07 March 2013

Quenya words existing in other languages

Hasn't it ever happened to you, that when you come upon certain Quenya words, you realize the same word exists in your language, or in a language you are familiar with? It has happened several times to me, so I decided to take Helge Fauskanger's Quenya-English Wordlist and go word by word to find out which words have a meaning (not necessarily the same one, mostly not) in languages I am familiar with. 

I found many words existing mostly in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and Latin, languages I have some knowledge of. Thanks to Milla Leskinen, who helped me by identifying  words in Quenya that exist in Finnish, to Celebrinthal for identifying words in Polish, Japanese and German, among others, to Metaflora for Hungarian words, to Emma Flacking, for Swedish and Norwegian, to John Karpo for Greek and to Kastytis Zubovas for Lithuanian. J. R. R. Tolkien knew Finnish and Latin, so Quenya words existing in these languages probably are not coincidences, whether they have the same meaning or not, but most likely, Professor Tolkien wasn't aware of all the word coincidences we have found. I have not included the matches with the English language, since no doubt Tolkien knew if this Quenya word existed in English. Occasionally I used a dictionary to double-check the word's definitions.

I first list the words in Quenya, followed by language and the meaning it has in it. I hope you enjoy it, and of course, if you read Helge's wordlist and find words in languages not listed here, or words missing, or any corrections you would like to make, please contact me!

Finally, towards the end of the writing of this entry, I found an essay called "Similarities between natural languages and Tolkien's Eldarin", by Roman Rausch, in which you can find, among many other interesting things, a list of matches between Noldorin/Sindarin and Welsh and Irish, and a list of matches in other languages, but in which the meanings are very similar or at least related.

A

aina- (1) vb. “to hallow, bless, treat as holy”. (2) adj "holy". Finnish: "always".

Aino noun "god". Finnish: character in The Kalevala.

airë: (1) adj. "holy". (2) noun "sea". Spanish: “air”.

airon noun “ocean”. Finnish: genitive sing. form of "oar".

ala: (1) imperative particle á, a combined with the negation , -la "not" to express a prohibition . 2) prep “after, beyond”. ala- (3) negative prefix "not", "un-", reduced to al- before a vowel. (4), also al-, a prefix expressing “good” or “well”. Spanish: “wing". Finnish: "under".

alas (alast-) noun "marble". Spanish: “wings". Finnish: "down". Greek: "salt".

Aldëa noun, what the Númenóreans called the fourth day of the Eldarin six-day week, dedicated to Telperion, the White Tree. Early "Qenya" also has an adjective aldëa "tree-shadowed". Spanish: “village”.

alma (1) noun "good fortune, weal, wealth". (2) “flower”. Spanish, Italian and Portuguese: “soul.” Greek: "jump". Hungarian: "apple".

alta (1) adj. "large, great in size". (2) noun "radiance. Spanish and Portuguese: “tall”. Finnish: "from under".

ama adv.? element not glossed, evidently meaning "up" like the prefix am-. Spanish: “he/she loves”. Greek: "when".

aman adj. "blessed, free from evil". Spanish: “they love”.

ambar (1) ("a-mbar") noun "oikumenē [Greek: the earth as the human habitation], Earth, world". (2) noun "fate, doom" (3) noun "”breast” (chest). Spanish: “amber”, a yellow-orange fossil resin.

ambos (ambost-) noun “breast” (chest). Spanish: both

Anar noun "Sun". Catalan: “to go”.

anat conj. "but". Catalan: past-participle of “anar”.

anda adj. "long", “far”. Spanish: “he/she is/goes”.

ando (1) noun "gate", also name of tengwa #5. (2) adv. "long". Spanish: “I go/am”.

anel noun “daughter”. Portuguese: “ring”.

anna noun "gift", “a thing handed, brought or sent to a person”, also name of tengwa #23. Feminine name in several languages. Finnish: 2nd person imperative form of "to give".

anta- (1) vb. "give". (2) noun "face". Finnish: "to give" (antaa).

apa prep. (1) "after"; (2) "on", as in contact with physical surface. (3) conj. "but". Hungarian: "father".

aqua adv. "fully, completely, altogether, wholly". Latin: “water”.

Ára (1) noun "dawn" ara: (2)  prep.(and adv.?) "outside, beside, besides". (3) "noble". Catalan: “now.” Greek: "therefore".

aran noun "king". Spanish: “they till”.

arca (1) adj. “narrow” (2) vb. "pray". Spanish: “ark”. Finnish: "timid".

arma noun “a ray of sunlight”. Spanish: "weapon". Greek: "chariot, tank, weapon":

armar noun "goods" (pl.) Spanish: “to build, to arm”. Swedish: "arms".

artë prep. with pron. suffix "beside them”. Spanish, Portuguese and Italian: “art.”

asa prefix denoting easiness in doing. Portuguese: "wing".

asta (1) noun "month", a division of the year. (2) vb. “to heat, bake (by exposure to sun)”. Spanish: "pole".

atar noun "father". Spanish: “to tie".

atya (1) adj. "second". (2) noun "daddy", supposedly a word in "actual family use"; also used in children's play for "thumb" and "big toe". Hungarian: "father".

auta- (1) vb. "go away, leave" (leave the point of the speaker's thought). (2) vb. "invent, originate, devise". Finnish: 2nd person imperative form of "to help". Polish: common for "cars".

avar noun "recusant, one who refuses to act as advised or commanded". Hungarian: "dead fallen leaves".

C

caivo noun "corpse". Finnish: "well" (kaivo).

cal- vb. "shine. Spanish: “lime”; Catalan: "one needs to". Thanks to Ann for this one.

cala noun "light". Spanish: a type of flower. Finnish: "fish" (kala). Polish: "whole" (cała, "ł" sounds like English "w".

callo noun "noble man, hero". Spanish: "callus, also 1st person present form of "to shut up". Finnish: "skull" (kallo).

calma noun "lamp, a light, device for shining light”. Spanish: “calm”. Finnish: "death" (kalma,  archaic form).

calpa (1) noun "water-vessel", "bucket, vessel". (2) vb. "draw water, scoop out, bale out". Finnish: "sword" (kalpa, archaic form).

cáma noun “guilt, responsibility”. Spanish: “bed”.

cana prep? "behind, at back of place". Spanish: “gray hair”. Finnish: "chicken" (kana).

canasta fraction "one fourth" (1/4). Spanish: “basket”.

cáno noun "commander", usually as the title of a lesser chief, especially one acting as the deputy of one higher in rank. Portuguese: pipe.

cansat fraction "one fourth" (1/4). Catalan: “tired”.

canta (1) cardinal "four". (2) noun “shape”. Spanish:  3rd person sing. present tense "to sing ". Finnish: "to carry" (kantaa).

canya adj. "bold". Catalan: a small beer.

carda noun “deed”. Portuguese: “teasel”, a type of flower.

carnë adj. "red", “scarlet, red”. Spanish: “meat”.

carpa  (1) noun “mouth”, including lips, teeth, tongue etc., also used for “language”, in particular the phonetic system. (2) intransitive vb. “talk, speak, use tongue”. Spanish: “tent”.

cas “head”. Spanish: a type of fruit.

Casar noun "Dwarf". Spanish: “to marry”.

cassa noun "helmet". Italian: “box”.

casta (1) fraction "one fourth" (1/4). (2) noun "cause" (reason). Spanish: "breed, caste".

certa noun "rune". Portuguese: indefinite pronoun "some”.

cesta- vb. “to seek, search for”. Spanish: “basket”.

circa noun "sickle". Italian and Latin: "around,close to, near".

cíta-  vb. “suppose”. Spanish: “a quote”, “a date”. Finnish: "mouth, esp. of an animal" (kita).

cólo noun "burden". Portuguese: “lap”, also 1st person sing. present tense of “to glue”.  Spanish: 1st person sing. present tense of “to strain”.

costa- vb. "quarrel". Spanish and Portuguese: "coast"; Latin: "rib; side".

cotto noun “enemy”. Italian: “baked”.

 noun "arch, crescent"; "crescent Moon". Portuguese: “ass”; Spanish: name of the letter "q".

cúna (1) adj. "bent, curved". (2) cúna- vb. "bend". Spanish: “a cradle”. Polish: "marten" (kuna).

E

en (1) interjection "there, look! yon (yonder)" . (2), also ena, adv. “still”. (3) particle that may be inserted before a past tense form to indicate that it refers to a remote past. (4) prefix "again-", “re-“. Spanish: “in”.

es unidentified word in the phrase es sorni heruion an! "the Eagles of the Lords are at hand" possibly an assimilated form of en, that may function as a kind of deitic particle here: *"Behold the Eagles...". Spanish: 3rd person present of verb “to be”.

esta- (1) vb. "to name" .(2) adj. "first". Spanish: “this”, feminine form.

Estë fem name "Repose, Rest". Hungarian: "evening". Spanish: "this", masculine form.

esto emphatic pronoun (?), apparently 3rd person dual, “even the two of them”. Spanish: “this”, neutral form. Finnish: "inhibition".

et prep. (and adv.?) "out", when followed by ablative "out of". French and Latin: “and”.

F

falas (falass-), falassë noun "shore, beach". Portuguese: 2nd person sing. present tense of “to speak”.

fallë noun "foam”. Spanish: sing. present subjunctive of “miss”.

fanya noun "(white) cloud, sky" (plural fanyar). Hungarian: "wry" (fanyar).

fára noun "beach, shore". Catalan and Portuguese: 3rd person sing. perfect future tense of “to make”.

fëa noun "spirit". Spanish: “ugly”.

finca adj. “clever” (in petty ways): Spanish: “big area of land, estate”.

finë (1) noun "a hair" or "larch". (2) noun “dexterity”. Italian: “end”.

finta- (1) vb. “to make, finish off, or decorate a thing with delicate work”. (2) vb. “show skill”. Spanish and Portuguese: “feint”.

forma noun "right hand". Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and probably more languages:  “shape, form”.

fortë adj. "northern". Italian and Latin: “strong” (fors).

Fui noun "Night". Spanish: 1st person past tense of “to go”.

fúmë noun "sleep". Spanish: subjunctive present of “to smoke”.

H

hala (1) noun "(small) fish". (2) noun ”a cast shadow”. Spanish: 3rd person sing. present tense of “ to pull”. Hungarian: "fish" (hal) (thanks to Milla for this one). Polish: "hall".

halla adj. "tall. Finnish: "frost". Spanish: 1st person sing. present tense of "to find".

hampa adj. “restrained, delayed, kept”. Spanish: “underworld, in a criminal sense”

hanno noun "brother", also used in children's play for "middle finger". Italian: 3rd person sing. present  tense of “to have”.

hellë noun "sky". Finnish: "very hot weather." 

héra: adj. "chief, principal". Finnish: "whey".

noun "spirit, shadow". Hungarian: "snow".

horta- vb. "send flying, speed, urge". Catalan and Portuguese: “garden”.

I

ilma noun "starlight". Finnish: "air".

indo (1) noun “heart, mood” (2) noun “house”. Portuguese: gerund of “to go”.

inga (1) noun "top, highest point". (2) adj. "first". Hungarian:  "pendulum".

írë (1) noun "desire". Spanish: 1st person sing. future tense of “to go”.

ista (1) noun "knowledge". (2) vb. "know". Latin: "that".

ita- (1) vb. "sparkle". (2) adv. “very, extremely”. (3) pron “that which”. Latin: “this way, thus”.

L

la negation "no, not". Spanish: "the" (feminine form).

laica (1) adj. "green". (2) adj. "keen, sharp, acute, piercing". Spanish: “not religious”.

laita- vb. "bless, praise". Finnish: "side".

láma noun "ringing side, echo". Finnish: "economic depression". Polish: "llama".

lanca noun "sharp edge (not of tools); sudden end". Finnish: "string".

lanco noun "throat, swallow". Finnish "brother-in-law".

lanta noun " a fall". lanta- vb. "to fall". Finnish "manure".

lappa noun "hem of robe". Swedish: "to patch" (somewhat related, maybe?)

lapsë noun "babe". Finnish "child"( lapsi).

lar (1) noun "fat, riches". Spanish, Portuguese and Latin: “hearth, home”. Also the Roman gods associated with these.

láta adj. "open". Spanish: “can”. Polish: "years".

lávar noun “(golden) blossom”. Spanish: “to wash” (lavar).

le, pronominal element "you", (originally) the "reverential 2nd person sing". Spanish: dative personal pronoun “to him/her”.

lëo noun "shade, shadow cast by any object". Latin: “lion”.

lin- prefix "many". Polish: "tench"; also pl. genitive form of lina, "line".

linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound), “soft, gentle, light”. Spanish: “pretty, beautiful” (feminine form).

lindo noun "singer, singing bird". Spanish: pretty (masculine form).

lis noun "honey". Polish: "fox".

(1) noun "night". (2) prep. "from", also used as "by", introducing the agent after a passive construction: nahtana ló Túrin (slain by Túrin). Hungarian: "horse". 

loa, noun literally "growth". Spanish: a Spanish theatrical play.

loar noun “(golden) blossom”. Spanish: “to praise”.

lúcë ("k") noun "enchantment". Italian and Latin (ablative sing.): “light”.

luhta- (1) vb. "to enchant". (2) vb. "to bow". Finnish"flood meadow". 

luita- vb. "to flood". Finnish: "some bones". 

lúmë (1) noun "time". (2) noun "darkness". Portuguese: “fire, light” (it has the opposite meaning in Quenya!) In Romanian apparently it means “World”. Italian: "light".

lúna (1) adj. “dark”. Spanish and Italian: “Moon”.

lúto noun "flood". Spanish: “mourning”.

M

ma, (1) neuter personal pronoun "something, a thing". Italian: “but”. Polish: he/she/it "has". Hungarian: "today".

noun "hand. Catalan: "hand" (mà) - same meaning! 

maca- vb. "to forge metal". Catalan: “pretty” (feminine form). Polish: "matza"; 3rd person of "palpate".

mai (1) adv. "well" (2) conj. "if". Italian: “never”. German: the month "May".

mahta- vb. "wield a weapon”, “fight", "to handle, wield, manage". Finnish"to be able" (mahtaa).

mal conj. "but". Spanish: “evil” (noun). German: "time".

mala- vb. "hurt, pain". Spanish: “evil” (feminine singular adjective). Polish: "small" - feminine singular (mała). Lithuanian: he/she/it "grinds, mills".

malina adj. "yellow, golden". Polish: "raspberry". 

malo (1) noun "pollen, yellow powder". (2) noun “moth”. Spanish: “evil” (masculine singular adjective). Polish: "little" (mało), adverb.

málos noun "forest". Spanish: “evil” (masculine plural adj.)”

malta noun "gold", also name of tengwa #18. Spanish: “malt”.

máma noun "sheep". Word for "mom" in several languages, such as Spanish and Polish.

manca- vb. "trade". Italian: “left hand”; 3rd person present tense of “to miss”.

mar (1) noun "earth" (world), also "home, dwelling, mansion". (2) noun "house" in the sense of family. (3) vb. "abide, be settled or fixed". Spanish: “sea”.

me 1st person pl. exclusive pronoun "we, us". Spanish, Latin and Italian: accusative 1st person sing. Personal pronoun.

mel- vb. "love (as friend)". Portuguese and Latin: “honey”.

menta- (1) vb. "send, cause to go" (in a desired direction). (2) noun "sending" or "message". Spanish: “mint”.

mi prep. "in, within". Spanish: possessive 1st person sing pronoun "my". Polish: "me", dative form.

mil "in you" (sg.), Spanish: “a thousand”. Polish: "miles", genitive form.

millë "in you" (pl.) Italian: a thousand”.

mína adj. "desiring to start, eager to go", also verb mína- "desire to go in some direction, to wish to go to a place, make for it, have some end in view". Spanish: "a mine". Swedish: 1st person pl. possesive pronoun "my". Polish: "face (as in making a face); a mine (bomb).

minna prep. "to the inside, into". Japanese: "everyone".

mir (1) prep. "to the inside, into". (2) cardinal "one". Archaic word in old Polish, Russian, Czech and others,  meaning "peace" (thanks to Celebrinthal for this one)!

misil noun "silver (jewel-like) brilliance". Spanish: "missile".

móla adj. “of slave(s), slavish”. Catalan: “cool”. (Thanks to Ann for helping in this one).

móro noun “ink” . Spanish, Catalan: “moor”. Portuguese: 1st person present tense of “to live”.

móta- noun "labour, toil". Spanish: “speck”, or “ marihuana”.

mundo (1) noun "bull". (2) noun "snout, nose, cape". Spanish: “world”.

muru- vb. "to slumber". Finnish: "crumb". Polish: "brick wall", genitive form of muru.

N

nácë interjection? “it is may be seeming”. Spanish: “is born”.

nauta adj. "bound, obliged". Latin: "sailor. Finnish: "bovine".

nec- prefix “without, -less”. Latin: "no".

néna adj. "wet”. Spanish: "girl".

vb. in pa.t. “was”. Latin: "no"; also an interrogative particle.

ni 1st person sg. pron. "I". Spanish: “neither”.

nisto noun "large woman". Portuguese: “in this”.

nosta noun "birth, birthday" (maybe not a valid word in Tolkien’s later Quenya because the meaning of the corresponding verb was changed from "give birth" to "beget"); nosta- vb., variously glossed "beget" or passive “be begotten”; in earlier "Qenya" the gloss was "give birth". Finnish: 2nd person imperative of "to lift".

nu prep. "under". Portuguese: “naked”.

núla adj. “dark, occult, mysterious”. Spanish: “null”.

nulla adj. "dark, dusky, obscure, secret". Italian: “nothing”.

O

oi adv. "ever". Portuguese: “hello”.

olla prep “over”. Spanish: “pot”. Finnish: "to be" (ollaa).

olor noun "dream". Spanish: “smell”.

onna noun "creature, child". Japanese: "woman".

órava- vb. "to have mercy". Finnish: "squirrel". Also a region in Poland and Slovakia: Orava .

orë noun "grain". Japanese: "me", used by men.

oro (1) noun “mount, mountain”. (2) vb. "rise". Spanish: “gold”. Also 1st person present tense of “to pray”.

orto noun "mountain-top". Spanish and Portuguese: “ortho (straight, right)”, from Greek ὀρθός.

otso cardinal "seven". Finnish: old word for "bear".

P

pa prep. "on" with reference to contact of surfaces, especially vertical surface (in the sense in which a picture hangs on a wall. Spanish: diminutive of “father”. Polish: "bye".

paca noun "paved floor, court". Spanish: “bale”, also how in Costa Rica we call the police.

palpa- vb. "to beat, batter". Spanish: “palpate”.

pan adv. “since” (in the sense of because). Spanish: "bread". Polish: "sir".

panda noun "enclosure"- The animal.

par- vb. “learn” (acquire information, not by experience or observation, but by communication, by the instruction, or by written accounts, of others). Spanish: "pair, even". Polish: "couples", genitive form of para.

pata- vb. “walk”. Spanish: "animal's leg". Finnish: "pot".

páva noun "mouth" (including tongue, lips and teeth). Spanish: "fringe". Hungarian: "peacock".

pelo noun “a boundary (fence)” . Spanish: "hair".

pica (1) noun "small spot, dot". (2) vb. "lessen, dwindle, waning". Spanish: "itch".

pontë (ponti-) noun "back, rear". Portuguese: "bridge".

punta noun "stopped consonant". Spanish: “tip”.

Q

qual- vb. “to die”. Catalan: “which”.

quanta (1) ("q") adj. "full". (2) vb. “fill”. Latin: "how many".

qui conj. “if” . Latin: among several definitions: "how, who, which, that".

R

raita- (1) vb. "make network or lace". (2) vb. "catch in a net". (3) vb. “smile”. Finnish"stripe". 

rama- vb. "to shout". Spanish: “branch”. Polish: "frame.

Rána place-name "the Wayward, the Wanderer", a name of the moon. The Etymologies gives Rana with a short vowel. Spanish: “frog”.

ranta noun "part". Finnish: "beach".

rauta noun "metalt". Finnish: "iron".

ráta- vb. “excel, surpass”. Spanish: “rat”.

ronda adj. “solid, firm”Spanish: “round”. Hungarian: "ugly".

rúna- vb. "[to] free". Spanish and in several languages: “rune”.

S

saca-  (1) vb. "pursue, look for, search". (2) vb. "draw, pull". Spanish: 3rd person sing. present tense of "to pull out".

san (1) adv. "then". (2) adv. ephemeral word for "so". Spanish: “saint...”.

sana (1) “that very thing (already referred to)”. (2) noun "day (24 hours)". Spanish: 3rd person present tense of “to heal”. Finnish: "word".

sanar noun "mind". Spanish: “to heal”.

sánë noun “pine”. Spanish: present subjuntive form of “to heal”.

sára (1) adj. "bitter". (2) adj. "fiery" (3) noun "stiff dry grass, bent". Italian: “will be”. Finnish: "sedge".

sarna adj. "of stone". Spanish: “scabies" (a skin disease). Polish: "roe deer".

se (1) pron. "he, she, it" also object "him, her, it", 3rd person sg. (2), preposition "at, in". Spanish: 3rd person pronoun.

ser- vb. "rest". Spanish: “to be”. Polish: "cheese",

si adv. “here”. Spanish: “if”.

adv. "now". Spanish: “yes”.

síma noun "mind, imagination". Finnish: "mead".

sól, noun ”helmet”. Spanish: “sun”. Polish: "salt".

sor, noun "eagle". Spanish: “sor (religious)”.

T

tál (tal-, as in "g.sg. talen"; in LotR-style Quenya this is rather the dative singular) noun "foot". Spanish: “such”.

talo adv. "thence". Finnish: "house".

tango noun "twang". The dance, of course!

tanya demonstrative "that". Hungarian: "small farm, ranch".

tanta (1) noun "harp". (2) (prob. adj.) "double". Spanish: “as much”. Norwegian: "aunt".

táta noun "hat". Spanish: colloquial form of “father". Polish: "dad.

te pron. "they, them". Spanish: 2nd person personal pronoun accusative/dative form. Polish: "these" (feminine/neuter).

telë- vb. "finish, end" (intransitive). Greek: prefix “from a distance”.

ten (1) pron. in dative “to them, for them”. (2) conj. "for". (4) vb. "hear". Spanish: imperative “have”. Polish: this (masculine).

tenta- vb. “point to, point out; indicate; direct toward, be directed toward”. Portuguese: 3rd person present tense of “to try”.

tinta- vb. "kindle, cause to sparkle". Spanish: “ink”.

tombo noun "gong, resonant". Spanish (Costa Rican variant): police-man.

torni noun "brothers". Finnish: "tower". Italian: 2nd person sing. present tense of "to return".

tuo noun "muscle, sinew, vigour, physical strength" . Italian: “your”.

turma noun "shield". Portuguese: "group". Finnish: "accident, death, destruction".

U

um- vb. "not to do, not to be". Portuguese: indefinite article “a".

un- intensive prefix used before qu. Spanishindefinite article “a” (masculine form).

úna adj. "deprived of, destitute, forlorn". Spanish: indefinite article “a” (feminine form).

urdu noun "death". An asian language.

urna noun "oven". LatinSpanish, Polish, Italian, Portuguese and probably more languages: "urn".

ursa noun “rage” (2) vb. “to rage”. Latin: “bear”.

usquë. noun "reek". Latin: "all the time; up to".

úva (1) vb. "will not". (2) vb. “impend, be imminent” – “nearly always in a bad sense: ‘threaten (to come)’ “, as in hrívë úva véna “winter is drawing near to us”-uva future tense ending. Spanish: “grape”. 

V

va prep. "from". Spanish and Portuguese: 3rd person present tense of "to go".

vaia noun "envelope". English: "a hoot".

vaina (1) adj. "clad". (2) adj., the “late” pronunciation of waina “blonde, fair of hair”. Spanish: "sheath".

-valta suffix "-less". Finnish: "power".

 ve (1) prep. "as, like". (2) pron. “we”. (3) apparently an ending used to derive adverbs from adjectives. Spanish: 2nd person imperative form of "to go".

vëa (1) adj. “seeming, apparent”. (2) adj. "adult, manly, vigorous". (3) noun "sea". (4) noun “wind”. Spanish: present subjuntive form of "to see".

véla (1) adv. “alike” (2) vb. "see (meet)". Spanish: "a sail"; "a candle".

vendë noun "maiden". Spanish and Portuguese: 3rd person present tense of "to sell".venta noun "chin". Spanish: "a sale".

verca adj. "wild". Finnish: "fabric", archaic word. veri noun "wife". Finnish: "blood".

vista (1) noun "air as substance". (2) vb. "change" (transitive). Spanish: "a view".



Y


ya (1) relative pronoun "which, what" (2) prep. "as". (3) suffix of endearment (4) pronominal suffix “his” (and probably also “her, its”), said to be used in “colloquial Quenya. (5) adjectival ending, as in the word Quenya “Elvish” itself. Spanish: "now". Polish: "me" (written "ja", but it sounds the same).

yo conj. “and”. Spanish: nominative case of 1st person personal pronoun "I".



17 comments:

  1. Words like "mama" are used everywhere in the world, I think :P oh, and the name Anna exists in almost all languages. I think you should delete the information that it's only Catalonian ;) and I think luce/lume/luna are also in more languages. I know it's hard to tell in which when you don't know them... but it just feel slightly wrong that they are not mentioned there when there must be some ;)
    Polish doesn't have much in common with Quenya, but as it turned out, few words exsist in it as well.
    auta - common for cars (really XD)
    similiar to cala: cała - (ł is like w in English) whole, in feminine singular form
    (I don't know how is "c" read in Quenya, though. I think it's like "k". Polish "c" sounds like "z" in German.)
    similiar to cúna: kuna - marten
    forma - shape, form (again, I think it works in maaany moooore languages ;))
    hala - hall
    lama - llama XD
    lata - years
    ma - he/she/it has
    maca - matza/matzah; or a 3rd person of palpate
    similiar to mala: mała - small (feminine singular)
    analogically mało - little (adverb)
    mi - me (dative form)
    mil - miles (genitive)
    mina - face (like when you grimace, make a face, not a face in anatomical sense), mine (a bomb)
    mama - mom of course
    muru - brick wall (genitive)
    Orava - is a region situated partially in Poland and partially in Slovakia :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orava_(region)
    pa - bye
    pan - sir
    panda - the animal, of course ;)
    par - couples (genitive)
    rama - frame
    runa - rune (in most languages?)
    sarna - roe-deer
    ser - cheese
    sól - well actually in Polish ó is read the same as u (so it's only a matter of ortography), and then it means salt
    tata - dad
    te - these (feminine/neuter)
    ten - this (masculine)
    urna - urn
    ya - (written ja, but it sounds the same - like ya in English, right?) me

    I know some of these words are bizarre, like plurar forms in dative XD I've left out some of them, some stayed. Just nevermind.

    Oh, and there's even something in German! mai - Mai, may, the month :)

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    1. Wow, Celebrinthal, what a great contribution, for your suggestions and Polish (and German) words!!! I have added those words, and added "in several languages" in some entries, such as "Anna" and "mama". Of course some words have similar forms in many other languages, but I don't know them, so I can't add them xD. I hope people who read this and notice words and languages missing will tell me so that I can correct this word compilation!

      "C" in Quenya sounds as English "k", you are correct :D.

      Thanks again for your fantastic help, I deeply appreciate it! :)

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    2. Ehh. I should have added also nominative singular forms of the words I mentioned... '-'
      So, to correct myself, here they are in nominative singular/infinitives:
      car - auto
      year - rok (I know, COMPLETELY irregular)
      to have - mieć
      to palpate - macać
      me - ja was mentioned already with ya ;)
      mile - mila
      brick wall - mur
      couple - para
      that would be it ;)

      and well... add "mir" :D
      and those words I've mentioned in our talk were: minna - in Japanese everyone; onna - in Japanese woman; ore - in Japanese "me" used by men; back to Polish: lis - fox; malina - raspberry, lin - tench (and also a plurar genitive from "lina" which means line)
      there were more I've spotted, but I don't remember them ;) some time I'll open the dictionary again and search for them.

      it's so funny to search those words. and really pointless, to be honest XD that's why it seems so attractive to do, I think. ;p

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    3. Thanks a lot! I have added the new words, and also some nominative forms. And don't worry, there's no hurry, take your time, you have helped a lot already! :D

      And well, it may be pointless, but still it is funny and amusing! And it is curious how words repeat themselves, whether Tolkien knew them or not. Furthermore, there are some interesting coincidences, take for example, Spanish "mi", 1st person possessive pronoun, it's also the 1st person personal pronoun dative form in Polish, "me" is a 1st person English pronoun, "mina" is 1st person possessive pronoun in Swedish...maybe it's the Indoeuropean root of all these languages present, that is awesome! :D

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  2. It is also interesting that Classical Nahuatl allows so many of the same word endings as Quenya (-ea, -in, -ye, -lli, -llo, -mo, -que, etc.). The 1910's Qenya stage even allowed Nahuatl _-tl_ as a word-final combination (at least on an orthographical level, not necessarily phonetical - although much of the Professor's inspiration was probably based on working with literary sources alone).

    Sami Paldanius

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    1. This is very interesting indeed, I had never heard of any similarity whatsoever of Quenya and Nahuatl, and also of Tolkien having contact with any Nahuatl texts! These coincidences are very remarkable indeed!!!! Thanks for pointing that out, Sami.

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  3. You should take a look at Hooker's "Tolkien and Welsh" for a comparison of Welsh and Sindarin, ranging from the obvious (Gwynfa—the Welsh word for Paradise), to the apparent (Took—a Welsh surname), to the veiled (Gerontius—the Latinizaton of a royal Welsh name), to the hidden (Goldberry—the English calque of a Welsh theonym). http://llyfrawr.com/TolkienAndWelsh/TandW.html

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    1. That is definitely a book I am interested in reading! I have placed in my amazon wish list :D, maybe I'll buy at the end of this year! Regarding Tolkien and Welsh, that article I mentioned at the beginning of the post, has some similar Sindarin and Welsh words, http://www.sindanoorie.net/art/Similarities.pdf, and also, regarding the Took surname, I found this article too: https://sites.google.com/site/endorenya/took

      Cheers, and thanks for your help and interest! :)

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    2. Yes, I have only had a chance to skim through "Similarities", but can see that it will be worth taking the time to study. The math at the beginning is interesting, and explains why there are so many "false friends" to trip up language learners. The article on the surnames "Took" and "Boffin" offer a good start, but Hooker has the finish. I think you'll enjoy "Tolkien and Welsh", if this kind of thing interests you.

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  4. Interesting that the only Hungarian word on your list is "hal", which is one of the most often used examples for the "common words" of Finnish (being known source for Quenya) and Hungarian (which two languages are known as relatives, but similarities are mostly seen only by linguists). (Fish in Finnish is "kala", so the Quenya word seems to be halfway between Hungarian and Finnish.) Where did you find it?

    Other words on your list which have also a meaning in Hungarian (I won't start to look for new ones now, but perhaps another time):
    "alma" = apple
    "páva" = peacock
    "ronda" = ugly

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    1. Köszonöm, Metaflora, for your help and contribution! I have added the Hungarian words you mentioned already in the blog, as well as your nickname "Metaflora" at the beginning of the post (if you want to change that and have your name, for example, in the post, just tell me :) ).

      Ahh yes, I forgot to mention it, it was my Finnish friend Milla that told me "hal" was Hungarian! I now know that both tongues belong to the Finno-Ugric language group. And you are totally correct, I did not think of it, Quenya "hala" indeed is like a mixture of both tongues.

      Again, thank you very much for your interest and help, I really appreciate it! :D

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    2. Nickname is OK, thanks :) I checked the Quenya wordlist and collected some more Hungarian pieces for you:
      "apa", "atya" = father
      "avar" = dead fallen leaves
      "este" = evening
      "fanyar" = wry
      "hó" = snow
      "inga" = pendulum
      "ló" = horse
      "ma" = today
      "tanya" = small farm, ranch

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    3. Wonderful, Metaflora, so nice to know you took the time to go over the wordlist :), thank you very much indeed, I am so happy :D. I have added those words now! Funny that "atya" means the same in both languages!!

      You know, it's about two years I like the Hungarian language, I plan to learn it one day, despite its difficulty. One of my favorite metal bands is Dalriada, maybe you know them.

      Cheers (Egészségedre)!!

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  5. Oh, I think this listing is a great idea, not because there could be any real connection with these words, just for the fun - to see how Quenyaish our language is (perhaps it would be even more effective to compare the pronounced forms of the words), and you cannot be short on Hungarian words - perhaps there will be more, I really just ran through the list and very likely missed some details :D
    (Perhaps you should post the link to the ITF group also, if you had not do so yet, there could be more international readers, than in the TS.)

    I love my language, I'd be happy to give you any help learning it :)
    (I heard about Dalriada, don't know their music well though... but do you know their "Arany-album"? those lyrics are the beautiful ballads of one of my favourite poets...)

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  6. Some thus far unmentioned similarities:

    ála 'don't...' - Finnish _älä_ 'don't...'
    alda 'tree' - Old Icelandic 1. 'of the old' (gen. pl. of _öld_ 'old'); Old Saxon _ald_ 'old' (Npl. masc. -a), _aldar_ old age
    kemen 'earth' - Basque for 'force, energy, vigour, strength; valour'
    kulda 'golden-red' - Finnish _kulta_ 'gold'
    kúma 'a void' - Finnish _kuuma_ 'hot'
    men- 'go as far as, arrive', inf. menë - Finnish _mennä_ 'to go', present stem _mene-_
    ná 'to be/is' - Icelandic 'reach, attain, get; be able, be allowed'
    Noldor - Icelandic _nöldur_ 'act of grumbling, complaining' (I wonder if the local Silm. translation used the wordplay for chapter 7!)
    númen 'west' - Latin _nūmen_ 'will of ruling powers; divinity'; Icelandic _numinn_ 'taken, caught, assumed'
    olos (olor-) 'a dream' - Sp. _olor_ 'smell, scent'; Finnish _olo_ '(general) feel; state of being, condition'; Lat. _olor_ 'swan'
    otso 'seven' - Basque for 'wolf'
    saura 'foul, vile; evil-smelling, putrid' - Old Icelandic _saurr_ 'dirt, filth' (stem/cpd. elem. _saur-_ 'foul, filthy; dung-')
    sitë 'of this sort' - Finnish _sitä_ partitive object form of _se_ 'it, that (which was mentioned)'
    te 'they' - Finnish 'you (pl.)'
    tul- 'come', inf. tulë - Finnish _tulla_ 'to come', present stem _tule-_
    tuo 'muscle, vigour' - Finnish 1. demonstrative, 'that (one there)', 2. 'bring!' (imperative 2 sg.)

    Sami Paldanius

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  7. Thre is also Quenya verb pusta- meaning "to stop" it also means empty(feminine) in Polish

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  8. For romanian language:
    "apa" - the water
    "arma" - the Weapon
    "arte" - arts
    "așa" - so, such
    "asta" - this
    "avar" - greedy
    "cal" - horse
    "cana" - the mug
    "(a) canta" - (to) sing
    "carne"- meat
    "cârpă" - rag
    "castă" - pure, virgin
    "circa" - approximately
    "este" - is
    "fără" - without
    "ființă" - being
    "forma" - the shape
    "la" - at
    "lama" - the blade
    "lin" - quietly
    "lume" - world
    "luna" - the Moon
    "mama" - the mother
    "(a) mânca"- (to) eat
    "măr"- apple
    "menta" - the mint
    "mina" - the mine
    "nu"- no
    "oi" - sheeps
    "ore" - hours
    "pa"- bye
    "pată" - stain
    "pica"- fall
    "rama" - the frame
    "rana" - the wound
    "tata"- father
    "țintă" - target
    "turma"- the herd
    "un"- a
    "una" - one

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