Quenya 

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. “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

Derivations

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

Element in

Sindarin 

hen

noun. eye

Sindarin [Ety/364, LotR/II:IX, WR/128, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

hend

noun. eye

Sindarin [Ety/364, LotR/II:IX, WR/128, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

henn

noun. eye

Sindarin [Ety/364, LotR/II:IX, WR/128, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

heneb

adjective. of eye, eyed, having eyes

Sindarin [maecheneb "sharp-eyed", WJ/337] Group: SINDICT. Published by

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 DúnadanHills 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)
Sindarin [PE17/077; PM/186; WJ/337] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hent

noun. eyesight, *(sense of) sight

Derivations

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

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)

Noldorin 

hent

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

Noldorin [VT/45:22] Group: SINDICT. Published by

hên

noun. eye

Noldorin [Ety/364, LotR/II:IX, WR/128, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

hên

noun. eye

Changes

  • hent/hennhên “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

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
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)
Noldorin [Ety/KHEN-D-E; EtyAC/KHEN-D-E] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

hen

noun. eye

Cognates

  • N. hên “eye” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Derivations

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

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√KHEN-D-E > hen[kʰende] > [kʰend] > [xend] > [hend] > [hen]✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E
Qenya [Ety/KHEN-D-E; PE21/52; PE21/61] Group: Eldamo. Published by

noun. eye

The word ᴱQ. “eye, pupil” appeared in the Qenya Phonology of the 1910s derived from ᴱ✶þeχē (PE12/21), and ᴱQ. reappeared with the gloss “eye, eyeball” in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√SEHE [ÞEHE] (QL/82). A similar word ᴹQ. “eye” appeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/40). Both were likely displaced by Q. hen “eye” < √KHEN.

Variations

  • ✧ PE21/40

Gnomish

hent

noun. eyesight

Gnomish [GG/10; GL/48] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hen

noun. eye

Cognates

  • Eq. hen “eye” ✧ GL/48

Derivations

Element in

  • G. hent “eyesight” ✧ GL/48
  • G. glonthen “dandelion, (lit.) eye of the day” ✧ GL/40
Gnomish [GG/10; GL/40; GL/48] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

hen(n)

noun. eye

Changes

  • hendhenn “eye” ✧ PE13/147

Cognates

  • Eq. hen “eye” ✧ PE13/147
  • Eq. sinda “eye” ✧ PE13/122

Derivations

  • ᴱ✶ske-ndá “eye” ✧ PE13/147
    • ᴱ√ÞEHE “*see” ✧ PE12/021

Variations

  • henn ✧ PE13/147; PE13/147
  • hend ✧ PE13/147
Early Noldorin [PE13/122; PE13/147] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

þeχiē

noun. eyesight

Derivations

  • ᴱ√ÞEHE “*see” ✧ PE12/021

Derivatives

  • Eq. sie “sight, sense of sight, eyesight; pupil of eye” ✧ PE12/021
Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/021] Group: Eldamo. Published by

þχe-ndǝ

noun. eye

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

ske-ndá

noun. eye

Derivations

  • ᴱ√ÞEHE “*see” ✧ PE12/021

Derivatives

  • Eq. hen “eye” ✧ PE12/021; PE13/147
  • En. hen(n) “eye” ✧ PE13/147

Variations

  • þχe-ndǝ ✧ PE12/021
Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/021; PE13/147] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

hen

noun. eye

Cognates

  • G. hen “eye” ✧ GL/48
  • En. hen(n) “eye” ✧ PE13/147

Derivations

  • ᴱ✶ske-ndá “eye” ✧ PE12/021; PE13/147
    • ᴱ√ÞEHE “*see” ✧ PE12/021

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ✶þχe-ndǝ > hen[θxendǝ] > [θxend] > [xxend] > [hend] > [hen]✧ PE12/021
ᴱ✶ske-ndá > hen[skenda] > [skendǝ] > [skend] > [xend] > [hend] > [hen]✧ PE13/147

Variations

  • huen- ✧ QL/040 (huen-)
Early Quenya [GL/48; PE12/021; PE13/147; PE14/043; PE14/052; PE14/076; PE14/117; PE15/72; PE16/136; PME/040; QL/040; QL/082] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sinda

noun. eye

Cognates

  • En. hen(n) “eye” ✧ PE13/122

Variations

  • sinda ✧ PE13/122
Early Quenya [PE13/122] Group: Eldamo. Published by