-ion

son (of), descendant

-ion (patronymic ending) "son (of), descendant" (YŌ/YON, LT1:271, LT2:344). Not to be confused with the genitive ending -on when added to words with nominative plurals in -i, e.g. elenion "of stars" vs. eleni "stars".

-ion

suffix. -son, masculine patronymic

The usual patronymic for “son of” in Quenya, suffixal form of Q. yondo “son” (PE17/170, 190). Tolkien occasionally mentioned variants like -on or -yon, but in practice only -ion appears in actual names.

Conceptual Development: This patronymic dates all the way back to Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/106) and was regularly mentioned in documents throughout the years such as the Early Qenya Grammar and English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s (PE14/45, 75; PE15/77), The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/YŌ) and Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 (PE17/170), always with a similar form, meaning and derivation from roots likes √YO(N). Thus it was very well established in Tolkien’s mind.

Cognates

• S. -ion “-son” ✧ PE17/170

Derivations

• ✶-(i)ondo ✧ PE17/170
  • √YON “son”

Element in

• Q. Aldarion “*Son of Trees”
• Q. Anárion “*Son of the Sun”
• Q. Aranwion “Son of Aranwë”
• Q. Calion “*Son of Light”
• Q. Eldarion “*Son of the Eldar”
• Q. Eruion “*Son of God”
• Q. Falassion “*Shore-son”
• Q. Finwion “Son of Finwë”
• Q. Ilion
• Q. Ingwion “Son of Ingwë”
• Q. Isildurioni “Heirs of Isildur”
• Q. Lómion “Son of Twilight”
• Q. Súrion “*Wind-son”
• Q. Vinyarion “*New Son”

Elements

Word	Gloss
yondo	“son, boy, son, boy; [ᴱQ.] male descendant, (great) grandson”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶-(i)ŏn/-(ĭ)ondo > -ion	[-ion]	✧ PE17/170

Variations

• -ŏn ✧ PE17/170
• -on ✧ PE17/170
• -yon ✧ PE17/190
• -iondo ✧ PE17/190

-o

of goodness

-o (1) genitive ending, as in Altariello, Oromëo, Elenna-nórëo, Rithil-Anamo, Rúmilo, Lestanórëo, neldëo, omentielvo, sindiëo, Valinórëo, veryanwesto, q.v. In words ending in -a, the genitive ending replaces this final vowel, hence atto, Ráno, Vardo, vorondo as the genitive forms of atta, Rána, Varda, voronda (q.v.) Following a noun in -ië, the ending can have the longer form -no, e.g. *máriéno "of goodness" (PE17:59, but contrast sindiëo "of greyness" in PE17:72). Where the word ends in -o already, the genitive is not distinct in form, e.g. ciryamo (q.v.) = "mariner" or "mariners". Pl. -ion and -ron, q.v.; dual -to (but possibly -uo in the case of nouns that have nominative dual forms in -u rather than -t). The Quenya genitive describes source, origin or former ownership rather than current ownership (which is rather covered by the possessive-adjectival case in -va). The ending -o may also take on an ablativic sense, "from", as in Oiolossëo "from (Mount) Oiolossë" (Nam), sio "hence" (VT49:18). In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the genitive ending was -n rather than -o, cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren "Annals of Valinor" becoming Yénië Valinórëo (MR:200).

morion

son of the dark

morion noun "son of the dark" (LT1:261). In Fíriel's Song, Morion is translated "dark one", referring to Melko(r); this may be a distinct formation not including the patronymic ending -ion "son", but rather the masculine ending -on added to the adjective morë, mori- "dark".

ména

region

ména noun "region" (MEN). Not to be confused with the present/continuative tense of #men- "go".

yón

noun. region

Yón

son

Yón (1) noun "Son" (VT44:12, 17, referring to Jesus. Tolkien rewrote the text in question. Normally the Quenya word for "son" appears as yondo, which also refers to Jesus in one text.)

anon

son

anon noun "son" (PE17:170), possibly intended by Tolkien as a replacement for yondo.

anon

noun. son

A transient word for “son” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, written of above the more common yon-do (PE17/170).

vó

son

vó (actually spelt vô), also vondo, noun "son" (LT2:336; in Tolkien's later Quenya yondo)

yondo

son

yondo noun "son" (YŌ/YON, VT43:37); cf. yonya and the patronymic ending -ion. Early "Qenya" has yô, yond-, yondo "son" (LT2:342). According to LT2:344, these are poetic words, but yondo seems to be the normal word for "son" in LotR-style Quenya. Yón appears in VT44, 17, but Tolkien rewrote the text in question. In LT2:344, yondo is said to mean "male descendant, usually (great) grandson", but in Tolkien's later Quenya, yondo means "son", and the word is so glossed in LT2:342. Dative yondon in VT43:36 (here the "son" in question is Jesus). See also yonya. At one point, Tolkien rejected the word yondo as "very unsuitable" (for the intended meaning?), but no obvious replacement appeared in his writings (PE17:43), unless the (ephemeral?) form anon (q.v.) is regarded as such. In one source, yondo is also defined as "boy" (PE17:190).

Nólion

son of knowledge

Nólion (ñ?), second name of Vardamir Nólion (UT:210). Perhaps "son of knowledge", nólë (q.v.) + -ion "son", which ending displaces a final -ë (compare Aranwion "son of Aranwë", UT:50 cf. 32)

Yón

region, any (fairly extensive) region between obstacles such as rivers or mountains

yón (2), variant of yondë, q.v. Defined as "a region, any (fairly extensive) region _between obstacles such as rivers or mountains" (PE17:43)_

yondë

any fairly extensive region with well-marked natural bonds (as mountains or rivers)

yondë noun "any fairly extensive region with well-marked natural bonds (as mountains or rivers)", occurring as a suffix -yondë, -yon/-iondë, -ion in regional names. (PE17:43). Note: †yondë may also be an (archaic/poetic) past tense of the verb yor-, q.v.

yondë

noun. region, any fairly extensive region with well-marked natural bounds

Derivations

• √YON “wide, extensive” ✧ PE17/043

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√YŎNO > yōn	[jōn]	✧ PE17/043

Variations

• yōn ✧ PE17/043
• yonde ✧ PE17/043; PE17/043
• yon ✧ PE17/043

yonyo

son, big boy

yonyo noun "son, big boy". In one version, yonyo was also a term used in children's play for "middle finger" or "middle toe", but Tolkien may have dropped this notion, deciding to use hanno "brother" as the alternative play-name (VT47:10, 15, VT48:4)

-a

suffix. adjectival suffix

This suffix is frequently used to create the adjective form of a noun, especially in the form -ëa for nouns ending in -ë. This function dates back to CE. ✶-ā.

Derivations

• ✶-ā “adjectival”

Element in

• Q. airëa “holy (applied to persons)” ✧ PE17/149
• ᴺQ. aitalëa “reverent, worshipful, religious”
• Q. Aldëa “*Tuesday, Tree-day (Númenórean)”
• Q. amaurëa “dawn, early day, morning” ✧ MC/223
• Q. andúna “western”
• ᴺQ. aurëa “sunny, sunlit; *daytime”
• Q. endëa “middle”
• Q. eressëa “lonely” ✧ LotR/1116
• Q. fínëa “dexterous”
• Q. ilaurëa “*daily”
• Q. ilyarëa “*daily”
• Q. ilucara “omnificent” ✧ VT39/20
• Q. laurëa “golden (of hue)”
• Q. lillassëa “having many leaves”
• Q. lilótëa “having many flowers”
• Q. lómëa “shadowed, gloomy, shadowed, gloomy, *dusk-like”
• Q. mírëa “jewelled, jewelled, *gemmed”
• Q. nieninquëa “like a snowdrop” ✧ PE16/096
• Q. nöa “former; yesterday; tomorrow, yesterday; former, *previous; tomorrow”
• ᴺQ. nornolassëa “having oak-leaves”
• Q. núla “dark, occult, mysterious”
• Q. oialëa “eternal”
• Q. rávëa “roaring”
• Q. taurëa “forested”
• Q. túrëa “mighty, masterful, mighty, masterful, *having political power” ✧ PE17/115
• Q. úfanwëa “not veiled, unveiled”
• Q. úpahtëa “speechless”
• Q. vëa “seeming, apparent, seeming, apparent; [ᴱQ.] similar, like”
• Q. yaimëa “wailing”