Quenya 

sír(ë)

noun. river, river, [ᴱQ.] stream

The most common Quenya word for “river”, derived from the root √SIR “flow”.

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as ᴱQ. sīre “stream” as a derivative of ᴱ√SIŘI [SIÐI] (QL/84), and this form and gloss also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/84). The form ᴹQ. siri- “river” appeared in the Declension of Nouns (DN) from the early 1930s, along with uninflected sire with short i and various inflected forms with siry- (PE21/10). The form sīre “river” with long ī appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√SIR “flow” (Ety/SIR; EtyAC/SIR). In several notes from the mid-1960s, it appeared in monosyllabic form sír (PE17/65) or sīr (VT49/17), but it had dual form siryat from the late 1960s implying a stem form of sirĭ- and a development similar to that of DN from the early 1930s (VT47/11).

Neo-Eldarin: Its form síre is probably better known and more commonly used in Neo-Quenya. For example this is the typical form in Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT).

Cognates

  • S. sîr “river, stream”

Derivations

  • SIR “flow”

Element in

Variations

  • sír ✧ PE17/065
  • sīr ✧ VT49/17
Quenya [PE17/065; VT47/11; VT49/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sírë

river

sírë noun "river" (SIR, VT46:13), "stream" (LT1:265). Also short form sír, q.v.Compare #sirya.

sír

river

sír noun "river", shorter form of sirë (PE17:65, VT49:17)

sindi

river

sindi noun "river" (LT1:265; rather sírë in LotR-style Quenya)

sirya

river

#sirya noun "river", attested in the dual form siryat (VT47:11). Compare sírë.

celusindi

river

celusindi _("k")_noun "river" (LT1:257; hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya, where the terms sírë and sirya appear instead)

nen

river

nen noun "river" (LT1:248), "river, water" (LT1:262) (In Tolkien's later Quenya, nén with a long vowel means "water", but hardly "river" - that is sírë.)

nuinë

suffix. river

Element in

  • ᴺQ. nuinerocco “hippopotamus, (lit.) river-horse”

hlóna

river, especially given to those at all seasons full of water from mountains

[hlóna (2) noun "a river, especially given to those at all seasons full of water from mountains" (VT48:27; the word is marked with a query and the note containing it rejected; it was apparently replaced by lón, q.v.)]

Sindarin 

sîr

noun. river

Sindarin [Ety/385, S/437, RC/384] Group: SINDICT. Published by

duin

noun. (long and large) river (having strong current)

Sindarin [S/430, LotR/F, TC/179, VT/48:24] Group: SINDICT. Published by

sîr

river

1) (also = rill) sîr (i hîr, o sîr), in compounds sir- or -hir or -hír; no distinct pl. form except with article (i sîr), coll. pl. siriath. Note: sîr is also the adverb ”today”. 2) celon (i gelon, o chelon), pl. celyn (pl. i chelyn), 3) The word lind ”singer” may also be used of rivers (see . (WJ.309).

sîr

river

(i hîr, o sîr), in compounds sir- or -hir or -hír; no distinct pl. form except with article (i sîr), coll. pl. siriath. Note: sîr is also the adverb ”today”.

celon

river

(i gelon, o chelon), pl. celyn (pl. i chelyn)

duin

river

(long, large river with strong current) duin (i dhuin), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nuin) (VT48:24)

ethir

of a river

(estuary), no distinct pl. form, but coll. pl. ethiriath. Note: a homophone means "spy".

lind

river

”singer” may also be used of rivers (see

duin

large river

(i dhuin), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nuin), coll. pl. duinath (Names:179, PM:54); compare the river-name Anduin, ”long river”.

Noldorin 

sîr

noun. river

Noldorin [Ety/385, S/437, RC/384] Group: SINDICT. Published by

sîr

noun. river

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. síre “river” ✧ Ety/SIR

Derivations

  • On. sīre “river” ✧ Ety/SIR
    • ᴹ√SIR “flow” ✧ Ety/SIR

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
On. sīre > sîr[sīre] > [sīr]✧ Ety/SIR
Noldorin [Ety/SIR; RS/433] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sirion

noun. great river

Noldorin [Sirion Ety/385] Group: SINDICT. Published by

duirro

noun. river-bank

Noldorin [VT/46:10] Group: SINDICT. Published by

celon

noun. river

Noldorin [Celon (name) Ety/363] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

síre

noun. river

Cognates

  • On. sīre “river” ✧ Ety/SIR
  • N. sîr “river” ✧ Ety/SIR

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SIR “flow” ✧ Ety/SIR

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SIR > sīre[sīre]✧ Ety/SIR

Variations

  • sīre ✧ Ety/SIR
Qenya [Ety/SIR; EtyAC/SIR; PE21/10] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

celon

noun. river

A noun meaning “river” developed from the primitive form ᴹ✶kelun (Ety/KEL), where the [[ilk|final [un] became [on]]].

Conceptual Development: This word was initially marked as Noldorin.

Changes

  • celoncelon “river” ✧ Ety/KEL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEL “flow, flow away (downhill), run (of water or rivers), run away especially downwards or at end” ✧ Ety/KEL
  • ᴹ✶kelun “river” ✧ Ety/KEL
    • ᴹ√KEL “flow, flow away (downhill), run (of water or rivers), run away especially downwards or at end” ✧ Ety/KEL

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶kelu+n > celon[kelun] > [kelon]✧ Ety/KEL
Doriathrin [Ety/KEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

duil

noun. river

A noun meaning “river”, simply an elaboration of its root ᴹ√DUY (Ety/DUI).

Derivations

  • ᴹ√DUY “*flow” ✧ Ety/DUI

Element in

  • Ilk. Duilwen ✧ Ety/DUI
  • N. duirro “*river-bank” ✧ EtyAC/RAMBĀ

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√DUI̯ > duil[dujl] > [duil]✧ Ety/DUI
Doriathrin [Ety/DUI; EtyAC/RAMBĀ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

sīre

noun. river

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. síre “river” ✧ Ety/SIR

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SIR “flow” ✧ Ety/SIR

Derivatives

  • N. sîr “river” ✧ Ety/SIR

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SIR > sīre[sīre]✧ Ety/SIR

Variations

  • síre ✧ EtyAC/SIR
Old Noldorin [Ety/SIR; EtyAC/SIR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

kelun

noun. river

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEL “flow, flow away (downhill), run (of water or rivers), run away especially downwards or at end” ✧ Ety/KEL

Derivatives

  • Ilk. celon “river” ✧ Ety/KEL

Variations

  • kelu+n ✧ Ety/KEL
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/KEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

sîr

noun. river

Cognates

  • Eq. sindi “river” ✧ LT1A/Sirion

Derivations

  • ᴱ√SIÐI “flow” ✧ LT1A/Sirion

Element in

  • G. siriol “flowing, fluent, liquid, melliflous” ✧ GL/67
  • G. Sirion “†river” ✧ GL/67; LT1A/Sirion
  • G. Thorn Sir “Eagle-stream” ✧ LT1A/Sirion

Variations

  • Sîr ✧ GL/67
Gnomish [GL/67; LT1A/Sirion] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

sindi

noun. river

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “river” derived from the root ᴱ√SIŘI [SIÐI] (QL/84). The same word appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/84).

Cognates

  • G. sîr “river” ✧ LT1A/Sirion

Derivations

  • ᴱ√SIÐI “flow” ✧ LT1A/Sirion; QL/084

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√SIŘI > sindi[sinðī] > [sinði] > [sindi]✧ QL/084

Variations

  • -sindi ✧ LT1A/Kelusindi
Early Quenya [LT1A/Kelusindi; LT1A/Sirion; PME/084; QL/084] Group: Eldamo. Published by