Eldamo : Sindarin : gaear

S. gaear n. “sea” (Category: Sea)

S. gaear, n. “sea” (Category: Sea): ᴱN. gwai “sea”; G. ô “the sea”

A word for “sea” variously attested as gaear (PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400), gaer (PE17/27; PE17/149), and aear (Let/386; RGEO/65) in later writings. Of these, I prefer gaear for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reduced to gaer in compounds.

Possible Etymology: The presence or absence of the initial g- depends on whether the word’s root is √AY(AR) (as it appears in The Etymologies and some later writings) or √GAY(AR) (as it appears in other later writings). See the entry of the root √GAY(AR) for a discussion of this vacillation. Similarly, the form gaer appears primarily as an element in compounds, and can be explained as a reduced form of gaear in that context. For these reasons, this entry uses gaear as the ordinary Sindarin word for “sea”. This has the additional advantage of disambiguating it from the adjective gaer “dreadful”.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. oer or oear “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, reflecting the Noldorin sound change of ai to oe (Ety/AY). However name for the “Great Sea” was N. {Belegar >>} Belegaer in the narratives of this period (LR/19), and the name N. Rhûnaer “Eastern Sea” appeared in draft Lord of the Rings maps from 1943 (TI/307). The element N. oer did appear in the day-of-the-week name N. Aroeren “*Sea-day” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices, but this was revised to S. Oraeron (PM/130, 138).

References ✧ Let/386; LotR/238; PE17/27, 149; PM/363; RGEO/63-65; SA/ëar, gaer; WJ/400

Glosses

“Great Sea” ✧ PM/363
“sea” ✧ Let/386 (aear); PE17/27; PE17/27 (gaer); RGEO/65 (aear); SA/ëar (gaer); SA/gaer (gaer); WJ/400

Variations

gaear ✧ PE17/27; PM/363; WJ/400
aear ✧ Let/386; RGEO/65
gaer ✧ PE17/27; PE17/149; SA/ëar; SA/gaer

Inflections

aear	soft-mutation; g-mutation		✧ LotR/238
aear	soft-mutation; g-mutation	“Sea”	✧ PE17/27
aear	soft-mutation; g-mutation	“the Sea”	✧ RGEO/63
aear	soft-mutation; g-mutation	“ocean”	✧ RGEO/64

Element In

ᴺS. ^gaeruil “seaweed”
ᴺS. !gaessarn “pearl, (lit.) sea-pebble”
S. Aerandir “Sea-wanderer”
S. Belegaer “Great Sea” ✧ PM/363; SA/ëar; SA/gaer
S. gaearon “ocean, (lit.) great sea” ✧ PE17/27 ((g)aearon); PE17/149 (gaer(on)); PM/363 (gae(a)ron); RGEO/65 (aearon)
S. nef aear, sí nef aearon “here ... beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea” ✧ LotR/238; PE17/20; RGEO/63; RGEO/64
S. Tirith Aear “Sea-ward Tower”
S. Gaerdil “*Sea-lover” ✧ PE17/27
S. Gaerys “Ossë” ✧ SA/gaer

Cognates

Q. †airë² “sea” ✧ PE17/27 (†aire)
Q. ëar “sea, great sea” ✧ Let/386; PE17/27; PM/363 (Eär); RGEO/65; SA/ëar; WJ/400
T. gaiar “Great Sea” ✧ PM/363

Derivations

< √GAY(AR) “awe, dread; astound, make aghast; sea” ✧ PE17/27; PE17/149 (GAYA); SA/gaer (gaya)
< √AY(AR) “sea” ✧ Let/386 (AYAR)
< ✶gayār “sea, the terrifier” ✧ PE17/27 (gaı̯ră); PM/363 (Gayar-); WJ/400
- < √GAY(AR) “awe, dread; astound, make aghast; sea” ✧ PE17/27; PM/363 (GAYA); WJ/400 (gay-)

Phonetic Developments

✶gaı̯ră > gaer	[gaira] > [gair] > [gaer]	✧ PE17/27
✶Gayar- > gaear	[gaiara] > [gaiar] > [gaear]	✧ PM/363

N. oer n. “sea” (Category: Sea)

See S. gaear for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/AY, UY; TI/307