nahta-

slay

nahta- (1) verb "slay" (nahtan "I slay"). Possible variant #nehta- see #nehtar. Passive participle nahtana in the phrase nahtana ló Túrin *"slain by Turin". (VT49:24)

nahta-

verb. slay

nahta-

verb. hurt

hurt, injure, wound

nahta-

verb. to slay; to hurt, injure, wound, to slay, [ᴱQ.] slay cruelly; [Q.] to hurt, injure, wound

A verb for “slay” based on the root √NDAK (PE22/156). Conjugations from 1964 (PE17/77) and 1969 (PE22/156-157, 159, 164) indicate it was a half-strong verb with past tense nacante, though it also had an (archaic) strong past nance.

Conceptual Development: This verb dates back to the Early Qenya Phonology of the 1920s where Tolkien had ᴱQ. nahta- “slay cruelly” based on primitive ᴱ✶ndagta- from the early root ᴱ√DAGA (PE14/66). In The Etymologies of the 1930s this root became ᴹ√NDAK “slay”, but this verb was not mentioned (Ety/NDAK). The verb ᴹQ. nahta- “slay” was mentioned again in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, but there its root shifted back to √NDAG “slay” (PE22/102, 114-115).

In 1959 revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2), the root again became √NDAK “hew, slay”, but Q. nahta- was derived from an unrelated root √SNAG “wound” and was itself glossed “hurt, injure, wound” (PE19/91). A conjugation for nahta- appeared in notes from 1964, but without glosses (PE17/77). The verb nahta- appeared in quite a few examples in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, and in those notes the gloss was again “slay” and its root was again √NDAK “hew” (PE22/156).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d stick to the meaning “to slay” for nahta-, and for “wound” I’d use [ᴹQ.] harna-.

Derivations

• √SNAG “wound, gash” ✧ PE19/091
• ✶ndakta- “to slay” ✧ PE22/156
  • √NDAK “hew, slay, slay; hew” ✧ PE22/156
• √NDAK “hew, slay, slay; hew” ✧ VT49/24

Element in

• ᴺQ. nahtalë “slaughter”
• Q. nahtana “*slain” ✧ VT49/24
• ᴺQ. nahtar “slayer, murderer”
• Q. nehtar “slayer”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√SNAG > nahta-	[snagta-] > [snakta-] > [n̥akta-] > [n̥axta-] > [naxta-]	✧ PE19/091
✶ndakta > nahtan	[ndakta-] > [nakta-] > [naxta-]	✧ PE22/156
√ndak- > nahtan	[ndakta-] > [nakta-] > [naxta-]	✧ VT49/24

Variations

• nahta- ✧ PE19/091
• nahta ✧ PE22/164

nahta-

verb. to confine, oppress

Derivations

• √NAKH “narrow, thin” ✧ PE17/166

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NAKH > nahta	[nakʰta-] > [naktʰa-] > [nakta-] > [naxta-]	✧ PE17/166

Variations

• nahta ✧ PE17/166

nehta-

to slay

#nehta- (2) vb. "to slay" if such a stem can be isolated from #nehtar (see below). The (variant?) form nahta- is given in VT49:24.

nehtar

slayer

#nehtar noun "slayer", isolated from Morinehtar "Darkness-slayer" (PM:384, 385). It may be that a verbal stem #nehta- "to slay, kill" can also be isolated from this noun, though the attested form is actually nahta- (a possible example of A/E variation).

nehtar

noun. slayer

An element in Morinehtar “Darkness-slayer”, a name of one of the Blue Wizards (PM/384). It seems to be an agental form of nahta- “to slay”, but the reason why the vowel is e is unclear.

Cognates

• S. dagnir “slayer, bane”

Element in

• Q. Morinehtar “Darkness-slayer” ✧ PM/384

Elements

Word	Gloss
nahta-	“to slay; to hurt, injure, wound, to slay, [ᴱQ.] slay cruelly; [Q.] to hurt, injure, wound”

mala-

hurt, pain

mala- vb. "hurt, pain" (QL:63)

dag-

verb. to slay, to slay, [ᴱN.] kill

A verb meaning “to slay” derived from the root √NDAK, best known from its passive participle dangen as in Haudh-en-Ndengin “Hill of Slain” (S/197). Tolkien wrote a set of possible past forms aðag, aðanc, aðarch in notes from 1962 (PE17/131), and the verb appeared in its (Noldorin) infinitive form degi “to slay” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√NDAK “slay” (Ety/NDAK), along with another couple of (Noldorin) past forms: danc, degant (EtyAC/NDAK). The verb form ᴱN. (n)dag- “to slay” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141), but its present form dág was glossed “kills” and in the contemporaneous Early Noldorin Grammar the form dagion was likewise glossed “I kill” (PE13/130). Thus “slay” and “kill” are both viable translations.

Possible Etymology: In notes from around 1962, Tolkien gave ✶dankĭna as the primitive form of its passive participle dangen, indicating a root √DAK rather than √NDAK, which is also consistent with its nasal mutated plural form on that page: {i dengin >>} i nengin (PE17/133). The 1964 past forms aðag and aðanc also seem to indicate derivation from √DAK (PE17/131). In notes from around 1967, however, Tolkien had the mixed mutated form n(d)engin in the phrase i·m(b)air en N(d)engin, indicating √NDAK, and he consistently gave nac- for the equivalent Quenya forms, so the early 1960s flirtation with √DAK seems to have been a transient idea.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the root is √NDAK, and hence I’d give it the past form ✱annanc “slayed” rather than aðanc.

Cognates

• Q. nac- “to hew, cut, to hew, cut; [ᴹQ.] to kill, slay; to hate”

Derivations

• √NDAK “hew, slay, slay; hew” ✧ SA/dagor

Element in

• S. Dagmor “?Slayer of Darkness”
• S. dagnir “slayer, bane” ✧ PE17/097; SA/dagor
• S. dangen “slain” ✧ PE17/133

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ndak- > Dag-	[ndak-] > [dak-] > [dag-]	✧ SA/dagor

Variations

• Dag- ✧ SA/dagor (Dag-)

dagnir

noun. bane

dagnir

noun. slayer

dag

slay

dag- (i nâg, i ndegir), pa.t. danc or dagant, passive participle dangen "slain" (pl. dengin, lenited nengin) (VT45:37)

dag

slay

(i nâg, i ndegir), pa.t. danc or dagant, passive participle dangen "slain" (pl. dengin, lenited nengin) (VT45:37)

ndakta-

verb. to slay

Derivations

• √NDAK “hew, slay, slay; hew” ✧ PE22/156

Derivatives

• Q. nahta- “to slay; to hurt, injure, wound, to slay, [ᴱQ.] slay cruelly; [Q.] to hurt, injure, wound” ✧ PE22/156

Variations

• ndakta ✧ PE22/156

dag-

verb. to slay

dag-

verb. to slay

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nak- “to kill, slay; to hate”

Derivations

• On. ndak- “to slay” ✧ Ety/NDAK
  • ᴹ√(N)DAK “slay” ✧ Ety/NDAK

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. ndakie > degi	[ndakie] > [dakie] > [dekie] > [deki] > [degi]	✧ Ety/NDAK