nu

under

nu prep. "under" _(LR:56, Markirya, Nam, RGEO:66, MC:214; the _Etymologies alone gives no [q.v.] instead). In Mar-nu-Falmar, nuhuinenna, q.v. Prefix nú- in nútil, q.v.

nu

preposition. under, beneath

Cognates

• Ad. -nud “on”

Derivations

• √NŪ/UNU “down, under; go down, sink” ✧ PE17/064

Element in

• Q. Andúnë pella Vardo tellumar nu luini “beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. Andúnë pella Vardo nu luini tellumar “West beyond [the borders of] Varda’s under blue domes” ✧ RGEO/58
• Q. Mar-nu-Falmar “Land under the Waves”
• Q. nu fanyarë rúcina “under ruined skies” ✧ MC/222
• ᴺQ. (n)ungwar- “to undermine, weaken, hinder, sabotage, sap, (lit.) to under/down-fret”
• ᴺQ. nupattal “horseshoe”
• Q. nuquerna “reversed, inverted, *(lit.) under-turned” ✧ LotR/1123
• Q. Nur-menel “*Under Heaven”
• ᴺQ. nutanwë “infrastructure”
• Q. nútil “under-point”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NŪ > nu	[nu]	✧ PE17/064

Variations

• nŭ ✧ PE22/168

no

under

no prep. "under" (NŪ; all other sources give nu instead. In early "Qenya", no meant "upon"; MC:214)

ní

beneath, not touching, under

ní (3) prep. "beneath, not touching, under" (PE17:95)

undu

down, under, beneath

undu adv. (and prep.?) "down, under, beneath" (UNU, VT46:20); prefixundu- "down", in undulávë "down-licked" = covered. (Nam)

undu

down

undu

preposition/adverb. down, under, down, under, [ᴹQ.] beneath

Derivations

• √NŪ/UNU “down, under; go down, sink”

Element in

• Q. ar lumbulë undulávë ilyë tier “and (heavy) shadow swallowed (lit. down-licked) all roads” ✧ RGEO/59
• ᴺQ. undalasar “stalactite, (lit.) down-growing stone”
• Q. undulav- “to drown, swallow, submerge, (lit.) lick down” ✧ PE17/072; PE17/072
• Q. untup- “to cover (over or up), (lit.) to cover down” ✧ PE17/073

Variations

• undu- ✧ PE17/072; PE17/072; PE17/073

nu

preposition. under

With suffixed article, see also nuin

nu

preposition. under

Derivations

• √NŪ/UNU “down, under; go down, sink”

Element in

• S. Dagor-nuin-Giliath “Battle-under-Stars” ✧ S/106
• S. Dor-nu-Fauglith “Land under Choking Ash”
• S. Emyn-nu-Fuin “Mountains of Mirkwood, (lit.) Mountains under Night” ✧ UTI/Emyn-nu-Fuin
• S. Núath “?Under Shadow”
• S. Taur-nu-Fuin “Forest under Night(shade)”

nuin

preposition. under the

di-

prefix. beneath, under

The only known usage of this word is as prefix, but VT/45:37 lists it as a unitary word di

nu

under

1) (prep.) nu, followed by lenition (with article nuin ”under the”, followed by ”mixed mutation” according to David Salos reconstructions), 2) dî, unstressed di (beneath, in) (VT45:37). Note: a homophone means ”bride, lady”.

nu

under

followed by lenition (with article nuin ”under the”, followed by ”mixed mutation” according to David Salo’s reconstructions)

torn

down

(noun) *torn (i dorn, o thorn), pl. tyrn (i thyrn). Only the pl. tyrn is attested, as part of the name Tyrn Gorthad ”Barrow-downs”.

torn

down

(i dorn, o thorn), pl. tyrn (i thyrn). Only the pl. tyrn is attested, as part of the name Tyrn Gorthad ”Barrow-downs”. 

dî

under

unstressed di (beneath, in) (VT45:37). Note: a homophone means ”bride, lady”.

penna

slant down

(i benna, i phennar)

dadbenn

downhill, sloping down

(inclined, prone [to do]), lenited dhadbenn, pl. dedbinn;

dî

beneath

dî, unstressed di (in, under) (VT45:37). Note: a homophone means ”bride, lady”.

dî

beneath

unstressed di (in, under) (VT45:37). Note: a homophone means ”bride, lady”.

dad

downward

;

dalad

preposition. under, beneath

A preposition translated as “under” (SD/247, 311) or “beneath” (VT24/12). It appeared in the usual suffixal position in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth, but appeared before the noun it modified in the first draft version.

Element in

• Ad. Êruhînim dubdam ugru-dalad “[the Children of Eru] fell under shadow” ✧ SD/247; SD/247
• Ad. ēruhīn udūbanim dalad ugrus “‽ fell under ‽horror‽shadow” ✧ SD/311

unu

root. down, under; go down, sink

nū/unu

root. down, under; go down, sink

This root and ones like it were used for Elvish words for “under” and “(going) down” for much of Tolkien’s life. Probably the first appearance of this root was ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down, stoop, sink” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variant ᴱ√NŪ appearing in parenthesis, though marked by Tolkien with a “?” (QL/68). The most notable derivative of this root was ᴱQ. núme “west”, and Q. núme(n) remained the Quenya word for “west” for the remainder of Tolkien’s life. Elsewhere in the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien compared the root ᴱ√Ū “under” to the short form of this root ᴱ√NŪ, but went on to note that “Ū- = not” (QL/96), perhaps the inspiration for him later transferring the sense “under” to √NŪ. As for the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, the root ᴱ√NŪ/NUHU had derivatives like G. nûmin “the west” and G. nunthi “downward” (GL/61). Of ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” there is no sign, though there are plenty Gnomish derivatives of ᴱ√Ū “not” (GL/73).

Indeed, by the Markiya poem of the late 1920s, Tolkien was using ᴱQ. nu for “under” (MC/214), though in the drafts he initially used no (PE16/62, 72). In The Etymologies of the 1930s he had the unglossed invertible root ᴹ√NU/UNU with derivatives like ᴹQ. nu/N. no “under” (Ety/NU). The only notable derivative of its inverted form was ᴹQ. undu “down, under, beneath” (Ety/UNU), which reemerged in the Q. Namárië poem in Q. undulav- “swallow, (lit.) down-licked” (LotR/377; PE17/72; RGEO/58).

In The Etymologies Tolkien also gave a new strengthened form of this root ᴹ√NDŪ “go down, sink, set (of Sun)”, now serving as the basis for words for “west” like ᴹQ. númen, N. dûn or N. annûn, though strictly speaking the latter was the cognate of ᴹQ. andúne “sunset” (Ety/NDŪ), a Quenya word that was also frequently used for “The West”. All these Quenya and Noldorin words reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings, with the caveat that in Sindarin Tolkien used S. nu for “under” as in S. Taur-nu-Fuin “Forest under Nightshade” (S/155). The root √NU, its inversion √UNU and its strengthened form √NDU appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writing, consistently with senses like “under, (go) down, sink”.

Derivatives

• ✶numē-n “sunset, west” ✧ Let/303
• Q. nu “under, beneath” ✧ PE17/064
• Q. nú- “going down, setting (of sun), west”
• ᴺQ. nunya “lower (as in quality, rank or value)”
• ᴺQ. unda “lower, beneath”
• ᴺQ. undo “less”
• Q. undu “down, under, down, under, [ᴹQ.] beneath”
• ᴺS. noden “prone, face down”
• S. nu “under”
• ᴺS. nunna- “to incline head, bend face down; to assent, *agree”

Element in

• √NDU “down, under, below; sink, descend, go down, down, under, below; sink, descend, go down, [ᴹ√] set (of Sun)”
• Q. númen “west, direction or region of the sunset, occident, (lit.) going down” ✧ PE17/064

Variations

• nu ✧ Let/303
• NŪ ✧ PE17/064; PE17/169
• UNU ✧ PE17/152; PE17/188
• n(d)u/un ✧ PE18/088

nu

preposition. under

With suffixed article, see also nuin

nuin

preposition. under the

no

preposition. under

With suffixed article, see also nuin

no

preposition. under

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nu “under” ✧ Ety/NU

Derivations

• ᴹ√NU/UNU “*down, under” ✧ Ety/NU

Element in

• N. Dagor nuin Giliath “Battle-under-Stars” ✧ Ety/NU

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√NŪ̆ > no	[nu] > [no]	✧ Ety/NU

dad

adverb. down

Derivations

• ᴹ√DAT “fall down” ✧ Ety/DAT; EtyAC/DAT

Element in

• N. dadben “downhill, inclined, prone, downhill, inclined, prone; [ᴱN.] (figuratively) easy-going, easy, not arduous” ✧ Ety/DAT; EtyAC/DAT
• N. Rhimdad “Rushdown”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√DAT > dad	[data] > [dat] > [dad]	✧ Ety/DAT

Variations

• dad- ✧ EtyAC/DAT

dad

adverb. down, downwards