sánë

noun. pine

In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien had Q. {sāne >>} th-, sāne- “pine” derived from {✶stāna >>} ✶thānĭ-, but this note was deleted (PE17/81). It was replaced by a marginal note in which S. thôn “pine” was derived from ✶thŏno.

Neo-Quenya: In light of the new primitive form, I would update the Quenya word to ᴺQ. sono [þ] “pine” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. Petri Tikka instead proposed ᴺQ. sónë [þ] in PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s inspired only by S. thôn “pine”, before the above primitive forms were published in 2007.

Conceptual Development: The Early Qenya “pine” word was ᴱQ. aiqaire “fir or pine” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of ᴱQ. aiqa “steep” (QL/29). It became ᴱQ. aikasse “pine-tree” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, a cognate to G. aigos and derivative of primitive ᴱ✶aikasse (GL/17). This in turn became ᴱQ. aikor “pine-tree” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s, derived from ᴱ✶aikos-sa and still a cognate to G. aigos (PE13/158).

sánë

pine

sánë (þ) noun "pine" (PE17:81), stem sáni- (? the primitive form is given as ¤thānĭ, which would normally give Quenya sánë/sáni-, but the Quenya noun is also cited as sáne- as if e persists before an ending).

aicassë

pinetree

aicassë ("k") (2) noun "pinetree" (GL:17; this "Qenya" word is evidently obsoleted by #1 above.)

sono

noun. pine

sononel

noun. pine-needle

sónë

noun. pine tree

súcë

noun. resinous tree, pine or fir

cinta

small

cinta adj. "small" (PE17:157)

cinta

adjective. small

inya

small

inya (2) adj. "small" (LT1:256; this "Qenya" word may be obsoleted by # 1 above)

mintë

small

mintë adj. "small" (VT45:35)

mitsa

small

mitsa adj. "small" (VT45:35) Another synonym from the same source, mitra, looks unusual for a Quenya word (because of the medial cluster tr)

nincë

small

*nincë (ninci*-) ("k")adj. "small". The form is given as "ninki" with the last vowel marked as short; this is probably the etymological form that would underlie Quenya nincë. The word is said to mean "small" with "good senses"; contrast nípa**, *nimpë. (VT48:18)

nitya

small

#nitya adj. "small" (VT48:15, PM:365)

níca

small

níca ("k")adj. "small". The word is said to mean "small" with "good senses"; contrast nípa, *nimpë. (VT47:26, VT48:18)

pinilya

small

pinilya adj. "small" (MC:220; this is "Qenya")

thaun

pine

pl1. thoen n.Bot. #pine. Presented as a noldorized S. form. >> Dor I thoen, thôn. This gloss was rejected.

thôn

noun. pine

n.Bot. #pine. Presented as a noldorized S. form. >> thôn, thaun . This gloss was rejected.

thôn

noun. pine

n.Bot. #pine. Presented as a noldorized S. form. >> Dor I thoen, thôn. This gloss was rejected.

orod-na-thôn

place name. Mount of the Pine Tree(s)

A mountain in Dorthonion (LotR/469) translated “Pine-mountain” (RC/384) or “Mount of the Pine Tree(s)” (PE17/147). This name is a combination of orod “mountain”, na(n) “of” and thôn “pine-tree” (PE17/82).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as (singular) N. Orod Thon >> (plural) N. Orod Thuin (TI/420), omitting the na “of”.

thôn

noun. pine-tree

The Sindarin word for “pine-tree”, most notably as an element in the names Dorthonion “Land of Pines” and Orod-na-Thôn “Mount of the Pine Tree(s)”. Tolkien gave it as thôn < ✶stŏna in a 1955 letter to David Masson (PE17/82) and as {thaun >>} thôn in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, derived from {✶stāna >> ✶thānĭ- >>} ✶thŏno (PE17/81).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. thaun “pine-tree” under the root ᴹ√THŌN of the same meaning (Ety/THŌN). Likely the vowel in this root was a fronted ǭ, which became au in both Sindarin and Noldorin.

In the 1910s and 20s, the “pine-tree” word was ᴱN./G. aigos, first glossed {“cheshnut tree”} in Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/17), with a variant form G. aiguis in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips (PE13/108), and simply as ᴱN. aigos “pine-tree” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/136, 158). It was replaced by thaun/thôn in Tolkien’s later writing, as noted above.

thôn

noun. pine-tree

thôn

pine-tree

thôn (pl. thŷn, coll. pl. ?thonath). In the linguistic scenario of the Etymologies, the ”Noldorin” word for ”pine-tree” was thaun pl. thuin, and thôn was rather ”Ilkorin”. However, when Tolkien revised his legendarium so that Sindarin replaced Ilkorin as the native Elven-tongue of Beleriand, names like Dorthonion ”Land of Pines” must be interpreted as containing a Sindarin word for pine. Adj. #thonion ”having pine trees” (isolated from the name Dorthonion), pl. thonyn

thôn

pine-tree

(pl. th**ŷn, coll. pl. ?thonath). In the linguistic scenario of the Etymologies, the ”Noldorin” word for ”pine-tree” was thaun pl. thuin, and thôn was rather ”Ilkorin”. However, when Tolkien revised his legendarium so that Sindarin replaced Ilkorin as the native Elven-tongue of Beleriand, names like Dorthonion ”Land of Pines” must be interpreted as containing a Sindarin word for pine. Adj. #thonion ”having pine trees” (isolated from the name Dorthonion), pl. thonyn**

cidinn

adjective. small

_ adj. _small. Q. cinta.

cinnog

adjective. small

_ adj. _small. Q. cinta.

niben

adjective. small, petty

niben

adjective. little finger (Elvish play-name used by and taught to children)

nimp

adjective. small and frail

aew

small bird

. No distinct pl. form.

glâd

small forest

(i ’lâd, construct glad) (wood), pl. glaid (in glaid).

hûb

small landlocked bay

(i chûb, o chûb, construct hub) (harbour, haven), pl. huib (i chuib).

mîw

small

1) mîw (tiny, frail), lenited vîw, no distinct pl. form, 2) niben (petty), pl. nibin. Also used as a name for the the little finger. (VT48:6) 3) SMALL (and frail) nimp, no distinct pl. form (VT48:18)

mîw

small

(tiny, frail), lenited vîw, no distinct pl. form

niben

small

(petty), pl. nibin. Also used as a name for the the little finger. (VT48:6) 

nimp

small

no distinct pl. form (VT48:18)

pêg

small spot

(i** bêg, construct peg) (dot), pl. pîg (i** phîg) 

tinu

small star

(i** dinu, o thinu; also -din at the end of compounds) (spark), analogical pl. tiny (i** thiny). Archaic tinw, so the coll. pl. is likely  tinwath.

thŏno

noun. pine

stona

noun. pine

nik

root. small

One of various roots for “small” Tolkien used in his later writings. The root √NIK “small” first appeared in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (VT47/26; VT48/18), but was connected to the diminutive suffix ✶-i(n)ki which had a much longer conceptual history. One of the earliest known diminutive suffix was ᴱQ. -íne(a) in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s from the root ᴱ√INI “small” (QL/42), which might be a precursor to √NIK; these suffixes reappeared in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/49, 81). In the Gnomish Grammar of the 1910s, the word G. inc “small” was used as the basis for the “diminutive superlative” -inci (PE11/16).

In the Qenya Lexicon, Tolkien connected ᴱ√INI “small” to the root ᴱ√MINI of similar meaning (QL/42, 61). There are no signs of ᴱ√MINI “small” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, but the word G. migin “little” (GL/57) hints at a (hypothetical) variant root ✱ᴱ√MIKI. Further support for ✱ᴱ√MIKI can be found in other diminutive forms in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s such as prefixal diminutive ᴱQ. mike- along adverbial ᴱQ. mike “little” (QL/48, 81), the latter appearing with the gloss “a bit” in the English-Qenya Dictionary from this period (PE15/70) along with other similar words in both the dictionary and the grammar. This ✱ᴱ√MIKI might be another precursor to √NIK. An early hint at √NIK itself might appear in the word ᴹQ. nikse “minnow, little fish” from the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/27).

In Noldorin and Sindarin, the primary diminutive suffix became -eg, which was connected to the Common Eldarin suffix -iki elsewhere in notes on hands and fingers (VT47/14 note #21). In the notes where √NIK “small” appeared in the late 1960s, Tolkien gave the primitive diminutive as -inkĭ along with variants ikki, -iksi, -si, -ensi, -ki.

One of the main competing roots for “small” was ᴹ√PIK [see the entry for √PI(N)], itself with a lengthy conceptual history. The shift of pitya >> nitya “little” in the father name of Amrod from the late 1960s may represent a replacement of √PIK by √NIK (PM/365), but I think it is likelier the two roots coexisted with slightly different meanings, as was the case for their earlier precursors. In the notes from the late 1960s, √NIK was also contrasted with √NIP “small (usually with connotation of weakness)” (VT48/18), from which the word S. niben “petty” was derived, as in S. Nogoth Niben (WJ/388).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume √NIK meant “small” in a neutral sense, √PIK “tiny” (along with variants √PĪ and √PIN) and √NIP “small and weak”. I would use these as the major Eldarin roots for “small” words, along with a number of other more specialized roots.

nimpĭ

adjective. small

ninkĭ

adjective. small

thaun

noun. pine-tree

thaun

noun. pine-tree

mithren

adjective. small

mîw

adjective. small, tiny, frail