sarnië

shingle, pebble-bank

sarnië (sarniyë) noun "shingle, pebble-bank" (UT:463, VT42:11)

sarnië

noun. shingle, pebble bank

A noun for a “shingle, pebble bank” in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s from primitive ✶sarniye, also the basis for the river name S. Serni (VT42/11). It is clearly an abstract noun formation based on Q. sar (sarn-) “(small) stone”. Here the gloss “shingle” is used in the sense of a mass of smell pebbles rather than as a roofing tile.

Cognates

• S. serni “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ UTI/Serni; VT42/11

Derivations

• ✶sarniye “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ VT42/11

Elements

Word	Gloss
sar	“stone (small)”
-ië	“abstract noun, adverb”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sarniye > sarnie	[sarnije] > [sarnie]	✧ VT42/11

Variations

• sarnie ✧ VT42/11

serni

noun. shingle, pebble bank

A noun for a “shingle, pebble bank” in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s from primitive ✶sarniye, the basis for the river name S. Serni (VT42/11). Here the gloss “shingle” is used in the sense of a mass of smell pebbles rather than as a roofing tile. This word is an unusual example of a final -i in Sindarin, because the i was protected by the final e that was itself lost. Tolkien indicated it might instead be an adjective formation (“pebbly”?) from the (rare) adjective suffix -i derived from primitive ✶-īya, -ēya (VT42/10-11).

Cognates

• Q. sarnië “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ UTI/Serni; VT42/11

Derivations

• ✶sarniye “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ VT42/11

Element in

• S. Serni “Pebble Bank”

Elements

Word	Gloss
sarn	“(small) stone, pebble; stony (place), (small) stone, pebble; stony (place); [N.] stone as a material”
-i	“adjectival suffix”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sarniye > Serni	[sarnije] > [sarnīe] > [sernīe] > [sernī] > [serni]	✧ VT42/11

Variations

• Serni ✧ UTI/Serni; VT42/10; VT42/11

serni

place name. Pebble Bank

A river in Gondor appearing on the maps of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1186). In his discussion of the The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, Tolkien indicated this name was a collective noun or adjectival formation meaning “shingle, pebble bank” (VT42/11).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, the name N. Serni appears in a list of rivers (TI/312, WR/436).

Elements

Word	Gloss
serni	“shingle, pebble bank”

serni

shingle

serni (i herni, o serni) (pebble-bank), no distinct pl. form except with article (i serni)

serni

shingle

(i herni, o serni) (pebble-bank), no distinct pl. form except with article (i serni)

serni

pebble-bank

serni (i herni, o serni) (shingle), no distinct pl. form except with article (i serni)

serni

pebble-bank

(i herni, o serni) (shingle), no distinct pl. form except with article (i serni)

sarniye

noun. shingle, pebble bank

Derivatives

• Q. sarnië “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ VT42/11
• S. serni “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ VT42/11

serni

place name. Serni