firin

dead

firin adj. "dead" (by natural cause) (PHIR).This may obsolete the earlier "Qenya" word firin "ray of the sun" (LT2:341)

firinga

carcanet, necklace

firinga noun "carcanet, necklace" (LT2:346, GL:36)

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

qualin

dead

qualin ("q")adj. "dead" (KWAL, LT1:264)

ui

no

ui interjection "no" (originally an endingless negative verb in the 3rd person aorist: "it is not [so]"; see #u-). Apparently this is the word for "no" used to deny that something is true (compare vá, which is rather used to reject orders, or to issue negative orders). (VT49:28) Compare uito.

il-

verb. no, *un-

il- (prefix) "no, *un-" (LA); cf. ilfirin "immortal" (vs. firin "dead"). This prefix "denotes the opposite, the reversal, i.e. more than the mere negation" (VT42:32). But il- can also mean "all, every"; see ilaurëa, ilqua, ilquen.

hessa

dead, withered

hessa adj. "dead, withered" (LT1:255)

la

no, not

la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)

lá

no, not

lá (1) adv. "no, not" (LA, VT45:25) According to VT42:33, lá is the stressed form, alternating with la when the negation is unstressed. In another conceptual phase of Tolkien's, lá had the opposite meaning "yes" (VT42:32-33), but this idea is contradicted by both earlier and later material: usually lá is conceived as a negation. The negation can receive tense markers and be used as a negative verb "when [another] verb is not expressed" (VT49:13), apparently where the phrase "is not" is followed by a noun or an adjective as a predicate, or where some verb is understood, as in English "I do not" (i.e. "I do not do whatever the context indicates"). With pronominal endings la- in the aorist, e.g. lanyë "I do not, am not" (etc.) (Tolkien abandoned the form lamin.) Exemplified in the sentence melin sé apa lanyë hé *"I love him but I do not [love] him" (another person) (VT49:15). Present tense laia, past lánë, perfect alaië, future lauva.

firin

adjective. mortal

adj. mortal. >> firen

firin

adjective. mortal, dying, dying, mortal; [N.] human

An adjective glossed “mortal, dying” with variant forms firin or firen appearing as an element in alfirin “immortal” (PE17/101).

Conceptual Development: The adjective [N.] firen had the gloss “human” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would use this adjective largely for “one in the process dying”, and for “mortal (= one capable of dying)” I would use fíreb.

Cognates

• ᴹQ. firin “dead (by natural cause)”

Derivations

• ✶firīne “mortal, dying” ✧ PE17/101
  • √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes”

Element in

• S. alfirin “immortal, (lit.) not dying; a species of flower” ✧ PE17/101

Elements

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

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶firīne > firīn > fĭrin	[pʰirīne] > [ɸirīne] > [firīne] > [firīn] > [firin]	✧ PE17/101

Variations

• fĭrin ✧ PE17/101
• firen ✧ PE17/101

firion

noun. mortal man

Fíriel

noun. mortal maid

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

fern

noun/adjective. dead, dead person; [N.] dead (of mortals)

An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dead (of mortals)” under the root ᴹ√PHIR “die of natural causes”, used as a plural noun in the name Dor Firn i Guinar “Land of the Dead that Live” (Ety/PHIR). Christopher Tolkien choose to include the name Dor Firn-i-Guinar in the published version of The Silmarillion (S/188), and most Sindarin writers accept its ongoing validity.

Derivations

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

Element in

• S. Dor Firn-i-Guinar “Land of the Dead that Live” ✧ S/188

firiath

noun. mortals, human beings

firieth

noun. mortal woman

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

sigil

noun. necklace

A word for “necklace” in the name Sigil Elu-naeth “Necklace of the Woe of Thingol” in Silmarillion notes from the late 1950s (WJ/258).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. fring “carcanet, necklace” (GL/59), an element in the early name G. Nauglafring “Necklace of the Dwarves” (LT2/221). ᴱN. fring “necklace” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/143), but in Silmarillion drafts of the 1930s the “Necklace of the Dwarves” was renamed to Nauglamír (SM/135), a name it retained thereafter (S/114). The element mîr in the later name means “jewel” (Ety/MIR; LotR/1115), and Tolkien coined a new word sigil for “necklace” in the 1950s, as noted above.

Element in

• S. Sigil Elu-naeth “Necklace of the Woe of Thingol” ✧ WJ/258

Variations

• Sigil ✧ WJ/258

gorthrim

noun. the dead

û

interjection. no

adv. or interj. no, not (of fact).

gorth

noun. a dead person

ú

prefix. no, not (negative prefix or particle)

baw

interjection. no, don't!

firin

mortal

?firin. No distinct pl. form.

firin

mortal

. No distinct pl. form.

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:

firieth

mortal woman

(pl. firith).

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).

sigil

necklace

sigil (i higil, o sigil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i sigil), coll. pl. sigiliath. (WJ:258) Note: a homophone means ”knife, dagger”.

sigil

necklace

(i higil, o sigil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i sigil), coll. pl. sigiliath. (WJ:258) Note: a homophone means ”knife, dagger”.

baw!

no

! (interjection expressing refusal or prohibition, not denying facts) baw! (dont!) Prefix

baw!

no

(don’t!) Prefix

gú

no, not

also ú

gorth

dead

(adj.) 1) gorth (lenited ngorth; pl. gyrth), also fern, pl. firn. These adjectives may also be used as nouns ”dead person(s)”. According to LR:381 s.v. _

firīne

adjective. mortal, dying

Derivations

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

Derivatives

• S. firin “mortal, dying, dying, mortal; [N.] human” ✧ PE17/101

Element in

• ✶alfirīne “not dying” ✧ PE17/101

firing

root. necklace

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. firinga “necklace, carcanet”

firiel

noun. mortal maid

feir

noun. mortal

fern

noun/adjective. dead (of mortals)

fern

noun/adjective. dead person

sigil

noun. necklace

mû

interjection. no

Derivations

• ᴹ√GŪ “no, not” ✧ Ety/MŪ

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MŪ > mû	[mū]	✧ Ety/MŪ

al-

prefix. no, not