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Tamas Ferencz Jul 04, 2018 (13:26)

Would *elerran, *erran be a good neologism for "planet", lit. "wanderer, wandering [star]"? rána would be great, but that is already taken as one of the names of the Moon.

Other possibilities: *arelen "by-star" (cf. armaro); *korelen "star-orbiter"
Jupiter_southern_hemisphere.jpg
Would *elerran, *erran be a good neologism for "planet", lit. "wanderer, wandering [star]"? rána would be great, but that is already taken as one of the names of the Moon. Other possibilities: *arelen "by-star" (cf. armaro); *korelen "star-orbiter"

Tamas Ferencz Jul 04, 2018 (13:31)

Come to think of it, S Gilrain does mean "wandering star".

Robert Reynolds Jul 04, 2018 (14:55)

+Tamas Ferencz My thoughts are that one should first decide whether the new word should fit Arda's cosmology or ours. I think that some version of "wandering star" like the etymology of English "planet" would fit Arda well, given that several named stars correspond to planets and they would move relative to the "fixed stars".

For real-world cosmology, something like "great star-orbiter" seems fitting: the definition of "planet" is basically a body that directly orbits a star (or star system) and is powerful/massive enough to pull itself into spherical shape and gravitationally dominate its orbit. That also naturally gives things like "star-orbiter" to describe any body directly orbiting a star (planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, arta) and a diminutive form that would naturally correspond with English "dwarf planet".

*elerran fits the shape of Palarran < palan-ran with *erran indeed as a possible short form, though to me, these suggest "star-wanderer" rather than "wandering star" (though switching the order is is sometimes permitted). *ranelen, *ranel (perhaps with stems *raneld-, *ranél-) directly from the root and *ranyelen, *ranyel from ranya are alternatives.

velca may be a suitable adjective for a modern version, meaning both "large" and "powerful". It was deleted but not necessarily rejected, as far as I can tell. kor does seem a suitable root for "orbit" but "orbiter" may be tricky as korma "ring" is already taken and planets are not persons. Hmm…

Tamas Ferencz Jul 04, 2018 (15:11)

+Robert Reynolds unfortunately KOR is not a verbal root, otherwise I'd venture *elkorindo would be a good choice.

Oh and rána with a lowercase r could be a generic word for "a moon" as in a celestial object orbiting a planet.

Tamas Ferencz Jul 04, 2018 (15:25)

or we can keep the wandering metaphor and say it's a *menerran or *ilmerran "sky-wanderer, firmanent-wanderer"

Paul Strack Jul 04, 2018 (16:38)

+Tamas Ferencz given the association of the root RAN with “moon”, I would avoid using the same root for “planet”. Perhaps something like elmistala “straying star”. Or something involving the root DEL “travel”, as elendelmo “star traveler”

Tamas Ferencz Jul 04, 2018 (17:00)

+Paul Strack that's the same dilemma what +Robert Reynolds mentioned: "star traveler" or "traveling star" is the correct metaphor? Maybe both.
*elmistala does not look right to me with the participle as the second element, but perhaps as *elmistar it could work.

James Coish Jul 05, 2018 (01:28)

+Tamas Ferencz I definitely think we could rána as "a moon". But I would be hesitant to use it for "planet".

James Coish Jul 05, 2018 (01:30)

+Paul Strack "star traveler" makes me think "astronaut"

Paul Strack Jul 05, 2018 (01:54)

+James Coish I’m pretty sure an “astronaut” should be a “star sailor” after Earendil: elciryando. But perhaps +Tamas Ferencz’s suggested variant elmistar is best for “planet”