nan

preposition. of

nana

noun. mother (hypocoristic), *mommy

A hypocoristic (pet name) for “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√NAN (Ety/NAN).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the affectionate or childish diminutives {ami, ama >>} G. (m)ami, (m)ama “mummy” (GL/19), as well as G. babi “mummy, mamma” (GL/21).

Neo-Sindarin: I would use S. emig from the late 1960s as the normal diminutive word for “mother” in Neo-Sindarin, but would retain N. nana as a variant.

naneth

noun. mother

A noun for “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√NAN (Ety/NAN). It apparently replaced archaic/poetic N. †emil (Ety/AM¹; EtyAC/AM¹).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon had a similar set of words for “mother”: G. maba, mabir, baba, and mavwin from the early root ᴱ√maƀ “something nice” (GL/57). The last of these appeared as G. mavwen “ancestress” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document, with an archaic meaning of “mother” and variant forms mafwyn and mavuin (PE13/115). In these slips, it seems the normal “mother” word was G. nân (originally glossed “father”) with variant nanwin (PE13/115). This last word is likely the direct precursor of N. naneth.

Neo-Sindarin: I would use S. emel from the late 1960s as the normal word for “mother” in Neo-Sindarin, but would retain N. naneth as a dialectical or more formal variant.

nan dongoroth

place name. Vale of Black Horror

The Noldorin equivalent of Ilk. Nan Dungorthin in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/DUN, ÑGOROTH), a combination of nann “vale”, donn “black” and goroth “horror”.

nann orothvor

place name. Vale of Black Horror

The Noldorin variant of Ilk. Nan Dungorthin in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/DUN, ÑGOROTH), a combination of nann “vale”, the lenited form of goroth “horror” and the lenited form of morn “black”.

nan-eregdos

place name. Hollin

Earliest Elvish name for “Hollin” (S. Eregion) appearing in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (TI/166), apparently a combination of nann “grassland” and eregdos “holly”.

nanduhiriath

place name. Dimrill-dale

A precursor to S. Nanduhirion “Vale of Dim Streams” appearing in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (RS/433), apparently ending with the lenited class-plural hiriath of N. sîr “stream”, as suggested by Roman Rausch (EE/1.14).

nan-tathren

place name. Land of Willows

nan-tathrin

place name. Land of Willows

nan gurunír

place name. Valley of Saruman

nann

noun. wide grassland

na

preposition. with, by; of

an

preposition. of

nanduhirion

place name. Dimrill-dale

na

preposition. with, by (also used as a genitive sign)

na

preposition. to, towards, at

nana

noun. mother, mummy

nand

noun. wide grassland, land at foot of hills with many streams

nand

noun. valley

naneth

noun. mother

nann

noun. wide grassland, land at foot of hills with many streams

nann

noun. valley

tum dincelon

place name. Dimrill-dale

Earliest name for S. Nanduhirion appearing in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (RS/432), apparently starting with N. tum “valley” and ending with Ilk. celon “river”, but the meaning of the middle element is unclear. Roman Rausch suggested it might be related to Ilk. dimb- “sad, gloomy” (EE/1.14).

gannel

noun. harp

talagand

noun. harper

naew

noun. jaw

A noun for “jaw” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶nakma (✱“bite-thing”) under the root ᴹ√NAK “bite” (NAK). This word remains phonologically plausible in Sindarin, with ancient k vocalizing to i and the resulting diphthong ai become ae, after which the m became v > w; see VT42/26 for a description of the basic phonetic changes. However, naew might have been displaced conceptually by anc “jaw”, which appeared in a number of later Sindarin names and whose Quenya cognate Q. anca appeared in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E.

an-

prefix. with, by

nag-

verb. to bite, to bite; [G.] to chew, gnaw

A verb for “bite” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√NAK of the same meaning (Ety/NAK).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. nag- was glossed “chew, gnaw” and there was a separate verb G. nactha- for “bite” (GL/59). Both were clearly based on the early root ᴱ√NAKA “bite” (QL/64).

Neo-Sindarin: I’d limit the verb nag- to “bite” for purposes of Neo-Sinarin, and for “gnaw, chew” I’d use a neologism ᴺS. nadh- from the root ᴹ√NYAD “gnaw”.

an-

prefix. with, by

anc

noun. jaw, row of teeth

borth

?. [unglossed]

clei

?. [unglossed]

coen

?. [unglossed]

dag-

verb. to slay

dainthor

masculine name. Saviour of the Dani

A pure Noldorin name for Ilk. Denithor, derived from the same primitive form Ndanithārō (LR/188).

dangen

noun. slain

dangen

adjective. slain

diragas

?. [unglossed]

dor

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

drava-

verb. to hew

emil

noun. mother

emil

noun. mother

eregion

place name. Hollin

gandel

noun. harp

gannel

noun. harp

glambr

noun. echo

glamor

noun. echo

glamor

noun. echo

gondrafn

noun. hewn stone

gondram

noun. hewn stone

gonn

noun. great stone, rock

imlad

noun. deep valley, narrow valley with steep sides (but a flat habitable bottom)

lhoebelidh

proper name. Green-elves

Noldorin equivalent of ᴹQ. Laiqendi “Green-elves” appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, a combination of N. lhoeb “fresh” (cognate of ᴹQ. laiqa “green”) and the plural of N. Eledh “Elf” (Ety/LÁYAK). It also appeared in the variant form Lhoebenidh.

Conceptual Development: In an early form of this entry, it appeared as Lhebenidh or Lhebelidh (EtyAC/LÁYAK).

mauth

?. [unglossed]

menwed

?. [unglossed]

naew

noun. jaw

nag-

verb. to bite

nith

?. [unglossed]

nithrad

?. [unglossed]

níth

?. [unglossed]

pel

noun. fenced field (= Old English tún)

porennin

?. [unglossed]

rîdh

noun. sown field, acre

sarn

noun. stone (as a material)

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

sarn

noun. small stone

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

talagand

noun. harper

talagand

masculine name. Harper

A name appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/ÑGAN, TYAL), it is simply talagand “harper” used as a name.

tathor

noun. willow-tree

telwen

?. [unglossed]

tum

noun. deep valley, under or among hills