n. 'house', a settled built dwelling of a family, larger or smaller. In true Sindarin, it only denoted a (small) area in which some group had at last settled more or less permanently.
Sindarin
bâr
noun. house, dwelling, home, house, dwelling, home; [N.] earth
bar
noun. dwelling, home
bar
noun. inhabited land
bar
noun. house, dwelling, home
bâr
noun. 'house'
bardh
noun. home
A word for “home” appearing in draft notes from the 1960s discussing the root √MBAR, where it was contrasted with bâr “house, dwelling”:
> In Sindarin bar [< ✱mbăr-] (pl. bair) was used for a single house or dwelling, especially of the larger and more permanent sort; barð [< ✱mbardā̆] was much as English “home”, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in (PE17/164).
It was also contrasted with milbar “dear home” which was used for the “emotional senses ‘home’ as the place of one’s birth, or desire, or one’s home returned to after journey or exile” (PE17/164). In later versions of these notes on √MBAR, Tolkien mentioned bâr and milbar but not bardh (PE17/109).
Neo-Sindarin: Given its absense from the final version of the √MBAR notes, it is possible Tolkien abandoned bardh “home”. However, I prefer to retain it for purposes of Neo-Sindarin for the ordinary sense of “home”, and reserve milbar for one’s “emotional home” or “✱true home” from which one is currently separated, as opposed to the home that you are living now = bardh. I would use bâr primarily in the sense “house, dwelling”.
bardh
home
{ð}_ n. _home, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in.
bâr
dwelling
bâr (house, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds
bâr
house
bâr (dwelling, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
bâr
home
bâr (dwelling, house, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
bâr
dwelling
(house, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds
bâr
house
(dwelling, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
bâr
earth
(dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
bâr
home
(dwelling, house, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
bâr
land
(dwelling, house, home, family; earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
ceven
earth
1) ceven (i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23), 2) (world) Amar (archaic Ambar), pl. Emair; 3) bâr (dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds. 4) (maybe ”earth” as substance) cae (i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also SOIL.
dôr
land
1) dôr (i nôr, construct dor) (dwelling place, region), pl. dŷr (i ndŷr), coll. pl. dorath (WJ:413), 2) bâr (dwelling, house, home, family; earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.
amar
earth
(archaic Ambar), pl. Emair
parth
enclosed grassland
(i barth, o pharth) (field, sward), pl. perth (i pherth);
dôr
noun. land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land
car
house
(building, dwelling-place) 1) car or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (building), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car may be preferred for clarity. 2) adab (building), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb. 3)
hîr
lord
1) hîr (i chîr, o chîr; also hir-, her- at the beginning of compounds) (master), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîr), coll. pl. híriath (Letters:282, 386; VT41:9); 2) heron (i cheron, o cheron) (master), pl. heryn (i cheryn), coll. pl. heronnath (VT45:22)._ _Since the pl. heryn clashes with the fem. sg. heryn ”lady”, other words for ”lord” may be preferred. 3) brannon (i vrannon), pl. brennyn (i mrennyn), coll. pl. brannonnath; 4) tûr (i dûr, o thûr, construct tur) (mastery, power, control; master, victor), pl. tuir (i thuir), coll. pl. túrath.
noss
house
(family) 1) noss (construct nos, pl. nyss) (family, clan), 2) nost (pl. nyst) (family) (PM:360), 3) nothrim (family); no distinct pl. form (PM:360)
cae
noun. earth
This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies
ceven
noun. Earth
dor
noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live
The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor
dôr
noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live
The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor
ennorath
noun. central lands, middle-earth
sennas
noun. guesthouse
adab
house
(building), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb.
brannon
lord
(i** vrannon), pl. brennyn (i** mrennyn), coll. pl. brannonnath
cae
noun. earth
cae
earth
(i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also
car
house
or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (building), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car may be preferred for clarity.
ceven
earth
(i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23)
dôr
dwelling place
(i nôr, construct dor) (land, region), pl. dŷr (i ndŷr) (WJ:413).
dôr
land
(i nôr, construct dor) (dwelling place, region), pl. dŷr (i ndŷr), coll. pl. dorath (WJ:413)
ennor
place name. central land, middle-earth
gobel
enclosed dwelling
(i ’obel) (walled house or village, ”town”), pl. gebil (i ngebil = i ñebil). Archaic pl. göbil.
gobel
village
(i ’obel) (enclosed dwelling, ”town”), pl. gebil (i ngebil = i ñebil). Archaic pl. ✱göbil.
grôd
underground dwelling
(i ’rôd, construct grod) (cave, delving, excavation), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414)
heron
lord
(i cheron, o cheron) (master), pl. heryn (i cheryn), coll. pl. heronnath** (VT45:22). Since the pl. heryn clashes with the fem. sg. heryn** ”lady”, other words for ”lord” may be preferred.
hîr
lord
(i chîr, o chîr; also hir-, her- at the beginning of compounds) (master), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîr), coll. pl. híriath (Letters:282, 386; VT41:9)
nand
wide grassland
(construct nan) (valley), pl. naind, coll. pl. **nannath **(VT45:36);
noss
house
(construct nos, pl. nyss) (family, clan)
nost
house
(pl. nyst) (family) (PM:360)
nothrim
house
(family); no distinct pl. form (PM:360)
rhûd
dwelling underground
(construct rhud, with article ?i thrûd or ?i rûd – *the lenition product of rh- is uncertain) (artificial cave, rockhewn hall, mine), pl. rhuid (?idh ruid) (PM:365)*.
sennas
guesthouse
(i hennas), pl. sennais (i sennais), coll. pl. sennassath (RC:523)
tûr
lord
(i** dûr, o thûr, construct tur) (mastery, power, control; master, victor), pl. tuir (i** thuir), coll. pl. túrath.
The basic Sindarin word for “house, dwelling, home” derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell” (PE17/109; PE17/164). This Sindarin word (unlike its Quenya counterpart már) can also be used to refer to the “house” of a clan or family, as in Bar Bëora “House of Bëor” (WJ/230) and Narn e·mbar Hador “✱Tale of the House of Hador” (MR/373). It could also mean “-home (for a people)” in compound names for regions as in Eglamar “Home of the Eglain” and Brithombar (WJ/379; S/120), but it seems this use was archaic and in more recent names the trend was to use dôr “land” (PE17/164).
This word appears as both bâr with long â and bar with short a. As a general rule, it has a long â when used as an independent word, following the general Sindarin principle whereby short vowels (usually) lengthened in monosyllables. It has a short vowel when appearing in compounds or as a “pseudo-prefix” in names like Bar-en-Danwedh “House of Ransom” (S/203).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where (adverbial?) G. bar appeared as a variant of G. barthi or barai “at home, home” (GL/21). In the Gnomish Lexicon its noun form seems to be G. bara “home” (GL/21), but in the contemporaneous Gnomish Grammar it was bar “home” (GG/8). These Gnomish words were all derived from the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live” (QL/63).
In Gnomish Lexicon slips, Tolkien modified the word to G. bawr “house” derived from primitive ᴱ✶mbāră (PE13/116). In the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin Tolkien had G. bar “dwelling” (PE15/21). In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s it was ᴱN. bâr “house”, though a change in its mutated form {i·bhar >>} i·mâr indicates some vacillation on its primitive form (PE13/120 and note #2). In Early Noldorin word-lists of this period it was bar “house” (PE13/138).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. bár “home” written in the margin next to the root ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” (EtyAC/MBAR), but it also meant “Earth” in the name N. Barthan “Earth-smith” (Ety/TAN). In later notes (date unknown) this name was S. Barthan “World-artificer” (LT1A/Talka Marda). In notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s it was †băr “home”, which became bār after vowels lengthened in monosyllables (PE22/36).
In notes from the 1960s, Tolkien described this word in some detail, first saying:
> In Sindarin bar [< ✱mbăr-] (pl. bair) was used for a single house or dwelling, especially of the larger and more permanent sort; barð [< ✱mbardā̆] was much as English “home”, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in (PE17/164).
Here it seems bar = “house, dwelling” but bardh = “home”. However, in a later iteration of these notes Tolkien said:
> There were thus tendencies both (a) for Noldorin terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin forms or imitated ... Examples ... were (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house” a settled built dwelling of a family, larger or smaller: in true Sindarin use it only denoted a small area in which some group had at last settled more or less permanently (PE17/164).
This was revised slightly to read:
> There was thus a tendency: (a) for Noldorin words and terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin, or imitated ... Examples of these processes are: (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house”: the permanent building serving as the home of a family, larger or smaller, though in genuine older Sindarin use this word referred to a (small) area, in which some group had at last settled, more or less permanently (PE17/164).
Both these later paragraph imply that the original sense of Sindarin bâr was something like “✱settlement (of a group or community)” but came to mean “house, dwelling” under the influence of Quenya már.
Of its uses in compounds Tolkien said:
> This was also in old compounds used (like Q -mar) for a region, but not in ordinary language ... Only in old names was -bar used like Q -mar for a region inhabited by a people. For this Sindarin used usually -dor (< ndor) “land” (PE17/165).