sin

now

sin (2) adv., a form of sí "now" (q.v.) often occurring before vowels; also sín (SI). However, sí itself (q.v.) may also appear before a vowel.

si

this

Derivations

• √SI “this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now”

Element in

• ᴺQ. silúmëa “current, contemporary, modern”
• Q. siar(ë) “*today, this day”
• Q. sítë “of this sort”
• Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168

Variations

• si ✧ PE22/168

sina

this

sina demonstrative "this" (following its noun in our sole example: vanda sina "this oath"). (CO, VT49:18; in the latter source, sina _is called an adjective). _This word would, like Sindarin hen, be derived from primitive ¤sĭnā (VT49:34). Cf. sin #1.

sina

adjective. this

Derivations

• ✶sĭnā “this” ✧ VT49/18

Element in

• Q. sinar “today, today, [ᴹQ.] this morning”
• Q. vanda sina termaruva Elenna·nóreo alcar enyalien “This oath shall stand in memory of the glory of the Land of the Star” ✧ UT/305

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sĭnā > sina	[sinā] > [sina]	✧ VT49/18

ho

from

ho prep. "from" (3O); cf. hó-

sí

now

sí adv. "now" (Nam, RGEO:67, LR:47, SD:310, VT43:34, VT49:18, PE17:94), sin (SI, LR:47) or sín _(SD:247, 310) _before vowels. Compare the distribution of a/an in English, though in his Quenya version of Hail Mary, Tolkien used sí also before a vowel (sí ar "now and", VT43:28). Si, a short (or incompletely annotated) form of sí (VT43:26, 34). In Fíriel's Song, sí is translated "here".

sí

adverb. now

sí

adverb. now

Cognates

• S. hí “now” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/045; PE17/127; PE22/147
• S. sí “here, in this place (of speaker)” ✧ PE22/147

Derivations

• ✶sī “this (by me), now or here” ✧ PE17/067; VT49/18
  • √SI “this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now” ✧ PE17/067

Element in

• Q. an sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë “for now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. an sí Varda, Tintallë, Elentári ortanë máryat Oiolossëo ve fanyar “for now Varda, Star-kindler, Star-queen [has] lifted up her (two) hands from Mount Everwhite like (white) clouds” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. á carë (sí) ancárië “try harder” ✧ PE17/094
• Q. Eru fai, sî, euva “*Eru (was) before, (is) now, will be (after)” ✧ PE22/147
• Q. ma Varda enquantuva i yulma nin sí “will Varda now refill the cup for me?” ✧ PE22/161
• Q. násië “now and at the hour of our death: Amen” ✧ VT43/34; VT43/34
• Q. sillë “like this”
• ᴺQ. silomë “tonight”
• Q. silumë “now, (lit.) at this time, now, at this time, *present” ✧ VT49/18
• ᴺQ. silussë “present tense, (lit.) here-and-now-tense”
• Q. sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “who now shall refill the cup for me?” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “now who the cup for me will refill?” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. sí man i yulmar men enquantuva? “*who now shall refill the cups for us?” ✧ Minor-Doc/2013-05-13
• Q. sí man i yulmar n(g)wen enquantuva “*who now will refill the cups for us (dual)” ✧ VT21/06
• Q. sinomë “here, (lit.) in this place” ✧ PE22/147
• Q. sir(a) “hither” ✧ PE22/147
• Q. síra “*today, this day”
• Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost, lost to those from the east is Valimar!” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost is, [to one] from the East lost, Valimar!” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. sívë “*as”
• Q. tensi “already, still, up to now/here; yet [from present]”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sī > sí	[sī]	✧ PE17/067
✶si- > sí	[sī]	✧ VT49/18

Variations

• Sí ✧ LotR/0377
• sī ✧ PE17/070; PE17/094; RGEO/59
• sír ✧ PE22/147
• Sī̀ ✧ RGEO/58
• sī́ ✧ RGEO/58
• Sī ✧ RGEO/58; RGEO/59; RGEO/59
• si ✧ VT43/34

sír

adverb. now

-va

from

-va possessive ending, presumably related to the preposition va "from". In Eldaliéva, Ingoldova, miruvóreva, Oroméva, rómeva, Valinóreva (q.v. for references), Follondiéva, Hyallondiéva (see under turmen for references). Following a consonant, the ending instead appears as -wa (andamacilwa "of the long sword", PE17:147, rómenwa *"of the East", PE17:59). Pl. -vë when governing a plural word (from archaic -vai) (WJ:407), but it seems that -va was used throughout in late Exilic Quenya (cf. miruvóreva governing the plural word yuldar in Namárië). Pl. -iva (-ivë*), dual -twa, partitive pl. -líva**.

ló

from

ló, lo (2) prep. "from", also used = "by" introducing the agent after a passive construction: nahtana ló Turin *"slain by Túrin" (VT49:24). A similar and possibly identical form is mentioned in the Etymologies as being somehow related to the ablative ending -llo, but is not there clearly defined (VT45:28). At one point, Tolkien suggested that lo rather than the ending -llo was used with proper names (lo Manwë rather than Manwello for "from Manwë"), but this seems to have been a short-lived idea (VT49:24).

o

preposition. from

Derivations

• ✶ăwă “from” ✧ PE17/148
  • √WĀ/AWA “away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago, away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago; [ᴹ√] forth, out” ✧ PE17/148
• ✶hō “from, coming from, as described by a genitive” ✧ PE22/168
  • √HO “from, coming from” ✧ WJ/361

Variations

• ō ✧ PE22/168

va

from

va prep. "from" (VT43:20; prefixed in the form var- in var-úra "from evil", VT43:24). In VT49:24, va, au and o are quoted as variants of the stem awa "away from".

hin

adverb. now

hin

hin

hi

adverb. now

_ adv. _now. annon edhellen edro hi ammen! 'Elvish gate open now for us'.

hen

pronoun. this

pl1. hin _ dem. pron. _this.

hí

adverb. now

Changes

• hî → thî ✧ PE17/027

Cognates

• Q. sí “now” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/045; PE17/127; PE22/147

Derivations

• ✶khĭn- “*here, now” ✧ VT49/34

Element in

• S. annon edhellen, edro hi ammen “Elvish gate open now for us” ✧ LotR/0307; PE17/045
• S. i glinn hen agorer Edain mi Velerian, ach hí in Ellath îr ed epholar “*this song Men made in Beleriand, but now the Elves alone (?remember) it” ✧ VT50/15; VT50/15; VT50/15
• S. sí il chem en i Naugrim en ir Ellath thor den ammen “*now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) to us” ✧ VT50/22

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶khĭn- > hî	[kʰin] > [xin] > [xi] > [hi] > [hī]	✧ VT49/34

Variations

• hi ✧ LotR/0307; PE17/045
• thî ✧ PE17/027
• hî ✧ PE17/027; PE17/027 (hî); PE17/127; VT49/34
• hin ✧ PE17/127
• sîr ✧ PE22/147
• Sí ✧ VT50/22

hî

now

_adv. _now. Q. sí. thî/hî << hî. >> thî****

sen

adjective. this

This demonstrative adjective is probably enclitic. We have suggested that this possibility could perhaps explain why the mutated form of tîw on the Doors of Durin is thiw instead of the expected thîw, see HL/69

sen

pronoun. this

pl1. sín {ī}_ dem. pron. _this.

sen

pronoun. this

Changes

• sĭn → sen ✧ PE17/044
• th[en] → hen ✧ VT50/18

Derivations

• ✶sĭnā “this” ✧ PE17/044; VT49/34

Element in

• S. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin “Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs” ✧ LotR/0305; PE17/044
• S. i glinn hen agorer Edain mi Velerian, ach hí in Ellath îr ed epholar “*this song Men made in Beleriand, but now the Elves alone (?remember) it” ✧ VT50/14; VT50/18; VT50/18

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sĭna > sen	[sinā] > [sina] > [sena] > [sen]	✧ PE17/044

Variations

• sĭn ✧ PE17/044 (sĭn)
• then ✧ VT50/14
• th[en] ✧ VT50/18 (th[en])

thî

now

_adv. _now. Q. sí. thî/hî << hî. >> hî****

thî

adverb. now

si

adverb. now

sí(r)

adverb. now

sîr

adverb. now

o

preposition. from, of (preposition (as a proclitic) used in either direction, from or to the point of view of the speaker)

According to WJ/366, the preposition "is normally o in all positions, though od appears occasionally before vowels, especially before o-". With a suffixed article, see also uin

od

preposition. from, of (preposition (as a proclitic) used in either direction, from or to the point of view of the speaker)

According to WJ/366, the preposition "is normally o in all positions, though od appears occasionally before vowels, especially before o-". With a suffixed article, see also uin

o

preposition. from

_ prep. _from, of. In older S. o had the form od before vowels. o menel aglar elenath ! lit. 'from Firmament glory of the stars !'.

o

preposition. from

_ prep. _from. . This gloss was rejected.

o

of

(od), followed by hard mutation. With article uin ”from the, of the” (followed by ”mixed” mutation according to David Salo’s reconstuctuons). (WJ:366). Not to be confused with o ”about, concerning”.

se

pronoun. this

Derivations

• √SI “this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now”

sen

this

*sen, lenited hen. Only attested in lenited pl. form hin* (unlenited sin) ”these” in the Moria Gate inscription (i thiw hin**, ”these letters”).

sen

this

lenited hen. Only attested in lenited pl. form hin (unlenited ✱sin) ”these” in the Moria Gate inscription (i thiw hin, ”these letters”).

he

she

he, hen, hene. (The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly he is the nominative, whereas hen is the accusative ”her”. Hene could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns as ”N” rather than Sindarin proper.)

he

she

hen, hene. *(The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly he is the nominative, whereas hen is the accusative ”her”. Hene could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns as ”N” rather than Sindarin proper.)*

si

now

si (lenited hi)

si

now

(lenited hi)

ho

preposition. from

Derivations

• ✶ʒō “from” ✧ PE21/78

hi

pronoun. she

A pronominal prefix, the feminine singular pronoun “she” (SD/247). It appears in the pseudo-phrase hi-Akallabêth “She-that-hath-fallen” in the sentence êphal êphalak îdô hi-Akallabêth and in the verb form hikalba “[she] fell” in the sentence Anadûnê zîrân hikalba “Númenor beloved fell (down)”. See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

Derivations

• √Ad. HI “she”

Element in

• Ad. êphal êphalak îdô hi-Akallabêth “far far away now (is) She-that-hath-fallen” ✧ SD/247

îdô

adverb. now

A word translated “now” in the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). In the final manuscript version, this is the only form of the word, but in the final typescript version and in all earlier versions, it sometimes appears in the form îdôn.

Some authors have suggested this variation occurs when îdô appears before words beginning in a vowel or semi-vowel (AL/Adûnaic, NBA/12), but this seems unlikely to me. Carl Hostetter, Patrick Wynne and Andreas Moehn instead suggested (VSH/18, AAD/16, LGtAG, EotAL/DAW) that îdôn is a subjective inflection of the word îdô, being used as a noun. The key evidence supporting this second theory is that where the form îdon appears, its gloss is always “now (is)” rather than simply “now”. As discussed elsewhere (SD/429), the subjective inflection can function as the verb “to be”.

I tend to agree with this theory of Hostetter, Wynne and Moehn, but I think the actually development is somewhat more complex. In the first draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth, this form of the word appears twice as īdōn “lo! now is”. As noted by Mr. Moehn (LGtAG), this version of the Lament used a predicate suffix -n “is” in several places: burodan “heavy-is”, rōkhī-nam “bent-are”. It seems likely that draft form īdōn “lo! now is” is another variation of this earlier syntax.

The draft predicate suffix -n differed from the later subjective case in that it applied to the predicate of a clause instead of the subject. Compare these changes from the draft to final versions:

• agannūlo burudan “death-shade heavy-is” >> agannâlô burôda “death-shadow [is] heavy”

• batānī rōkhī-nam “ways bent-are” >> batîna lôkhî “ways (are) bent”

In both draft sentences, the subject is uninflected and the predicate has the predicate suffix -n/-nam. Conversely, in the later sentences the subject is inflected into the subjective case while the predicate is uninflected. This demonstrates the functional shift in the use of the predicate suffix -n in these drafts to the later use of the subjective inflection.

In both the second draft and final typescript versions of the Lament, the form îdôn was retained in all the sentences where it appeared in the first draft. This means that it could have been a remnant of this earlier syntax. The form îdôn could be reinterpreted as the sentence’s subject, but this is also problematic, since îdô is certainly neuter and its subjective form should be ✱îdôwa, not îdôn.

It is my belief that Tolkien eventually decided that the suffix -n could no longer be used in this context and removed it, switching to an uninflected îdô “now” everywhere in the text as is the case in the final manuscript version of the Lament. On the basis of this deduction, I also believe that the manuscript version was written after than the typescript version.

Element in

• Ad. êphalak îdô Yôzâyan “far away now (is) the Land of Gift” ✧ SD/247
• Ad. ēphalek īdōn akallabēth “far away lo!now is She-that-is-fallen” ✧ SD/312
• Ad. êphal êphalak îdô hi-Akallabêth “far far away now (is) She-that-hath-fallen” ✧ SD/247
• Ad. ēphal ēphalek īdōn athanātē “far far away is now the Land of Gift” ✧ SD/312
• Ad. îdô katha batîna lôkhî “now all ways (are) bent” ✧ SD/247
• Ad. īdō kathī batānī rōkhī-nam “lo! now all ways bent-are” ✧ SD/312
• Ad. tâidô “once, then”

Variations

• īdō ✧ SD/247; SD/247; SD/288; SD/312; SD/312; SD/312

-ô

preposition. from

A prepositional suffix translated “from” (SD/429). In a few places, the suffix appears with the glide-consonant v (pronounced [w]) between it and a preceding u-vowel (SD/247, 249). It is likely related to the Quenya genitive inflection Q. -o.

Conceptual Development: At an earlier conceptual stage, this suffix was a grammatical inflection, the draft-genitive -ō (SD/438).

Cognates

• Q. -o “of; genitive ending”

Element in

• Ad. Bârim an-Adûn yurahtam dâira sâibêth-mâ Êruvô “Lords of [the] West, they rent [the] Earth with assent from Eru” ✧ SD/247; SD/249
• Ad. bārun an-adūn {urahhata >>} urahta dāira sāibēth-mā ēruvō ✧ SD/247
• Ad. Indilzar Azrabêlôhin “*Line of Elros [son] of Earendil” ✧ SD/365; SD/382

Variations

• -o ✧ SD/365
• ō ✧ SD/429

sin

root. this

si

root. this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now

Tolkien used √SI as the basis for “near demonstratives” like “here” and “now” from very early in his writings on Elvish. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had two competing roots ᴱ√HYA “this by us” with derivatives like ᴱQ. hyá “here by us” (QL/41) and ᴱ√KI “this by me” with derivative ᴱQ. tyá (< ᴱ✶kı̯-ā) “now” (QL/41, 49). Indications of the latter can be seen words in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. cî {“now” >>} “here” and G. cîrin “present (place or time), modern” [gloss deleted] (GL/26). However, Tolkien also introduced a new root ᴱ√si(n) “this here by me” with derivatives like G. sî “here” and G. sith “hither” (GL/68). Revisions of Gnomish ci- word glosses indicate Tolkien was vacillating on which forms were temporal and which were spatial.

In The Etymologies Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√SI “this, here, now” with derivatives like ᴹQ. sí or sin “now” and ᴹQ. sinya/N. sein “new” (Ety/SI). The root √SI was mentioned a couple times in Tolkien’s later writings, usually glossed “this” (PE17/67; VT48/25; VT49/18) and in one place with the variant √SIN (PE17/67). This root was not entirely without competition in Tolkien’s later notes, however: in one place he gave primitive ✶khĭn- as the possible basis for Q. hí “here” and S. hí “now” in 1968 notes on demonstratives, though it appeared beside primitive ✶si- forms (VT49/34 note #21).

Derivatives

• ✶sī “this (by me), now or here” ✧ PE17/067
  • Q. sí “now” ✧ PE17/067; VT49/18
  • S. sí “here, in this place (of speaker)” ✧ PE17/067
• Q. si “this”
• Q. sië “thus”
• Q. sin “*thus”
• ᴺS. se “this”
• ᴺS. sin “these”

Element in

• ✶kenásĭta “if it be so, may be, perhaps”
• Q. sinomë “here, (lit.) in this place” ✧ PE17/067
• ᴺS. sî “yet, hither(to), hereto”
• S. sír “*today, this day”

Variations

• SĬ/SĬN ✧ PE17/067; PE17/184
• SI ✧ VT48/25

sĭnā

adjective. this

Derivatives

• Q. sina “this” ✧ VT49/18
• S. sen “this” ✧ PE17/044; VT49/34

Variations

• sĭna ✧ PE17/044

ʒō

preposition. from

Derivatives

• T. ho “from” ✧ PE21/78

Variations

• ʒō̆ ✧ PE21/78

gō

preposition. from

ăwă

preposition. from

Derivations

• √WĀ/AWA “away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago, away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago; [ᴹ√] forth, out” ✧ PE17/148

Derivatives

• Q. o “from” ✧ PE17/148
• S. o “from, of” ✧ PE17/148

hen

pronoun. she

hene

pronoun. she

then

pronoun. this

Element in

• N. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thíw thin “Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs” ✧ TI/182

hen(e)

pronoun. she

he

pronoun. she

he

pronoun. she

Derivations

• ᴹ✶sī̆/sē̆ “she” ✧ Ety/S
  • ᴹ√S “demonstrative stem” ✧ Ety/S

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶sī̆/sē̆ > he	[se] > [he]	✧ Ety/S

Variations

• hen ✧ Ety/S
• hene ✧ Ety/S

o

preposition. from, of (preposition (as a proclitic) used in either direction, from or to the point of view of the speaker)

According to WJ/366, the preposition "is normally o in all positions, though od appears occasionally before vowels, especially before o-". With a suffixed article, see also uin