Quenya 

mi

in, within

mi prep. "in, within" (MI, VT27:20, VT44:18, 34, VT43:30; the latter source also mentions the variant imi); "in the" (Nam, RGEO:66; CO gives mi; the correct forms should evidently be mi = "in" and = mi i "in the"; VT49:35 also has with a long vowel, though the gloss is simply "in"). Used in PE17:71 (cf. 70) of people clad "in" various colours, e.g. mi mísë "in grey". Allative minna "to the inside, into" (MI), also mina (VT43:30). The forms mimmë and mingwë seem to incorporate pronominal suffixes for "us", hence ?"in us", inclusive and exclusive respectively. The pronoun -mmë denoted plural inclusive "we" when this was written, though Tolkien would later make it dual instead (see -mmë). Second person forms are also given: mil or milyë *"in you" (sg.), millë "in you" (pl.) (VT43:36). A special use of mi appears in the phrase Wendë mi Wenderon "Virgin of Virgins" (VT44:18); here mi appears superfluous to achieve the desired meaning, but this combination of singular noun + mi + plural genitive noun may be seen as a fixed idiom expressing that the initial noun represents the most prominent member of a class.

mi

preposition. in, in, [ᴹQ.] within

Cognates

  • S. mi “*in”

Derivations

  • “in, within” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30
    • MI/IMI “in, within, [ᴹ√] inside” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30
  • MI/IMI “in, within, [ᴹ√] inside” ✧ VT43/30

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
> [mi]✧ PE17/092
mi > imi[imi]✧ VT43/30
mi > mi[mi]✧ VT43/30
> [mi]✧ VT47/30

Variations

  • ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30
  • ✧ RGEO/58; VT49/35
  • imi ✧ VT43/30
  • mil ✧ VT43/30 (mil)
Quenya [LotR/0377; PE17/063; PE17/071; PE17/092; RGEO/58; UT/305; UT/317; VT43/13; VT43/30; VT43/36; VT44/18; VT44/34; VT47/30; VT49/35] Group: Eldamo. Published by

imi

in

imi prep. "in"; see mi (VT43:30)

imi

preposition. in, in, [ᴱQ.] inside

Sindarin 

mîn

preposition. (in) between (referring to a gap, space, barrier or anything intervening between two other things)

Sindarin [Minhiriath LotR/Map, VT/47:11,14] Group: SINDICT. Published by

vi

preposition. in

Sindarin [VT/44:21,27] Group: SINDICT. Published by

vi

preposition. in

min-

preposition. (in) between (referring to a gap, space, barrier or anything intervening between two other things)

Sindarin [Minhiriath LotR/Map, VT/47:11,14] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ned

preposition. (uncertain meaning) in, of (about time, e.g. giving a date)

[Another possible interpretation: "another, one more" (related to Q. net(e)), VT/47:40]

Sindarin [SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

im

within

(prep.) im (between). Note: homophones include the pronoun ”I” and a noun meaning ”dell, deep vale”.

im

within

(between). Note: homophones include the pronoun ”

in

unstressed di (beneath, under) (VT45:37). Note: a homophone means ”bride, lady”.

ne

in

ned (used of time in the source), possibly followed by hard mutation (SD:129)

ne

in, inside

(prefix) (mid-)

vi

in

(prep.) 1) vi (VT44:23), with article vin; 2) ne, ned (used of time in the source), possibly followed by hard mutation (SD:129); 3) , unstressed di (beneath, under) (VT45:37). Note: a homophone means ”bride, lady”.

vi

in

(VT44:23), with article vin

Black Speech

ishi

preposition. in, inside

Usually placed after the noun in Black Speech, c.f. burzum-ishi (darkness-inside).

Black Speech [PE17/11] Published by

Primitive elvish

preposition. in, within

Derivations

  • MI/IMI “in, within, [ᴹ√] inside” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30

Derivatives

  • Q. mi “in, in, [ᴹQ.] within” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30
  • S. mi “*in”

Element in

  • ᴺS. “(to the) inside; into”
Primitive elvish [PE17/092; VT47/30] Group: Eldamo. Published by

imi

root. in

mi/imi

root. in, within, [ᴹ√] inside

This invertible root had the basic sense “in(side)” for all of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√IMI “in, into” and ᴱ√Mβ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. imi “in, inside” and ᴱQ. mitta- “enter” (QL/42, 61). Deleted Gnomish forms like G. bi “in” and G. bin “into” might be derived from a strengthened form of the root ✱ᴱ√MBI (GL/21) but Tolkien said the undeleted prefix bi- or G. ba “in“ had a Qenya cognate ve (GL/20), so I think these were based on some other (abandoned) root.

Both ᴹ√MI “inside” and its inversion ᴹ√IMI “in” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MI; EtyAC/IMI), though the only derivative of the inversion was ᴹ√IMBE “dell, deep vale” (EtyAC/IMI, IMBE). The root or its inversion appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings as well, up into the 1960s (PE17/41, 92; VT47/11, 30).

Derivatives

  • imbi “between” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/11; VT47/30
    • Q. imbë “between, among, between, among; [ᴹQ.] in(wards)” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/11; VT47/30
    • S. im “valley, valley; [N.] dell, deep vale” ✧ VT47/14
    • T. imbe “gap, gully; low/narrow tract between high walls” ✧ VT47/14
  • “in, within” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30
    • Q. mi “in, in, [ᴹQ.] within” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30
    • S. mi “*in”
  • mīni “between” ✧ VT47/11
    • S. mîn “[thing] between; gap, space, barrier; anything intervening between two other things” ✧ VT47/11
  • Q. imbë “deep valley, wide ravine, (lit.) tween-land, deep valley, (wide) ravine, [ᴹQ.] glen, dell, (lit.) tween-land”
  • Q. imíca “among” ✧ VT43/30
  • Q. mi “in, in, [ᴹQ.] within” ✧ VT43/30
  • Q. mina “into, in, into, in, [ᴹQ.] to the inside” ✧ VT43/30
  • Q. mitta “between, [ᴹQ.] inwards, into, [ᴱQ.] in; [Q.] between” ✧ VT43/30
  • Q. mitta- “to insert, to insert; [ᴹQ.] to come in, [ᴱQ.] enter” ✧ VT43/30
  • S. im “between”
  • ᴺS. mîg “among”
  • S. minna- “to go in, enter” ✧ PE17/041

Element in

Variations

  • MI ✧ PE17/041; PE17/165; VT47/11
  • IMI ✧ PE17/092; PE17/155
  • mi ✧ VT43/30
  • imi ✧ VT47/30
Primitive elvish [PE17/041; PE17/092; PE17/155; PE17/165; VT43/30; VT47/11; VT47/30] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

di

preposition. in

Derivations

  • ᴹ√(N)DI “in” ✧ EtyAC/NDI

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√NDI/DI > di[ndi] > [di]✧ EtyAC/NDI
Noldorin [EtyAC/NDI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ne-

prefix. in

Derivations

  • ᴹ√NE “*in”

Element in

  • N. neledh- “*to go in, enter”
  • N. nestag- “to insert, stick in” ✧ Ety/STAK
  • ᴺS. nethan- “to inspire, kindle inside”
Noldorin [Ety/STAK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nedh-

prefix. in, inside, mid-

See also the preposition ned , and the noun ened for a discussion of this form

Noldorin [Ety/376] 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 

mi

preposition. in, within

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MĪ/IMI “in, inside” ✧ Ety/MI

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√MI > mi[mi]✧ Ety/MI
Qenya [Ety/MI; LR/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by

to

preposition. in

Element in

Middle Primitive Elvish

(n)di

root. in

Derivatives

  • N. di “in” ✧ EtyAC/NDI

Variations

  • NDI/DI ✧ EtyAC/NDI
Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/NDI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

imi

root. in

Middle Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

ba

preposition. in

Cognates

  • Eq. ve “as, like” ✧ GL/21

Variations

  • b- ✧ GL/21
  • bi- ✧ GL/21
  • b’ ✧ GL/21

bi

preposition. in

Element in

  • G. bin “into” ✧ GL/22 (bin)
  • G. bir “in, within, inside” ✧ GL/22 (bir)
Gnomish [GL/20; GL/22] Group: Eldamo. Published by

bir

preposition. in, within, inside

Early Primitive Elvish

root. in

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by