yan

root. *join

The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√ẎATA “join” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. yarta “yoke” and ᴱQ. yatta “neck; isthmus” (QL/105). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had derivatives like G. gada- “join, connect, unite” and G. gath⁽⁾ “neck” < ᴱ✶yatt- (GL/36). It reappeared as ᴹ√YAT “join” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. yanta/N. iant “yoke” and ᴹQ. yanwe/N. ianw “bridge” < ᴹ✶yatmā (Ety/YAT). Above ᴹ√YAT there was a deleted root ᴹ√YATH with a single derivative ᴹQ. yatta “neck, isthmus” that was not deleted (EtyAC/YAK). ᴹQ. yatta may have been transferred to ᴹ√YAT, though as pointed out by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne it might also have been transferred to ᴹ√YAK, which included among its derivatives ᴹQ. yat (yaht-) “neck” (Ety/YAK).

In later writings, Q. yanta and S. iant were used for “bridge” (LotR/1123; SD/129). The word Q. yanwë reappeared with the gloss “joining” in notes from 1969, initially derived from ✶yadme but this was deleted and replaced by √YAN (VT49/45-56). Carl Hostetter suggested that rejected ✶yadme probably reflected the earlier phonological developments seen in The Etymologies whereby tm became dm, then nm, and ultimately nw. However, sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s Tolkien abandoned tm > dm > nm > nw, deciding instead that tm &gt; tw, which may have motivated him to change the root ᴹ√YAT to √YAN. A similar revision can be seen in change of ᴹ√TEK to √TEÑ in the derivation of Q. tengwa “letter”.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer to retain the phonological developments of the 1930s to 1950s whereby km, tm > gm, dm > ñm, nm > ngw, nw. As such, I think it is better to retain the 1930s form of the root ᴹ√YAT “join”, which also helps avoid conflict with √YAN “wide, extensive, large”. As the above discussion indicates, Tolkien seems to have been vacillating on tm > tw vs. tm > nw as late as 1969.

yan

root. wide, extensive, large, vast, huge; extend

A root Tolkien introduced in the late 1950s to serve as the basis for various “land” suffixes in Sindarin. The most detailed explanation appeared in a set of documents labeled “Changes affecting Silmarillion nomenclature”:

> The endings -ion, -ien, -ian(d) in place names. These have various origins. In Sindarin -ion is usually from -ı̯aun. This in origin is from yānā, √YANA-, extension of yā- (cf. YAGA, gap) “wide, large, extensive”. S iaun “roomy, wide, extensive” ... -iand (-ian) is from yandē “a wide region, or country” ... This was often used in plural of a single country (especially if it contained a varied topographical apsect) > iend, ien (PE17/42).

Thus all three suffixes -ian(d), -ien(d), -ion originate in the root √YAN. The suffix -ian(d) “land” (Beleriand) is the simplest, just a reduction of ancient -yandē. The suffix -ien(d) “lands” (Anórien) is a plural variant of -ian(d). The suffix -ion (Eregion) is S. iaun “wide, extension” used as a suffix (so perhaps = “✱extent”), becoming -ion because of the usual sound change whereby au become o in polysyllables.

In this same document, Tolkien also considered introducing a root √YŎNO “wide, extensive”, going so far as (temporarily) rejected the very well established word Q. yondo “son”. This √YON was blended with √YOD “fence, enclose”, and served as the basis for the suffix -ion, but Tolkien ultimately marked these notes with an “X” to reject them, perhaps because they only explained the suffix -ion, whereas √YAN could explain all three suffixes.

√YAN was mentioned in passing in other documents from this period, variously glossed “vast, huge” (PE17/99), “wide” (PE17/115), and “extend” (PE17/155), and in one place given a variant √YAD (PE17/115). In notes from December 1959 (D59) √YAN was contrasted with √ƷAN, the former meaning “wide” and the latter meaning “long”, both with the basic sense “extend” (PE17/115); see the entry on √HAN for further discussion.

yānā

adjective. wide, large, extensive

yandē

noun. a wide region or country

as(a)

preposition. and

dom

root. dark, dark, [ᴹ√] faint, dim

This root was the basis for the main Elvish words for “dusk, night”, which was established as Q. lómë in Quenya for most of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was ᴱ√LOMO in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with various derivatives having to do with “dusk” and “shadow” (QL/55). One notable derivative was ᴱQ. lóme “dusk, gloom, darkness”, which survived in Tolkien’s later writings as “night” and in the 1910s was the basis for ᴱQ. Hisilóme/G. Hithlum “Shadowy Twilights”. Another notable derivative was G. lómin “shady, shadowy, gloomy; gloom(iness)” (GL/45) used in the name G. Dor Lómin, which in the 1910s was translated as “Land of Shadow” (LT1/112).

The “shadow” meaning of this early root seems to have transferred to ᴹ√LUM from The Etymologies of the 1930s, which served as the new basis for N. Hithlum (Ety/LUM), as opposed contemporaneous N. Dor-lómen which was redefined as “Land of Echoes (< ᴹ√LAM via Ilkorin or in later writings, via North Sindarin). The “dusk” sense was transferred to a new root ᴹ√DOM “faint, dim”, which (along with ᴹ√DOƷ) was the basis for the pair words ᴹQ. lóme/N. dû “night” (Ety/DOMO).

These two words for “night” survived in Tolkien’s later writing in both Quenya and Sindarin (Let/308; SA/dú). In notes from the 1940s Tolkien clarified that it “has no evil connotations; it is a word of peace and beauty and has none of the associations of fear or groping that, say, ‘dark’ has for us” (SD/306). The Elves were quite comfortable being under the night sky, dating back to the time when the Elves lived under the stars before the rising of the Sun and the Moon. The root √DOM reappeared in etymologies for star-words from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/152). It appeared again in some very late notes from 1969 where it was glossed “dark” and served as the basis for words meaning “blind” as well as “night”, though this paragraph was rejected (PE22/153, note #50).

mornā

adjective. dark

nayak

noun. goat

A primitive word for “goat” appearing in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure of the early 1950s, with masculine and feminine variants ✶najakō “he-goat” and ✶naikē “she-goat” (PE21/82). It might be an elaboration of √NAY “cause bitter grief or pain”, a root that was the basis for various “lament” words. This hypothetical relationship might be a later analog of the connection between early roots ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” (the basis for “goat” words) and ᴱ√NYEHE “weep”; hat tip to Raccoon for suggesting this to me.

san-

noun. that

yad

root. wide

du Reconstructed

root. dark

yalta

root. yoke