Eldamo : Quenya : amba²

Q. amba² adj. and pron. “more” (Category: More)

Q. amba², adj. and pron. “more” (Category: More): ᴱQ. olda “more”

An adjective or (pro)noun for “more” along with an adverbial form ambë derived from √AMA “addition, increase, plus” (PE17/91). These words were part of a (brief?) conceptual framework around 1967 in which the intensive prefix am- was derived from this root. Elsewhere the root √AM generally meant “up”, and Tolkien seems to have reverted to an-intensives by 1969 as evidenced by anírime “most beautiful” (PE23/133).

Neo-Quenya: Despite these conceptual changes, I think it is worth retaining amba and ambe “more”, perhaps based on *an-bā and *an-bē. The first of these would clash with amba “up”, but I think it could usually be distinguished by context: á anta amba nin “give more to me” vs. mennes amba i oron “he went up the mountain”. See √AMA for more discussion.

References ✧ PE17/90-91

Glosses

“more” ✧ PE17/90; PE17/91

ambë “more”
ᴺQ. !undo “less” compare amba² “more”

Derivations

< ✶am- “intensive prefix” ✧ PE17/90
- < am, strengthened form ✧ PE17/90
- < √AMA “addition, increase, plus”
< ✶amba “more” ✧ PE17/91
- < √AMA “addition, increase, plus” ✧ PE17/91
  - < AMA, strengthened ✧ PE17/91

Phonetic Developments

✶amba > amba

[amba]

✧ PE17/91