nan-

prefix. back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards

Changes

• nan- → nan- “back or again” ✧ PE17/166

Cognates

• S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166

Derivations

• ✶ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
  • √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166
• √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166

Element in

• ᴺQ. nanhanquet- “to answer back”
• ᴺQ. nanquet- “to answer”
• ᴺQ. nallamya- “to echo, sound back, reverberate”
• ᴺQ. nampaitya- “to pay back”
• ᴺQ. nananta- “to give back, *return [something]”
• ᴺQ. nancal- “to reflect, (lit.) shine back”
• ᴺQ. nancam- “to receive back”
• Q. nancar- “to undo, to undo, *destroy” ✧ PE17/166
• ᴺQ. nancarpa- “to talk back”
• ᴺQ. nangwesa “answer”
• ᴺQ. nanhalya- “to unveil, reveal”
• ᴺQ. nanhat- “to cast back, reflect”
• ᴺQ. nannem- “to disappear”
• ᴺQ. nanquer- “to turn back, turn around”
• Q. nanquer- “*to turn back”
• ᴺQ. nanquet- “to talk back, speak against”
• ᴺQ. nantar- “to stand back”
• Q. nanwen- “to return, go/come back” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
• ᴺQ. nanwenta- “to send back”
• ᴺQ. nanwera “ransom”
• ᴺQ. nanwerë “ransom”
• Q. nattir- “to look back” ✧ PE17/166 (nattire)

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶nana-/ndan- > nan-	[ndan-] > [nan-]	✧ PE17/166
√NDĀ̆ > nan-	[ndan-] > [nan-]	✧ PE17/166

Variations

• nat ✧ PE17/166 (nat)

opto

noun. back

pontë

back, rear

pontë (ponti-) noun "back, rear" (QL:75)

catta

noun. back

A neologism for “back” coined by Paul Strack in 2022 specifically for Eldamo, based on Q. ca(ta) “behind, at back of place”. This word can refer to the back of body as well as the back of other things.

Elements

Word	Gloss
ca(ta)	“behind, at back of place, behind, at back of place; [ᴹQ.] after”

dan

back

(prep.) dan (lenited nan) (again, against);

dan

back

(lenited nan) (again, against);

ad

back

(as prefix) ad-, also meaning "second, again, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".

ad

back

also meaning "second, again, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".

(n)dan

root. back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert

The most notable use of the root √(N)DAN “back(wards)” was in the name Q. Nandor for those Elves who joined in the march to Valinor but turned back during the journey (VT48/32); the same root was an element in the earlier name for the Nandor from the 1930s, the Danas (Ety/NDAN). The root first appeared as ᴹ√NDAN “back” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like the aforementioned Danas as well as the prefix ᴹQ. nan- “backwards” and the Doriathrin noun dôn “back” (Ety/NDAN). The Etymologies also mentioned an unstrengthened form of the root ᴹ√DAN (Ety/DAN).

The root √(N)DAN appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings. It appeared among a list of roots having to do with “back” probably composed around 1959 (PE17/166). In this list, Tolkien clarified that in Quenya, √NDAN specifically meant “back” as an action by the same agent revising a previous action, as opposed to an action by a different agent, for which Tolkien coined the root {√TŌ/OTO >>} √KHAN; the example Tolkien gave was Q. nanwen-/S. dadwen- “return, go back [by same agent]” < √NDAN vs. {{Q. tóquet- >>} Q. hanquenta “answer [by a different agent]”. This distinction was lost in Sindarin, however, and √NDAN came to be used for both same and differing agents. Tolkien also said that √NDAN could be used “of return (in same path), retracing, and so employable as un- as in undo”.

The root was mentioned again in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, where Tolkien said:

> The name Nandor was a derivative of the element ✱dan, ✱ndan- indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in “undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return)”. The original word ✱ndandō, therefore, probably only implied “one who goes back on his word or decision”.

Finally, the root appeared in some notes from the late 1960s where √dan- was glossed “retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” serving as the basis for {✶danmi >>} ✶ndanmē > Q. nanwë/S. dannen “ebb-tide”, apparently originally meaning “retreat” (VT48/26 author’s note #2, VT48/32 editor’s note #18). In the same document Tolkien again mentioned the connection of this root to the name of the Nandor.

Derivatives

• ✶ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
  • Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ PE17/166
  • S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166
• ✶ndandō “one who goes back on his word or decision” ✧ WJ/412
  • Q. Nandor “Silvan Elves, (lit.) Those who go back” ✧ WJ/412
  • S. Dân “*Green-elf” ✧ PE17/140; PE17/140
• ✶ndanmē “retreat; ebb, lowtide” ✧ VT48/32
  • Q. nanwë “ebb, lowtide” ✧ VT48/26; VT48/32
  • T. dammë “ebb, lowtide” ✧ VT48/26
• Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ PE17/166
• Q. nanda “?back” ✧ PE17/166
• Q. Nandor “Silvan Elves, (lit.) Those who go back” ✧ VT48/32
• S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166

Variations

• NDĀ̆ ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
• NDAN ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166; PE17/166
• NDANA/NDATA ✧ PE17/167
• dan- ✧ VT48/32
• dan/ndan- ✧ WJ/412

khan

root. back

Derivatives

• Q. han- “*back as an answer or return by another agent” ✧ PE17/166

Variations

• KHAN ✧ PE17/157; PE17/166

tō/oto

root. back

A root in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, which Tolkien specified as meaning: “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). But Tolkien crossed this all through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).

Element in

• Q. tóquet- “to answer” ✧ PE17/166

Variations

• TŌ/OT(O) ✧ PE17/166 (TŌ/OT(O)); PE17/187 (TŌ/OT(O))
• OT ✧ PE17/167; VT47/16 (OT)
• OT(O) ✧ PE17/171 (OT(O))
• TŪ ✧ PE17/188 (TŪ)
• UTU/TŪ ✧ PE17/189 (UTU/TŪ)

ad-

prefix. back, again, re-