Q. tintila- v. (weak-verb) “to twinkle, sparkle, glitter, give tremulous light, †tremble” (Category: Blinking)
A verb appearing in the Namárië poem, where Tolkien translated it as “tremble” (LotR/377). It is clear form his writings elsewhere that this a poetic rendering, and the actual meaning of the word is “twinkle, give tremulous light” (PE17/66) or “sparkle, glitter” (RGEO/61). It seems to be a combination of the roots √TIN “sparkle” and √THIL “shine silver” (PE17/66), and so is especially appropriate for describing starlight.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies from the 1930s, there was a similar verb ᴹQ. tintina- “to sparkle”, likely a reduplication of the root ᴹ√TIN “sparkle”. For Neo-Quenya writing, it is probably preferable to use the better known tintila-.
References ✧ LotR/377; PE17/66, 69; PM/364; RGEO/58-59, 61
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| tintilar | aorist plural | “tremble” | ✧ LotR/377 |
| tintilar | aorist plural | “twinkle” | ✧ PE17/66; RGEO/59 |
| tintilar | aorist plural | ✧ PM/364 | |
| tintilar | aorist plural | “sparkle, glitter” | ✧ RGEO/61 |
| tíntilàr | aorist plural | “tremble” | ✧ RGEO/58 |
Elements
| √TIN | “sparkle, spark” | ✧ PE17/66; PE17/66; RGEO/61 | |
| √THIL | “shine silver; white light” | ✧ PE17/66 (ΘIL) | |
| tin- | “to spark, glitter” | ✧ PE17/69 | |
Element In
Cognates
ᴹQ. #tintila- v. “*to sparkle” (Category: Blinking)
References ✧ VT28/11
Inflections
| atintilar | aorist plural | ✧ VT28/11 |
| atintillinar | aorist plural | ✧ VT28/11 |
| tintilar | aorist plural | ✧ VT28/11 |
Element In