-ben

suffix. obsolete except in few names

suff. obsolete except in few names. >> pen-

ben

ben

ben

preposition. according to the, in the

ben-

soft mut

soft mut. of pen-

pen-

obsolete except in few names

pref. obsolete except in few names. >> -ben

Ben-adar

'father-less' soft mut

'father-less' soft mut. of Pen-adar >> Pen-adar

Berhael

soft mut

soft mut. of Perhael** **(e.g. a·Berhael) >> Perhael

baran

soft mut

soft mut. of paran >> Dol Baran, paran

baur

soft mut

soft mut. of paur >> Celebrimbor

be

preposition. in; ?as, like, as, like; in

A preposition in the King’s Letter appearing as ben “in the”. Carl Hostetter’s suggested it is connected to the root √MI/IMI “in” via the strengthened form MBI that appears in Q. imbë “between” (VT31/19-20). David Salo instead proposed that it may be a cognate of Q. ve “as, like” derived from primitive ✶bē, suffixed with a form of the definite article -n and having the sense “as in the [Shire-reckoning]” (SG/226). This second option seems more likely to me; the primitive form ✶bē was not published when Carl Hostetter made his analysis.

Conceptual Development: There are some words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s that have similar forms and the meaning “in”; see G. ba “in” for discussion (GL/21). The Gnomish Lexicon also had G. fel “like (as av.); as, like”, apparently meaning it was both an adverb and a preposition (GL/34). It might have been related to the early root ᴱ√VĪ “as” that was the basis for ᴱQ. ve “as, like” (QL/101), though why the Gnomish form has a voiceless spirant f rather than voiced v is unclear.

The Nebrachar poem from around 1930 has ᴱN. a “like” in the phrase dir avosaith a gwaew hinar “like a wind, dark through gloomy places” (MC/217).

berian

soft mut

soft mut. of perian after article i >> perain

beth

soft mut

soft mut. of peth >> peth

dew

soft mut

soft mut. of tew >> tew

egor ben genediad drannail erin gwirith edwen

or in the Shire-reckoning the second day of April

galen

soft mut

soft mut. of calen >> calen

govannen

soft mut

soft mut. of covannen

iarwain ben-adar

masculine name. Oldest and Fatherless

Fuller title of Tom Bombadil, loosely translated “oldest and fatherless” (LotR/265). This first word is the name Iarwain, and the second is a combination of the lenited form of the prefix pen “without” and the noun adar “father” (PE17/34).

pen

preposition/prefix. without, lacking, -less

pen

pronoun. one, somebody, anybody, one, somebody, anybody; [N.] Elf

A Sindarin pronoun with the sense “one, somebody, anybody” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, also used as a suffix in words like orodben “mountaineer” and rochben “rider” (WJ/376), originally “✱mountain-person” and “✱horse-person”. It was thus more narrow in scope than its Quenya cognate quén “person”. Hints of this word can be found in other late writings, such as in the final element in Morben (PE17/141; EtyAC/MOR), originally “Dark-elf” but later expanded to include any people who are not among the Celbin “✱Light folk”, which applied to “peoples in alliance in the War against Morgoth” (WJ/377).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. penn meant “Elf” in the compound N. Morbenn “Dark-elf”, though this word was rejected (EtyAC/MOR). The word N. penn, plural i-phinn “the Elves” also appeared in notes on Ælfwine’s spelling from around 1937-8 (PE22/67). This Noldorin form was thus a cognate of ᴹQ. Qende “Elf”, though elsewhere the usual cognate was N. penedh (Ety/KWEN(ED)); see the entry on S. penedh for further discussion. However, the later Sindarin pronoun/suffix “had no special association with Elves” (WJ/376).

pen-

verb. to have not, *to lack

A verb in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 used as the negative of sav- “have” based on the root √PEN (PE17/146). Thus a better meaning might be “✱to lack”. This verb was also mentioned in discussion of negation from around this time, along with the phrase penim vast “we have no bread” (PE17/144). In this note Tolkien stated that Sindarin did not use its negative particle ū- for the sense “without”, instead using preposition/prefixal pen instead, as in Iarwain Ben-adar “Oldest and Fatherless” (LotR/265; PE17/34, 144).

vast

soft mut

soft mut. of #bast.

vedui

soft mut

soft mut. of medui

úvedin

soft mut

soft mut. of úmedin v. & pron. suff. I do not eat. >> -n, ú-, úmedin

úvel

soft mut

soft mut. of úmel _ suff. & verbal stem (quasi-participle in aorist mode) _lit. 'not loving', enemy, inimical. >> ú-, úmel

dîr

man

(dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”.

pen

less

(lenited ben) (without, lacking) (WJ:375) The phrase ben-adar ”without father, fatherless” is treated as an adjective and lenited following a noun (Iarwain ben-adar, Iarwain the Fatherless or Iarwain without father).  Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”.

pen

without

(lenited ben) (lacking, -less) (WJ:375) Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”. When prefixed to a noun, the resulting phrase can be treated as an adjective in that it is lenited (pen- appears as ben-) where an adjective would be lenited.