Fírimo

mortal

#Fírimo noun "mortal", see fírima

fírima

mortal

fírima adj. "mortal" (PHIR; firima with a short i in VT46:4); also used as noun: Fírima pl. Fírimar "those apt to die", "mortals", an Elvish name of Mortal Men (WJ:387). This adj. is also the source of an explicit noun, personalized #Fírimo = mortal, mortal man. Pl. Fírimor (VT49:10-11), dative pl. fírimoin "for men" in Fíriel's Song; cf. also the pl. allative fírimonnar in VT44:35.

firya

proper name. Mortal

A shorter variant of Fírima (WJ/219, 387). It is the adjectival form of the root √PHIR produced by the suffix -ya.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies, the word ᴹQ. firya is glossed “human” and is derived from the same root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR).

Cognates

• S. Feir “Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man” ✧ WJ/219; WJI/Feir; WJ/219

Derivations

• √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387

Derivatives

• S. Feir “Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man” ✧ WJ/387

Elements

Word	Gloss
firya	“mortal; human, [ᴹQ.] human; [Q.] mortal”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√PHIRI > Firyar	[pʰirja] > [ɸirja] > [firja]	✧ WJ/387

fíreb

adjective. mortal

fíreb

noun. Mortal

Cognates

• Q. Fírima “Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die” ✧ WJ/387

fíreb

adjective. mortal

An adjective meaning “mortal”, more literally “those apt to die”, a Sindarin adaptation of Q. fírima of the same meaning, both based on the root √PHIR having to do with natural death (WJ/387). It was also used as Fíreb to refer to Mortal Men, a variant of Feir of similar meaning. Tolkien said “Fíreb as compared with Fírima shows the use of a different suffix, since the S equivalent of Q -ima (✱-ef) was not current” (WJ/387).

Derivations

• √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387

Element in

• S. Fíreb “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387

Elements

Word	Gloss
fir-	“to fade, *die”
-eb	“adjective suffix”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√PHIRI > Fíreb	[pʰīrikwā] > [pʰīripā] > [pʰīripa] > [ɸīripa] > [ɸīrepa] > [fīrepa] > [fīrep] > [fīreb]	✧ WJ/387

Variations

• Fíreb ✧ WJ/387

Fíriel

noun. mortal maid

firieth

noun. mortal woman

fair

noun. mortal

feir

noun. mortal

feir

noun. Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man

A term used for Men meaning “Mortal”, appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, cognate to Q. Firya of the same meaning, both derived from √PHIR which was the basis of words for natural death (WJ/387). According to Tolkien this word was borrowed from Quenya, since the Noldor had pre-knowledge of the nature of Men having learned of them from the Valar. The plural form of Feir was Fîr and its class plural Firiath, the latter also appearing in contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts (WJ/219 footnote). It is unclear why this word did not become ✱Fair, since ei became ai in Sindarin monosyllables. Perhaps it remained Feir because it was an adaptation from Quenya, or it could be a conceptual remnant of its Noldorin form (see below).

Conceptual Development: Probably the first precursor to this word was ᴱN. fion “man, human being” from Index of Names for The Lay of the Children of Húrin compiled in the early 1920s (PE15/62), also appearing with the gloss “mortal man” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the same period (PE13/143). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gaven N. {fîr “man, mortal” >>} feir pl. fîr “mortals” under the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR; EtyAC/PHIR), hence with basically the same form, meaning and etymology as it had in later Sindarin.

Cognates

• Q. Firya “Mortal” ✧ WJ/219; WJI/Feir; WJ/219

Derivations

• Q. Firya “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
  • √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387

Element in

• S. Fíriel
• S. Firieth “(Female) Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
• S. Firion “(Male) Mortal” ✧ WJ/387

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
Q. Firya > Feir	[firja] > [ferja] > [feria] > [feri] > [feir]	✧ WJ/387
Q. Firya > Fîr	[firji] > [firi] > [fir]	✧ WJ/387

firin

adjective. mortal

adj. mortal. >> firen

firion

noun. mortal man

firiath

noun. mortals, human beings

fíreb

mortal

(adj. and noun) fíreb (pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).

fíreb

mortal

(pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).

firieth

mortal woman

(pl. firith).

fair

mortal man

(fír-), pl. fîr, coll. pl. firiath. Archaic sg. feir (WJ:387). Wheareas the above-mentioned terms are apparently gender-neutral, the following are gender-specific:

firin

mortal

?firin. No distinct pl. form.

firin

mortal

. No distinct pl. form.

firiel

noun. mortal maid

feir

noun. mortal