-mo

suffix. agental suffix

Element in

• ᴺQ. aimo “saint”
• ᴺQ. airimo “priest”
• ᴺQ. alamo “cultivator, grower”
• ᴺQ. alumo “leather-worker”
• ᴺQ. astamo “member”
• Q. astarmo “bystander; witness”
• Q. ciryamo “mariner”
• ᴺQ. cordamo “cleric”
• Q. Curumo “*Skilled-one”
• Q. enelmo “go-between, intervener, intermediary, mediator”
• ᴺQ. epeharmo “president”
• Q. Estelmo “*Hope-person”
• Q. Herucalmo
• ᴺQ. hyólamo “trumpeter”
• Q. ingolmo “loremaster, wizard, one with very great knowledge, loremaster, wizard, one with very great knowledge, *scientist”
• Q. Írimon
• Q. Irmo “Desirer”
• Q. Isilmo
• ᴺQ. lingwimo “fisherman”
• Q. Maitimo “Well-shaped One”
• Q. námo “person, somebody (unnamed)”
• Q. Nólimon “*Learned One”
• Q. nolmo “wise person”
• ᴺQ. ongwemo “criminal, transgressor”
• Q. onótimo “*reckoner” ✧ MR/049
• Q. ormo “riser”
• ᴺQ. ostomo “citizen”
• ᴺQ. parmo “student, (lit.) learner”
• ᴺQ. nólemo “student”
• ᴺQ. quernamo “proselyte, convert”
• Q. Súlimo “Lord of the Breath of Arda, (lit.) Breather”
• Q. tirmo “watcher”
• ᴺQ. tungwemo “tax-collector”
• Q. Ulmo “Pourer”
• Q. vinimo “baby, little-one”
• Q. vinyamo “youngster”
• ᴺQ. yulmo “drinker”

Elements

Word	Gloss
mo	“one, anyone, someone, somebody”

-r(o)

suffix. agental suffix

Derivations

• ✶-ro “an old agental formation” ✧ WJ/371

Element in

• Q. Haimenar “*Far-farer”
• Q. Avar “Refuser, Elf who did not journey to Aman” ✧ WJ/371
• Q. Calantar “Light-giver”
• ᴺQ. cuitar “alarm, device to waken somebody”
• Q. Envinyatar “Renewer”
• ᴺQ. hatar “thrower (of spears and darts)”
• Q. Istar “Wizard, (lit.) One Who Knows”
• Q. maitar “artist; poet”
• ᴺQ. mancaro “tradesman, trader, merchant”
• Q. nostar “parent, begetter, *ancestor; parent, begetter”
• Q. ohtar “warrior”
• Q. quentaro “speaker, reciter, speaker, reciter; [ᴹQ.] narrator, minstrel” ✧ PE18/100
• Q. sanar “mind, thinker, reflector” ✧ VT41/13
• ᴺQ. tanar “indicator, [linguistics] demonstrative”
• Q. Telcontar “Strider”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶-rŏ > -r	[-ro] > [-r]	✧ WJ/371

Variations

• -ro ✧ PE18/100 (-ro)
• -r ✧ VT41/13 (-r); WJ/371 (-r)

lér

man

**lér noun "man" (NI1; hypothetical Q form of PQ dēr; the form actually used in Quenya was nér)

nér

man

nér (1) (ner-, as in pl. neri) noun "man" (adult male elf, mortal, or of other speaking race) (MR:213, VT49:17, DER, NDER, NI1, VT45:9; see also WJ:393)

nér

noun. man

vëo

man

†vëo noun "man" (WEG; etymologically connected to vëa "manly, vigorous"; the more neutral word for "man" is nér. According to VT46:21, Tolkien indicated that vëo is an archaic or poetic word.) Tolkien at a later point defined the word as "living creature" (PE17:189). Cf. variant wëo, q.v.

-(r)on

suffix. agental suffix

Element in

• ᴺS. aeron “saint”
• ᴺS. caron “actor, agent, doer, maker”
• ᴺS. eithron “*spearman, [ᴱN.] warrior”
• S. Girithron “December, *Shuddering-one”
• S. Gwaeron “March, *Windy-one”
• S. Lothron “May, *Flower-ness”
• ᴺS. mavron “shepherd, herdsman”
• S. ogron “wicked or evil person” ✧ PE17/170

Variations

• -ron ✧ PE17/170

-or

suffix. agental suffix

Element in

• S. magor “swordsman” ✧ LotR/0081

dîr

noun. man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix

A word for “man” as a male person, attested only as an element in compounds or as (archaic?) ndir (PE17/60). This word likely refers to male individuals of all races including Elves, Men, Dwarves and so forth, much like its Quenya cognate Q. nér. This word must have been derived from the primitive subjective form ✶ndēr of the root √N(D)ER “male person”, where the ancient long ē became ī, and the initial cluster nd- became d-, though the ancient cluster would still be reflected in mutated forms, such as in i nîr “the man” rather than ✱✱i dhîr.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor to this word is (archaic) G. †drio “hero, warrior” with variants driw, driodweg and driothweg, a cognate of ᴱQ. nēr (GL/22). This Gnomish word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶n’reu̯, where the initial nr- became dr-. At this early stage, the root was unstrengthened ᴱ√NERE (QL/65), as reflected in (archaic) ᴱN. nîr “hero, prince, warrior-elf” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s (PE13/164).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DER “adult male, man” of any speaking race and the derived form was N. dîr (Ety/DER). However, in this document Tolkien said:

> EN †dîr surviving chiefly in proper names (as Diriel older Dirghel [GYEL], Haldir, Brandir) and as agental ending (as ceredir “doer, maker”) ... In ordinary use EN has benn [for “man”] (properly = “husband”).

Thus in the scenario described in The Etymologies, dîr “man” was archaic and used only as an element in names or as a suffix. In ordinary speech it was replaced by N. benn, which used to mean “husband” but now meant “man”, while the word for “husband” became N. hervenn (Ety/BES). It is unlikely Tolkien imagined this exact scenario in later Sindarin, however, since the 1930s root for benn was ᴹ√BES “wed”, but by the 1960s the root for husband/wife/marry words had become √BER.

Neo-Sindarin: Since the status of N. benn is questionable given ᴹ√BES >> √BER, many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. ✱dîr as the Sindarin word for man. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable for “man, male person”. This is because I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES as the root for “marry, wed”, since it is the best basis for attested husband/wife words in (Neo) Sindarin.

Derivations

• ✶ndē̆r “man”
  • √N(D)ER “male (person), man”

Element in

• S. Borondir “?Steadfast-man”
• S. Brandir “*Noble Man”
• S. condir “mayor, *(lit.) chief-man”
• S. curunír “wizard, wizard, [N.] man of craft”
• S. dagnir “slayer, bane”
• S. Dírhael “*Wise Man”
• S. dírnaith “wedge-shaped battle-formation, (lit.) man-spearhead”
• S. Emeldir “Manhearted, *Manly-mother”
• S. Haldir
• S. Handir
• S. Hathaldir
• S. Hatholdir “*Axe-man”
• S. herdir “master”
• S. Lindir
• S. Othrondir “?Stronghold Man”
• S. randir “wanderer, wandering man, pilgrim” ✧ PE17/060
• S. Thorondir “*Eagle-man”

Variations

• ndir ✧ PE17/060

adanath

noun. men

adan

noun. man, one of the Second People (elvish name for men)

Dúnadan

noun. Man of the west, Númenórean

adanadar

noun. man, one of the Fathers of Men

drû

noun. wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man

In PE/11:31, an older Gnomish word drû, drui meant "wood, forest", and in PE/13:142, the early Noldorin word drú was assigned the meaning "dark". Drû pl. Drúin later came to be used for the name of the Woses, with other derivatives (Drúadan, etc.). "Wose" is actually the modernization of an Anglo-Saxon word wasa only found in the compound wudu-wasa "wild man of the woods", cf. UT/385 sq. In the drafts of the "Ride of the Rohirrim" in WR/343-346, the Woses first appeared as "the dark men of Eilenach". Though internally said to derive from drughu in their own tongue, Tolkien's choice for the Sindarin name of the Woses was apparently influenced by earlier meanings assigned to this word

drúadan

noun. wild man, one of the Woses

curunír

man of craft

(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.

thalion

dauntless man

(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”. 

firion

mortal man

(pl. firyn).

dúnadan

man of the west

(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).

adan

man

(pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

dîr

man

1) (adult male of any speaking race) dîr (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”. 2) (mortal human as opposed to Elf) Adan (pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

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”.

rhavan

wild man

(?i thravan or ?i ravan – the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhevain (?idh revain) (WJ:219). – The following terms apparently apply to ”men” of any speaking race:

bôr

trusty man

(boron-) (i vôr, construct bor) (steadfast man, faithful vassal), pl. *b**ŷr* for older beryn, i meryn (archaic böryn, i möryn). In ”Noldorin”, the older pl. forms were berein, beren.

beorn

noun. man

The shift of e to eo is strange and has no direct parallels, but compare eo from i in meord "fine rain" (< primitive mizdê). Normally final -ô becomes -â in Nandorin (see golda), but here it is simply lost instead of producing *beorna. C.f. meord the other word where we might have expected to see a final -a (in that case from -ê); it may be that final vowels are lost in words that would otherwise come to have more than two syllables. - The shift of primitive s to r in besnô > beorn may be ascribed primarily to the blending with ber(n)ô, but r from z is seen in meord < mizdê; perhaps the s of besnô first became z and then r. Such developments are common in Quenya.

-ân Reconstructed

suffix. agental suffix

A suffix that is used in some examples for agental-formation: creating nouns from verbs that indicate the agent who performs the verb’s action. The clearest example is sapthân “wise man” derived (after some ancient sound modifications) from saphad- “to understand”. This formation means “✱one who understands”. Less clear examples are ✱magân “wright, ✱builder”, perhaps from a verb ✱mag- “to build”, and kathuphazgân “conquerer”, perhaps a combined of katha “all” and a verb ?phazag- “to take”, meaning “✱one who takes all”.

It is not clear how this suffix related to the similar participle suffix -ân used for form adjectives from verbs. See the entry on participle for further discussion. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/TAN) that -ân as an agental formation may be related to anâ “human being”.

Derivations

• ✶Ad. -ān “agental suffix”

Element in

• Ad. Abrazân “*Steadfast, Faithful”
• Ad. batân “road, path, way”
• Ad. kathuphazgân “conqueror” ✧ SD/429
• Ad. magân “wright, *builder”
• Ad. sapthân “wise man, wizard”

Variations

• -ān ✧ SD/429 (-ān)

ndē̆r

noun. man

Derivations

• √N(D)ER “male (person), man”

Derivatives

• S. dîr “man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix”

-(r)on

suffix. agental suffix

Derivations

• On. -ndo “*agental suffix”
  • ᴹ✶-ndō “agental suffix”

Element in

• N. badhron “judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
• N. brannon “lord” ✧ Ety/BARÁD
• N. callon “hero”
• N. Durion “Dark-elf”
• N. egledhron “exile”
• N. faron “hunter”
• N. Girithron “December, *Shuddering-one”
• N. Gwaeron “March, *Windy-one”
• N. hadron “thrower (of spears and darts)” ✧ Ety/KHAT
• N. heron “lord, master”
• N. Lothron “May, *Flower-ness”
• N. maethon “sword” ✧ EtyAC/MAK (maethon)
• N. melethron “lover (m.)” ✧ Ety/MEL
• N. mellon “friend” ✧ Ety/MEL
• N. nathron “weaver, webster”
• N. odhron “parent”
• N. pethron “narrator, reciter, minstrel”
• N. thavron “carpenter, wright, builder”

Variations

• -ron ✧ Ety/BAD (-ron); Ety/KHAT (-ron); Ety/MEL (-ron)
• -on ✧ Ety/BARÁD (-on); Ety/MEL (-on); EtyAC/MAK (-on)

-on

suffix. agental suffix

-or

suffix. agental suffix

Element in

• N. gollor “magician” ✧ Ety/ÑGOL
• N. maethor “warrior” ✧ Ety/MAK

dîr

noun. man, adult male; agental suffix

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nér “man, adult male” ✧ Ety/DER

Derivations

• ᴹ√(N)DER “adult male, man; bridegroom” ✧ Ety/BARÁD; Ety/BES
• On. dîr “adult male, man (elf/mortal/other speaking race)” ✧ Ety/DER
  • ᴹ√(N)DER “adult male, man; bridegroom” ✧ Ety/DER; Ety/NĪ¹

Element in

• N. Díriel ✧ Ety/DER
• N. bauglir “tyrant, oppressor” ✧ Ety/MBAW
• N. Brandir “*Noble-man” ✧ Ety/BARÁD; Ety/DER
• N. ceredir “doer, maker, doer, maker, *crafter (m.)” ✧ Ety/DER
• N. curunir “a man of craft, wizard” ✧ Ety/KUR
• N. feredir “hunter”
• N. Haldir “Hidden Hero” ✧ Ety/DER
• N. haldir “fur-hunter” ✧ EtyAC/SKEL (haldir)
• N. Handir
• N. Hathaldir
• N. meldir “friend [m.]”
• N. rhandir “wanderer, pilgrim”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. dîr > dîr	[dīr]	✧ Ety/DER

Variations

• dīr ✧ Ety/BARÁD
• dír ✧ Ety/BES

benn

noun. man, male

forodwaith

noun. the lands of the North

forodweith

noun. the lands of the North

forodrim

noun. Northmen

forodwaith

noun. Northmen

forodweith

noun. Northmen

dîr

noun. man, referring to an adult male (elf, mortal, or of any other speaking race)