Words in brackets are deleted by Tolkien. Words with a prefixed question mark are of uncertain readings of manuscripts. A suffixed question mark means uncertain stems or translations. Probable word roots are given for reference even if not attested in the source, but only attested CE forms are listed.
For a similar list of Early Telerin vocabulary see [2].
aba- (1) a prefix showing prohibition (WJ:371) (ABA- < BA! ’no’), as in abapétima
#aba- (2) ’to refuse’; see aban
aban ’I refuse, I will not’ (WJ:371) (ABA- < BA! ’no’);
abá — negative imperative particle ’don’t!’ (WJ:371) (< CE abā; ABA- < BA! ’no’); the accent may indicate unusual stress rather than vowel length
abapétima ’not to be said’ (WJ:371) (ABA- < BA! ’no’, KWET-)
abar ’Avar’, one of the Avari (VT47:13, 24) (< CE abaro; ABA- < BA! ’no’); pl. Abari (WJ:380)
Ambaráto — father-name of Aikanáro (Aegnor) (PM:347); neither explicitly identified as Telerin, nor translated; but obviously #amba + arāta
#anda ’long’, isolated from andané
andané ’long ago, once upon a time’ (VT49:31), also see né
anga ’iron’ (PM:347) (< CE angā; ANGĀ-)
Angaráto — Telerin name of Angrod, son of Finarfin and Eärwen (PM:346) < anga + arāta; made a masculine name by -a < -o; but Angrod in The Etymologies is from RAUTĀ- ’metal’ and probably ANGĀ- ’iron’
aplat ’prohibition, refusal’ (VT47:13) (< CE ap’lata; PAL-)
#aran ’king’; isolated from Ciriāran (AR-, ARAT/ARAN (PE17:147))
Calapendi ’Kalaquendi, Light-elves, Elves of Aman’ (WJ:362) (KAL-, KWEN-)
calar ’lamp’ (VT47:13) (< CE kalar-; KAL-)
calca ’glass’ (VT47:35) (KALAK-)
camba ’the usual word for hand’ (VT47:22) (KAB-); but should rather read ’a hand as flexed, with fingers more or less closed, cupped, in the attitude of receiving or holding’, see VT47:7-8 campe ’14’ (VT48:21) (KAN-, KEWE- ’new, fresh, anew, repeated’)
can- ’cry aloud, call’ or ’to summons or name a person’ (PM:362) (KAN- ’cry, call aloud’ (PM:361))
#car- — stem of the verb ’to do’, see aorist form care
care ’do’ (aorist) (WJ:371) (KAR-); in abá care! ’don’t do it!’
cava ’house’ (WJ:369) (*KAW-?)
[cenet ’4’ (VT47:41) (KANAT-); it reflects a musing that either Q. altered KENET- > KANAT- to relieve the monotony of e in the numerals or that S., T. altered KANAT- > KENET- under the influence of the other numerals; not ultimately carried out]
engole ’lore’ (WJ:383) (ÑGOL-); ’used most often of the special ’lore’ possessed by the Ñoldor’
epe ’no tense forms and usually receives no pronominal affixes, being mostly used only before either a proper name (sg. or pl.) or a full independent pronoun, in the senses say / says or said. A quotation then follows, either direct, or less usually indirect after a ’that’-conjunction’ (WJ:392) (< CE ekwē; KWE-)
er ’1’ (VT48:6) (ER-), also min
Erde ’’Rest’, especially as name of spouse of Olofantur Lorien’ (PE19:45) (< Ezdē, √SED ’rest’)
eve ’a person, someone (unnamed)’ (PM:340) (< CE ewē; EWE-)
#falle ’foam’; isolated from Fallinel
Fallinel ’Teler’, lit. ’foam-singer’ (PHAL-, NYEL-); pl. Fallinelli
felga ’cave’ (PHÉLEG-)
ferne ’beech’ (PHER-, PHÉREN-)
find- – compound element referring to hair (PHIN-) (PM:346,362); see Findarāto
Findaráto – Telerin name of Finrod, son of Finarfin and Eärwen (PM:346) (PHIN-); find- + arāta; but Finrod < Phinderauto *’skilled-metal’ in The Etymologies (PHIN-, RAUTĀ-)
Findo — Telerin form of the name Thingol (THIN-)
forma ’right-hand’ (VT47:6) (PHOR-, MAƷ-)
fuine ’gloom, unrelieved darkness (as a night without stars and moon)’ (VT41:8) (PHUY-)
gāia ’terror, great fear’ (PM:363) (< CE gāyā; GAYA- ’awe, dread’)
hanna(ce) *’brother / little brother’ (diminutive ce), a play-name of the middle finger, variant tolle (VT48:6) (KHAN-); the source has -ke with k spelt as Quenya
Hecello ’Elf of Beleriand’, lit. *’a forsaken one’ (WJ:365) (HEKE-, DELE-); pl. Hecelloi (WJ:376); see ello
heco — adverb and preposition: ’leaving aside, not counting, excluding, except’ (WJ:365) (< hek + au; HEKE-)
hecta ’reject, abandon’ (WJ:365) (HEKE-)
Hecellubar ’Beleriand’, lit. *’home of the Hecelloi’ (WJ:365) (HEKE-, MBAR-); also Heculbar
Heculbar ’Beleriand’, lit. *’home of the Hecelloi’ (WJ:365) (HEKE-, MBAR-); also Hecellubar
hecul ’one lost or forsaken by friends, waif, outcast, outlaw’ (HEKE-); also heculo
heculo — same as hecul (HEKE-)
[Hendor ’Middle-earth’ (VT41:16) < HEN-, HENET- (<< HENED-); this is from jottings of an (external) change ÉNED > HENET- to distinguish it from the element en- ’again’, but see ened-]
ho- ’away, from, from among’, but the point of view was outside the thing, place, or group in thought’ (verbal prefix) (WJ:369) (HO-)
[hor- — rejected element from HOR- ’urge, impel, move / warn’ in favour of ƷOR- > ōre (VT41:13)]
[hŏra – no translation given; see hōre]
[?horath – alternative of hōre, reading uncertain (VT41:15)]
[hōre ’warning, caution’ (VT41:15); probably obsolete by the external change HOR- > ƷOR-]
ilpen ’everybody’ (WJ:375) (IL-, KWEN-)
imbe ’a gap, gully; low, narrow tract between high walls’, also ’a path or pass between the mountains, hills or trackless forest’ (VT47:11,14) (MI-); not a preposition in Telerin
iūnec(e) – orthographical variant of yūnece (i = [j] in this case) and firstly written with y (VT48:21)
leper ’finger’, pl. leperi (VT47:10, VT48:5) (LEP-)
[lepet ’thumb, (’picker’)’ (VT47:27) (< CE lepet(ā); LEP-); on list of words not included into the Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals essay; compare tolmo, nāpo]
[leppa — rejected form of lepta- (VT47:23)]
lepta- ’finger, feel with fingertips’ (VT47:10,24) (LEP-)
[?lepþa – alternative reading of leppa (VT47:23)]
#lie ’folk, people’; isolated from Ellālie
#lime ’link’, isolated from mālime lit. ’hand-link’
#linda *’beautiful of sound’ or as a proper noun: Linda lit. ’singer’, ’a Nelya, member of the third clan’; isolated from Lindai
Lindai ’Teleri, Nelyar of the 3rd clan’, lit. ’they sang before they could speak with words’ (WJ:382) (< CE Lindā; LIN-)
Lindalambe ’Amanya Telerin’ (WJ:371) (LIN-, LABA-); also Lindārin
Lindārin ’Amanya Telerin’ (WJ:371) (LIN-); also Lindalambe
lō ’pool, bathing-place, esp. water left in a rocky hollow by receding tide’ (VT47:12) (< CE lō ’lying water’; LOƷ-)
luine ’blue’ (VT48:24) (< CE luini- ’blue’; LUY- ’blue’)
#lūme ’hour’ = *’a point in time’? (WJ:407) (LU-?); from lūmena ’upon the hour’ (allative)
lūta- ’bow, bend’ (VT47:12) (< CE lū ’bow, curve’; LUƷ-)
mā (1) ’hand’, in derivatives and compounds only (VT47:6) (MAƷ-)
mā (2) ’prep. with genitive; by (of agents)’ (VT47:18) (MAƷ-); meaning changed from ’by (hand of), of agent’; ma with a short vowel also appears in notes, but not identified as Telerin
[māga ’the manager(?)’ (VT47:18) (MAG-); obsolete by the assignment of Q. and T. mā to MAƷ-]
māla ’loving, affectionate’ (VT39:10) (MEL-)
mālime ’wrist = hand-link’ (VT47:6) (< CE mā-limi MAƷ-, LIM- ’link, join’); written with accent instead of macron, obviously because the Q. and T. forms coincide
(*mālo ’friend, comrade’ (PE18:46,97) (MEL-); Tolkien acknowledges that Q. málo could be a loan from Telerin, implying that there was such word in this language)
minipe ’11’ (the notes hold a broad variety of CE forms: minikwē?, min(i)k(e)we / late CE minikwē < min(i)kewe / min(i)kewē?, minikwe ’fresh one’; MIN-, KEWE- ’new, fresh, anew, repeated’) (VT48:6-8)
minya ’1st’ (VT42:25) (MIN-)
Moripendi ’Moriquendi, Dark-folk’, but ’not applied to the Elves of Telerin origin who had not reached Aman’ (WJ:362,371) (< CE mori-kwendī; MOR-, KWENE-); a word ’in historical use’
nacte (internally) earlier variant of natte
nāpa ’thumb’ (VT48:5) (NAP- ’take, pick up’ in VT47:29); from a source slightly later than nāpo below
nāpat ’thumb and index [finger] as a pair’ (VT48:5) (NAP- ’take, pick up’ in VT47:29)
[nāpo ’thumb’, an agental (personalized) derivative of NAP- ’take hold’ (VT47:28-29); but Tolkien decided that it should be a Quenya word, not mentioning a (new) Telerin form, however compare nāpa]
natte ’a wounding, a wound’ (PE19:91) (variant nacte) (< snagdē; √SNAG- ’wound, gash’)
nē ’independent word, functioning as a past tense of the verb ’to be’ = it was’ (VT49:31); see 4.3
necte — (internally) earlier variant of nette
neled ’3’; from the rough notes to the ELN essay, see nelet
nelet (neled-) ’3’ (VT48:6) (NEL-, NEL-ED-); final -d devoiced
nellepe ’middle finger’ (VT48:5) (NEL-, LEP-); written with the definite article (i nellepe) in the source
nettice : nette ’sister’ with a diminutive suffix (VT47:12,14,32, VT48:6) (< netthi + -iki; NETH-)
[nettica – emended to nettice (VT47:32)]
[nēþa (1) ’gay, lively, girlish’ (VT47:32-33, 38) (NETH-); meaning probably rejected in favour of (2), as there is NETH- ’sister’ in the final essay (VT47:12)]
nēþa (2) ’sister’ (VT47:14) (NETH-)
nia ’my, of me’ (VT41:15) (NI-)
níce ’little finger’ (VT48:5) (NIK- ’small’ in VT47:26); the source has níke with kspelt as Quenya (VT48:6)
*nimbe ’white’ – what CT nimbi would produce
nimbi ’white’ (PE17:19,168), alteration of nimpı̆which seem[ed] phonetically unsuitable (NIK); this is glossed as Telerin, but is most probably meant is Common Telerin, the ancestor of Sindarin and Amanya Telerin
nin ’(to) me’ (VT41:15) (NI-)
[occo (variant okko) ’7’; experimental version, see otoc(o) (VT47:42) (OT-OK-)]
Olue ’Olwë’ (king of the Teleri) (WJ:369); see Olwe
Olwe ’Olwe in Telerin as in Quenya’ (king of the Teleri) (PM:357); see also Olue, Volwe
[ora — no translation given, probably verb ’to urge, wish, desire, feel moved’; ’?impersonal’ – reading uncertain; this word may be obsolete in the exact form (VT41:15) (HOR-?)] ōre ’heart, inner mind (in a moral sense)’ (VT41:15) (ƷOR-)
orna ’uprising, tall’, see Teleporno (UT:266) (OR-); said to be an ’ancient adjectival form’ – maybe not in common use in Telerin
[osko ’7’; experimental version, see otoc(o) (VT47:42) (OT-OK- with ’tk>sk in Q., T., S.’)]
ototya ’7th’ (OT-OS-) (VT42:25, VT47:42) with analogical substitution of -tya instead of -sya
[pae(n) – emended to pai(n) (VT48:21)] pai(n) ’10’ (VT48:6,21) (KWA-)
paianya ’10th’ (VT42:25) (KWA-) [palata – changed to plata and struck out (VT47:23)]
palta ’pass the sensitive palm over a surface: feel with the hand, stroke’ (VT47:9) (< CE pal’tā; PAL-)
pāne ’small gull, petrel’ (KWǼ- onomatopoetic (with macron in the original)) (VT45:24)
pār ’fist; tightly closed hand as in using an implement or a craft-tool rather than the ’fist’ used in punching’ (VT47:8, PM:318) (KWAR-)
[paya(n) ’10’, a variant of pai(n) which has been struck through, though seems to appear again in the later paianya (VT48:21) (KWA-)]
pen ’man’, obviously in the sense ’person’ (WJ:375) (KWENE-); survived in a few compounds only, see aipen, arpen, ilpen
Pendi ’Quendi’; ’survived only as a learned word of the historians’; ’was used by the Teleri only of the earliest days, because they felt that it meant the lacking, the poor (*pen)’ (WJ:375,408) (KWENE-); ’plural only’
pince *’baby, small one’, play-name of the little finger – ’pinky’ (variants vinice, vince) (VT48:6) (PIKI- ’little’); the source has -ke with kspelt as Quenya
plata ’the flat of the hand, the hand held upwards or forwards, flat and tensed (with fingers and thumb closed or spread)’ (VT47:8-9) (PAL-)
tassa ’index finger’ (VT48:5) (TAS- ’point out, indicate’ in VT47:11)
tat ’2’ (VT48:6) (TATA-); a slightly later source gives tata
tata ’2’ (VT42:26-27) (< CE (a)táta; ATATA-)
tatya ’2nd’ (VT42:25) (< TATA-, ATTA-)
telep- ’silver’ (in compounds) (UT:266) (KYELEP-); see Teleporno, apparently also #telp-; see Telperion
telepe ’silver’ (Let:347) (< CE kyelepē; KYELEP-); misread **telepi in the letter; but: ’telpe (with Q. syncope) became the most usual form among the Elves of Valinor’; see 3.5, 2.3 for a discussion
[Teleporno ’Celeborn’, ’Silver Tree’ >> ’silver’ + orno < orna; obviously a < o in masc. name (UT:266) (KYELEP-, OR-); probably obsolete by Telporno]
telpe ’silver’ (< CE kyelep-; Etym:KYÉLEP-, PM:356, UT:266), see telepe; 3.5, 2.3 for a discussion
#telperin ’silver’ (adj.), isolated from Telperimpar
Telperion - the silver tree of Valinor (UT:266) (KYELEP-, RIG-?)
[#telepin ’silver’ (adj.), isolated from Telepimpar; see telperin]
[Telepimpar ’Celebrimbor’, lit. ’Silver-fist’ (VT47:23) (KYELEP-, KWAR-); emended to Telperimpar]
Telporno ’Celeborn’ (Let:347); < telp- ’silver’ + orna; see Teleporno
tolle *’sticker-up, big boy’ a play-name of the index finger (VT48:6) (TOL- ’stick up’ in VT47:26); variant hanna(ce)
[tolmo ’thumb’ (VT47:28) (personalized from of tolma; TOL- ’stick up, stand up (stiff), raise the head’); written on a rejected page in the HFN essay; emended to nāpo; compare lepet, nāpa]
tolodya ’8th’ (VT42:25) (possibly TOL-OD; Tolkien was uncertain about the last consonant of the stem, see VT47:31-32)
toloþ ’8’ (VT48:21) (*TOL-OÞ; Tolkien was uncertain about the last consonant of the stem, see also VT47:31-32; maybe it should be rather *tolot (d-))
trumbe ’shield’ (< CE turúmbē; TURÚM-)
#turo ’lord’ (TUR-); can be isolated from Spanturo if it is Telerin
þarma ’left-hand’ (VT47:6) (KHYAR-, MAƷ-)
urus (urust-) ’copper’ (VT41:10) ((U)RUS- ’used of a varying brownish red from what we should call brick-red to auburn’)
ulga ’hideous, horrible’ (ÚLUG-)
ulgundo ’monster, deformed and hideous creature’ (< CE ulgundō; ÚLUG-)
vāne – past tense of auta- ’went away (in an abstract sense)’ (WJ:367) (< CE wā; AWA-)
Vaniai ’Vanyar’, lit. *’the fair ones’ (pl.); ”fair’ with reference to hair and complexion; […] it meant ’pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark’, and its implication of beauty was secondary’ (WJ:383) (< CE wanjā; WAN-); ’no doubt taken from the Ñoldor’
vante — past tense of auta- ’went away (in a physical sense)’ (WJ:367) (AWA-)
vanua — past participle of auta- in an abstract sense: ’gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past and over’ (WJ:367) (AWA-)
vilverin ’butterfly’ (WIL-)
vinice *’baby’ (diminutive), a play-name of the little finger (variants vince, pince) (VT48:6) (WINI- ’little’ >> WIN- ’young’ in VT47:26); the source has winike, winke with w, k spelt as Quenya
vince — variant of vinice
vō-, vo- – prefix ’used in words describing the meeting, junction, or union of two things or persons, or of two groups thought of as units’ (WJ:367) (WO-); short vowel when unstressed
vola ’a roller, long wave’ (PM:357) (*WOL-??)
Volwe — connection of Olwe with vola; ’not a serious ’etymology’ but a kind of pun; for the king’s name was not normally Volwe (Common Eldarin *wolwē) but Olwe’
#vomentie ’meeting or junction of the directions of two people’ (WJ:407) (WO-, MEN-, TEƷ-?); isolated from vomentienguo ’of our meeting’
ye ’could be used as usually in pairs or prefixed [?sep.] and appears before each item of a list’ (VT47:31) (related to the exclamation yé ’lo!’)