ur(u)-

prefix. hard, difficult

Cognates

• S. gor- “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154
• S. gor “horror, dread, fear” ✧ PE17/172

Derivations

• √GUR “hard, stiff, difficult, cumbrous, slow” ✧ PE17/154

Element in

• Q. urnótima “*difficult to count” ✧ PE17/172; PE17/172
• Q. urucárima “hard to make / do” ✧ PE17/154; PE17/154
• Q. urucarin “made with difficulty” ✧ PE17/154
• ᴺQ. uruhanyaima “complicated, enigmatic, cryptic, hard to understand”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√GUR > ur(u)	[gur-] > [ɣur-] > [ur-]	✧ PE17/154

Variations

• ur(u) ✧ PE17/154
• ur- ✧ PE17/172 (ur-)

urda

hard, difficult, arduous

urda adj. "hard, difficult, arduous" (PE17:154)

sarda

hard

sarda adj. "hard" (VT39:17); pl. sardë "hards" may be used in the same sense as sarda tengwi, q.v. (As an independent form we would rather expect a nominal pl. sardar.)

torna

hard

#torna adj. "hard", as in tornanga (q.v.), seemingly -storna after prefixes ending in a vowel, as in the comparative forms aristorna, anastorna (PE17:56; the forms are untranslated and may not necessarily be the same adjective "hard".)

torna

adjective. hard

Derivations

• √STOR “steadfast”

Element in

• Q. anastorna “*extremely hard” ✧ PE17/056
• Q. tornanga “hard-iron, iron hard, iron hard; hard-iron, *steel” ✧ PE17/056

tarya

tough, stiff

tarya adj. "tough, stiff" (TÁRAG)

dír-

prefix. tough

_ pref. _tough. >> dern, dirbedui

dîr

adjective. hard

_ adj. _hard, difficult. dērā << dīrā. >> dír-

dîr

adjective. hard, difficult

Derivations

• ✶dērā “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154
  • √DER “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154

Element in

• S. dirbedui “hard to utter, difficult to pronounce” ✧ PE17/154

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶dērā > dîr	[dērā] > [dēra] > [dīra] > [dīr]	✧ PE17/154

Variations

• dîr ✧ PE17/154

dern

hard

adj. hard, thrawn. Also used for Dwarves, esp. in pl2. dernlir. >> gorn

dern

tough

_ adj. _tough. >> dír-

gor-

prefix. hard, difficult

Cognates

• Q. ur(u)- “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154

Derivations

• √GUR “hard, stiff, difficult, cumbrous, slow” ✧ PE17/154

Element in

• S. gorbedui “only to be said with horror or grief, lamentable to tell” ✧ PE17/154
• ᴺS. gorchanui “complicated, enigmatic, cryptic, hard to understand”
• S. gornodui “hard to count” ✧ PE17/154

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√GUR > gor-	[gur-] > [gor-]	✧ PE17/154

Variations

• gor- ✧ PE17/154; PE17/154

gorn

hard

adj. hard, thrawn. Also used for Dwarves, esp. in pl2. gornhoth (hostile implication). >> dern

gorn

hard

_ adj. _hard, stiff, thrawn. >> gornod, gordh

dorn

tough

1) dorn (tough), lenited dhorn, pl. dyrn; 2) tara (also tar- as first element of compounds) (stiff), lenited dara. The historically correct pl. would be teiri; if analogy prevailed, it might be altered to terai.

dorn

tough

(tough), lenited dhorn, pl. dyrn

norn

hard

norn (twisted, knotted, crabbed, contorted), pl. nyrn. Also used as noun = ”Dwarf”. (MR:93, WJ:205)

norn

hard

(twisted, knotted, crabbed, contorted), pl. nyrn. Also used as noun = ”Dwarf”. (MR:93, WJ:205)

tara

tough

(also tar- as first element of compounds) (stiff), lenited dara. The historically correct pl. would be teiri; if analogy prevailed, it might be altered to terai.

dirnā

adjective. tough

Derivations

• √DER “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154

Derivatives

• S. dern “tough, thrawn” ✧ PE17/154

der

root. hard, difficult

A root in linguistic notes from 1959 used for the sense “hard, difficult” in Sindarin because other roots like √GUR > S. gor- gained a very negative sense due to collision with the roots √ÑGOR “horror” and √ÑGUR “death” (PE17/154). Tolkien first gave this root as √DIR before switching it to √DER. There is no indication of its use in Quenya, so it is probably a Sindarin-only innovation.

Changes

• DIR → DER ✧ PE17/154

Derivatives

• ✶dērā “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154
  • S. dîr “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154
• ✶dirnā “tough” ✧ PE17/154
  • S. dern “tough, thrawn” ✧ PE17/154

Variations

• DIR ✧ PE17/154 (DIR)

dērā

adjective. hard, difficult

Changes

• dīrā → dērā ✧ PE17/154

Derivations

• √DER “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154

Derivatives

• S. dîr “hard, difficult” ✧ PE17/154

Variations

• dīrā ✧ PE17/154 (dīrā)

srak

root. hard, difficult

tar-

adjective. tough, stiff

tara

adjective. tough, stiff