cimba

noun. edge, brink

cimba

noun. edge, brink

Changes

• kilma → kimba “edge, brink” ✧ PE22/149

Derivations

• √KIM “edge, brink of” ✧ PE22/149; PE22/149

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√KIM > kimba	[kimba]	✧ PE22/149
√KIL > kilma	[kilma]	✧ PE22/149

Variations

• kimba ✧ PE22/149
• kilma ✧ PE22/149 (kilma)

hahta

noun. fence

fence, hedge

réna

edge, border, margin

réna noun "edge, border, margin" (REG)

ríma

edge, hem, border

ríma noun "edge, hem, border" (RĪ)

címa

noun. edge of a cutting weapon/tool

címa

noun. edge of a cutting weapon/tool

Changes

• killa → kíma “edge, cutting edge” ✧ PE22/149

Derivations

• √KIM “edge, brink of” ✧ PE22/149; PE22/149

Element in

• ᴺQ. címëa “edged”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√KIM > kíma	[kīma]	✧ PE22/149
√KIL > killa	[killa]	✧ PE22/149

Variations

• kíma ✧ PE22/149
• killa ✧ PE22/149 (killa)

lenu-

stretch

lenu- vb. "stretch" (LT2:341)

pelma

noun. border, fringe, edge, limiting device, border, fringe, edge, limiting device; [ᴱQ.] pen

Derivations

• √PEL “fence, border, edge; bound, limit; go round, encircle, fence, border, edge; bound, limit; go round, encircle; [ᴹ√] revolve on fixed point” ✧ PE17/065

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√PEL > pelma	[pelma]	✧ PE17/065

yáwë

ravine, cleft, gulf

yáwë noun "ravine, cleft, gulf" (YAG; according to VT46:22, the last gloss should perhaps be read as "gully" instead)

yonwa

fence, border, boundary

yonwa noun "fence, border, boundary" (PE17:43)

hríma

noun. edge, hem, border

Derivations

• ᴹ√SRI “*edge, border”

ephel

noun. outer fence, encircling fence

iath

noun. fence

iath

noun. fence

Element in

• S. Doriath “Land of the Fence” ✧ SA/iâth; SI/Doriath; UTI/Doriath; WJ/370; WJI/Iathrim
• S. Echoriath “Encircling Mountains, (lit.) Encircling Fence” ✧ SA/echor
• S. Iathrim “*People of the Fence” ✧ WJ/378; WJI/Iathrim

Variations

• iâth ✧ SA/iâth; UTI/Doriath
• Iâth ✧ SI/Doriath; WJ/370; WJI/Iathrim

iâth

noun. fence

iâth

noun. fence

edrain

noun. border

rain

noun. border

rîw

noun. edge, hem, border

riss

noun. ravine

cail

noun. fence or palisade of spikes and sharp stakes

lanc

noun. sharp edge (not of tools), sudden end (as a cliff-edge, or the clean edge of things made by hand or built)

lanc

brink

1) lanc (sharp edge, sudden end), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”neck, throat”. 2) rhîf (brim), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. rhívath (VT46:11)

lanc

brink

(sharp edge, sudden end), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”neck, throat”.

rhîf

brink

(brim), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. rhívath (VT46:11)

rhîf

noun. brink, brim

Derivations

• ᴹ√(S)RI “*edge, border”

rîw

noun. brink, brim

rîw

edge

*rîw (construct riw) (hem, border), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rîw). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhîf.

rîw

edge

(construct riw) (hem, border), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rîw). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhîf.

lanc

sharp edge

(sudden end, brink), pl. lainc, coll. pl. langath. Note: homophones mean ”naked” and also ”neck, throat”.

cail

fence

(i gail, o chail) (palisade); no distinct pl. form except with article (i chail).

ephel

fence

(pl. ephil)

iâd

noun. fence

iâth

fence

(noun) 1) iâth (construct iath, pl. iaith) (WJ:370, 378), also ?iâd (construct iad), pl. iaid. 2) lest (girdle, boundary), pl. list, 3) (outer/encircling fence) ephel (pl. ephil), 4) (with spikes and sharp stakes) cail (i gail, o chail) (palisade); no distinct pl. form except with article (i chail).

iâth

fence

(construct iath, pl. iaith) (WJ:370, 378), also ?iâd (construct iad), pl. iaid.

lest

fence

(girdle, boundary), pl. list

pêl

fence, fenced field

(i bêl, construct pel) (enclosure, garth), pl. peli (i pheli), the latter forms reflecting the stem pele- (root PEL(ES), LR:380)

thora

fence

(verb) *thora- (the curious form ”thoro-” occurs in the primary source, LR:393 s.v. THUR). The passive participle thoren ”fenced, guarded, hidden” is cited (pl. thorin).

thora

fence

(the curious form ”thoro-” occurs in the primary source, LR:393 s.v. THUR). The passive participle thoren ”fenced, guarded, hidden” is cited (pl. thorin).

edrain

border

edrain (no distinct pl. form)

edrain

border

(no distinct pl. form)

glân

border

glân (i **lân, construct glan) (hem), pl. glain (in glain**) (VT42:8) Note: a homophone means ”white, claer”.

glân

border

(i ’lân, construct glan) (hem), pl. glain (in glain) (VT42:8) Note: a homophone means ”white, claer”.

rain

border

(noun) rain; no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rain). Note: the adj. ”erratic, wandering” is a homophone of rain.

rain

noun. border

Element in

• ᴺS. edrain “*(outer) border”

rain

border

; no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rain). Note: the adj. ”erratic, wandering” is a homophone of rain.

rîw

border

*rîw (construct riw) (hem, edge), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rîw). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhîf.

rîw

border

(construct riw) (hem, edge), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rîw). – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhîf.

thangail

shield fence

(shield wall). No distinct pl. form? (UT:281)

ress

ravine

(construct res), pl. riss (idh riss)

rest

ravine

(cleft, cut), pl. rist (idh rist)

falch

ravine

(deep cleft), pl. felch

iaw

ravine

1) iaw (cleft, gulf), pl. ioe. Note: a homophone means ”corn”. 2) ress (construct res), pl. riss (idh riss), 3) rest (cleft, cut), pl. rist (idh rist), 4) riss (construct ris), no distinct pl. except with article (idh riss)

iaw

ravine

(cleft, gulf), pl. ioe. Note: a homophone means ”corn”.

riss

ravine

(construct ris), no distinct pl. except with article (idh riss)****

glana

noun. edge, rim

Changes

• glâna → glana ✧ VT42/08

Cognates

• Q. lane “hem” ✧ VT42/08

Derivations

• √(G)LAN “rim, edge, border, boundary” ✧ VT42/08

Variations

• glâna ✧ VT42/27 (glâna)

hacta, hatta

noun. fence

fence, hedge

kim

root. edge, brink of

Tolkien used the root √KIM and similar roots for a wide variety of purposes throughout his life. Perhaps the earliest of these was the Early Qenya word ᴱQ. kim- “heed” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, but all of its Gnomish cognates begin with g-, as in G. gima- “hear” and G. gimri “hearkening, attention” (GL/38), so this early root was most likely ✱ᴱ√GIMI. In the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s, Tolkien had ᴹ√KIM “light on, find, come by” and along with a verb ᴹQ. kim- of similar meaning (PE22/103, 108, 125) but most likely this meaning of the root was transferred to √KHIR and Q. hir- “find” (PE17/75).

Finally in notes from 1969 Tolkien gave √KIM “edge, brink of”, replacing deleted forms √KIL and √KILIM, with the root √KIL being reassigned the meaning “choose, select” (which seems to be the normal meaning of √KIL throughout the 1950s and 60s). Note that the early root ᴱ√KILI the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s also meant “edge”, but somewhat interestly there is a Gnomish word G. cim “blade”, perhaps indicating that this vacillation between √KIM vs. √KIL for “edge” had a longer history in Tolkien’s conceptual development of the languages.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would recommend using √KIM = “edge” and √KIL = “choose”.

Changes

• KIL → KIM ✧ PE22/149

Derivatives

• Q. címa “edge of a cutting weapon/tool” ✧ PE22/149; PE22/149
• Q. cimba “edge, brink” ✧ PE22/149; PE22/149
• ᴺS. cim “blade”

Element in

• Q. cirmacin “knife-edge” ✧ PE22/149; PE22/149 (kirmakil)

Variations

• KIL ✧ PE22/149 (KIL)
• KILIM ✧ PE22/149 (KILIM)

pel

root. fence, border, edge; bound, limit; go round, encircle, fence, border, edge; bound, limit; go round, encircle; [ᴹ√] revolve on fixed point

This root was connected to fences, encirclement and rotation for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as two distinct roots in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s. The first was ᴱ√PELE “fence in” with derivatives like ᴱQ. pelin “fenced in, pent”, ᴱQ. pelto “hedge, hedged field”, and ᴱQ. pelle “town” (QL/73). It had some clear derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. pel “village”, G. pelu- “fence, enclose”, and G. pless “hedge, fence” (GL/64). The second root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was unglossed ᴱ√PELE with derivatives like ᴱQ. pelko “leg”, ᴱQ. pelte- “run”, and ᴱQ. peltas “pivot” (QL/73), but the “leg” word in the Gnomish Lexicon was unrelated: G. bactha “a leg” (GL/21).

Indeed, in Quenya the “leg” word was also shifted to a new root by The Etymologies of the 1930s: ᴹ√TELEK > ᴹQ. telko “leg” (Ety/TÉLEK). As for the root ᴹ√PEL, it was given the gloss “revolve on fixed point” in The Etymologies and seems to be a blending of 1910s ᴱ√PELE and ᴱ√PELE, with derivatives like ᴹQ. pel- “go round, revolve, return” and ᴹQ. peltas/N. pelthaes “pivot” (Ety/PEL) but also ᴹQ. peler/N. pêl “fenced field” and ᴹQ. opele/N. gobel “walled house or village, town” by way of extended root ᴹ√PEL(ES) (Ety/PEL(ES)).

The root √PEL appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings with glosses like “edge, bound, fence, limit” (PE17/65), “fence, border” (PE17/90) and “go round, encircle” (SA/pel). Tolkien declared that:

> The basic sense should not be “revolve”; but “edge, bound, fence, limit”. Thus [S.] pelennor = fenced land; ephel, Sindarin < eppel < et­pel = “outer wall or fence”; [Q.] peltakse- (peltas) should mean a fence of fixed stakes etc., or a “pale” and fencing stakes; and pelma a border, fringe, edge, limiting device (PE17/65).

Tolkien reassigned the sense “revolve” to the root √KWER. The most notable derivative of the new sense “boundary” for √PEL was Q. pella “beyond”, more literally “beyond the boundary” (PE17/65, 80); this word was likely Tolkien’s motivation for removing the sense “revolve” from √PEL.

Derivatives

• ✶peles “fence, enclosure”
• ✶peles- “to fence round”
• ✶pelo “a bound” ✧ PE17/065
  • Q. pelo “boundary (fence)” ✧ PE17/065
• Q. pel- “to go round, encircle, to go round, encircle; [ᴱQ.] to surround, fence in, pen in; [ᴹQ.] to revolve, return” ✧ SA/pel
• ᴺQ. pelin “fenced in, pent”
• Q. pelma “border, fringe, edge, limiting device, border, fringe, edge, limiting device; [ᴱQ.] pen” ✧ PE17/065
• Q. pelo “boundary (fence)” ✧ PE17/092
• ᴺQ. pelta- “to roll”
• ᴺQ. pepella- “to circulate, orbit”
• ᴺQ. pelë “revolution”
• S. pêl “*fenced field, [N.] fenced field”
• S. Pelennor “Fenced Land” ✧ PE17/065
• ᴺS. pelu- “to fence, enclose”
• ᴺS. pel- “to fence, enclose”

Element in

• ✶et-pel “outer fence” ✧ PE17/065; SA/pel
• ✶peltakse “fence of fixed stakes, a ‘pale’” ✧ PE17/065
• ᴺQ. pelas “along, (lit.) by the boundary of”
• Q. Pelendur “?Servant of the Border”
• Q. pella “beyond (boundary or limit)” ✧ PE17/090
• Q. Pelóri “Mountain Wall, Fencing Heights” ✧ SA/pel
• Q. terpellië “*temptation”
• S. gobel “village, town (enclosure), (walled) village, town (enclosure); [N.] walled house, *manor”
• ᴺS. pela(h) “along, (lit.) by the boundary of”
• S. Pelargir “Garth of Royal Ships” ✧ SA/pel
• S. Pelennor “Fenced Land” ✧ SA/pel

Variations

• PELE ✧ PE17/092; PE17/171
• pel- ✧ SA/pel

(g)lan

root. rim, edge, border, boundary

A root appearing in Tolkien’s notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s, glossed “rim, edge, border, boundary” and with numerous derivatives of similar meaning (VT42/8). Tolkien coined this root to explain the river name S. Glanduin, which he translated as “Border-river” in this context. In these same notes (or perhaps other notes that were close contemporaries) Tolkien also said the Sindarin name of the Mering Stream in Rohan was S. Glanhír “Boundary Stream” (UT/318).

The Sindarin and Telerin derivatives of this root have an initial gl-, with the sole exception of S. lanc/T. lanca “sharp edge, sudden end”. According to Tolkien: “It is debated whether gl- was an initial group in Common Eldarin or was a Telerin-Sindarin innovation (much extended in Sindarin)”. For the purpose of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is probably best to assume the gl- is from Common Eldarin, to keep this root distinct from √LAN which in earlier writing was the basis for various words having to do with threads and weaving (PE17/60; Ety/LAN).

Derivatives

• Q. lanca “sharp edge (not of tools), sudden end” ✧ VT42/08
• Q. landa “boundary” ✧ VT42/08
• Q. lane “hem” ✧ VT42/08
• Q. lanwa “within bounds, limited, finite, (well-)defined” ✧ VT42/08
• Q. lanya- “to bound, enclose, separate from, mark the limit of” ✧ VT42/08
• S. glân “hem, border” ✧ VT42/08
• S. glan(n) “boundary” ✧ VT42/08
• S. gleina- “to bound, enclose, limit” ✧ VT42/08
• S. lanc “sharp edge (not of tools), sudden end” ✧ VT42/08
• T. glana “edge, rim” ✧ VT42/08
• T. glanda “a boundary” ✧ VT42/08
• T. glania- “to bound, limit” ✧ VT42/08
• T. glanna “bounded, limited” ✧ VT42/08
• T. lanca “sharp edge (not of tools), sudden end” ✧ VT42/08

edrein

noun. border

ephel

noun. outer fence, encircling fence

rhain

noun. border

rhain

noun. border

Changes

• rhaen → rhain ✧ Ety/REG

Cognates

• ᴹQ. réna “edge, border, margin” ✧ Ety/REG; EtyAC/REG

Derivations

• ᴹ√REG “edge, border, margin” ✧ Ety/REG; EtyAC/REG

Element in

• N. edraenui “?outside, bordering, outer” ✧ EtyAC/REG (edraenui)
• N. edrein “*(outer) border” ✧ Ety/REG
• N. Emyn Rhain “Border Hills” ✧ TI/313
• N. Duil Rain “Border Hills” ✧ TI/268 (Duil Rain)

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√REG > rhein > rhain	[regna] > [reŋna] > [reina] > [rein] > [r̥ein] > [r̥ain]	✧ Ety/REG
ᴹ√RAG > rhaen	[ragna] > [raŋna] > [raina] > [rain] > [r̥ain] > [r̥aen]	✧ EtyAC/REG

Variations

• rhain ✧ Ety/REG
• rhaen ✧ EtyAC/REG (rhaen)
• Rhain ✧ TI/313

rhein

noun. border

rhîf

noun. edge, hem, border

thora-

verb. to fence

rhess

noun. ravine

rhess

noun. ravine

rhis

noun. ravine

rhis

noun. ravine

Derivations

• ᴹ✶risse- “a ravine” ✧ Ety/RIS²
  • ᴹ√RIS “slash, rip” ✧ Ety/RIS²

Element in

• N. Imladris(t) “Rivendell” ✧ Ety/RIS²

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶risse- > rhis	[risse] > [riss] > [r̥iss]	✧ Ety/RIS²
ᴹ✶risse- > rhess	[rissa] > [ressa] > [ress] > [r̥ess]	✧ Ety/RIS²

Variations

• rhess ✧ Ety/RIS²

iau

noun. ravine, cleft, gulf

rhîf

noun. brink, brim

Cognates

• ᴹQ. ríma “edge, hem, border” ✧ Ety/RĪ

Derivations

• ᴹ√(S)RI “*edge, border” ✧ Ety/RĪ

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√RĪ > rhîf	[rīma] > [rīm] > [r̥īm] > [r̥īv]	✧ Ety/RĪ