Eldamo : Quenya : alca-

Q. alca- v. “to glitter” (Category: Flash, Lightning)

Q. alca-, v. “to glitter, *shine out, flash” (Category: Flash, Lightning): ᴱQ. winya- “to flash, glint”

A verb for “glitter” in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) written around 1950 (PE18/87). Its ancient form ✶ak’la- was glossed “shine out, flash”, an abnormal vocalization of the verbal root √KAL “shine”, where Tolkien said “these formations appear to have been often intensive, or descriptive of sudden action”. Thus I think this verb was more properly used for a sudden flash of light. It is possible that the semantics of the verb changed to a more gentle or gradual glittering, but Quenya has other verbs for “twinkle”, “glitter” and “sparkle” (tintila-, mirilya-, ita-), and I would use alca- primarily with the sense “flash” in Neo-Quenya.

Reference ✧ PE18/87 ✧ alka- “glitter”

tintila- “to twinkle, sparkle, glitter, give tremulous light, †tremble” is probably a weaker light than alca- “to glitter”

Cognates

ᴺS. !agla- “to shine out, flash”

Derivations

< ✶akla- “to shine out, flash” ✧ PE18/87 (ak’la-)
- < √KAL “light; shine, be bright” ✧ PE18/85; PE18/87; PE18/87
- < √KALAT ✧ PE18/87

Phonetic Developments

✶ak’la- > alka-

[akla-] > [alka-]

✧ PE18/87