nan-

prefix. back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards

Changes

• nan- → nan- “back or again” ✧ PE17/166

Cognates

• S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166

Derivations

• ✶ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
  • √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166
• √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166

Element in

• ᴺQ. nanhanquet- “to answer back”
• ᴺQ. nanquet- “to answer”
• ᴺQ. nallamya- “to echo, sound back, reverberate”
• ᴺQ. nampaitya- “to pay back”
• ᴺQ. nananta- “to give back, *return [something]”
• ᴺQ. nancal- “to reflect, (lit.) shine back”
• ᴺQ. nancam- “to receive back”
• Q. nancar- “to undo, to undo, *destroy” ✧ PE17/166
• ᴺQ. nancarpa- “to talk back”
• ᴺQ. nangwesa “answer”
• ᴺQ. nanhalya- “to unveil, reveal”
• ᴺQ. nanhat- “to cast back, reflect”
• ᴺQ. nannem- “to disappear”
• ᴺQ. nanquer- “to turn back, turn around”
• Q. nanquer- “*to turn back”
• ᴺQ. nanquet- “to talk back, speak against”
• ᴺQ. nantar- “to stand back”
• Q. nanwen- “to return, go/come back” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
• ᴺQ. nanwenta- “to send back”
• ᴺQ. nanwera “ransom”
• ᴺQ. nanwerë “ransom”
• Q. nattir- “to look back” ✧ PE17/166 (nattire)

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶nana-/ndan- > nan-	[ndan-] > [nan-]	✧ PE17/166
√NDĀ̆ > nan-	[ndan-] > [nan-]	✧ PE17/166

Variations

• nat ✧ PE17/166 (nat)

dan-

prefix. nan-

_ pref. _Q. nan-. >> damen, dangar

dan

back to

_ adv. _back to, back (in return) against, down upon, back on. naur dan i-ngaurhoth! #'fire back against the werewolves'.

dan

preposition. back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again

seems to cause mixed mutation: dandol- and dambeth-

Cognates

• Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166

Derivations

• ✶ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
  • √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166
• √(N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166

Element in

• ᴺS. dadhra- “to face, oppose, stand in way; to resist, thwart”
• ᴺS. dadhren “opposing, facing, opposite”
• ᴺS. dadhren- “to forget”
• ᴺS. dambed- “to answer”
• S. dadwen- “to return, go back” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
• ᴺS. dananna- “to give back, return [something]”
• S. dandol- “to return, come back” ✧ PE17/166
• S. Danedhel “*Nando”
• S. dangar- “to undo” ✧ PE17/166
• S. dangweth “answer, *(lit.) back-report” ✧ PM/395
• S. danbeth “*answer, (lit.) back-word”
• S. dannen “ebb, lowtide”
• S. Danwaith
• S. danwedh “ransom”
• S. naur dan i ngaurhoth “*fire against the wolf-horde” ✧ LotR/0299; PE17/038
• S. 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” ✧ VT50/23

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶nana-/ndan- > dan-	[ndan-] > [dan-]	✧ PE17/166
√NDĀ̆ > dan/dad-	[ndan-] > [dan-]	✧ PE17/166

Variations

• den ✧ VT50/23

(n)dan

root. back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert

The most notable use of the root √(N)DAN “back(wards)” was in the name Q. Nandor for those Elves who joined in the march to Valinor but turned back during the journey (VT48/32); the same root was an element in the earlier name for the Nandor from the 1930s, the Danas (Ety/NDAN). The root first appeared as ᴹ√NDAN “back” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like the aforementioned Danas as well as the prefix ᴹQ. nan- “backwards” and the Doriathrin noun dôn “back” (Ety/NDAN). The Etymologies also mentioned an unstrengthened form of the root ᴹ√DAN (Ety/DAN).

The root √(N)DAN appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings. It appeared among a list of roots having to do with “back” probably composed around 1959 (PE17/166). In this list, Tolkien clarified that in Quenya, √NDAN specifically meant “back” as an action by the same agent revising a previous action, as opposed to an action by a different agent, for which Tolkien coined the root {√TŌ/OTO >>} √KHAN; the example Tolkien gave was Q. nanwen-/S. dadwen- “return, go back [by same agent]” < √NDAN vs. {{Q. tóquet- >>} Q. hanquenta “answer [by a different agent]”. This distinction was lost in Sindarin, however, and √NDAN came to be used for both same and differing agents. Tolkien also said that √NDAN could be used “of return (in same path), retracing, and so employable as un- as in undo”.

The root was mentioned again in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, where Tolkien said:

> The name Nandor was a derivative of the element ✱dan, ✱ndan- indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in “undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return)”. The original word ✱ndandō, therefore, probably only implied “one who goes back on his word or decision”.

Finally, the root appeared in some notes from the late 1960s where √dan- was glossed “retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” serving as the basis for {✶danmi >>} ✶ndanmē > Q. nanwë/S. dannen “ebb-tide”, apparently originally meaning “retreat” (VT48/26 author’s note #2, VT48/32 editor’s note #18). In the same document Tolkien again mentioned the connection of this root to the name of the Nandor.

Derivatives

• ✶ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
  • Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ PE17/166
  • S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166
• ✶ndandō “one who goes back on his word or decision” ✧ WJ/412
  • Q. Nandor “Silvan Elves, (lit.) Those who go back” ✧ WJ/412
  • S. Dân “*Green-elf” ✧ PE17/140; PE17/140
• ✶ndanmē “retreat; ebb, lowtide” ✧ VT48/32
  • Q. nanwë “ebb, lowtide” ✧ VT48/26; VT48/32
  • T. dammë “ebb, lowtide” ✧ VT48/26
• Q. nan- “back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards” ✧ PE17/166
• Q. nanda “?back” ✧ PE17/166
• Q. Nandor “Silvan Elves, (lit.) Those who go back” ✧ VT48/32
• S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166

Variations

• NDĀ̆ ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
• NDAN ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166; PE17/166
• NDANA/NDATA ✧ PE17/167
• dan- ✧ VT48/32
• dan/ndan- ✧ WJ/412