quén

one, (some)body, person, individual, man or woman

quén (quen-, as in pl. queni; as final element in compounds -quen) noun "one, (some)body, person, individual, man or woman", pl. queni = "persons", "(some) people", "they" with the most general meaning (as in "they [= people in general] say that..."). The element is combined with noun and adjective stems in old compounds to denote habitual occupations or functions, or to describe those having some notable (permanent) quality; examples include roquen, ciryaquen, arquen, q.v. Also in aiquen "whoever", ilquen "everybody" (WJ:361 cf. 360, 372).

er

one, alone

er cardinal "one, alone" (ERE, VT48:6, VT49:54), in an early source also adv. "only, but, still" (LT1:269); Eru er "one God" (VT44:17; er was here emended by Tolkien from erëa, which seems to be an adjectival form *"one, single".)

a

cardinal. one

erëa

cardinal. one

erëa adj.? "one" or *"single", apparently an adjectival form (see er) (VT44:17)

min

cardinal. one

min numeral "one", also minë (VT45:34, VT48:6)

min

cardinal. one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first

Cognates

• S. min “one, one, [G.] single” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06
• T. min “one” ✧ VT48/06

Derivations

• ✶min “one”
  • √MIN “one, first of a series, one, first of a series; [ᴹ√] stand alone, stick out”

Element in

• ᴺQ. millumë “once, one time”
• ᴺQ. mindórë “million”
• Q. minya “first; eminent, prominent”

minë

cardinal. one

minë numeral "one", also min (MINI, VT45:34)

mir

cardinal. one

mir (2) cardinal "one" (LT1:260; in LotR-style Quenya rather minë)

ecca

hole

ecca ("k")noun "hole", apparently associated with Sindarin torech "secret hole, lair" (PE17:188)

unquë

hole, hollow

unquë noun "hole, hollow" (VT46:20, UNUK), also name of tengwa #16 _(Appendix E; there spelt unque, while the Etymologies has unqe)_

latta

hole, pit

latta (1) noun "hole, pit" (DAT/DANT, VT45:8)

assa

hole, perforation, opening, mouth

assa "hole, perforation, opening, mouth" (GAS)

mo

one, someone, anyone

mo, indefinite pronoun "one, someone, anyone" (VT42:34, VT49:19, 20, 26)

den

preposition. ?against

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

pen

pronoun. one, somebody, anybody

Usually enclitic and mutated as ben.2

ten

pronoun. *it, passive voice marker

Element in

• S. caro den i innas lin “thy will be done” ✧ VT44/25

ed

pronoun. *it

Element in

• S. i glinn hen agorer Edain mi Velerian, ach hí in Ellath îr ed epholar “*this song Men made in Beleriand, but now the Elves alone (?remember) it” ✧ VT50/15; VT50/15; VT50/15

Variations

• ed ✧ VT50/15

min

fraction. one (first of a series)

min

cardinal. one, one, [G.] single

Cognates

• Q. min “one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06

Element in

• S. Miniel “Vanyar”
• S. minlamad “?alliteration, (lit.) first-echoing”
• S. minui “first” ✧ VT42/25
• S. minuial “(dawn) twilight”

Variations

• min ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06
• mîn ✧ VT42/25

fela

noun. mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den, mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den; [N.] cave

A word for “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, but also explained in notes from 1969 as “minor excavations made by wild animals as dens or lairs” (NM/304). It was derived from primitive ✶phelgā (NM/304; PE17/118; Ety/PHÉLEG), and the final a in this word is the result of ancient ʒ (from g) become a when word-final after another consonant.

Abnormal Plural: This word has an abnormal plural form fili (NM/304; Ety/PHÉLEG): see the section on “Final a from ancient g” in the discussion of unusual plurals for more details.

Conceptual Development: This word was tied to the name of Felagund since its introduction in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. fela “cave” was derived from ON. phelga under the root ᴹ√PHELEG of the same meaning, already with the abnormal plural fili noted above (Ety/PHÉLEG). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, Tolkien again had S. fela from ✶phelgā, but there the gloss was “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]” (PE17/118). In this note Tolkien considered instead S. feleg “cave, mine, underground dwelling” as the basis for the name Felagund, derived instead from √PHELEK (PE17/118).

In a note from 1959, Tolkien gave a completely different etymology of Felagund as a loan word from Khuzdul Felakgundu “Cave Hewer” (PM/352), and this was the etymology Christopher Tolkien gave in The Silmarillion index (SI/Felagund). In a note from 1969, however, Tolkien said instead that Felagund was a nickname meaning “den-dweller” (also used for badgers), and its initial element fela was again derived from ✶phelga or philga (NM/304), with a meaning as follows:

> It was used of minor excavations made by wild animals as dens or lairs, and also as temporary dwellings by wandering folk, Dwarvish or Elvish; it was usually distinguished from the larger caves of geological formation used and extended by stone-workers. It was thus naturally used of the “setts” of badgers (which seem to have existed in great numbers in parts of Beleriand).

In this 1969 note Tolkien again mentioned its abnormal plural fili < ✶phelgai.

Neo-Sindarin: Of the various meanings for this name, I prefer its 1957 sense “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling”; its 1969 use for “den” (and felagund = “badger”) conflicts with the etymology of Felagund’s published in The Silmarillion. For “cave” I would use groth as in Menegroth “Thousand Caves” or feleg as a loan word from Khuzdul, and for “den” I would use torech as in Torech Ungol “Shelob’s Lair”.

Cognates

• Q. felya “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling], mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; [ᴹQ.] cave” ✧ PE17/118

Derivations

• ✶phelgā “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]; minor excavations, temporary dwellings” ✧ NM/304; NM/304; PE17/118
  • √PHELEG “excavation, excavation; [ᴹ√] cave” ✧ NM/304; PE17/118

Element in

• S. felagund “den-dweller; brock, badger” ✧ NM/304
• S. Felagund “Lord of Caves; Hewer of Caves; Den Dweller” ✧ NM/304

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶phelga > fela	[pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ NM/304
✶phelgai > felʒi > fili	[pʰelgai] > [pʰelgī] > [pʰelgi] > [ɸelgi] > [ɸelɣi] > [felɣi] > [filɣi] > [filī] > [fili]	✧ NM/304
✶phelgā > fela	[pʰelgā] > [pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ PE17/118

mîn

fraction. one (first of a series)

pen

cardinal. one

(indefinite pronoun) (= somebody, anybody) pen (WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lords Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean *”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of *ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.

pen

one

(WJ:376); lenited ben. According to one interpretation of the phrase caro den i innas lín from the Sindarin Lord’s Prayer (VT44:23), this could mean ✱”let one do your will”, with den (perhaps a lenited form of ✱ten) as the indefinite pronoun ”one”. However, others interpret den as the accusative form of the pronoun ”it”: ”Do it [, that is:] your will”.

eru

the one

isolated from

min

cardinal. one

1) (number ”one” as the first in a series) min, mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”. 2) (number) êr, whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone); 3)

min

one

mîn (VT48:6), Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the adjective ”isolated, first, towering”.

êr

one

whence the adjectival prefix er- (alone, lone)

dath

hole

1) dath (i dhath) (pit, steep fall, abyss), pl. daith (i naith) (VT45:8), 2) gass (i **ass, construct gas) (gap), pl. gais (i ngais** = i ñais), 3)

dath

hole

(i dhath) (pit, steep fall, abyss), pl. daith (i naith) (VT45:8)

gass

hole

(i ’ass, construct gas) (gap), pl. gais (i ngais = i ñais)

tess

fine pierced hole

(i dess, construct tes), pl. tiss (i thiss). Archaic ters *(VT46:18)*****

torech

hole

torech (i dorech, o thorech) (lair, excavation), pl. terich (i therich) for archaic törich.

torech

hole

(i dorech, o thorech) (lair, excavation), pl. terich (i therich) for archaic törich.

er

cardinal. one

Cognates

• Q. er “one, alone, one, alone; [ᴱQ.] only, a single” ✧ VT48/06

min

cardinal. one

Cognates

• Q. min “one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first” ✧ VT48/06

ash

cardinal. one

Element in

• Bs. ash nazg durbatulûk “one ring to rule them all” ✧ LotR/0254; PE17/011
• Bs. ash nazg gimbatul “one ring to find them” ✧ LotR/0254; PE17/011
• Bs. ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul “one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them” ✧ LotR/0254; PE17/011

ash

cardinal. one

a

pronoun. *it

A pronominal prefix, most likely the neuter singular pronoun “it”, appearing in the word ayadda “[it] went” in the sentence adûn izindi batân tâidô ayadda “the road west [it] once went straight” (SD/247). See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

Variations

• a- ✧ SD/247

imin

masculine name. One

Element in

• Q. Imillië “Company of Imin”

min

cardinal. one

Derivations

• √MIN “one, first of a series, one, first of a series; [ᴹ√] stand alone, stick out”

Derivatives

• Q. min “one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first”

Element in

• ✶Imin “One” ✧ WJ/421
• ✶Iminye ✧ WJ/421

Variations

• Min ✧ NM/060

ekka

noun. hole

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. ecca “hole, *lair”

Element in

• S. torech “lair, (secret) hole, excavation” ✧ PE17/188

min

fraction. one (first of a series)

min

cardinal. one

Cognates

• ᴹQ. min “one” ✧ Ety/MINI

Derivations

• ᴹ√MIN “stand alone, stick out” ✧ Ety/MINI

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MINI > min	[mini] > [mine] > [min]	✧ Ety/MINI

dath

noun. hole, pit, steep fall, abyss

ters

noun. (fine pierced) hole

tess

noun. (fine pierced) hole

torech

noun. hole, excavation, lair

gas

noun. hole, gap