_adj. _quick, ready, prompt. >> fair
Sindarin
feir
noun. mortal
feir
noun. Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man
Cognates
- Q. Firya “Mortal” ✧ WJ/219; WJI/Feir; WJ/219
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources Q. Firya > Feir [firja] > [ferja] > [feria] > [feri] > [feir] ✧ WJ/387 Q. Firya > Fîr [firji] > [firi] > [fir] ✧ WJ/387
feir
adjective. quick
fair
noun. mortal
fair
noun. right (hand)
fair
adjective. quick
_adj. _quick, ready, prompt. >> feir
firin
adjective. mortal
adj. mortal. >> firen
firion
noun. mortal man
fíreb
adjective. mortal
fíreb
noun. Mortal
Cognates
- Q. Fírima “Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die” ✧ WJ/387
fíreb
adjective. mortal
An adjective meaning “mortal”, more literally “those apt to die”, a Sindarin adaptation of Q. fírima of the same meaning, both based on the root √PHIR having to do with natural death (WJ/387). It was also used as Fíreb to refer to Mortal Men, a variant of Feir of similar meaning. Tolkien said “Fíreb as compared with Fírima shows the use of a different suffix, since the S equivalent of Q -ima (✱-ef) was not current” (WJ/387).
Derivations
- √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387
Element in
- S. Fíreb “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
Elements
Word Gloss fir- “to fade, *die” -eb “adjective suffix” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √PHIRI > Fíreb [pʰīrikwā] > [pʰīripā] > [pʰīripa] > [ɸīripa] > [ɸīrepa] > [fīrepa] > [fīrep] > [fīreb] ✧ WJ/387 Variations
- Fíreb ✧ WJ/387
Fíriel
noun. mortal maid
firiath
noun. mortals, human beings
firieth
noun. mortal woman
forn
noun. right, north
forvo
noun. right hand
forvo
noun. right side
mab-
noun. a hand-full, complete hand (with all five fingers)
mâb
noun. a hand-full, complete hand (with all five fingers)
mâb
noun. hand, hand, [N.] grasp
The typical Sindarin word for “hand” (VT47/7, 20), usable in almost any context. It is most notable as an element in the name Mablung “Heavy Hand” (VT47/8). See below for a discussion of its etymology.
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where G. mab “hand” appeared as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√MAPA “seize” (GL/55). Tolkien then revised the gloss to “hands”, saying instead it was an irregular dual of G. mô “hand”. The word reverted to singular ᴱN. mab “hand” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/149). These early versions of the word were already an element of Mablung “Heavy Hand(ed)” (LT2/38; LB/311), but also of Ermabwed “One-handed” (LT2/34; LB/119).
In the 1930s it seems Tolkien decided Ilk. mâb “hand” was primarily an Ilkorin word, and the usual word for “hand” in Noldorin was N. cam. Compare Ilkorin Ermabuin “One-handed” and Mablosgen “Empty-handed” with Noldorin Erchamion and Camlost of the same meaning. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. mab “grasp” under the root ᴹ√MAPA “seize”, but the version of the entry with that word was overwritten (EtyAC/MAP), leaving only the Ilkorin form mâb. In this period, Mablung may also have been an Ilkorin name.
After Tolkien abandoned Ilkorin in the 1950s, he kept S. Erchamion and Camlost based on cam, but also kept Mablung “Heavy Hand” which must have become Sindarin. In his later writings Tolkien again revisited the etymology of S. mâb “hand”. In a note from Jan-Feb 1968, he wrote:
> It [Q. má = “hand”] did not survive in Telerin and Sindarin as an independent word, but was replaced by the similar-sounding but unconnected C.E. makwā, Q. maqua, T. mapa, S. mab, of uncertain origin, but probably originally an adjectival formation from MAK “strike” ... (VT47/19).
This sentence was struck through, however. In drafts of notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals written in or after 1968, Tolkien again derived mâb from √MAP (VT47/20 note #13), but in the final version of these notes he made the remarkable decision to discard this root despite it being a stable part of Elvish for nearly 50 years, declaring it was used only in Telerin and not Quenya or Sindarin (VT47/7). He coined a new etymology for S. mâb “hand” based on ✶makwā “handful” = ✶mā + ✶kwā (VT47/6-7), a variation on the above etymology from √MAK.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I prefer to ignore Tolkien’s 1968 removal of √MAP “seize”, and so would continue to derive S. mâb “hand” from that root. However, its ancient meaning may have been “✱grasp”, and its eventual use as “hand” might have been influenced by ancient ✶makwā “handful”.
Cognates
- Q. maqua “hand-full, group of five (similar) things; hand (colloquial); closing or closed [hand] (facing down) for taking” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/19; VT47/20
Derivations
- ✶makwā “a hand-full, complete hand with all five fingers” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/19
- √MAK “cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); ️[√] forge metal; kill, slay” ✧ VT47/19
- √MAP “take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize” ✧ VT47/20
Element in
- ᴺS. mablanthos “sycamore”
- S. Mablung “Heavy Hand” ✧ VT47/07
- ᴺS. mabren “handed, having hands, dextrous”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶makwā > mâb [makwā] > [mapā] > [mapa] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] ✧ VT47/06 ✶makwā > mâb [makwā] > [mapā] > [mapa] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] ✧ VT47/07 ✶makwā > mâb [makwā] > [mapā] > [mapa] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] ✧ VT47/19 √MAP > măpo > mâb [mapo] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] ✧ VT47/20
cam
noun. hand
cam
hand
1) cam (i gam, o cham), pl. caim (i chaim), coll. pl. cammath; 2) mâb (i vâb; construct mab), pl. maib (i maib). 3) Archaic †maw (i vaw), pl. moe (i moe). A homophone means ”soil, stain”. (VT47:6) 4) (fist) dond (i dhond; construct don), pl. dynd (i nynd), coll. pl. donnath (VT47:23).
cam
hand
(i gam, o cham), pl. caim (i chaim), coll. pl. cammath
camm
noun. hand
dond
hand
(i dhond; construct don), pl. dynd (i nynd), coll. pl. donnath (VT47:23).
maw
noun. hand
maw
noun. hand
The Sindarin equivalent of Q. má, likewise derived from the root √MAH or √MAƷ “hand; handle, wield” (PE17/162; VT47/6). However, in Sindarin this word was archaic, used only in poetry, having been replaced in ordinary speech by other words like S. mâb and (less often) cam. Other remnants of this word can be seen in compounds like molif “wrist, (orig.) hand link” and directional words like forvo and harvo for left and right hand side.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. mô from the early root ᴱ√MAHA was the normal word for “hand”, replacing mab “hand” (< ᴱ√MAHA) which in this document Tolkien decided was instead an irregular dual form of mô (GL/55). It had also had an irregular plural mabin based on this dual, replacing an older plural †maith. In the Gnomish Grammar, its archaic form was †mâ, with the usual Gnomish sound change of ā to ō (GG/14), as opposed to later Sindarin/Noldorin ā to au, spelt -aw when final. Tolkien seems to have abandoned mô as a non-archaic word for “hand” early on, preferring ᴱN. mab “hand” by the 1920s and introducing N. cam “hand” in the 1930s.
Cognates
Derivations
- √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ PE17/162
- ✶mā “hand” ✧ VT47/06
- ✶maha “hand, the manager” ✧ PE19/074; PE19/102; VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/35
- √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/18
- √MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
- √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ PE21/70
- √MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
- √MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √MAƷ > maw [mā] > [mǭ] > [mau] ✧ PE17/162 ✶mā > maw [mā] > [mǭ] > [mau] ✧ VT47/06 √mag > maw [mā] > [mǭ] > [mau] ✧ VT47/18
maw
hand
(i vaw), pl. moe (i moe). A homophone means ”soil, stain”. (VT47:6)
mâb
hand
(i vâb; construct mab), pl. maib (i maib).
fair
mortal man
(human) fair (fír-), pl. fîr, coll. pl. firiath. Archaic sg. feir (WJ:387). Wheareas the above-mentioned terms are apparently gender-neutral, the following are gender-specific:
fair
mortal man
(fír-), pl. fîr, coll. pl. firiath. Archaic sg. feir (WJ:387). Wheareas the above-mentioned terms are apparently gender-neutral, the following are gender-specific:
fair
adjective. right (hand)
fuir
right
1) (adj, of direction), also used as noun "right hand": fuir (north), pl. fŷr (VT42:20). In ”Noldorin” the word appeared as (”foeir” =) föir, feir (LR:382 s.v. PHOR). 2) (direction, not "correct") fôr (north), pl. fŷr. 3) (straight) tîr (lenited dîr, no distinct pl. form) Note: a homophone means ”looking, view, glance” (noun).
fuir
right
(north), pl. fŷr (VT42:20). In ”Noldorin” the word appeared as (”foeir” =) föir, feir (LR:382 s.v. PHOR).
fuir
right hand
pl. fŷr. Also used as adj. "right, north" (VT42:20). In ”Noldorin” the word appeared as (”foeir” =) föir, feir (LR:382 s.v. PHOR).
firin
mortal
?firin. No distinct pl. form.
firin
mortal
. No distinct pl. form.
firion
mortal man
firion (pl. firyn).
firion
mortal man
firion (pl. firyn) and
fíreb
mortal
(adj. and noun) fíreb (pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).
fíreb
mortal
(pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).
firieth
mortal woman
(pl. firith).
fôr
right
(north), pl. fŷr.
tîr
right
(lenited dîr, no distinct pl. form) Note: a homophone means ”looking, view, glance” (noun).
forgam
right-handed
(pl. fergaim, for archaic förgeim)
camlann
of the hand
(i gamlann, o chamlann), pl. cemlain (i chemlain).
brêg
quick
brêg (sudden, lively), lenited vrêg, pl. brîg
brêg
quick
(sudden, lively), lenited vrêg, pl. brîg
crûm
left hand
(i grûm, o chrûm, construct crum), pl. cruim (i chruim), coll. pl. crummath. Also ✱hair (i chair), no distinct pl. form (not even with article). Note: hair is also used = ”left” as adjective. Cited in archaic form heir (LR:365 s.v. KHYAR).
A term used for Men meaning “Mortal”, appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, cognate to Q. Firya of the same meaning, both derived from √PHIR which was the basis of words for natural death (WJ/387). According to Tolkien this word was borrowed from Quenya, since the Noldor had pre-knowledge of the nature of Men having learned of them from the Valar. The plural form of Feir was Fîr and its class plural Firiath, the latter also appearing in contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts (WJ/219 footnote). It is unclear why this word did not become ✱Fair, since ei became ai in Sindarin monosyllables. Perhaps it remained Feir because it was an adaptation from Quenya, or it could be a conceptual remnant of its Noldorin form (see below).
Conceptual Development: Probably the first precursor to this word was ᴱN. fion “man, human being” from Index of Names for The Lay of the Children of Húrin compiled in the early 1920s (PE15/62), also appearing with the gloss “mortal man” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the same period (PE13/143). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gaven N. {fîr “man, mortal” >>} feir pl. fîr “mortals” under the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR; EtyAC/PHIR), hence with basically the same form, meaning and etymology as it had in later Sindarin.