A verb in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 used as the negative of sav- “have” based on the root √PEN (PE17/146). Thus a better meaning might be “✱to lack”. This verb was also mentioned in discussion of negation from around this time, along with the phrase penim vast “we have no bread” (PE17/144). In this note Tolkien stated that Sindarin did not use its negative particle ū- for the sense “without”, instead using preposition/prefixal pen instead, as in Iarwain Ben-adar “Oldest and Fatherless” (LotR/265; PE17/34, 144).
Sindarin
pen-
without
pen-
verb. to have not, *to lack
pen-
-less
pref. -less. >> penadar
pen-
-less
pref. -less. Q. _pen _without, not having. . This gloss was rejected.
pen-
obsolete except in few names
pref. obsolete except in few names. >> -ben
pen-
verb. 'have not'
v. 'have not'. penimvast 'we have no bread'. >> ú-
pen-arduin
place name. Pen-arduin
pen
preposition/prefix. without, lacking, -less
pen
pronoun. one, somebody, anybody, one, somebody, anybody; [N.] Elf
A Sindarin pronoun with the sense “one, somebody, anybody” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, also used as a suffix in words like orodben “mountaineer” and rochben “rider” (WJ/376), originally “✱mountain-person” and “✱horse-person”. It was thus more narrow in scope than its Quenya cognate quén “person”. Hints of this word can be found in other late writings, such as in the final element in Morben (PE17/141; EtyAC/MOR), originally “Dark-elf” but later expanded to include any people who are not among the Celbin “✱Light folk”, which applied to “peoples in alliance in the War against Morgoth” (WJ/377).
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. penn meant “Elf” in the compound N. Morbenn “Dark-elf”, though this word was rejected (EtyAC/MOR). The word N. penn, plural i-phinn “the Elves” also appeared in notes on Ælfwine’s spelling from around 1937-8 (PE22/67). This Noldorin form was thus a cognate of ᴹQ. Qende “Elf”, though elsewhere the usual cognate was N. penedh (Ety/KWEN(ED)); see the entry on S. penedh for further discussion. However, the later Sindarin pronoun/suffix “had no special association with Elves” (WJ/376).
pen
pronoun. one, somebody, anybody
Usually enclitic and mutated as ben.2
pen
preposition. without, lacking, -less
pen
adverb. lacking
adv. lacking, without.
Pen-ada
noun. fatherless
pen (“without, lacking”) + adar (“father”)
Pen-adar
'Fatherless'
(Ben-adar) prop. n. 'Fatherless', a title of Tom Bombadil.
pen-bed
adjective. not pronunceable
adj. not pronunceable (rather than ineffable).
pen-nod
adjective. without count
adj. without count.
pen-noediad
adjective. innumerable
adj. innumerable.
pen
cardinal. one
(indefinite pronoun) (= somebody, anybody) pen (WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lords Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean *”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of *ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.
pen
one
(WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lord’s Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean ✱”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of ✱ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.
pen
without
1) pen (lenited ben) (lacking, -less) (WJ:375) Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”. When prefixed to a noun, the resulting phrase can be treated as an adjective in that it is lenited (pen- appears as ben-) where an adjective would be lenited. 2)
pen
without
(lenited ben) (lacking, -less) (WJ:375) Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”. When prefixed to a noun, the resulting phrase can be treated as an adjective in that it is lenited (pen- appears as ben-) where an adjective would be lenited.
pen
less
S pen (lenited ben) (without, lacking) (WJ:375) The phrase ben-adar ”without father, fatherless” is treated as an adjective and lenited following a noun (Iarwain ben-adar, Iarwain the Fatherless or Iarwain without father). Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”.
pen
less
(lenited ben) (without, lacking) (WJ:375) The phrase ben-adar ”without father, fatherless” is treated as an adjective and lenited following a noun (Iarwain ben-adar, Iarwain the Fatherless or Iarwain without father). Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”.
pen
somebody
pen (one, anybody) (WJ:376); lenited ben
pen
somebody
(one, anybody) (WJ:376); lenited ben
pen
lacking
(lenited ben) (without, -less) (WJ:375) Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”.
pen
anybody
pen (one, somebody) (WJ:376); lenited ben
pen
anybody
(one, somebody) (WJ:376); lenited ben
pen
pronoun. us (inclusive)
pen-channas
adjective. stupid, idiotic, *(lit.) lack-wit
pen-ind
adjective. insane, heartless, crazy
tegilbor
noun. pen-hand
tegil (Sindarized Q tekil “pen”) + paur (“a tightly closed hand as in using an implement or a craft-tool”)
tegilbor
masculine name. *Pen-fist
tegil
noun. pen
tegil
noun. pen
Sindarized form of Quenya tekil, not known to the Sindar until the coming of the Ñoldor (but see however tegol for a possible dialectal variant)
tegil
pen
tegil (i degil, o thegil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thegil) (PM:318). Also (at least in ”Noldorin”) tegol (i degol, o thegol), analogical pl. tegyl (i thegyl)
tegil
pen
(i degil, o thegil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thegil) (PM:318). Also (at least in ”Noldorin”) tegol (i degol, o thegol), analogical pl. tegyl (i thegyl)
-ben
suffix. obsolete except in few names
suff. obsolete except in few names. >> pen-
penadar
adjective. 'fatherless'
adj. 'fatherless'. >> pen-
iarwain ben-adar
masculine name. Oldest and Fatherless
penbed
adjective. not pronouncable
pennod
adjective. without count
pennoediad
adjective. innumerable
Dúnadan
noun. Man of the west, Númenórean
adan
noun. man, one of the Second People (elvish name for men)
adanadar
noun. man, one of the Fathers of Men
adanath
noun. men
arnœdiad
adjective. innumerable, countless, endless, without reckoning, numberless
dram
noun. heavy stroke, a blow (of axe, etc.)
drúadan
noun. wild man, one of the Woses
drû
noun. wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man
In PE/11:31, an older Gnomish word drû, drui meant "wood, forest", and in PE/13:142, the early Noldorin word drú was assigned the meaning "dark". Drû pl. Drúin later came to be used for the name of the Woses, with other derivatives (Drúadan, etc.). "Wose" is actually the modernization of an Anglo-Saxon word wasa only found in the compound wudu-wasa "wild man of the woods", cf. UT/385 sq. In the drafts of the "Ride of the Rohirrim" in WR/343-346, the Woses first appeared as "the dark men of Eilenach". Though internally said to derive from drughu in their own tongue, Tolkien's choice for the Sindarin name of the Woses was apparently influenced by earlier meanings assigned to this word
dîr
noun. man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix
A word for “man” as a male person, attested only as an element in compounds or as (archaic?) ndir (PE17/60). This word likely refers to male individuals of all races including Elves, Men, Dwarves and so forth, much like its Quenya cognate Q. nér. This word must have been derived from the primitive subjective form ✶ndēr of the root √N(D)ER “male person”, where the ancient long ē became ī, and the initial cluster nd- became d-, though the ancient cluster would still be reflected in mutated forms, such as in i nîr “the man” rather than ✱✱i dhîr.
Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor to this word is (archaic) G. †drio “hero, warrior” with variants driw, driodweg and driothweg, a cognate of ᴱQ. nēr (GL/22). This Gnomish word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶n’reu̯, where the initial nr- became dr-. At this early stage, the root was unstrengthened ᴱ√NERE (QL/65), as reflected in (archaic) ᴱN. nîr “hero, prince, warrior-elf” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s (PE13/164).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DER “adult male, man” of any speaking race and the derived form was N. dîr (Ety/DER). However, in this document Tolkien said:
> EN †dîr surviving chiefly in proper names (as Diriel older Dirghel [GYEL], Haldir, Brandir) and as agental ending (as ceredir “doer, maker”) ... In ordinary use EN has benn [for “man”] (properly = “husband”).
Thus in the scenario described in The Etymologies, dîr “man” was archaic and used only as an element in names or as a suffix. In ordinary speech it was replaced by N. benn, which used to mean “husband” but now meant “man”, while the word for “husband” became N. hervenn (Ety/BES). It is unlikely Tolkien imagined this exact scenario in later Sindarin, however, since the 1930s root for benn was ᴹ√BES “wed”, but by the 1960s the root for husband/wife/marry words had become √BER.
Neo-Sindarin: Since the status of N. benn is questionable given ᴹ√BES >> √BER, many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. ✱dîr as the Sindarin word for man. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable for “man, male person”. This is because I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES as the root for “marry, wed”, since it is the best basis for attested husband/wife words in (Neo) Sindarin.
edrain
noun. border
godref
adverb. through together
min
fraction. one (first of a series)
min
cardinal. one, one, [G.] single
mîn
fraction. one (first of a series)
rain
noun. border
adan
man
(pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.
ar
without
(adv. prefix) ar- (outside)
ar
without
(outside)
aronoded
innumerable
aronoded (countless, endless), pl. erenedid (archaic erönödid)
aronoded
innumerable
(countless, endless), pl. erenedid (archaic erönödid)
bôr
trusty man
(boron-) (i vôr, construct bor) (steadfast man, faithful vassal), pl. *b**ŷr* for older beryn, i meryn (archaic böryn, i möryn). In ”Noldorin”, the older pl. forms were berein, beren.
curunír
man of craft
(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.
dram
stroke
(noun: heavy stroke) dram (i dhram) (blow), pl. draim (in draim).
dram
stroke
(i dhram) (blow), pl. draim (in draim).
dîr
man
1) (adult male of any speaking race) dîr (dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”. 2) (mortal human as opposed to Elf) Adan (pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.
dîr
man
(dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”.
dúnadan
man of the west
(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).
edrain
border
edrain (no distinct pl. form)
edrain
border
(no distinct pl. form)
eru
the one
isolated from
firion
mortal man
(pl. firyn).
gar
have
(i ’âr, i ngerir = i ñerir) (hold, possess; be able, can); pa.t. garant. (AI:92, VT45:14)
glân
border
glân (i **lân, construct glan) (hem), pl. glain (in glain**) (VT42:8) Note: a homophone means ”white, claer”.
glân
border
(i ’lân, construct glan) (hem), pl. glain (in glain) (VT42:8) Note: a homophone means ”white, claer”.
gwen
pronoun. us (inclusive)
matha
stroke
(vb.) matha- (i vatha, i mathar) (feel, handle; wield)
matha
stroke
(i vatha, i mathar) (feel, handle; wield)
min
cardinal. one
1) (number ”one” as the first in a series) min, mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”. 2) (number) êr, whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone); 3)
min
one
mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”.
rain
border
(noun) rain; no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rain). Note: the adj. ”erratic, wandering” is a homophone of rain.
rain
noun. border
rain
border
; no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rain). Note: the adj. ”erratic, wandering” is a homophone of rain.
rhavan
wild man
(?i thravan or ?i ravan – the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhevain (?idh revain) (WJ:219). – The following terms apparently apply to ”men” of any speaking race:
rîw
border
*rîw (construct riw) (hem, edge), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rîw). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhîf.
rîw
border
(construct riw) (hem, edge), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rîw). – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhîf.
thalion
dauntless man
(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”.
tre
through
(adverbial prefix, sometimes = ”completely”) tre-, tri-. For an example of this prefix, see TELL TO END.
tre
through
tri-. For an example of this prefix, see
trî
through
(prep.) trî ;
trî
through
;
êr
one
whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone)
ú
without
(adverbial prefix) ú-, u- (e.g. udalraph ”without stirrups; stirrupless”, uluithiad *”without quenching” (SD:62) = ”unquenchable”). The prefix ar- has a similiar meaning, as in:
ú
without
u- (e.g. udalraph ”without stirrups; stirrupless”, uluithiad ✱”without quenching” (SD:62) = ”unquenchable”). The prefix ar- has a similiar meaning, as in:
(ben-) _ pref. _without,**less. pen-adar 'fatherless'. >> ben-, ú-