lin-

sing

[lin- (2) vb. "sing" (GLIN, struck out)]

lindë-

sing

lindë- vb. ?"sing" (LT1:258; in LotR-style Quenya lir- or #linda-)

singë

salt

singë noun "salt" (QL:83)

singwa

salt

singwa adj. "salt" (salty) (QL:83)

corma

ring

#corma noun "ring", isolated from #cormacolindo "Ring-bearer", pl. cormacolindor (LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308); Cormarë "Ringday", a festival held on Yavannië 30 in honour of Frodo Baggins (Appendix D)

corma

noun. ring

A word for “ring” appearing as an element in Q. Cormacolindor “Ring-bearers” (LotR/953), clearly derived from the root √KOR “round”. It also appeared in a translation of the title of The Lord of the Rings that Tolkien included in a 1973 letter to Phillip Brown: i Túrin i Cormaron.

Conceptual Development: Another translation of “Lord of the Rings” is known from an exhibit of Tolkien manuscripts: Heru imillion, where presumably the element millë means “ring” (DTS/54). In a deleted entry from The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had ᴹQ. kolma “ring ([?on] finger)” [or possibly “or finger”] derived from a deleted root ᴹ√KOL (EtyAC/KOL).

Cognates

• S. cor “ring, circle”
• ᴺS. corf “ring (for fingers)”

Element in

• Q. Cormacolindor “Ring-bearers” ✧ LotR/0953
• Q. Cormarë “Ringday” ✧ LotR/1112
• Q. i Túrin i Cormaron “the Lord of the Rings” ✧ Minor-Doc/1973-05-30

Elements

Word	Gloss
KOR	“round, round; [ᴱ√] be round, roll”
-ma	“instrumental”

Variations

• Corma ✧ LotR/0953 (Corma); LotR/1112 (Corma)

risil

ring

*risil (þ) noun "ring" (on the ground) in Rithil-Anamo, q.v.

lir-

verb. to sing, to sing, [ᴹQ.] chant

Derivations

• √LIR “sing, warble, sing, warble, [ᴹ√] trill”

Element in

• Q. á lirë amlírië “sing harder / better / with more vigour or with more vocalic art” ✧ PE17/094; PE17/094
• ᴺQ. olirië “concert”

liru-

verb. to sing, to sing (gaily)

Derivations

• ✶liru- “to sing gaily”
  • √LIR “sing, warble, sing, warble, [ᴹ√] trill”

lindalë

music

lindalë noun "music". Cf. Ainulindalë "Music of the Ainur". (The word is cited as lindelë in the printed Etymologies, entry LIN2, but according to VT45:27, this is a misreading for lindalë in Tolkien's manuscript.) The word lindalë may argue the existence of a verbal stem #linda- "sing, make music".

lindalë

noun. music

Element in

• Q. Ainulindalë “Music of the Ainur” ✧ S/015
• ᴺQ. lindalëa “melodious, *musical”

Elements

Word	Gloss
linda	“beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, [ᴱQ.] kind; [ᴹQ.] fair”
-lë	“abstract noun, adverb”

lindelë

music

lindelë noun "music" (LIN2, LT1:258 lindalë in Ainulindalë). According to VT45:27, lindelë in the printed Etymologies (entry LIN2) is a misreading for lindalë in Tolkien's manuscript.

á

immediate time reference

a (3), also á, imperative particle. An imperative with "immediate time reference" is expressed by á in front of the verb (or "occasionally after it, sometimes before and after for emphasis"), with the verb following in "the simplest form also used for the uninflected aorist without specific time reference past or present or future" (PE17:93). Cf. a laita te, laita te! "[o] bless them, bless them!", á vala Manwë! "may Manwë order it!", literally "o rule Manwë!" (see laita, vala for reference); cf. also á carë "do[!]", á ricë "try!", á lirë "sing[!]", á menë "proceed[!]", a norë "run[!]" (PE17:92-93, notice short a in this example), á tula "come!" (VT43:14). In the last example, the verb tul- "come" receives an ending -a that probably represents the _suffixed form of the imperative particle, this apparently being an example of the imperative element occurring both "before and after" the verbal stem "for emphasis" (PE17:93)_. This ending may also appear on its own with no preceding a/á, as in the command queta "speak!" (PE17:138). Other examples of imperatives with suffixed -a include cena and tira (VT47:31, see cen-, tir-); the imperatives of these same verbs are however also attested as á tirë, á cenë (PE17:94) with the imperative particle remaining independent and the following verb appearing as an uninflected aorist stem. This aorist can be plural to indicate a 3rd person pl. subject: á ricir! "let them try!" (PE17:93). Alyë (VT43:17, VT44:9) seems to be the imperative particle a with the pronominal suffix -lyë "you, thou" suffixed to indicate the subject who is to carry out the command; attested in the phrase alyë anta "give thou" (elided aly' in VT43:11, since the next word begins in e-: aly' eterúna me, *"do thou deliver us"); presumably other pronominal suffixes could likewise be added. The particle a is also present in the negative imperatives ala, #ála or áva, q.v.

singë

noun. salt

Cognates

• ᴺS. sing “salt”

Derivations

• ᴺ✶. SIÑGI “*salt”

linna-

verb. sing

linnon

verb. I sing

linna-

verb. to sing

linna-

verb. to sing, chant

Element in

• S. Fanuilos, le linnathon “and now to thee, Fanuilos, bright spirit clothed in ever-white, I will ... sing” ✧ LotR/0238; PE17/027; RGEO/63; RGEO/64
• S. le linnon im Tinúviel “*to thee I sing, I, Tinúviel” ✧ LB/354
• S. linnathol? “will you sing (please)?” ✧ PE22/167

linnathon

verb. I will sing, I will chant

glir

sing

1) glir- (i **lîr, in glirir) (recite poem), 2) linna- (i linna, i linnar**) (chant)

glir

sing

(i ’lîr, in glirir) (recite poem)

linna

sing

(i linna, i linnar) (chant)

sing

noun. salt

Cognates

• ᴺQ. singë “salt”

Derivations

• ᴺ✶. SIÑGI “*salt”

Element in

• ᴺS. singren “salt, *salty”

echor

ring

(outer ring or circle) echor (pl. echyr). It is unclear what the Sindarin word for an ornamental ring is; the cognate of Quenya corma would be *corf (i gorf, o chorf; pl. cyrf, i chyrf, coll. pl. corvath).

echor

ring

(pl. echyr). It is unclear what the Sindarin word for an ornamental ring is; the cognate of Quenya corma would be ✱corf (i gorf, o chorf; pl. cyrf, i chyrf, coll. pl. corvath).

linnas

noun. music

Element in

• ᴺS. linnathren “musical”

Elements

Word	Gloss
lind	“song, chant, singing; singer, song, chant, singing, [N.] air, tune; [N. and S.] singer”
-as	“abstract noun”

nazg

noun. ring

Derivations

• ✶nazgā “bond, fetter” ✧ PE19/101
  • √NASAG “*bond, fetter” ✧ PE19/101

Element in

• Bs. ash nazg durbatulûk “one ring to rule them all” ✧ LotR/0254; PE17/011
• Bs. ash nazg gimbatul “one ring to find them” ✧ LotR/0254; PE17/011
• Bs. ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul “one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them” ✧ LotR/0254; PE17/011
• Bs. Nazgûl “Ring-wraith” ✧ Let/178; Let/382; PE17/011; PE17/031; PE17/079; PE17/079; PE17/125; RC/762

nazg

noun. (finger-)ring

>> Nazgûl 'Ringwraiths'

glin(d)

root. sing

lind

root. sing

lin

root. sing, make a musical sound, sing, make a musical sound, [ᴱ√] gentle

This root was conceptually intermingled with √LIR “sing”, both of which had to do with music. The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√LINI “gentle” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. linda “gentle, kind; soft” and ᴱQ. linta- “soothe” (QL/54). According to Tolkien this early root was confused with ᴱ√LIŘI “sing” (PME/54), which itself was the earliest precursor to √LIR; this early root √LIŘI [LIÐI] had derivatives like ᴱQ. liri- “to sing” and ᴱQ. lindele “song, music” (QL/54). The picture in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon is more muddled, with words like G. lin- “sound” (as well as lintha- “ring bell, play an instrument”) and G. lir- “sing” hinting at two distinct musical roots ✱ᴱ√LINI and ✱ᴱ√LIRI.

Indeed, in The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien reorganized the two roots into ᴹ√LIN “sing” and ᴹ√LIR “sing, trill”, the former taking on music words beginning with lind- and the latter musical words beginning with lir- (Ety/LIN², LIR¹). Both these had strengthened forms ᴹ√GLIN and ᴹ√GLIR used in Noldorin words like N. glinn “song, poem, lay” and N. glaer “long lay, narrative poem”, but entry for the root ᴹ√GLIN was struck through and its Noldorin words adapted to unstrengthened ᴹ√LIN, as in N. lhinn “air, tune” (Ety/GLIN, GLIR). The Etymologies also had another strengthened root ᴹ√LINDĀ “fair (especially of voice)”, with a line indicating it was derived from ᴹ√LIN (Ety/LIND; EtyAC/LIND); this strengthened root in turn was blended with ᴹ√SLIN, unglossed but apparently meaning something like “✱fine, delicate” (Ety/SLIN).

Both root √LIN “sing” (PE17/27, UT/253) and √LIR “sing, warble” (PE17/27, 67) continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings, along with derivatives like Q. lindalë “music” and Q. lírë “song”. Tolkien discussed the root √LIN at length in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, where he said:

> The name ✱Lindā is therefore clearly a derivative of the primitive stem ✱LIN (showing reinforcement of the medial N and adjectival -ā). This stem was possibly one of the contributions of the Nelyar [Teleri] to Primitive Quendian, for it reflects their predilections and associations, and produces more derivatives in Lindarin [Telerin] tongues than in others. Its primary reference was to melodious or pleasing sound, but it also refers (especially in Lindarin) to water, the motions of which were always by the Lindar associated with vocal (Elvish) sound. The reinforcements, either medial lind- or initial glin-, glind-, were however almost solely used of musical, especially vocal, sounds produced with intent to please (WJ/382).

Tolkien’s statement that it “also refers (especially in Lindarin) to water” is probably an allusion to √LIN “pool, mere, lake” (Ety/LIN¹; PE17/160). In a footnote in Quendi and Eldar essay Tolkien added: “Though this clan-name [S. Glinnel] has ✱glind- in Sindarin, the g- does not appear in Amanya Telerin, nor in Nandorin, so that in this case it may be an addition in Sindarin, which favoured and much increased initial groups of this kind” (WJ/411 note #13). Despite this statement, Sindarin had several derivatives from the base root √LIN(D)-, such as S. linna- “sing, chant” (LotR/238; RGEO/64; PE17/27). The sense “gentle” from the 1910s root ᴱ√LINI also seems to have survived in Tolkien’s later writings, since the adjective Q. linda “soft, gentle, light” appears in notes associated with the 1955 version of the poem Nieninquë (PE16/96).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume √LIN referred to melodious sounds, as well as pools of water (√LIN) by way of the pleasant sounds that water makes, and gentleness (Q. linda) by way of the affect such sounds have on one’s mood. However, I think √LIR more directly referred to vocal music (song) and other rhythmic vocal sounds (chanting) such as poetry, as in Q. [ᴹQ] laire/S. glaer “poem”.

Derivatives

• ✶linde “singer, singing”
  • S. lind “song, chant, singing; singer, song, chant, singing, [N.] air, tune; [N. and S.] singer” ✧ WJ/309
• Q. Linda “Singer” ✧ SA/lin²
• ᴺQ. linda- “to make music”
• Q. lindë “singing, song, musical sound, singing, song, musical sound; [ᴹQ.] air, tune”
• Q. lingë “musical sound”
• ᴺQ. linta- “to soothe”
• S. lind “song, chant, singing; singer, song, chant, singing, [N.] air, tune; [N. and S.] singer” ✧ PE17/027
• S. lind “fair”

Element in

• ✶lindā “*sweet sounding” ✧ WJ/382
• Q. Ainulindalë “Music of the Ainur” ✧ SA/lin²
• ᴺQ. airelinna “hymn, (lit.) holy song”
• Q. Laurelin “Song of Gold, Singing Gold” ✧ SA/lin²
• Q. Laurelindórenan “(Land of the) Valley of Singing Gold” ✧ UT/253
• Q. lirulin “lark”
• Q. lómelindë “nightingale, (lit.) dusk-singer” ✧ SA/lin²
• S. Lindon “Land of Music” ✧ SA/lin²

Variations

• LIN ✧ PE17/027; PE17/160; WJ/382
• lin- ✧ SA/lin²; UT/253
• lind- ✧ WJ/382
• glin- ✧ WJ/382
• glind- ✧ WJ/382; WJ/411

lir

root. sing, warble, sing, warble, [ᴹ√] trill

A root connected to singing for all of Tolkien’s life (Ety/GLIR, LIR¹; PE17/27, 67), though its earliest precursor was ᴱ√LIŘI [LIÐI] and thus did not contain the consonant R (QL/54). For further discussion, see √LIN “sing, make a musical sound”.

Derivatives

• ✶liru- “to sing gaily”
  • Q. liru- “to sing, to sing (gaily)”
• Q. lir- “to sing, to sing, [ᴹQ.] chant”
• Q. lírë “song” ✧ PE17/067
• S. glaer “tale, [N.] long lay, narrative poem, [S.] tale, song”

Element in

• Q. liralë “merry singing”

Variations

• LĬR ✧ PE17/027; PE17/160

glin-

verb. to sing

Cognates

• ᴹQ. lin- “to sing” ✧ Ety/GLIN

Derivations

• ᴹ√LIN “sing” ✧ Ety/GLIN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√GLIN > glin-	[glin-]	✧ Ety/GLIN

liria-

verb. to sing

glir-

verb. to sing, recite poem

Cognates

• ᴹQ. lir- “to sing, chant” ✧ Ety/GLIR

Derivations

• ᴹ√LIR “sing, trill” ✧ Ety/GLIR; Ety/LIR¹

Element in

• S. Glirhuin

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√GLIR > gliri-	[glir-]	✧ Ety/GLIR
ᴹ√LIR¹ > lirio	[lir-]	✧ Ety/LIR¹

Variations

• gliri- ✧ Ety/GLIR
• glin ✧ EtyAC/GLIR

glir-

verb. to sing, trill, to recite a poem

The form glin in the Etymologies is a misreading according to VT/45:15