hen

eye

hen (hend-, as in pl. hendi) noun "eye" (KHEN-D-E); possibly dual #hendu in hendumaica, q.v. Noun henfanwa "eye-screen, veil upon eyes" (PE17:176), adj. henulca "evileyed" (SD:68; cf. ulca).

hen

noun. eye

The Quenya word for “eye”, derived from the root √KHEN for eye-words (PE17/187; Ety/KHEN-D-E) and with stem-form hend- given its dual hendu (WJ/337).

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as ᴱQ. hen in The Qenya Phonology of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶þχe-ndǝ and appearing beside ᴱQ. sé “eye, pupil” < ᴱ✶þeχē (PE12/21). Hen (hend-) “eye” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon though it was marked “†” for archaic (QL/40), and ᴱQ. hend- also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the cognate of G. hen “eye” (GL/48). ᴱQ. hen appeared regularly in documents from the 1920s (PE13/147; PE14/43, 76; PE16/136), although in the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s ᴱQ. sinda was given as the cognate of ᴱN. hen(n) “eye” (PE13/122). The form ᴱQ. sinda seems to have been a transient idea.

A lengthy declension of ᴹQ. hen “eye” appeared in documents from the early 1930s (PE21/52) and in The Etymologies of the 1930s it was based on a new the root ᴹ√KHEN-D-E “eye” (Ety/KHEN-D-E). In both these documents, inflected forms indicate a stem form of hend-. Thus this word and its stem were quite stable in Tolkien’s mind, though he did alter its root from early ᴱ√SEHE [ÞEHE] to later √KHEN.

Cognates

• S. hen(d) “eye”

Derivations

• √KHEN “base of eye-words, base of eye-words; [ᴹ√] look at, see, observe, direct gaze”

Element in

• Q. alahen “eyeless”
• ᴺQ. hencalcat “eye-glasses, spectacles”
• ᴺQ. hendelë “window”
• ᴺQ. hendelúpea cecet “peafowl, (lit.) eye-plumed pheasant”
• Q. hendumaica “sharp-eye[d]” ✧ WJ/337
• Q. henfanwa “eye-screen, veil upon eyes”
• Q. henta- “to eye, examine, read, scan”
• ᴺQ. hentópa “eyelid”

sén

noun. child

Element in

• Q. Erusēn “Children of God” ✧ MR/423
• Q. Melkorsēni “Children of Melkor”
• Q. senya “*my child”

hína

child

hína noun "child", also hina used in the vocative to a (young) child (also hinya "my child", for hinanya) (WJ:403). Pl. híni (surprisingly not **hínar) in Híni Ilúvataro "Children of Ilúvatar" (Silmarillion Index); dative hínin in VT44:35. In compounds -hin pl. -híni (as in Eruhíni, "Children of Eru", SA:híni). According to one source, the word is hín(i) and solely plural (PE17:157), but this is obviously contradicted by some of the sources quoted above.

hína

noun. child

A word for “child” derived from the root √KHIN (PE17/157; WJ/403), most notably an element in Eruhíni “Children of God”, a term for Elves and Men as the children of Eru. This word illustrates that hína has an abnormal plural form: híni rather than the expected ✱✱hínar. A variant hina with a short i was “only used in the vocative addressing a (young) child, especially in hinya (< hinanya) ‘my child’ (WJ/403)”.

Conceptual Development: The term Êruhîn “Children of God” first appeared as an Adûnaic word in the 1940s (SD/247-8, 358), later adapted as Quenya Eruhíni and Sindarin Eruchîn, which seems to be the source of Q. hína and S. hên “child”. At one point Tolkien coined masculine and feminine variants Q. hindo and Q. hindë, but they were deleted (PE17/157). Tolkien occasionally used an alternate Quenya form sén (MR/423; UT/274), perhaps out of a desire to have a Sindarin form Eruhîn that was closer to the original Adûnaic form; this variant continued to appear as late as 1969, where sén was written below Eruhíni as a variant form in Late Notes on Verbs (LVS: PE22/158).

Cognates

• Ad. -hin “child, patronymic”
• S. hên “child” ✧ SA/híni; WJ/403

Derivations

• √KHIN “child” ✧ PE17/157
• ✶khīnā “child” ✧ WJ/403
  • √KHIN “child” ✧ WJ/403

Element in

• Q. ar mi cemen rainë i hínin “and on earth peace, good will toward men” ✧ VT44/35; VT44/35; VT44/35
• Q. Eruhin “Child of Eru (God)” ✧ SA/híni
• Q. Híni Ilúvataro “Children of Ilúvatar” ✧ PE21/83; SI/Children of Ilúvatar
• Q. Melkorohíni “Children of Melkor”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√KHIN > hīn(i)	[kʰīni] > [xīni] > [hīni]	✧ PE17/157
✶khīnā/khinā > hína	[kʰīnā] > [xīnā] > [hīnā] > [hīna]	✧ WJ/403

Variations

• hina ✧ WJ/403

seldë

child

seldë noun "child" (meaning changed by Tolkien from "daughter"; in his later texts the Quenya word for "child" is rather hína, and the final status of seldë is uncertain. See also tindómerel.) (SEL-D, VT46:13, 22-23) In one late source, Tolkien reverts to the meaning "daughter", but this may have been replaced by anel, q.v.

onna

noun. child, child, *offspring; [ᴹQ.] creature

A word for “child” appearing in various late notes and phrases (NM/31; PM/391; VT49/42), derived from the root √NŌ/ONO “beget, be born” and once appearing in a variant form onwe (PE17/170). Giving its derivation, its actual meaning may be closer to “✱offspring”, as first suggested to me by Tamas Ferencz.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. onna was instead glossed “creature”, though it was still derived from the root ᴹ√ONO “beget” (Ety/ONO).

Derivations

• √NŌ/ONO “beget, give birth to; be born, beget, give birth to; be born; [ᴱ√] become” ✧ PE17/170; PE17/170

Element in

• Q. Aulëonnar “Children of Aulë” ✧ PM/391
• ᴺQ. heconna “child born out of wedlock, bastard”
• Q. nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya “*may your (sg.) child be blessed throughout his/her life” ✧ VT49/42
• Q. nai calambar onnalda ter coivierya “*may your (pl.) child be light-fated throughout his/her life” ✧ VT49/42
• Q. Onnalúmë “Time of the Children”
• Q. Onnarië “Time of Children”
• Q. onya “my child”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ON/NO > onwe	[onwe]	✧ PE17/170
√ONO/NŌ > onna	[onna]	✧ PE17/170

Variations

• onwe ✧ PE17/170; PE17/170; PE17/170

onwë

child

onwë noun "child" (PE17:170)

onwë

noun. child

selda

child

selda adj.?noun? (meaning not clear, related to seldë "child" (meaning changed by Tolkien from "daughter") and seldo "boy". Thus selda may be an adjective "childlike", since -a is a frequent adjectival ending. Alternatively, as suggested in VT46:13, selda may be a neuter noun "child", corresponding to masc. seldo "boy" and fem. seldë "girl" (before Tolkien changed the meaning of the latter to "child"). (SEL-D, cf. VT46:22-23)

seldo

child

seldo noun (meaning not quite clear, likely the masculine form of seldë "child", hence *"boy") (SEL-D, VT46:13, 22-23)

hên

noun. child (mostly used as a prefix in patronymics or metronymics)

hên

noun. child

A word for “child” derived from the root √KHIN, more specifically from ✶khinā with short i which became e in Sindarin due to a-affection (WJ/403). It often appeared in its mutated plural form chîn in phrases like Narn i Chîn Húrin “Tale of the Children of Húrin” (WJ/160). This is pronounced with spirantal “ch” as in German Bach, not affricate “ch” as in English “church”.

Christopher Tolkien made the editorial decision to render this plural form as Hîn in The Silmarillion as published as well as in Unfinished Tales, where it “was improperly changed by me [Christopher Tolkien] to Narn i Hîn Húrin ... because I did not want Chîn to be pronounced like Modern English chin” (LR/322). It seems Tolkien himself had similar concerns, as he sometimes rendered its Quenya cognate as sén, which would have Sindarin forms ✱sên “child” and ✱i hîn “the children”. However, Tolkien’s motive was probably a desire to retain the early (originally Adûniac) form Ad. Eruhîn “Children of God”, which in Sindarin otherwise became Eruchîn (LB/354).

Cognates

• Ad. -hin “child, patronymic”
• Q. hína “child” ✧ SA/híni; WJ/403

Derivations

• ✶khīnā “child” ✧ WJ/403
  • √KHIN “child” ✧ WJ/403

Element in

• S. Eruchîn “Children of Eru (God)”
• S. i chîn Húrin “*the children of Húrin” ✧ VT50/18
• S. i·Veleglind i eithro en estar i·Chîn Húrin “*the Great Song that is also called the Children of Húrin” ✧ VT50/12
• S. Narn i Chîn Húrin “Tale of the Children of Húrin” ✧ MR/373; S/198; SA/híni; UT/057; WJ/403
• S. Glaer nia Chîn Húrin “Tale of the Children of Húrin” ✧ WJ/160
• S. Sarch nia Chîn Húrin “Grave of the Children of Húrin” ✧ UT/140

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶khīnā/khinā > hên	[kʰinā] > [kʰina] > [xina] > [xena] > [xen] > [hen] > [hēn]	✧ WJ/403
✶khīnā/khinā > hîn	[kʰinī] > [kʰini] > [xini] > [xin] > [hin] > [hīn]	✧ WJ/403

hen

noun. eye

hend

noun. eye

henn

noun. eye

heneb

adjective. of eye, eyed, having eyes

hen(d)

noun. eye

The Sindarin word for “eye”, most notably in the name Amon Hen “Hill of the Eye” (LotR/400), derived from the root √KHEN that was the basis for eye-words (PE17/187). Given the words henneth “window” (LotR/674) and Lachend “Flame-eyed” (WJ/384), it is possible that the independent word for “eye” is hend, but note also maecheneb “sharp-eye” which has no double-n (WJ/337).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to G. hen “eye” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/48), cognate to ᴱQ. hend- and so probably similarly derived from primitive ᴱ✶þχe-ndǝ (PE12/21). In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s, ᴱN. hen(n) “eye” was paired with ᴱQ. sinda (PE13/122), but in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the same period, ᴱN. henn was again cognate with ᴱQ. hen (hend-), both from primitive ᴱ✶ske-ndá. In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. {hent, henn >>} hên “eye” from the root ᴹ√KHEN-D-E “eye” (Ety/KHEN-D-E). Thus this word was well established in Tolkien’s mind, but had several variations in its form and derivation.

Cognates

• Q. hen “eye”

Derivations

• √KHEN “base of eye-words, base of eye-words; [ᴹ√] look at, see, observe, direct gaze”

Element in

• S. Amon Hen “Hill of Sight, (lit.) Hill of the Eye” ✧ PE17/077
• S. Emyn Hen Dúnadan “Hills of the Eye of the Dúnadan” ✧ PM/186 (Emyn Hen Dúnadan*)
• S. Finellach “?Flame of Hair and Eye”
• ᴺS. hendelu “brow”
• S. henneth “window”
• S. Lachend “Flame-eyed”
• S. maecheneb “sharp-eye[d]” ✧ WJ/337
• ᴺS. orchen “dandelion, (lit.) day-eye”

Variations

• Hen ✧ PE17/077; PM/186 (Hen)
• hen ✧ WJ/337 (hen)

hên

child

hên (i chên), pl. hîn (i chîn); also -chen, pl. -chín at the end of compounds (e.g. Eruchín ”Children of Eru”). _(WJ:403) _CHILDREN OF THE ONE (Elves and Men as children of God) Eruchín** **(sg. *Eruchen)

hên

child

(i chên), pl. hîn (i chîn); also -chen, pl. -chín at the end of compounds (e.g. Eruchín ”Children of Eru”). (WJ:403)

hend

eye

hend (i chend, construct hen), pl. hind (i chind), dual hent ”pair of eyes” (VT45:22), coll. pl. hennath. Adj.

hend

eye

(i chend, construct hen), pl. hind (i chind), dual hent ”pair of eyes” (VT45:22), coll. pl. hennath. Adj.

heneb

eyed

(lenited chebeb, pl. henib). Isolated from maecheneb ”sharp-eyed” (lenited vaecheneb; pl. maechenib) (WJ:337)

eruchen

children of the one

)

khin

root. child

A root appearing in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 with the gloss “child” (PE17/157), and again in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 with the same gloss (WJ/403). It was the basis for the words Q. hína and S. hên “child”, which were probably inspired by the Adûnaic patronymic suffix -hin that Tolkien introduced in the 1940s as part of Êruhin “Child of God” (SD/358), originally an Adûnaic word but later on used in Sindarin (Let/345; MR/330). This root might be a later iteration of the early root ᴱ√HILI from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s whose derivatives had to do with children (QL/40). As evidence of this, the Adûnaic word was first given as Eruhil (SD/341).

Derivatives

• Ad. -hin “child, patronymic”
• ✶khīnā “child” ✧ WJ/403
  • Q. hína “child” ✧ WJ/403
  • S. hên “child” ✧ WJ/403
• Q. hína “child” ✧ PE17/157
• Q. hindë “[unglossed]” ✧ PE17/157
• Q. hindo “[unglossed]” ✧ PE17/157
• ᴺQ. hinta- “to adopt”
• Q. hinyë “baby”

Variations

• khin ✧ WJ/403

khīnā

noun. child

Derivations

• √KHIN “child” ✧ WJ/403

Derivatives

• Q. hína “child” ✧ WJ/403
• S. hên “child” ✧ WJ/403

Variations

• khīnā/khinā ✧ WJ/403

hên

noun. eye

hên

noun. eye

Changes

• hent/henn → hên “eye” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Cognates

• ᴹQ. hen “eye” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Derivations

• ᴹ√KHEN(DE) “eye; look at, see, observe, direct gaze” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Element in

• N. Amon Hen

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KHEN-D-E > hent/henn	[kʰende] > [xende] > [xend] > [hend] > [henn]	✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E
ᴹ√KHEN-D-E > hint/hinn	[kʰendi] > [xendi] > [xindi] > [xend] > [hend] > [henn]	✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E
ᴹ√KHEN-D-E > hên	[kʰen] > [xen] > [xēn] > [hēn]	✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E
ᴹ√KHEN-D-E > hîn	[kʰeni] > [xeni] > [xini] > [xīn] > [hīn]	✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Variations

• hent/henn ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E (hent/henn)

hent

noun. the two eyes (referring to one person's eyes)