-(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.

-elir

suffix. 2nd person plural polite possessive suffix

-emir

suffix. 1st person plural exclusive possessive

-ir

suffix. past tense of intransitive verb

_suff. _past tense of intransitive verb. A letter, probably an s, was added in pencil above the ending -ir. >> agarfant, -nt

-ir

suffix. past of intransitive verbs

-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.

car-

verb. to do, make

Car- is the Sindarin verb for “do, make”, derived from the root √KAR of the same meaning. Tolkien often used it for examples of verb inflections in his writings.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this verb was G. {car- >>} cartha- “make, finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with past tense côri (GL/25), reappearing as cartha- “to finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document with past tense cair- or cawr- (PE13/111). A set of rough verb forms caron, {cur}, côr, {carn}, crantha, cor and cranthi appear in the margin of a page of the Early Noldorin Grammar, which the editors suggested might be related to the (unglossed and rejected) sentence ᴱN. on gós i·bhelon ar cranthi gwaist ’worin o nomad othra, perhaps meaning “✱he made everyone aware of your sinking” (PE13/128 and note #76).

In the Early Noldorin Dictionary, also from the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. cara- “to make, do, perform, act (trans. and absolute)” with a new past form agor (PE13/161). Hints of the verb N. car- can be found in The Etymologies of the 1930s in words like N. ceredir “doer, maker” and N. osgar “cut round, amputate” (Ety/DER, OS). The verb appeared regularly in conjugation charts and sentences Tolkien’s later writings of the 1950s and 60s (VT50/22; PE17/132).

er

adjective. one, alone

The Sindarin word for “one” used when discussing a single isolated thing (PE17/95; VT42/25; VT48/6), such as Erchamion “One-handed”. Contrast this with min “one” used when counting.

Conceptual Development: This word was very well established, with G. er “one” appearing all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s already associated with “lonely” words like G. ereg “alone” and G. erwed “unique” (GL/32).

gir-

verb. to shudder

The Noldorin-style infinitive form giri “shudder” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under from the root ᴹ√GIR “quiver, shudder” (Ety/GIR). Tolkien’s continued use of the noun girith “shudder” in names like Nen Girith “Shuddering Water” (S/220; WJ/151) implies that gir- “shudder” remained valid in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s as well.

i

article. the

@@@ enclytic Dagor-nuin-Giliath vs. Dagor-nui-Ngiliath

ir

conjunction. (?) when

This word is not translated. It could be related to Quenya íre "when". Some scholars also consider that it could be the form taken by the article i before a vowel, on a pattern similar to ah . To this respect, it might be interesting to note the ir was the allative/dative form of the article in the old Gnomish lexicon, PE/11:9

ir

conjunction. ?when, while

ir ithil ammen eruchín

*when the Moon, for us, the Children of God

The first phrase of Lúthien’s Song (LB/354). Three translations of this phrase are:

• Patrick Wynne: “✱When the Moon, for us, the Children of Eru” (NTTLS/11)

• David Salo: “✱The Moon, [having watched] for us, the Children of Eru” (GS/211)

• Bertrand Bellet and Benjamin Babut: “✱When the Moon ... for us, Children of the One” (GTLC)

The first word ir is the most controversial in the poem. Wynne suggested that it might be a cognate of ᴹQ. íre “when” appearing in Fíriel’s Song from the 1930s (LR/72), but Salo suggested that it might be a variant form of the definite article i used before another i to avoid repetition (GS/211). In support of Salo, the form ir appeared as definite article in the Túrin Wrapper: ir Ellath “✱the Elves” (VT50/23), but elsewhere in the wrapper this was written in Ellath, and so ir there may only have been a slip. Furthermore, proper names like Ithil don’t generally need a definite article, as pointed out by Carl Hostetter (VT50/23, note #36). Absent further evidence, I am inclined to agree with Wynne in this case, but even this is quite speculative, since nearly two decades separate the poems.

The rest of the phrase is straightforward. The second word is Ithil “Moon”. The third word is ammen “for us”, the preposition an “for” assimilated to the pronoun men “us”. The last word is Eruchîn “Children of God”, appearing elsewhere as Eruhîn (Let/345, MR/330).

sí il chem en i naugrim en ir ellath thor den ammen

*now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) to us

io

conjunction. when

A neologism coined by Röandil as io “when” posted on 2024-03-19 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), the Sindarin equivalent of Q. yá “when”. In stressed positions, this conjunction might remain iaw. Both of these forms conflict with existing Noldorin words: [N.] io “ago” and [N.] iau “corn”, but that doesn’t preclude their use.

ir

when

?ir (not used in questions but to indicate time, as in ”when I saw you, I was glad”). This is one of several possible interpretations of the word, which occurs in a Sindarin poem untranslated by Tolkien (ir Isil ammen Eruchín…síla, ?”when the Moon shines for us Children of Eru…”, The Lays of Beleriand p. 354). By another interpretation, ir is simply a variant of the definite article.(relative pronoun), see THAT

ir

when

(not used in questions but to indicate time, as in ”when

ir

i

is simply a variant of the definite article.