Q. emmë² n. “mummy, mother (familiar/family)” (Category: Mother)
The affectionate word for “mother” (= “mummy”) was Q. emmë in notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the 1960s, based on the late 1960s root √EM for mother (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19).
Conceptual Development: The earliest hypocoristic (pet-name) word for “mother” was the “childish word” ᴱQ. ama in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√AMA (QL/30); it was also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/30). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it became ᴹQ. amme “mother” derived from the root ᴹ√AM of the same meaning (Ety/AM¹), though in this document it seems to be an ordinary word and not a pet name, a variant of ᴹQ. amil. In late 1960s notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals Tolkien revised the Elvish root for “mother” from √AM to √EM, and the affectionate form became emme as noted above.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain the root √AM for “mother” since it is what Tolkien used for 50 years, and as such recommend restoring the 1930s form ammë to use as affectionate “mummy, mommy”; see the entry on Q. amil(lë) for further discussion.
References ✧ VT47/10, 26; VT48/6, 19
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| √em > emme | [emme] | ✧ VT48/19 |
ᴹQ. amme n. “mother” (Category: Mother)
References ✧ Ety/AM¹; PE22/23
Glosses
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√AM¹ > amme | [amme] | ✧ Ety/AM¹ |