Q. vilya [w] n. “air, sky” (Category: Air, Ether)
A word for “air” or “sky” appearing Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings from older †wilya, serving as the name of tengwa #24 [n] (LotR/1123). It is clearly a derivative of the root ᴹ√WIL (Ety/WIL). It has an abnormal plural form wilyar with initial w- in the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem in the phrase yan i wilyar antar miquelis “*to whom the air gives kisses” (PE16/96).
Conceptual Development: The notion of the “lower air” as a region dates all the way back to the earliest Lost Tales, where the innermost layer of air was called ᴱQ. Vilna (LT1/65). However, in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the term was ᴱQ. Vilya “air (lower)” as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√VILI (QL/101). The word vilya “lower air” appeared English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s but was deleted (PE15/68), and this term appeared as both the singular “air” and plural “airs” in version of Nieninqe and its drafts circa 1930: yan/yar i vilya(r) anta miqilis “to whom the air(s) give kisses” (MC/215; PE16/90, 92).
In the Ambarkanta of the early 1930s, the lower air was {Wilwa >>} Vista (SM/236, 240 note #1), but it was Wilwa again in the earliest tales of Númenor from the 1930s (LR/12) and was ᴹQ. {vilwa >>} wilma in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” (Ety/WIL). Q. vilya “air, sky” in Appendix E seems to be the last iteration in this chain.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think vilya refers mainly to air as the region above the ground, as opposed to ᴹQ. vista “air (as a substance)”. You breath vista, but birds fly through vilya, and breezes flow through vilya like ripples in a lake.
References ✧ LotR/1123; PE16/96
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| wilyar | plural | ✧ PE16/96 |
Element In
Derivations
ᴹQ. wilma n. “inner or lower air” (Category: Air, Ether)
References ✧ Ety/WIL; EtyAC/WIL; LR/12; LRI/Wilwa; SM/240; SMI/Wilwa
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶wilwā > wilwa > vilwa | [gwilwā] > [ɣwilwā] > [wilwā] > [wilwa] > [vilwa] | ✧ Ety/WIL |
| ᴹ✶wilmā > wilma | [gwilmā] > [ɣwilmā] > [wilmā] > [wilma] > [vilma] | ✧ Ety/WIL |
| ᴹ✶wilnā > wilda > vilda | [gwilnā] > [ɣwilnā] > [ɣwildā] > [wildā] > [wilda] > [vilda] | ✧ EtyAC/WIL |
ᴱQ. Vilna loc. “(lower) air”
Innermost layer of air in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/65), given as a derivative of the root ᴱ√VILI in the Qenya Lexicon, along with a variant form Vilya (QL/101). This second form reappeared decades later in The Lord of the Rings as Q. vilya “air, sky” (LotR/1123).
References ✧ LT1/85; LT1A/Vilna; LT1I; MC/215; PE15/68; PE16/90, 92; QL/37, 101; SMI
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Inflections
| vilyar | plural | “airs” | ✧ PE16/90; PE16/92 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ√VILI > Vilya | [βilnā] > [βilna] > [vilna] | ✧ QL/101 |