(adverbial prefix) an-. 3)
Sindarin
-ad
suffix. noun-suffix
-ad
suffix. dual
-ad
suffix. gerund
an
to
-ed
suffix. gerund
an
preposition. to, towards, for
With suffixed article and elision in aglar'ni Pheriannath
an
to
_ prep. _to, for. naur an edraith ammen! 'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. aglar an|i Pheriannath 'glory to all the Halflings'.
cair
noun. ship
cair
noun. ship
The Sindarin word for “ship”, most notably appearing as an element in the name Cair Andros “Ship of Long Foam” (LotR/812; PM/371). It is derived from primitive ✶kiryā, with the ancient i becoming e via a-affection [kery(a)], then the y intruding into the main syllable to form the diphthong ei [keir], and ultimately ei becoming ai as usual in final syllables in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s [kair]. This word has a somewhat unusual plural, since ī replaced final ā in its ancient plural [kiryā-ī > kirī], so that a-affection did not occur resulting in a modern plural form cîr “ships” (PE17/147). Its class plural is likewise the somewhat unusual ciriath “[all the] ships” for similar reasons.
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies from around 1937 had N. ceir “ship” under the root ᴹ√KIR “cleave” (Ety/KIR), since in Noldorin of the 1930s ei did not (usually) become ai in final syllables. In Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, Tolkien gave cīr “ship”, first marked “N.”, then “Ilk.”, then “N. & Ilk.” (PE21/57 and note #28). It had the class plurals círiath or ciriath but it is not clear which of these was the intended final form (PE21/57 note #28). I think ciriath is more phonologically plausible; compare class plural S. Firiath “Mortals” vs. ordinary plural Fîr (WJ/387).
Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had the word ᴱN. cair followed by ᴱN. braithgair, but neither word was translated (PE13/139-140).
na
to
e _ prep. _to, towards (of spacetime). n' before vowels. >> nan 2
na
preposition. to
prep. to Na-chaered palan-díriel lit. "To-distance (remote) after-gazing" >> na-chaered, nan 2
an
to
(prep.) an (+ nasal mutation), with article ni "to the" (+ nasal mutation in plural).
cair
ship
cair (in compounds cír-) (i gair, o chair), pl. cîr, i chîr; coll. pl. ciriath.
cair
ship
(in compounds cír-) (i gair, o chair), pl. cîr, i chîr; coll. pl. ciriath.
cirion
shipman
(i girion) (sailor), pl. ciryn (i chiryn), coll. pl. cirionnath.
círdan
shipbuilder, shipwright
(i gírdan, o chírdan) (shipwright), pl. círdain (i chírdain).
The Sindarin dual was almost certainly derived from the same primitive form ✶ata as the Quenya dual ending -t, indicating this ending was ancient in form. The other Quenya dual, -u, would not have been active in Sindarin since final vowels were lost.
Tolkien stated (Let/427) that this ending was archaic and lost, but did not state when it disappeared. The ending may have still been active in the First Age. The ending appears in the day-name Orgaladhad “Day of the Two Trees”. Since the Sindar had no direct experience with the trees, this word was likely adopted from its Quenya cognate Aldúya when the Noldor and Sindar were reunited.