta. The C comes from transliterating the Latin Q to CW.

For this Illunse word, ceutarnig, there are a couple of letter modifications. My Illunse word for four is ceuwor. I decided to change the O to A because the Latin word contains three As. The W was changed to T to avoid having the word look like it contained warning, and because of a modification I'm making to fourteen. I'm retroactively changing my Illunse word for fourteen from ceuwordice to ceutordice.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Thirty, in my words

thirnig : thirty

The Illunse word for thirty is thirnig. Thirnig is a last name which can be from Saxony.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for thirty which is þritig ( I transliterate as thritig), and the Latin word for thirty which is triginta.

Thirnig doesn't begin with the word for Illunse word for three, ther. Although it's close. The Old English and the Latin words for thirty also have close, but not exact, relationships with their numbers for three.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Twenty, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

Tolkien's elves must not of needed to count to twenty. I couldn't find words in my reference dictionaries for twenty in Quenya or twenty in Sindarin.

Various sources list the Quenya and Sindarin numbers from one to twelve. Although there are numbers in the teens for Quenya, but not for Sindarin, these numbers seem less solidly defined. The next number I found defined was for a thousand.

Fantasy languages may not need higher numbers, but as I've mixed the Old English and the Latin words for a few more numbers, I'll be posting them.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Twenty, in my words

tewnig : twenty

The Illunse word for twenty is tewnig. Similar word tewing means to prepare by beating or working, such as leather.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for twenty which is twéntig, and the Latin word for twenty which is viginti.

Tewnig is admittedly more like the Old English word, but over half of its letters are also in the Latin word.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Nineteen, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya word for nineteen is neterquë.

If there are Sindarin words for numbers in the teens, I didn't find them.

The Quenya word for nineteen looks like the Quenya word for nine which is nertë.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Nineteen, in my words

nogendice : nineteen

The Illunse word for nineteen is nogendice. Nogendice is a nearly unique word.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for nineteen which is nigontíene, and the Latin word for nineteen which is undeviginti.

Like eighteen, I'm fudging a bit to make this word. My Illunse words are supposed to contain only letters found in the Old English and the Latin words. I'm missing a c to make nogendice. That the Latin word for nineteen is undeviginti, one less than twenty, complicated things for me. My Illunse word, like the Old English word, is similar to nine and ten.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Eighteen, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya word for eighteen is toloquë.

If there are Sindarin words for numbers in the teens, I didn't find them.

The Quenya word for eighteen looks like the Quenya word for eight which is tolto.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Eighteen, in my words

othadice : eighteen

The Illunse word for eighteen is othadice. Othadice is possibly a rare last name.

This word is a mixture of the Old English word for eighteen which is eahtatíene, and the Latin word for eighteen which is duodeviginti.

I'm cheating to make this word. My Illunse words are supposed to contain only letters found in the Old English and the Latin words. But in the case of othadice, there's no c available. That's because the Latin word for eighteen is duodeviginti which translates to two less than twenty, instead of eight and ten like the pretend word of octodecim.

For eighteen and nineteen, I will follow Old English numbering. Earlier I followed Latin for eleven and twelve, making words like one and ten (oneteen), two and ten (twoteen).

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Seventeen, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya word for seventeen is otoquë.

If there are Sindarin words for numbers in the teens, I didn't find them.

The Quenya word for seventeen looks similar to Quenya word for seven which is otso.

Eight in Latin is octo, and eight in Spanish is ocho. I keep thinking the Quenya word for seven should be the word for eight instead.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Sixteen, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya words for sixteen are enenquë (which may be the preferred word) and quainquë.

There doesn't seem to be Sindarin words for numbers in the teens.

The first Quenya word for sixteen looks similar to Quenya word for six which is enquë.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Valley, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya words for valley are nandë or suffix -nan (valley), and tumba or tumbo (deep valley, under or among hills).

The Sindarin words for valley are imlad (deep valley, narrow valley with steep sides but a flat habitable bottom), imrath (long narrow valley with a road or stream running through it lengthwise), nan or nand (grassland, valley), and tum (deep valley, under or among hills).

Monday, October 12, 2009

Valley, in my words

dalle : valley

The Illunse word for valley is dalle. Dalle is a last name. In French dalle means slab, flagstone, floor tile. In Italian dalle means from the. Dalle is the name of cities in Belgium, Ethiopia and Germany.

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for valley which is vallis (valley, vale, hollow), and the Old English word for valley which is denu (valley, plain, vale, dale).

Dalle is similar to the Old English words words dell (dell, a small wooded hollow) and dæl (dale, an open river valley in a hilly area).

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Lake, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya words for lake are ailin (pool, lake) and ringwë (cold pool or mountain lake).

The Sindarin words for lake are (shallow lake, fenland), nen (water; used of a lake, pool or lesser river), ael or oel (lake, pool, mere), and rim or rhim (cold pool or mountain lake).

Thursday, October 08, 2009

River, in my words (revised)

feam : river

The Illunse word for river is feam. Feam can be an English last name.

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for river which is flumen, and the Old English word for river which is éa.

My previous word for river was fean. My new word, feam, looks more like stream. Also feam is close to the Old English word fám which translates to foam.

Here's a link to my post for River, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Mountain, in my words (revised)

morg : mountain

The Illunse word for mountain is morg. Morg is a last name. Morg is a masculine first name. Morg is a Marvel Comics fictional supervillain in The Silver Surfer.

This word is a mixture of the Latin word for mountain which is mons, and the Old English word for mountain which is beorg (mountain, hill). Another Old English word for mountain (and hill) is munt.

My previous word for mountain was meorn. That word looked too much like the word mourn. My new word, morg, is unfortunately pronounced similarly to morgue, but it's spelled differently enough.

Here's a link to my earlier post for Mountain, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Grove, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya words for grove (wood, small forest) are tavas (woodland) and tavar (wood).

The Sindarin words for grove (wood, small forest) are glad (small forest, wood) and eryn (wood).

By the way, the Quenya word for forest is taurë (great wood, forest), and the Sindarin words for forest are taur (great wood, forest) and tawar (wood as a material, forest).

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Wood, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

The Quenya words for wood (material) are tavar (wood) and taurina (of wood); turu (properly firewood, but used of wood in general) and turúva (wooden).

The Sindarin words for wood (material) are tawar (wood (as a material), wood, forest) and tawaren (wooden).