esse

noun. name

essë

name

essë (1) noun "name", also later name of Tengwa #31, originally (MET) called árë (ázë). (Appendix E). With a pronominal ending esselya "thy name" (VT43:14). Pl. #essi in PM:339 and MR:470, gen.pl. #esseron "of names" in the compound Nómesseron (q.v.); we would rather have expected *ession, given the nom.pl. essi; perhaps #esser is a valid alternative plural form. Essecarmë noun "name-making" (MR:214, 470), Eldarin ceremony where the father announces the name of his child. Essecenta *("k") noun "Name-essay" (see centa) (MR:415); Essecilmë noun "name-choosing", an Eldarin ceremony where a child named him- or herself according to personal lámatyávë (q.v.) (MR:214, 471). The meaning Tolkien originally assigned to the word essë** in the Etymologies was "place" rather than "name" (VT45:12).

essë

he

essë (2) pron? "he" (and also "she, it"?), possible emphatic 3rd sg. emphatic pronoun, attested in the sentence essë úpa nas "he is dumb" (PE17:126)

essë

beginning

essë (3) noun "beginning" (ESE/ESET). This entry was marked by a query in Etym, and a word in the appendices to LotR suggests that it was emended to *YESE/YESET; we may therefore read *yessë for essë. (See esta #2.) However, for the purposes of writing the form yesta "beginning" from PE17:120 may be preferred.

essë

noun. name

essë

pronoun. he, *she, it (emphatic)

epessë

after-name

epessë noun "after-name", nickname, mostly given as a title of admiration or honour (PM:339, UT:266, VT49:12). Cf. essë "name" and epë above.

epessë

noun. after-name

issë

pronoun. he, *she, it (emphatic)

Nómesseron

of place-names

Nómesseron pl. noun in genitive: a compound "of place-names", apparently an inflected compound consisting of #nómë "place" + a genitive plural #esseron "of names" (VT42:17; we might have expected *ession, since essi rather than ?esser as the nominative plural of essë "name" is attested both in PM:339 and MR:470)

yessë

noun. beginning

nómë

noun. place

A word for “place” appearing as an element in names like Ondonórë Nómesseron Minasurië “Enquiry into the Place-names of Gondor” (VT42/17) and Quentalë Ardanómion “✱History of the Places of Arda” (WJ/206). It is also an element in correlative combinations like sinomë “here, in this place” (LotR/967; PE17/67, 103), where it has a short o as the second element in a compound; compare lúmë “time” vs. silumë “now, at this time”.

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. nome (or ✱nóme) first appeared in correlative combinations in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 as a derivative of ᴹ√NOM “spot, place” (PE23/112), this root replacing ᴹ√MEN of the same meaning (PE23/112 note #141). The rejected root refers back to ᴹQ. men “place, spot” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MEN), which in turn had replaced ᴹQ. esse “place” under the root ᴹ√ES when that root was revised to have derivatives like esse “name” instead (EtyAC/ES). The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. lar “region, place” under the early root ᴱ√LAŘA [LAÐA] (QL/51).

-on

name

-on gen.pl. ending (3O), in aldaron, aranion, elenion, Eldaron, #esseron, Ingweron, Istarion, Númevalion, Quendion, Silmarillion, Sindaron, tasarion (see Nan-Tasarion), Valion, wenderon, yénion. Normally the ending -on is added to the nominative plural, whether it ends in -i or -r, but some nouns in -ë that would have nominative plurals in -i seem to prefer the ending -ron in the genitive (hence #esseron as the gen. pl. of essë "name", though the nominative pl. is attested as essi and we might have expected the gen. pl. *ession; similarly wenderon, Ingweron).

esta

first

esta (2) adj. "first" (ESE/ESET); this entry was marked with a query. The word Yestarë (q.v.) "Beginning-day" in LotR suggests that Tolkien decided to change the stem in question to _YESE/YESET_. We could then read *yesta for esta (but later this became a noun "beginning" rather than an adj. "first", PE17:120) and also prefix a y to the other words derived from ESE/ESET (essë* > yessë, essëa > yessëa). Estanossë noun "the firstborn", read likewise Yestanossë** (*Yestanessi?) but in a later text, Tolkien used Minnónar (q.v.) for "the Firstborn" as a name of the Elves, and this form may be preferred. _(In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word _Estanossë is cited as "Estanesse", but according to VT45:12, the second-to-last vowel is actually o in Tolkien's manuscript.)

nómë

place

#nómë noun "place", isolated from Nómesseron, q.v. Cf. also sinomë.

se

he, she, it

se (1) pron. "he, she, it" also object "him, her, it", 3rd person sg. Used "of living things including plants" (VT49:37; the corresponding inaimate pronoun is sa). The pronoun comes directly from se as the original stem-form (VT49:50). Stressed form sé, VT49:51, attested in object position in melin sé "I love him" (VT49:21). Ósë "with him/her", VT43:29; see ó-. Long dative/allative sena "[to/for] him" or "at him", VT49:14, allative senna "to him/her" (VT49:45, 46). Compare the reflexive pronoun insë *"himself, herself".

-a

it is said

-r nominative plural ending regularly used on nouns ending in -a, -i, -ië, -o, -u, e.g. Ainur, Valar, tier. Occasionally it is added also to nouns ending in -ë (that normally take the ending -I in the pl.). This seems to regularly happen in the case of nouns in -lë (see #fintalë, mallë, tyellë), sometimes also otherwise (see Ingwë, wendë, essë #1). This plural ending was ("it is said") first used by the Noldor (PM:402).

amil

mother

amil noun "mother" (AM1), also emil (q.v.) Longer variant amillë (VT44:18-19), compounded Eruamillë "Mother of God" in Tolkien's translation of the Hail Mary (VT43:32). If amil is a shortened form of amillë, it should probably have the stem-form amill-. Also compare amilyë, amya, emya. Compounded amil- in amilessë noun "mothername" (cf. essë "name"), name given to a child by its mother, sometimes with prophetic implications (amilessi tercenyë "mother-names of insight"). (MR:217).

árë

day

árë noun "day" (PM:127) or "sunlight" (SA:arien). Stem ári- _(PE17:126, where the word is further defined as "warmth, especially of the sun, sunlight"). Also name of tengwa #31; cf. also ar # 2. Originally pronounced ázë; when /z/ merged with /r/, the letter became superfluous and was given the new value ss, hence it was re-named essë (Appendix E)_. Also árë nuquerna *"árë reversed", name of tengwa #32, similar to normal árë but turned upside down (Appendix E). See also ilyázëa, ilyárëa under ilya. In the Etymologies, this word has a short initial vowel: arë pl. ari (AR1)

essë úpa nas

he is dumb

amil(lë)

noun. mother

Tolkien used a number of similar forms for “mother” for most of his life. The earliest of these are ᴱQ. amis (amits-) “mother” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s along with variants ᴱQ. ambi, âmi, amaimi under the root ᴱ√AMA (QL/30). An additional variant ammi appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/30). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱQ. ambe or mambe “mother” (PE16/135). This became ᴹQ. amil “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√AM “mother” (Ety/AM¹).

This 1930s form amil appears to have survived for some time. It appeared in a longer form Amille in Quenya Prayers of the 1950s (VT43/26; VT44/12, 18), and as an element in the term amilessi “mother-names” in a late essay on Elvish naming (MR/217). In the initial drafts of Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s Tolkien used the form amilye or amye as an affectionate word for “mother”, and amaltil as the finger name for the second finger (VT47/26-27 note #34 and #35).

However, in those documents Tolkien seems to have revised the root for “mother” from √AM to √EM and the affectionate forms from amye to emya or emme (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19). The revised word for “mother” appears to be emil based on the 1st person possessive form emil(inya) (VT47/26).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain the root √AM for “mother”, since that is what Tolkien used for 50 years, and ignore the very late change to √EM. As such, I would recommend amil(le) for “mother” and affectionate forms amme “mommy” and amya. However, if you prefer to use Tolkien’s “final” forms, then emil(le), emme and emya seem to be what Tolkien adopted in the late 1960s.

-ro

he

-ro pronominal ending "he", in antaváro, q.v. In Tolkiens later Quenya, the ending -s covers both "he", "she" and "it".

Ae

day

Ae (Quenya?) noun "day" (LEP/LEPEN/LEPEK - ae was written over ar [# 2] in the names of the Valinorean week, but ar was not struck out.)

ala

day

[ala (7) noun "day", also alan "daytime". The forms allen, alanen listed after these words could be inflected forms of them, genitive "of daytime", constracted (allen = al'nen) and uncontracted. However, Tolkien struck out all of this (VT45:13).]

amal

mother

amal noun "mother"; also emel (VT48:22, 49:22); the form amil (emil) seems more usual.

ammë

mother

ammë noun "mother" (AM1)

ar

day

ar (2) noun "day" (PE17:148), apparently short for árë, occurring in the names of the Valinorean week listed below. Tolkien indicated that ar in these names could also be arë when the following element begins in a consonant (VT45:27). Usually the word for "day" in LotR-style Quenya is rather aurë (or ré), q.v.

cala

light

cala ("k")noun "light" (KAL). Concerning the "Qenya" verb cala-, see #cal- above.

cala

noun. light, light; [ᴱQ.] daytime (sunlight), 12 hours

This is the most common Quenya word for “light”, derived from the root √KAL of similar meaning (RGEO/62; PE17/84). It appears in numerous compounds, either in its full form or in a reduced form cal-.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. kala appeared all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “daytime (sunlight), 12 hours” and derived from the early root ᴱ√KALA “shine golden” (QL/44), but it had the sense “light” in the phrase ᴱQ. i·kal’antúlien “Light hath returned” (LT1/184), and it was given as the cognate of G. gala “light, daylight” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/37).

ᴹQ. kala “light” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√KAL “shine” (Ety/KAL). Somewhat curiously in that document its primitive form was given as ᴹ✶k’lā́ (EtyAC/KAL), a form that also appeared in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) from the 1930s (PE18/38). Tolkien may have used this variant form to explain N. glaw “radiance” (< ᴹ✶g’lā́), but in later writings S. glaw “sunshine” was derived from √LAW.

calina

light

calina ("k")adj. "light" (KAL), "bright" (VT42:32) "(literally illumined) sunny, light" (PE17:153) but apparently a noun "light" in coacalina, q.v.

cálë

light

cálë ("k")noun "light" (Markirya; in early "Qenya", cálë meant "morning", LT1:254)

cálë

noun. light

A noun for “light” appearing in the versions of the Markirya poem from the 1960s (MC/222-223).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. kále “morning” was a derivative of the early root ᴱ√KALA “shine golden” (QL/44), and kāle was mentioned again Gnomish Lexicon Slips as a cognate of G. gaul “a light” (PE13/114). The form ᴱQ. kale “day” appeared in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, but was deleted (PE14/43). It might also be an element in ᴹQ. yúkale “twilight” (= “both lights”) from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KAL).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d stick to the better attested Q. cala “light”.

emel

mother

emel noun "mother"; also amal (VT48:22, 49:22); the form amil (emil) seems more usual.

emil

mother

emil noun "mother", emilinya "my mother" (also reduced to emya) the terms a child would use in addressing his or her mother (VT47:26). Emil would seem to be a variant of amil. Also compare emel.

emil

noun. mother

en

there, look! yon (yonder)

en (1) interjection "there, look! yon (yonder)" (EN, VT45:12)

enna

first

[enna adj. "first" (VT45:12)]

esta-

verb. name

inga

first

inga (2) adj. "first" (ING)

mamil

mother, mummy

mamil noun *"mother, mummy" (UT:191)

minya

first

minya adj. "first" (MINI) (cf. Minyatur, Minyon); "eminent, prominent" (VT42:24, 25). Minyar "Firsts", the original name of the Vanyar (or rather the direct Quenya descendant of the original Primitive Quendian name) (WJ:380)

már

home, house, dwelling

már (mar-) (2) noun "home, house, dwelling" (also "house" in the sense of family as in Mardil, q.v.). See mar above for references. In Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil, and as final element in Eldamar, Fanyamar, Valimar, Vinyamar..

mélamar

home

mélamar noun "home", Exilic Quenya word of emotional sense: place of ones birth or the familiar places from which one has been separated (PE17:109). Mélamarimma noun "Our Home", an expression used by Exilic Noldor for Aman.

ontari

mother

ontari noun "mother" or etymologically "begetter, parent" (fem.); clashing with the plural ontari "parents", this was apparently an emphemeral form (see ontarë, ontaril, ontarië for other feminine forms of "begetter, parent") (VT44:7)

ontaril

mother

ontaril noun "mother", female *"begetter" (cf. onta-). Variant of ontarë. (VT43:32)

ré

day

ré noun "day" (of the sun), a full 24-hour cycle (Appendix D) composed of aurë (day, daylight) and lómë "night" (VT49:45). Short -rë in compounds like Ringarë (q.v.). Allative rénna (VT49:45).

sanda

name

[sanda, sandë] (þ) (2) noun "name" (VT46:16)

sanomë

there

sanomë adv. "there" (PE17:71). Cf. sinomë, tanomë.

sanomë

adverb. there

A word for “there” appearing in notes from mid-1960s in the phrase sanome tarne Olórin, Aracorno, Eomer, Imrahil “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil” (PE17/71). A similar form ᴹQ. sanome(s) appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from the late 1940s, where it was based on ᴹ√NOM “spot, place” (PE23/112).

The word can be contrasted with tanome “there” in different notes from the late 1960s (VT49/11, 19), and also in DRC from the 1940s. DRC made the distinction between these two words clear, in that tanome was “demonstrative there” pointing to a place not previously mentioned, while sanome was “anaphoric there” referring back to a place mentioned before. So “go there” would be á mene tanome, but “I went to the city and found Aragorn there” would be mennen i ostonna ar hirnen Aracorno sanome.

Lokyt originally suggested this distinction to me in a Discord conversation from 2022, and was eventually proven right by the publication of DRC in 2024.

sanya

name

[sanya] (þ) (2) noun ?"name" (reading of gloss uncertain, VT46:16)

setta

first

[setta, setya adj. "first" (possibly also "primary", but Tolkien's gloss was not certainly legible) (VT46:13)]

ta

there

ta (5) adv. "there" (VT49:33; this may be an Elvish root or "element" rather than a Quenya word; see tanomë; see however also tar, tara, tanna under ta #1).

tasse

there

tassë

there

tassë adv. "there" (VT49:11), short form tás. These seem to be properly locative forms of ta "that, it", hence "in that [place]". Compare allative tanna "thither" and ablative talo "thence".

tassë

adverb. there

The words tās and tasse “there” appeared in a list of demonstratives from 1968 (VT49/11), combinations of ta “that” and the locative suffix -ssë. Short form tas appeared in the phrase tas kennen nótime eldali “I saw a few elves there” in notes from 1969 (PE22/155). Similarly formed ᴹQ. tasse “there” appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948, also with a short variant tas (PE23/97, 111).

telimbo

canopy, sky

telimbo noun "canopy, sky" (LT1:268)

tás

there

tás adv. "there" (VT49:11); also tassë, q.v.

tás

adverb. there

yesta

beginning

yesta (2) noun "beginning" (PE17:120). Also attested in the compound yestarë (see below), but cf. esta #2.

yesta

noun. beginning, beginning, *start

@@@ gloss “start” suggested by Robert Reynolds

yestië

noun. beginning

isse

pronoun. he, she (emphatic)

yeset Reconstructed

root. beginning

The root ᴹ√ESE(T) “precede” and ᴹ√SET “precede forward” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. esse “beginning”, ᴹQ. esta “first”, and N. seth {“first” >>} “forth”, but the ᴹ√SET forms were rejected and the ᴹ√ESE(T) forms marked with a “?”, being in conflict with ᴹ√ES “indicate, name” (Ety/ESE; EtyAC/SET). The appearance of Q. yesta “beginning” and Q. Yestarë “first day of the year” in later writings (LotR/1108-1109; PE17/120) indicate the root was probably revised to ✱√YESET.

am

root. mother

For most of Tolkien’s life, the Primitive Elvish root for “mother” was √AM. This began with the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where Tolkien gave the root as ᴱ√AMA (QL/30). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was ᴹ√AM with derivatives ᴹQ. amil and (archaic) N. emil “mother” (Ety/AM¹). In Quenya prayers of the 1950s, the word for mother was Q. Amille. In the last few years of his life, however, Tolkien toyed with the notion of changing this root to √EM. In notes associated with Eldarinwe Leperi are Notessi written in the late 1960s, Tolkien first gave the root as am, but then wrote em next to it with a question mark, along with several new em-derivatives (VT48/19 note #16). The Q. affectionate word emme for “mommy” appeared in the main article, indicating Tolkien did, in fact, adopt this new root, at least for some period of time.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Quenya writing, I personally prefer to ignore this late change to the root for “mother” and stick with the √AM-forms Tolkien used for most of his life. However, the √AM-forms were less stable in the Sindarin branch of the languages, so I’d use √EM-forms like S. emel and emig, and would assume √AM and √EM were variants of the root, as they were on VT48/19 (see above).

amal

noun. mother

amas

noun. mother

amma

noun. mother

amme

noun. mother

em

root. mother

emel

noun. mother

emer

noun. mother

kalat

noun. light

minya

ordinal. first

en

root. name

ess

noun. name

aur

noun. day, sunlight, morning

bardh

home

{ð}_ n. _home, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in.

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 absence 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”.

calad

gerund noun. light

calad

noun. light

_ n. _light, fire, brightness, shining. >> galad

calan

noun. day, period of actual daylight

Attested in the first edition of LotR, but omitted from the second.

e

pronoun. he

The meaning "he" is deduced from the apparent function of this word in the so-called "King's Letter", but it also seems possible to interpret it as "indeed" (as in Q. e, LR/63, VT/45:11), used here in a way of formal address expressing the wishes or the will of the King

e

pronoun. he

emel

noun. mother

emel

noun. mother

A word for “mother” in notes on Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, along with a diminutive form emelig (VT48/17 note #13). These forms were struck through and replaced by emig as the proper diminutive form from the root √EM (VT48/6), but that doesn’t necessarily invalidate emel = “mother”, which appeared elsewhere as (probably primitive) emel, emer in rough versions of these notes (VT48/19 note #16). These Sindarin forms are unusual in that the medial m did not become v, which means the primitive form was likely based on ✱emm- as suggested by Patrick Wynne (VT48/17 note #14).

Conceptual Development: G. amil “mother” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along with rejected forms {anwin, amril} and an archaic variant †amaith (GL/19). The forms {emaith >>} amaith appeared unglossed in Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising that document (PE13/109). In The Etymologies of the 1930s there was a form N. †emil for “mother” under the root ᴹ√AM of the same meaning, but Tolkien said this word was archaic, apparently replaced by N. naneth (Ety/AM¹; EtyAC/AM¹). With N. emil, the a became e via i-affection, but the medial m failing to become v requires an explanation similar to that of 1960s S. emel.

Neo-Sindarin: I generally prefer derivatives of the earlier root √AM for “mother” words in Quenya, but in the case of Sindarin, I find emel and emig from √EM to be better and more widely accepted.

emig

noun. "litte mother"

emig

noun. index finger (Elvish play-name used by and taught to children)

emmel

noun. mother

eneth

noun. name

ennas

adverb. there, in that place

ennas

adverb. there

esta-

verb. to name

galad

noun. light, radiance, glittering, reflection (from jewels, glass or polished metal, or water)

galad

light

_ n. _light, fire, brightness, shining. >> calad, Caras Galadon

main

ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent

mein

ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent

mein

ordinal. first

minui

ordinal. first

minui

ordinal. first

ned

noun. first, *one more; first; *during

This word replaced the preposition uin “of the” in the third version of the King’s Letter, appearing in the phrase nelchaenen ned Echuir “the thirty-first day of Stirring”. Both Carl Hostetter (VT31/30) and David Salo (SG/229) theorized that this replacement has a similar prepositional function, from either √NOT “count” or √NED “middle”. Fiona Jallings suggested it might be a temporal preposition, with sense “during” (FJNS/349).

On VT47/40, note 67, Patrick Wynne suggested that this word might be a cognate of the newly published Quenya word net(ë) “one more”. This theory is supported by the most likely interpretation of nelchaenen. This word seems to mean “thirtieth” rather than “thirty-first”, and Patrick Wynne suggested that nelchaenen ned means “thirtieth and one more” = “thirty-first”. I find this theory the most compelling, and use it here.

oraearon

noun. seventh day of the Númenórean week, Sea-day

oranor

noun. second day of the week, day of the Sun

orbelain

noun. sixth day of the week, day of the Powers or Valar

orgaladh

noun. fourth day of the Númenórean week, day of the White Tree

This day was formerly called orgaladhad in the Elvish calendar

orgaladhad

noun. fourth day of the Elvish week, day of the Two Trees

This day was renamed orgaladh in the Númenórean calendar

orgilion

noun. first day of the week, day of the Stars

orithil

noun. third day of the week, day of the Moon

ormenel

noun. fifth day of the week, Heavens' day

penninor

noun. last day of the year

aur

day

aur (morning), pl. oer. As prefix or- in names of weekdays.

aur

day

(morning), pl. oer. As prefix or- in names of weekdays.

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

home

(dwelling, house, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

caew

resting place

(i gaew, o chaew) (lair). No distinct pl. form except with article (i chaew).

calad

light

_(noun) _1) calad (i galad, o chalad), pl. celaid (i chelaid), 2) gaul (i **aul), pl. goel (i ngoel = i ñoel), coll. pl. golath. Note: A homophone means "wolf-howl", but has different mutations. 3) (bright light) galad (i ngalad = i ñalad), (sunlight, brilliance, radiance, glittering reflection), pl. gelaid (in gelaid = i ñgelaid). 4) gâl (gal-, -al in compounds, with article i **âl), pl. gail (i ngail = i ñail).

calad

light

(i galad, o chalad), pl. celaid (i chelaid), 2) gaul (i ’aul), pl. goel (i ngoel = i ñoel), coll. pl. golath. Note: A homophone means "wolf-howl", but has different mutations. 3) (bright light) galad (i ngalad = i ñalad), (sunlight, brilliance, radiance, glittering reflection), pl. gelaid (in gelaid = i ñgelaid). 4) gâl (gal-, -al in compounds, with article i ’âl), pl. gail (i ngail = i ñail).

calan

daytime

(i galan, o chalan), pl. celain (i chelain)

daedelu

canopy

1. daedelu (i dhaedelu), pl. daedely (i naedhely), 2) orthelian (pl. ortheliain)

daedelu

canopy

(i dhaedelu), pl. daedely (i naedhely)

e

he

1. e (SD:128-31), 2) ho, hon, hono. (The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ho is the nominative ”he”, whereas hon is the accusative ”him”. Hono could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns, except e, are ”Noldorin” and were not maintained in Sindarin proper.)

e

he

(SD:128-31)

edinor

anniversary day

(pl. edinoer). Archaic edinaur. In ”Noldorin”, the word appeared as edinar.

emig

little mother

(no distinct pl. form except with article: in emig). Also used (in children’s play) as a name for the index finger (VT48:6, 17)

eneth

name

(noun) eneth (pl. enith)

eneth

name

(pl. enith)

ennas

there

ennas (SD:128-31)

ennas

there

(SD:128-31)

erui

first

(single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.

esta

name

(verb.) esta- (call) (i esta, in estar)

esta

name

(call) (i esta, in estar)

gail

light

(adjective) 1) gail (bright), lenited ngail, no distinct pl. form (VT45:18), 2) lim (clear, sparkling), no distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means ”fish”.

gail

light

(bright), lenited ngail, no distinct pl. form (VT45:18)

gardh

bounded or defined place

(i ’ardh) (region), pl. gerdh (i ngerdh = i ñerdh);

glaur

golden light

(i ’laur), pl. gloer (in gloer).

glawar

sunlight

(i ’lawar) (gold, radiance of the Golden Tree Laurelin), pl. glewair (in glewair) if there is a pl. (VT41:10)

glóren

shining with golden light

(glórin-) (golden), lenited ’lóren; pl. glórin

ho

he

hon, hono. *(The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ho is the nominative ”he”, whereas hon is the accusative ”him”. Hono could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns, except e, are ”Noldorin” and were not maintained in Sindarin proper.)*

land

open space

(construct lan, pl. laind) (level), also used as adjective ”wide, plain”.

lim

light

(clear, sparkling), no distinct pl. form. Note: a homophone means ”fish”.

minui

first

1. minui (lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form), 2) mîn (lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”; 3) erui (single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.

minui

first

(lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form)

mîn

first

(lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”

naneth

mother

naneth (pl. nenith). Hypocoristic form (”mom”) nana, pl. nenai (but this word is probably rarely pluralized). In a higher style also †emil. No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. emillath. Variant form emel (pl. emil), also spelt emmel (pl. emmil). (VT48:17)

naneth

mother

(pl. nenith). Hypocoristic form (”mom”) nana, pl. nenai (but this word is probably rarely pluralized). In a higher style also †emil. No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. emillath. Variant form emel (pl. emil), also spelt emmel (pl. emmil). (VT48:17)

orthelian

canopy

(pl. ortheliain)**

pathu

level place

(i bathu) (sward), analogical pl. pethy (i phethy). Cited in archaic form pathw in the source (LR:380 s.v. PATH); hence the coll. pl. is likely pathwath. In the Etymologies as printed in

sant

privately owned place

(i hant, o sant) (field, garden, yard), pl. saint (i saint) (VT42:20)

sâd

place

sâd (-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (spot, limited area naturally or artificially defined), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)

sâd

place

(-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (spot, limited area naturally or artificially defined), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)  

tass

1,D adverb. then, there

A Quenya-influenced neologism meaning "there, then, in that (place/time)", from Q. tassë.

ho

pronoun. he

ar-

prefix. day

aur

noun. day, sunlight, morning

calad

gerund noun. light

calad

noun. light

daedelu

noun. canopy

daedelu

noun. canopy

A word for a “canopy” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, a combination of N. dae “shadow” and N. telu “roof” (Ety/TEL; EtyAC/DAY).

Neo-Sindarin: Since Tolkien seems to have later abandoned the meaning “shadow” for N. dae, I would not use this word for “canopy” in Neo-Sindarin, and would use other words like esgal or [N.] orthelian instead.

edhen

adjective. first

emil

noun. mother

emil

noun. mother

ereg

place name. First

Earlier name for the river S. Erui from Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, apparently a Noldorin word meaning ereg “first” (TI/312, WR/436).

ereg

adjective. first

gail

noun. bright light

gal-

prefix. light

galad

noun. light

glaur

noun. golden light (of the golden tree Laurelin)

glor-

noun. golden light (of the golden tree Laurelin)

ho

pronoun. he

hon

pronoun. he

hon(o)

pronoun. he

hono

pronoun. he

nana

noun. mother, mummy

naneth

noun. mother

naneth

noun. mother

A noun for “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√NAN (Ety/NAN). It apparently replaced archaic/poetic N. †emil (Ety/AM¹; EtyAC/AM¹).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon had a similar set of words for “mother”: G. maba, mabir, baba, and mavwin from the early root ᴱ√maƀ “something nice” (GL/57). The last of these appeared as G. mavwen “ancestress” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document, with an archaic meaning of “mother” and variant forms mafwyn and mavuin (PE13/115). In these slips, it seems the normal “mother” word was G. nân (originally glossed “father”) with variant nanwin (PE13/115). This last word is likely the direct precursor of N. naneth.

Neo-Sindarin: I would use S. emel from the late 1960s as the normal word for “mother” in Neo-Sindarin, but would retain N. naneth as a dialectical or more formal variant.

orthelian

noun. canopy

orthelian

noun. canopy

A word for “canopy” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, a noun form of N. ortheli “roof, screen above” (Ety/TEL).

penninar

noun. last day of the year

ammê

noun. mother

A noun for “mother” (SD/434). Tolkien gave two forms of this word, ammî and ammê, with no indication as to which would be preferred. However, ammî resembles a plural word, and Tolkien elsewhere stated that such forms tended to change their final vowel to -ê (SD/438), so my guess is that ammî is an archaic form. This word is probably related to the Elvish root √AM “mother”. Some authors have suggested it is directly related to ᴹQ. amme (AAD/10, AL/Adûnaic), but as Andreas Moehn points out (EotAL/MAM) such basic words are rarely borrowed from other languages, so the relationship is more likely from the Primitive Elvish root.

u

pronoun. he

A well-attested pronominal prefix, the masculine singular pronoun “he” (SD/433). See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion. Tolkien said that it had another variant hu- (SD/433), but this variant was only appears in the early and rejected hunekkū, which was changed to unekkū (see nakh-). Tolkien further indicated that the form u- primitively had an initial consonant [ɣ] or [ʔ] that was lost (SD/433).

cala

noun. light

emmë

noun. mother

minya

ordinal. first