Quenya Names?

[elleth]

A story I'm currently working on (set in Valinor around the completion of Tirion) seems to be centering itself around a family of OCs, but Quenya compounds are not my friend, so I wanted to submit their names for scrutiny. Are they linguistically sound, do they seem too pompous, ridiculous, unlikely?

Castacalimë Estelind -- the most important name as she is determined to be the main character and will likely appear in future stories, too. I found the suggestion "crown-jewel" as gloss for Castamir in a German source a while ago (though can't seem to find it anymore), so decided to go with "casta" as "crown", hence Bright(ly) Crown(ed), in reference to her hair. Estelind is supposed to mean Estë-Song, or Gentle Rest, if that is constructable in any way with the name ending on a stem as it does? The association with the Valië is going to be crucial, at any rate.

A(r)lairë Vorannë -- Intended to mean High Summer and Lasting Gift. I'm unsure about A(r)laire, since rl doesn't appear to be a very common consonant cluster in Quenya, and eliding it to Al- would probably imply the negative prefix? Also, is it permissible to replace the final a of "anna" with -ë to make it slightly more female-sounding?

Ortaquín -- Uprising Crest. Is it possible to use a verb (orta-) to construct a name from?

I'm babbling in written form, you can tell I'm nervous. It's my first time asking for critique here, but no need to be gentle. I want this to be as correct as possible. --- Thanks for your help already.

[Darth Fingon]

Feb 23, 2011 21:38:42 GMT -6 elleth said:

Are they linguistically sound, do they seem too pompous, ridiculous, unlikely?

Not pompous, ridiculous, or unlikely, no. They just need a few small adjustments.

Castacalimë Estelind

Castacalime is too long; a general rule is to keep names to four syllables only, as many of Tolkien's Quenya names are. I'd shorten it to Castacále or go with Calerína or Caleriel/Calerielle(crowned with light). Paired with the second name, I think Calerína works best.

Estelind should be Estelinde, as Quenya words cannot end with a consonant cluster.

A(r)lairë Vorannë
Allaire is correct. Or you could go with Tallaire or Táralaire for the same meaning.

Voranne is fine, but so is Voranna. Or you could use Vorannie or Vorraniel.

Ortaquín

No accent over the i; you can't have an accent in the final syllable of a compound, so Ortaquin. Strictly speaking it should be Ortalaquin, but I think I like Ortaquin better.

[elleth]

Thank you for the quick reply and your pointers, they were most helpful indeed.

Just a few questions. I suppose regarding length Alatáriel can be considered an exception since it's derived from Telerin? And if Ortala-quin is the grammatically correct form, I suppose (presuming Maglor's name is derived from maca- and the -la is that mysterious active particle) Macalaure is Macala-laurë with the repeated syllable dropped?

I'm not meaning to criticize your help, of course - just trying to satisfy my curiosity before it goes Ungoliant on Laurelin-the-cat (*crickets*) and to avoid future mistakes. Feel free to tell me shush, it's not my intention to get on anyone's nerves.

Allairë, Ortaquin and Estelindë it is, at any rate --- and while the alternatives to Castacalimë sound lovely, they don't seem quite right for the character (or perhaps I just like Calimë as a possible epessë), so to shorten the name, would Cascalimë work as alternative, with the meaning slightly altered (Bright Head)? It would work according to Pixelated Fëanor, at least. The name generator list suggests cáz rather than cas or car-, am I correct in assuming that would be the older form (and preferable here)?

[Darth Fingon]

Feb 24, 2011 18:16:35 GMT -6 elleth said:

I suppose regarding length Alatáriel can be considered an exception since it's derived from Telerin?

Yes, it is a Telerin name. The corresponding Quenya form is Altariel.

And if Ortala-quin is the grammatically correct form, I suppose (presuming Maglor's name is derived from maca- and the -la is that mysterious active particle) Macalaure is Macala-laurë with the repeated syllable dropped?

It's possible, since duplicate syllables can overlap in compounds if it sounds silly to keep them. But it's also possible (and probably more likely) that Tolkien just made the name out of the verb stem. Which is why I wouldn't be fussed about using Ortaquin. A lot of Tolkien's names don't make perfect sense, so as long as your OC names are correct according to the big rules, they'll be fine.

would Cascalimë work as alternative, with the meaning slightly altered (Bright Head)? It would work according to Pixelated Fëanor, at least. The name generator list suggests cáz rather than cas or car-, am I correct in assuming that would be the older form (and preferable here)?

The SC combination is a little iffy. It appears in Qenya, but not in any later Quenya compounds that I can think of offhand. But, until something comes up to prove it can't be used, I'd go ahead with it. (I made the executive decision to go ahead with it for the generator.)

The reason the generator lists cáz instead of cár or cás is because it makes a difference to the way the word behaves in compounds. In the final result, the Z will become either R or S depending on what comes next, whereas an R will always be an R. So cáz+calime = Cascalime, but cáz+alde = Cáralde. Cár+calime would combine incorrectly as Carcalime.

For the same reaon, you'll see TH instead of S on the name elements list, though all of these will change to S in the finished name. It's purely to make sure the combination is done as accurately as possible, since the archaic roots do impact how certain letters behave.

[elleth]

I'm sorry this reply is coming so late, I managed to forget I hadn't yet responded to you.

since the archaic roots do impact how certain letters behave.

Thank you for taking the time to clarify this (and for your help in general). I read the Ardalambion essay on the evolution from Primitive Elvish to Quenya several times, but this was one thing that always tied my mind in a knot. Not anymore, hopefully!