-(r)on

suffix. agental suffix

A (masculine) agental suffix appearing as either -on or -ron. The -on variant is derived from ancient ✶-on(do), as seen in [N.] callon “hero” < ᴹ✶kalrondō (Ety/KAL). The -ron variant arose from the addition of ✶-on(do) to the ancient agental suffix ✶-ro after vowel losses made that suffix indistinct. This can be seen most clearly in [N.] thavron “carpenter” < [ON.] sthabro(ndo) < ᴹ✶stabrō (Ety/STAB). Other times the reduced -r became syllabic -or, as in [N.] tavor “woodpecker, [lit.] knocker” < tafr [tavr] < ᴹ✶tamrō (Ety/TAM).

Sometimes the suffix -(r)on was specifically masculine, as in Ellon vs. Elleth “Elf (m./f.)” and [N.] odhron vs. odhril “parent (m./f.)” (WJ/363; Ety/ONO). Other times it seems to be more neutral in meaning, as in pethron “speaker” or mellon “friend” (PE18/100). As a suffix in names, -on is only masculine.

Conceptual Development: The suffix G. -(r)on dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, but in Early Noldorin Word lists of the 1920s, it usually appeared as ᴱN. -ion.

-or

suffix. agental suffix

A general agental suffix that developed from the ancient suffix ✶-ro, mainly when final r became syllabic -or after other consonants. This can be seen most clearly in [N.] tavor “woodpecker, [lit.] knocker” derived from older tafr [tavr] < ᴹ✶tamrō (Ety/TAM).

Conceptual Development: This agental suffix also appeared as G. -or in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in words such as G. nandor “farmer” and G. ecthor “swordsman”. It appeared in a quite a few words in The Etymologies of the 1930s. There is some evidence of it in Tolkien’s later writings, such as S. magor “swordsman” attested in S. Menelvagor “Swordsman of the Sky” (LotR/81), and in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 Tolkien said -or was a variant of the masculine agental suffix -on used after n (PE17/141). This variant had a plural form -yr.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, most people assume -or is a gender-neutral agental suffix.

-(r)on

suffix. agental suffix

-on

suffix. agental suffix

-or

suffix. agental suffix

-r(o)

suffix. agental suffix

An agental suffix derived from ancient ✶-rō̆ (WJ/371), usually appearing as suffixal -r but sometimes as -ro as in quentaro “speaker, minstrel” (PE19/83; PE18/51). The fuller form appears especially in cases where the word is taken to be masculine: compare its feminine form [ᴹQ.] quentare “minstrel [f.]” (PE23/85). Tolkien indicated -rō was sometimes accompanied by nasal infixion, and that there was another variant -rdŏ > rd (WJ/371), but there are no clear signs of -r(d) in his later writings (but see the ᴱQ. examples below).

Based on the example ontari “parents” plural of [ᴹQ.] ontaro “parent [m.]”, it seems the usual plural form of this suffix may be -ri even in cases where -ro survived into Modern Quenya. This plural could be because of Quenya’s general dislike of repeated r-sound. However, ontaro may also be a specifically masculine form of an unattested gender neutral ✱ontar “parent” and ontari may be the plural of that gender neutral form, in which case likely there is no plural for the specifically masculine form. Regardless of the exact phenomenon in play, I would assume the plural of words like quentaro “minstrel” is quentari, referring to a group of minstrels of any gender.

Conceptual Development: There are no examples of -ro in the Early Qenya of the 1910s and 20s, but there are examples of agental -r and sometimes -ar, as in ᴱQ. maksar “cook” from ᴱQ. maksa- (QL/59), and ᴱQ. vaktelear “merchant” from ᴱQ. vaktele “trade” (QL/99). There are also examples of -r(d), such as ᴱQ. ektar (ektard-) “swordman” (QL/35) and ᴱQ. moar (moard-) “shepherd” (QL/60).

-mo

suffix. agental suffix

A suffix of which Tolkien said “the ending -mo often appeared in names or titles, sometimes with an agental significance” (WJ/400). It is based on the pronoun mo “(some)one”. This suffix is often specifically neuter, as in [ᴹQ.] nilmo “friend” vs. male and female [ᴹQ.] nildo and nilde (Ety/NIL).

Conceptual Development: The suffix ᴱQ. -mo appears all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s in words like ᴱQ. laulemo “inhabitant” and ᴱQ. qolimo “invalid” (QL/52, 78).

-ân Reconstructed

suffix. agental suffix

A suffix that is used in some examples for agental-formation: creating nouns from verbs that indicate the agent who performs the verb’s action. The clearest example is sapthân “wise man” derived (after some ancient sound modifications) from saphad- “to understand”. This formation means “✱one who understands”. Less clear examples are ✱magân “wright, ✱builder”, perhaps from a verb ✱mag- “to build”, and kathuphazgân “conquerer”, perhaps a combined of katha “all” and a verb ?phazag- “to take”, meaning “✱one who takes all”.

It is not clear how this suffix related to the similar participle suffix -ân used for form adjectives from verbs. See the entry on participle for further discussion. Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/TAN) that -ân as an agental formation may be related to anâ “human being”.