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Q. ala-¹ v. (a-verb) “to plant, grow” (Category: to Sow; Seed)

Q. ala-¹, v. (a-verb) “to grow (of plants) [intr. and trans.], plant; *to thrive, flourish (of other creatures)” (Category: to Sow; Seed)
ᴹQ. alta- “to (make) grow”
ᴱQ. rista- “to plant”

A verb glossed “plant, grow” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s discussing the derivation of S. galenas “pipeweed” (PE17/100). The verb ala- was used several times in verb charts, such as illustrating pronominal suffixes (PE17/132) or giving the inflections of a-verbs (PE22/164).

Conceptual Development: As suggested by Gilson, Welden and Hostetter, the earliest appearance of this verb might be in the phrase ᴱQ. alildon ornin lassevarnen, which seems to mean something like “*grow trees leaf-brown” (PE16/80). The word element (and verb?) ᴹQ. ’al appeared under the root ᴹ√GALA “thrive” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/GALA); an earlier iteration of this root had the glosses “grow, thrive, prosper, be healthy, be glad” along with a word element (and verb?) al-, but the gloss “grow” was deleted along with a statement that “grow is ol-” (Ety/GAL(AS)).

Indeed, the verb ᴹQ. ’alā- “grow” appeared in Quendian & Common Eldarin Verbal Structure (EVS1: PE22/98) from the late 1940s and again in Quenya Verbal System from 1948 (QVS: PE22/106 note #39), but in the latter document it was replaced by ᴹQ. ola- “grow” (PE22/113 note #80). However, in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s, primitive ✶galā- was restored, but with a more specific sense “grow (of plants)”, as opposed to ✶olā- “become, come into being, turn into (another state)” (PE22/134). This plant-growth meaning seems to have carried forward into Tolkien’s later writings (see above: PE17/100).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume the verb ala- only means “grow” when applied to plants, but more generally could mean “*thrive, flourish” when applied to other living creatures, as in i lótë ala “the flower grows” but i Elda ala “the Elf thrives/flourishes”. Based on its glosses from PE17/100, I would assume it can also be used transitively when applied to plants to mean “cause to grow = plant”, as in i Elda ala lóti “the Elf grows/plants flowers” or álëa lóti “... is planting flowers”.

References ✧ PE17/100, 132; PE22/164

Glosses

Variations

Related

Inflections

ala aorist ✧ PE17/132
alalmo aorist 1st-dual-exclusive ✧ PE17/132
alammo aorist 1st-dual-exclusive ✧ PE17/132
alambe aorist 1st-pl-exclusive ✧ PE17/132
alalme aorist 1st-pl-inclusive ✧ PE17/132
alan aorist 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164; PE22/164
alanye aorist 1st-sg ✧ PE17/132
alallo aorist 2nd-dual ✧ PE17/132
alastar aorist 2nd-dual-honorific ✧ PE17/132
alalle aorist 2nd-pl ✧ PE17/132
alaltar aorist 2nd-pl-honorific ✧ PE17/132
alatar aorist 2nd-sg-honorific ✧ PE17/132
alalye aorist 2nd-sg-polite ✧ PE17/132
alasto aorist 3rd-dual ✧ PE17/132
alante aorist 3rd-pl ✧ PE17/132
alas/alasse aorist 3rd-sg ✧ PE17/132
alat aorist dual ✧ PE17/132
alar aorist plural ✧ PE17/132
aluva future ✧ PE22/164
aluvan future 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164
alane past ✧ PE22/164
alde past; strong-past ✧ PE22/164
alanen past 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164
alden past 1st-sg; strong-past ✧ PE22/164
alālie perfect ✧ PE22/164
ālie perfect; augmentless ✧ PE22/164
alālien perfect 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164
ālien perfect 1st-sg; augmentless ✧ PE22/164
alean present 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164
ālan present 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164
ālan present 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164
ālean present 1st-sg ✧ PE22/164

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

galan > alan [galan] > [ɣalan] > [alan] ✧ PE22/164

ᴹQ. al- v. “to thrive” (Category: Well; Health)

See Q. ala-¹ for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/GALA; EtyAC/GAL(AS)

Glosses

Variations

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√GALA > ’al [gal-] > [ɣal-] > [al-] ✧ Ety/GALA
ᴹ√GAL > al- [gal-] > [ɣal-] > [al-] ✧ EtyAC/GAL(AS)

ᴹQ. ala- v. (a-verb) “to grow” (Category: to Grow)

See Q. ala-¹ for discussion.

References ✧ PE22/98, 106-107, 109, 112-113, 116

Glosses

Variations

Related

Changes

Inflections

aláva active-participle “growing” ✧ PE22/116
aláya active-participle   ✧ PE22/106; PE22/106: seldom used
alar aorist plural “grow” ✧ PE22/116
alaryane consuetudinal-past   ✧ PE22/116
aláva future   ✧ PE22/109; PE22/116
alavaina future-passive-participle   ✧ PE22/109
alavanta future-passive-participle   ✧ PE22/109
aláve gerund   ✧ PE22/116
alarya imperfect-participle   ✧ PE22/107
alane past   ✧ PE22/116
alle past; strong-past   ✧ PE22/116
(al)álie perfect   ✧ PE22/116
alanwa perfective-participle “full-grown, mature, adult” ✧ PE22/106
alanwa perfective-participle “fully grown, adult, mature” ✧ PE22/112
alarye present; long-imperfect   ✧ PE22/116

Element In

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ✶galā > ’alā- [gala-] > [ɣala-] > [ala-] ✧ PE22/98
ᴹ✶galā́ > ala- [gala-] > [ɣala-] > [ala-] ✧ PE22/106

ᴱQ. #ala- v. “?to grow” (Category: to Grow)

See Q. ala-¹ for discussion.

References ✧ PE16/80

Inflections

alildon present 3rd-sg-masc ✧ PE16/80

Element In

Derivations