-ion

son (of), descendant

-ion (patronymic ending) "son (of), descendant" (YŌ/YON, LT1:271, LT2:344). Not to be confused with the genitive ending -on when added to words with nominative plurals in -i, e.g. elenion "of stars" vs. eleni "stars".

indyo

grandchild, descendant

indyo noun "grandchild, descendant" (ÑGYŌ/ÑGYON - read *inyo in Noldorin Quenya, which dialect changed ndy to ny? Cf. Quenya for Quendya.) In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, indyo was also the name of tengwa #17 with overposed dots to indicate following y (VT46:4), the whole symbol having the value ndy.

Yón

son

Yón (1) noun "Son" (VT44:12, 17, referring to Jesus. Tolkien rewrote the text in question. Normally the Quenya word for "son" appears as yondo, which also refers to Jesus in one text.)

anon

son

anon noun "son" (PE17:170), possibly intended by Tolkien as a replacement for yondo.

anon

noun. son

A transient word for “son” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, written of above the more common yon-do (PE17/170).

vó

son

vó (actually spelt vô), also vondo, noun "son" (LT2:336; in Tolkien's later Quenya yondo)

yondo

son

yondo noun "son" (YŌ/YON, VT43:37); cf. yonya and the patronymic ending -ion. Early "Qenya" has yô, yond-, yondo "son" (LT2:342). According to LT2:344, these are poetic words, but yondo seems to be the normal word for "son" in LotR-style Quenya. Yón appears in VT44, 17, but Tolkien rewrote the text in question. In LT2:344, yondo is said to mean "male descendant, usually (great) grandson", but in Tolkien's later Quenya, yondo means "son", and the word is so glossed in LT2:342. Dative yondon in VT43:36 (here the "son" in question is Jesus). See also yonya. At one point, Tolkien rejected the word yondo as "very unsuitable" (for the intended meaning?), but no obvious replacement appeared in his writings (PE17:43), unless the (ephemeral?) form anon (q.v.) is regarded as such. In one source, yondo is also defined as "boy" (PE17:190).

yonyo

son, big boy

yonyo noun "son, big boy". In one version, yonyo was also a term used in children's play for "middle finger" or "middle toe", but Tolkien may have dropped this notion, deciding to use hanno "brother" as the alternative play-name (VT47:10, 15, VT48:4)

hilmë

noun. offspring, *descendant

Cognates

• ᴺS. hilf “posterity; one’s descendants, progeny, offspring”

Derivations

• √KHIL “follow (behind)”

ion

noun. scion, male descendant

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

iond

noun. scion, male descendant

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

ionnath

noun. all the sons

ion

noun. son

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

ion(n)

noun. son, son, *boy

The usual word for “son” in Sindarin, derived from the root √YON of similar meaning (MR/373; SD/129; VT50/18; Ety/YŌ). Tolkien gave it as both ion and ionn.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “son” was G. bo or bon (GL/23). This became ᴱN. gó “son” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/144). Tolkien introduced N. ionn “son” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√YO(N) of the same meaning (Ety/YŌ), and seems to have stuck with it thereafter.

Neo-Sindarin: In later writings, Tolkien sometimes glossed its Quenya equivalents yondo or yonyo as “boy” (PE17/190; VT47/10, 27). Since we don’t have any good Sindarin words for “boy”, I’d use ionn for this purpose as well.

Cognates

• Q. yondo “son, boy, son, boy; [ᴱQ.] male descendant, (great) grandson”

Derivations

• √YON “son”

Element in

• S. Arathornion “Arathorn’s son”
• S. ar Iorhael, Gelir, Cordof, ar Baravorn, ionnath dîn “and Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Hamfast his sons” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129
• S. Iôn “Son”
• S. -ion “-son”
• S. Narn Beren ion Barahir “*Tale of Beren son of Barahir” ✧ MR/373
• S. Túrin ion Húrin Túramarth “*Túrin son of Húrin, Túramarth” ✧ VT50/18

Variations

• ion ✧ MR/373; VT50/18

iond

noun. son

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

iôn

noun. son

iôn

masculine name. Son

A name that Eöl used for his son Maeglin while he was growing, which is simply ion(n) “son” used as a name (WJ/337).

Elements

Word	Gloss
ion(n)	“son, son, *boy”

-ion

suffix. -son

The usual Sindarin patronymic suffix, meaning “son of” (PE17/170; Ety/YŌ), a suffixal form of ion(n) “son”. It was occasionally used for “descendants”, especially as a class plural, as in Hurinionath “Descendants of Húrin” (PM/202).

Conceptual Development: In Gnomish, the prefix G. go- or gon- (suffixal -iod, -ion, -ios) was initially used with the meaning “son of” as in Gon Indor “✱Son of Indor” (LT2/217), but in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the prefix was revised to G. bo- or bon-, as in Tuor bo-Beleg, along with suffixal -von or -mon (GL/23, 40-41). Tolkien reintroduced suffixal N. -ion “son” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√YO(N) “son” (Ety/YŌ), and seems to have stuck with it thereafter.

Cognates

• Q. -ion “-son, masculine patronymic” ✧ PE17/170

Derivations

• ✶-(i)ondo ✧ PE17/170
  • √YON “son”

Element in

• S. Erchirion
• S. Ereinion “Scion of Kings”
• S. Galathilion “White Tree”
• S. Hurinionath “Descendants of Húrin”
• S. Inglorion “*Son of Inglor”
• ᴺS. sion “grandson”

Elements

Word	Gloss
ion(n)	“son, son, *boy”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶-(i)ŏn/-(ĭ)ondo > -(i)on	[-iondō] > [-iondo] > [-iond] > [-ionn] > [-ion]	✧ PE17/170

Variations

• -(i)on ✧ PE17/170

iôn

descendant

iôn (-ion) (son), pl. ŷn, coll. pl. #ionath_ isolated from Hurinionath (PM:202-3) as the name of the House of Húrin.(MR:373, WJ.337, PM:202-3, 218)_

iôn

descendant

(-ion) (son), pl. ŷn, coll. pl. #*ionath*** isolated from Hurinionath* (PM:202-3) as the name of the House of Húrin.(MR:373*

iôn

son

iôn (-ion) (descendant), pl. ŷn, coll. pl. #ionath_ isolated from Hurinionath (PM:202-3) as the name of the House of Húrin. (MR:373, WJ.337, PM:202-203, 218) _Also iond, pl. ynd, coll. pl. ionnath. DARK SON, see DARK ELF

iôn

son

(-ion) (descendant), pl. ŷn, coll. pl. #*ionath*** isolated from Hurinionath* (PM:202-3) as the name of the House of Húrin. (MR:373*

iond

wj

pl. ynd, coll. pl. ionnath.

yon

root. son

This root was the basis for Elvish “son” words for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest indications of this root are ᴱQ. †Y̯ó (or y̯ond-) “son” and ᴱQ. yondo “male descendant”, both tied to the patronymic suffix ᴱQ. -ion “son of, descendant of” appearing in many names (QL/106). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon there was also the related patronymic prefix G. go- (GL/40), which implies the existence of a root ✱ᴱ√YO(NO) since [[g|initial [j] usually became [g]]] in Gnomish. However, go- was deleted and changed to G. bo-, along with new Qenya forms ᴱQ. vô and ᴱQ. vondo (GL/23, 40), implying a change to a root ✱ᴱ√VO(NO).

In Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s, ᴱN. gó “son” reappeared along with ᴱQ. ion and yondi (PE13/144). In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√YŌ or ᴹ√YON “son” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yondo/N. ionn “son” and patronymic -ion (Ety/YŌ). However, in notes labeled “Changes affecting Silmarillion nomenclature” from the late 1950s, Tolkien wrote “Delete entirely yondo = ‘son’! Very unsuitable” (PE17/43). This particular note was rejected when Tolkien changed √YON “wide, extensive” to √YAN (PE17/42). Other notes in the same bundle indicate Tolkien was still seeking a new word for son, saying “Q wanted: son, daughter”, though yon(do) remained among the forms he was considering (PE17/170, 190).

However, it seems Tolkien eventually stopped vacillating and restored √YON, since the patronymic -ion was never discarded, and yon- was the basis for “son” words in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/26).

Derivatives

• ✶-(i)ondo
  • Q. -ion “-son, masculine patronymic” ✧ PE17/170
  • S. -ien “feminine ending” ✧ PE17/170
  • S. -ion “-son” ✧ PE17/170
• ✶yondō “son, boy” ✧ VT47/26
  • Q. yondo “son, boy, son, boy; [ᴱQ.] male descendant, (great) grandson”
• ᴺQ. yonta- “to adopt (a son)”
• Q. yonyo “(big) boy, son”
• S. ion(n) “son, son, *boy”

Element in

• ᴺQ. súyon “nephew, daughter’s son”
• Q. yontil “boy, son [finger name]”

Variations

• yō ✧ PE17/190
• yon ✧ PE17/190
• yon- ✧ VT47/26

ionn

noun. scion, male descendant

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

-ion

suffix. son

Cognates

• ᴹQ. -ion “-son” ✧ Ety/YŌ

Element in

• N. Ecthelion
• N. Inglorion

Variations

• -ion ✧ Ety/YŌ

ionn

noun. son

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

ionn

noun. son

Cognates

• ᴹQ. yondo “son” ✧ Ety/YŌ

Derivations

• ᴹ√YO(N) “son” ✧ Ety/YŌ

Element in

• N. -ion “son” ✧ Ety/YŌ

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√YON > ionn	[jondo] > [jond] > [jonn]	✧ Ety/YŌ