harma
From Tolkien Gateway
harma is a noun meaning "treasure" in Quenya.[1]
Harma (the h was pronounced as ch) was also the name in Quenya of the eleventh letter of the Tengwar alphabet.[1] It is the third letter of the third grade or Tyellë, which contains "voiceless spirants" and it is the third letter in the third series of consonants.
- For written Quenya, the third series is used for the k-series, the Calmatéma.[2] Originally Harma represented spirant CH in all positions. Over time the initial sound softened into breath H at the beginning of words (a sound for which Quenya originally used a letter called Halla); the letter Harma was then used only in medial positions, where the original CH sound was retained, and to reflect this, it was renamed Aha.[3]
- In Sindarin this letter represents CH.
- In Westron, the third series is used for a variety of consonantal sounds and this letter represents SH.[2] The Westron name for this letter is Shé.[4]
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The word derives from the Primitive Quendian root ƷAR.[5]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Quenya Corpus Wordlist edited by Helge Fauskanger
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The names of the letters
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The names of the letters, footnote 1
- ↑ See Westron Tengwar
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", ƷAR-
