-ath

suffix. collective or group plural

-ath

suffix. group plural embracing all things of the same name

_pl.suff._group plural embracing all things of the same name, applied to things associated in some arrangement, or organization. >> elenath, ennorath, -rim

ath-

prefix. easy, easily

A prefix meaning “easy” or “easily” appearing in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 and based on the root √ATHA (PE17/148). Tolkien gave two examples of its use: athgar “easy (easy to do)” = ath + √KAR “do” and athgen “easily seen” = ath + √KEN “see”. These adjectives seem to be similar to the negative quasi-participles like úgar “(generally) idle = ✱not doing” seen in other notes from around 1959 (PE17/144), where the prefixed verb stem functions as an (aorist) participle. Presumably such quasi-participles are neither active or passive, and so assume a meaning based on the prefix: ath- “easy” functions passively (the thing done), ú- “not” functions actively (the person doing).

Conceptual Development: In a rejected page from the same set of notes, Tolkien had rhae “easy” derived from the root √SRA(YA) of the same meaning (PE17/172). But Tolkien seems to have altered the root to √SRAG “difficult” and √RAY “smile”.

ath

on both sides

(adv. prefix) ath- (across)

ath

on both sides

(adv. prefix) ath- (across).

ath

on both sides

(across)

argonath

place name. Pillars of the Kings, (lit.) Royal Stones

Two statues of Gondorian kings just north of Nen Hithoel, translated “Pillars of the Kings” (LotR/392), more literally “(Pair of) Royal Stones” (RC/347, RGEO/67, Let/427). It is combination of the prefix ar(a)- “noble”, the noun gond “stone”, and the class-plural suffix -ath (RC/347).

It is not clear why this noun uses the class-plural. However, in one place Tolkien describes a dual variant argonad using the archaic dual suffix †-ad (Let/427). Perhaps this was the original form of the name, altered to Argonath after the Sindarin dual form was forgotten.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Sern Aran(ath) “King Stones” along with an alternate name N. Sern Ubed “[Stones of] Denial” (WR/98, 132). Later in these drafts it was revised to N. Argonath (TI/366).

dúath

noun. night shadow, dark/black shadow, night shadow, dark/black shadow, [N.] night-shade

A word meaning “night shadow” (PE17/152) or “dark/black shadow” (PE17/87), a combination of dû “night” and the soft-mutated form ’wath of gwath “shadow” (SA/dú, gwath), usually written dúath but sometimes dúwath or duwath. Most notably it appeared in the name Ephel Dúath “Mountains of Shadow; (lit.) Fence of Shadow” (LotR/636; RC/457). In one place Tolkien said it was used metaphorically for darkness as an ethereal substances, the opposite of glae(gal) which was light as a substance (NM/283).

Conceptual Development: N. Dú(w)ath “night-shade” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the etymology given above (Ety/DOƷ).

ennorath

place name. (All) the Middle-lands

A variant form of Ennor with the class-plural suffix -ath added, meaning “lands of Middle-earth” or “(All) the Middle-lands” (LotR/1115, PE17/25-6).

o galadhremmin ennorath

from tree-tangled middle-lands

remmirath

proper name. Netted Jewels

Sindarin name for the constellation of Pleiades, translated “Netted Stars” (LotR/81) or “Netted Jewels” (PE17/121). The name is a combination of rem “mesh, net” and the class-plural of mîr “jewel” (LotR/1115, VT42/12, PE17/24).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, the name of the constellation Pleiades was given as G. Sithaloth or Sithaloctha “Fly-cluster” (GL/68).

athar

across

(preposition) *athar (beyond). Suggested correction of the reading "athan" in SD:62. As prep. probably followed by soft mutation. Also (as adverbial prefix) ath- (on both sides), athra-, thar- (athwart, over, beyond)

athar

across

(beyond). Suggested correction of the reading "athan" in SD:62. As prep. probably followed by soft mutation. – Also (as adverbial prefix) ath- (on both sides), athra-, thar- (athwart, over, beyond)

a

and

a, or ah when the next word begins in a vowel: Finrod ah Andreth, Finrod and Andreth. In some sources, Tolkien uses ar as the conjunction "and", but a(h) would seem to be the proper Sindarin form.

athelas

kingsfoil

(a healing plant brought to Middle-earth by the Númenoreans) athelas (pl. ethelais)

gwâth

shade

(noun) 1) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261), 2) dae (i dhae) (shadow), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae), 3) lûm (pl. luim**).

hîn

they

(of women) hîn. It is unclear whether Tolkien maintained this ”Noldorin” pronoun in Sindarin.

ui

both

(adjectival prefix) ui- (two, twi-);

-rim

suffix. collective or group plural

Deldú(w)ath

noun. horror night shadow

del (“fear, disgust, horror”) + dû (“nightfall, night, dimness”) + gwath (“shadow”)

a

conjunction. and

See ah for the form that this conjunction might take before a vowel

a

and

conj. and.Form of ad/ada before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> ad, ada, adh

a

and

conj. and. About his mutation, see PE17:145.

a

conjunction. and

conj. and. Pedo mellon a minno! 'Say friend and enter'. Q. ar

a

conjunction. and; †by, near, beside

In The Lord of the Rings, the Sindarin conjuction for “and” was a, as seen in the famous phrase from the Moria Gate Inscription: pedo mellon a minno “speak, friend, and enter” (LotR/305).

Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s earlier writings, the word for “and” was usually ar, consistent with the usual Quenya form of this word: Q. ar. The first appearance of this form of the word was in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, which had G. ar “and, too” (GL/20). This version of “and” appeared in numerous phrases from the 1920s-50s, that latest being the Sindarin version of the Lord’s Prayer: Ae Adar Nín from the mid-1950s (VT44/21).

In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s, however, Tolkien introduced a “and” in the initial versions of the gate inscription (TI/182). He gradually transitioned to the a version over the next few years.

Possible Etymologies: It is not obvious what Tolkien intended the etymology of S. a “and” to be when he first introduced it. He did revisit the question in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, where he considered two primitive forms: ✶as(a) and ✶ad(a) (PE17/41). In both cases, the consonant of the primitive word would vanish if the following word began with a consonant, either as > ah > a or ad > að > a. However, there would be remnants of the primitive consonant before words beginning with a vowel, such as ah Edhel or að Edhel “and an Elf”. This is similar to how the English indefinite article “a” is “a” before a consonant but “an” before a vowel.

In the previously mentioned note Tolkien eventually settled on a(ð), and this was also the etymology of “and” in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 (PE17/145). In writings elsewhere Tolkien seems to have used a(h). For example, ah appeared in the phrase Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth “The Debate of Finrod and Andreth” written around 1959 (MR/329). In notes from 1968, Tolkien had Common Eldarin as “and” producing S. ah which became a before consonants (VT43/30).

Possible Mutations: In notes from 1969, Tolkien said that conjunctions like “and, or” induced mutation in Sindarin (PE23/142). The exact mutation would depend on the etymology of the word. The a(ð)-variant would induce stop mutation and the a(h)-variant would induce sibilant mutation, as described in Tolkien’s notes on the etymology of this word mentioned above (PE17/41).

One complication for the etymology of a was the phrase Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annûn “Frodo and Sam, princes of the west” (LotR/953). Here the name Perhael “Samwise” clearly undergoes soft mutation. Tolkien noticed this in his notes on the phrase, saying: “a·Berhael. ‘And’ cannot therefore be [derived from] arĭ! aŋa. ā̆. {an >>} ŋ̃a [and later in the same context] ‘And’ ad(a). Q ar. N [sic., should be S] a(ð). a, að before vowel. with soft mutation” (PE17/102).

However, there are no signs of soft mutation after a in other phrases like pedo mellon a minno [rather than vinno] (LotR/305) or si loth a galadh lasto dîn [rather than ’aladh] (LB/354). The earlier ar-variant also seems not to have induced mutation in some documents, such as the King’s Letter [ar Hîr; ar Meril] (SD/128) or Ae Adar Nín [ar díheno] (VT44/21, 28-29).

In the previously mentioned notes on Daur a Berhael, Tolkien seems to have considered another explanation where Daur “Frodo” was also a mutation, with an unmutated form Taur (PE17/102). If so, it may be that the mutations in Daur a Berhael are the result of some other grammatical operation rather than the normal mutation of a “and”.

Other than Daur a Berhael, the only clear example of consonant mutation after the conjunction “and” is ar·phent Rían... “✱and Rían said” from the Túrin Wrapper from the early 1950s (VT50/5). This seems to be an example of liquid mutation for the ar-version of this word.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I prefer the a(h)-variant for Sindarin “and”, with sibilant mutation before consonants and ah before vowels. This variant appears in notes from 1968 (VT43/30) and the sibilant mutation occurs only before words beginning with p, t, c, h (→ ph, th, ch, ch) and l, r (→ lh, rh). That means conflict with unmutated examples is minimized. In earlier versions of Eldamo I recommended ignoring mutation entirely for a(h), but since PE23 made it clear that conjunctions induce mutation I now recommend the “least disruptive” mutation: sibilant mutation.

This means a separate explanation is required for Daur a Berhael. For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I assume that soft mutation is used as a marker for Sindarin direct objects, even when those objects do not immediately follow the verb. Thus I assume Daur a Berhael are soft mutations of Taur “Frodo” and Perhael “Samwise” because they are the objects of the verb eglorio “glorify” in the phrase Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annûn, eglerio “Frodo and Sam, princes of the west, glorify (them)”.

Bear in mind that this system is based on a very small number of examples, and could be overturned by new publications.

ad

conjunction. and

conj. and. a/adh before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> a, ada, adh

ada

conjunction. and

conj. and. a/adh before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> a, ad, adh

adh

conjunction. and

ah

preposition/conjunction. and, with

The title Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth is translated as "converse of Finrod and Andreth", but some scholars actually believe this word to be unrelated with the conjunction a.1 , ar "and", and they render it as "with". Other scholars consider that "and" and "with" (in the comitative sense) are not exclusive of each other, and regard ah as the form taken by this conjunction before a vowel. That a, ar and ah are etymologically related has finally been confirmed in VT/43:29-30. Compare also with Welsh, where the coordination "and" also takes different forms whether it occurs before a vowel or a consonant (respectively ac and a). In written Welsh, a often triggers the aspirate mutation: bara a chaws "bread and cheese". This usage is seldom applied in colloquial Welsh (Modern Welsh §510)

ah

conjunction. and

ar

conjunction. and

See ah for the form that this conjunction might take before a vowel

ar

conjunction. and, and, [G.] too, besides

athelas

noun. "kingsfoil", a healing herb brought to Middle-earth by the Númenóreans

athelas

noun. kingsfoil, a healing herb

The Sindarin name of the “kingsfoil” (LotR/864), a combination athae and lass, hence literally “✱healing leaf”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱN. athelas appeared in the margins of The Lay of Leithian from the 1920s next to the phrase “of all the herbs of healing chief” (LB/269), and it already had the form N. athelas when it first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (RS/190).

athra-

prefix. across

du(w)ath

noun. 'night shadow'

n. 'night shadow'. >> dû

duwath

noun. night shadow, dark/black shadow, night shadow, dark/black shadow, [N.] night-shade

ent

pronoun. they, 3rd pl. pronoun

est

pronoun. they, 3rd pl. pronoun

gwath

noun. shade, shadow, dim light

gwath

noun. stain

idi(r)

pronoun. they, 3rd pl. pronoun

ith

pronoun. they, 3rd pl. pronoun

lum

noun. shade

thar

adverb. across

adv. & prep. across. . This gloss was rejected.

thar-

prefix. across, athwart, over, beyond

thar-

across

_ pref. _across, over, properly 'athwart'. Original S. form þara-. See also the rejected glose in PE17:34.

Ídh

and

{ð}_ conj. _and. It was not mutated before vowels. >> a

Ídh

and

{ð} conj. and.Form of ad/ada before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> a, ad, ada

Ídh

and

{ð} conj. and. About his mutation, see PE17:145.

a

and

or ah when the next word begins in a vowel: Finrod ah Andreth, Finrod and Andreth. In some sources, Tolkien uses ar as the conjunction "and", but a(h) would seem to be the proper Sindarin form.

athelas

kingsfoil

(pl. ethelais)

dae

shade

(i dhae) (shadow), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae)

fuin

nightshade

(gloom, darkness, night, dead of night); no distinct pl. form.

gwâth

shade

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

hîn

they

. It is unclear whether Tolkien maintained this ”Noldorin” pronoun in Sindarin.

lûm

shade

(pl. luim).

ui

both

(two, twi-);