Quenya 

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

DevelopmentStagesSources
nana-/ndan- > nan-[ndan-] > [nan-]✧ PE17/166
NDĀ̆ > nan-[ndan-] > [nan-]✧ PE17/166

Variations

  • nat ✧ PE17/166 (nat)

Sindarin 

dan-

prefix. nan-

_ pref. _Q. nan-. >> damen, dangar

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:166] < NDAN. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

dan

back to

_ adv. _back to, back (in return) against, down upon, back on. naur dan i-ngaurhoth! #'fire back against the werewolves'.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:38] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

dan

preposition. back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again

seems to cause mixed mutation: dandol- and dambeth-

Cognates

  • Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ 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

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
nana-/ndan- > dan-[ndan-] > [dan-]✧ PE17/166
NDĀ̆ > dan/dad-[ndan-] > [dan-]✧ PE17/166

Variations

  • den ✧ VT50/23
Sindarin [LotR/0299; PE17/038; PE17/166; PM/395; VT50/23] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Primitive elvish

(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
Primitive elvish [PE17/166; PE17/167; VT48/32; WJ/412] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Noldorin

dan-

prefix. negative prefix attached to adjectives

@@@ entry marked with a “✱”, perhaps indicating this was originally the primitive form before mutations

Element in

  • En. dafuig “dirty” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. dalhung “not heavy” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. damor “no good” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. daneitheb “thornless” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. dangair “mirthless” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. danglarweb “without light” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. darhod “not free” ✧ PE13/141
  • En. dathanc “unsteady” ✧ PE13/141
Early Noldorin [PE13/141] Group: Eldamo. Published by