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Q. rómen n. “east, uprising, sunrise” (Category: East)

Q. rómen, n. “east, uprising, sunrise” (Category: East)

The Quenya word for “east”, cognate of S. rhûn (LotR/1123). In inflected or compounds forms, the final n was usually dropped as was generally the case with Quenya direction words, for example in the ablative from Rómello “from the East” (LotR/377). It was ultimately derived from the root √RŌ/ORO “rise” (PE17/63, Ety/RŌ). It originally meant “rising direction”, that is ro- + men, and was thus connected to the rising sun.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales the word for “East” was ᴱQ. oronto (LT1/85), a word that also appeared in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s, with the gloss “rising (of the sun)” (QL/70). On the same page Tolkien gave the word ᴱQ. óre “the dawn, Sunrise, East” (QL/70), so the connection between “East” and “sunrise” was a very early idea.

The word ᴹQ. rómen “east” appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s along with N. rhûn, both derived from ᴹ√ (Ety/RŌ). At the time, there were no problems with this equivalence, since initial [r] was unvoiced in Noldorin. Tolkien went on to use both these forms in The Lord of the Rings.

Unfortunately, Tolkien later abandoned the unvoicing of initial r in Sindarin, making these two forms problematic. Tolkien considered modifying the Sindarin form to rûn (PE17/88) or the Quenya form to hrómen (PE17/18). The latter was probably derived from an s-strengthened form of the root ᴹ√SRŌ (PE22/127), where the initial sr- would become voiceless [r] in both Quenya and Sindarin. Ultimately, though, he left both forms alone. Perhaps he decided the s-strengthening of the root was a Sindarin-only variant.

References ✧ LotR/377, 1044, 1123; PE17/18, 59, 63, 74, 88, 125, 135; PM/385; RGEO/58-59; SA/men, rómen

Glosses

Variations

Changes

Inflections

Róme-llo ablative “from the East” ✧ PE17/135
Rómello ablative “(to those) from the East” ✧ LotR/377
Rómello ablative   ✧ PE17/59
Rómello ablative “from the East” ✧ PE17/63; PE17/74
Rōmello ablative “(to one) from the East” ✧ RGEO/59
Rṑméllo ablative “(to those) from the East” ✧ RGEO/58
rómen dative   ✧ PE17/59
rómena dative; long-dative   ✧ PE17/59
romendo genitive   ✧ PE17/59
rómeno genitive   ✧ PE17/59
rómeo genitive   ✧ PE17/59
romeva possessive   ✧ PE17/59
rómenwa possessive   ✧ PE17/59

Elements

ro- “uprising, sunrise, east” ✧ PE17/18 (hrō-)
men “way” ✧ SA/men
RŌ/ORO “up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount” ✧ PE17/63 ()

Element In

Cognates


ᴹQ. rómen n. “east” (Category: East)

See Q. rómen for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/MEN, RŌ; LR/47, 56; PE22/23, 50; SD/310; SMI/Rómen

Glosses

Variations

Inflections

rómenna allative “eastward” ✧ LR/56
rōmenna allative “eastward” ✧ LR/47; SD/310

Elements

ᴹ√MEN “go, proceed” ✧ Ety/MEN; Ety/RŌ
ᴹ√RŌ/ORO “rise, up, high” ✧ Ety/RŌ ()

Element In

Cognates


ᴱQ. oronto n. “East, rising (of the sun)” (Category: East)

References ✧ LT1/85; LT1A/Oromë, Oronto; QL/70-71

Glosses

Variations

Changes

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ√OŘO > oronto [ōðontō] > [ōðonto] > [ōzonto] > [ōronto] ✧ QL/70