Q. massë² n. “handful, portion, share, capacity; the personal measure or capacity of a man, a talent” (Category: Other Collective Words)
A word for “portion, share, capacity” and “measure” (PE19/74 and note #74), originally with the sense “handful” (PE19/100-101 note #154). It might also be used for “the personal measure or capacity of a man, a talent” (PE19/101 note #154). It was derived from primitive ✶mahsē.
Conceptual Development: This word has a complex history, due to shifting ideas of its phonological development. ᴹQ. masse first appeared in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s where it was glossed “handful, share, just portion (in distribution), measure or capacity (of a person)”, derived from ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” and illustrating the sound change whereby “ʒs gave hs which however became ss (not ks)” (PE19/48). In the first layer of Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, Tolkien gave it the same derivation and said that it originally meant “handful” but that its PQ meaning was “share; a just portion (in distribution); the personal measure or capacity of a man; a talent” (PE19/100-101 note #154).
In Common Eldarin: Noun Structure, also from the early 1950s, Tolkien first gave masse “originally handful” (PE21/70-71 note #7), but in that document changed its primitive form to ✶mahsi with a modern form of Q. makse and a new meaning: “handiness” (PE21/70). This reflects a new conception of primitive Elvish where the ancient velar spirant was voiceless h rather than voiced ʒ, and a new phonetic development hs > ks. Tolkien made the same alterations in OP2, changing ʒ to h with a new word mare “skill of hand, handiness, dexterity” reflecting a loss of weak h (PE19/74 note #35), but he then restored the sound change of hs to ss (PE19/74 note #34), reintroducing masse “handful, measure, etc.”. In green-ink notes from around 1970 he revised the gloss to “handful, portion, share, capacity” (PE19/74 note #35).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use masse with a blending of its meanings in the 1930s, 50s and 70s, originally with the sense “handful”, but extended to primarily mean “measure, capacity” as well as “portion, share”. It can also be applied metaphorically to a person to mean “the personal measure or capacity of a man”, hence = “a talent, ability”, as in ma masserya (ná) “what is his/her measure [talent]”.
References ✧ PE19/74, 101
Glosses
Changes
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶mā̆ha > masse | [mahse] > [masse] | ✧ PE19/74 |
| ✶maʒ-sē > mahsē > massē > masse | [maɣsē] > [mahsē] > [massē] > [masse] | ✧ PE19/101 |
Q. maxë n. “handiness” (Category: Hand (other))
References ✧ PE19/74; PE21/70
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶mahsi > makse | [mahsi] > [maksi] > [makse] | ✧ PE21/70 |
| ✶maʒsē > masse | [maɣsē] > [mahsē] > [massē] > [masse] | ✧ PE21/70 |
ᴹQ. masse² n. “handful, share, just portion (in distribution), measure or capacity (of a person)” (Category: Other Collective Words)
Reference ✧ PE19/48 ✧ masse “handful, share, just portion (in distribution), measure or capacity (of a person)”
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√MAƷ > masse | [maɣse] > [mahse] > [masse] | ✧ PE19/48 |