dîn

noun. silence; silent, quiet

A word for “silence” appearing in names like Amon Dîn “Silent Hill, (lit.) ✱Hill of Silence” (LotR/747; PE17/95) and Taur-na-Chardhîn “Forest of Southern Silence” (WJ/185). As originally conceived, it was probably based on an (unattested) root ✱√DIN as indicated by ᴹQ. lína- “be silent” from the late 1940s (PE23/76 note #19).

Conceptual Development: Tolkien’s use of this noun and its associated adjective dínen “silent” was inconsistent. The adjective should have been mutated in names like Rath Dínen “Silent Street”, but it remained unchanged (LotR/826). This may reflect Tolkien’s original reluctance to use dh in names while writing The Lord of the Rings. To reconcile these inconsistencies, Tolkien said in his Unfinished Index to The Lord of the Rings that the proper form of these words was tîn and tínen and both of these were adjectives meaning “silent” or “quiet” (RC/551).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would stick to noun dîn “silence” and adjective dínen “silent” to avoid conflicts with √TIN “spark”.

dîn

noun. silence

Adjectival use seems to be attested in several place names (Amon Dín "Silent Hill", etc.), though an adjective dínen.1 is also attested (Rath Dínen "Silent Street"). When compared with other toponyms where lenition does occur (Taur-na-Chardhîn "Forest of the Southern Silence" in WJ/185,193 and Dor Dhínen in WJ/333,338), the forms dîn and dínen clearly seem to be unmutated. Absence of lenition in these examples from LotR was therefore tentatively explained by resistance to mutation (as in Nan Tathren, Ered Mithrin). However, Tolkien apparently changed his mind in his unfinished index of names from LotR, where he explains both words as mutated adjectives whose unlenited forms are respectively tîn.2
and tínen . Such hesitations between mutated and unmutated forms is not unusual, for instance a similar issue is met with gaear and aear . Of course, Taur-na-Chardhîn and Dor Dhínen would hardly be explainable in that alternate scenario

dîn

noun. silence

_ n. _silence. >> Amon Dîn, dínen

în

adjective. his (referring to the subject)

tîn

pronoun. his

Non-lenited form suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT31/21).

tîn

adjective. his

dîn

mountain pass

dîn (i dhîn) (opening, gap), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath. Note: a homophone means ”silence”.

dîn

mountain pass

dîn (i dhîn) (opening, gap), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath. Note: a homophone means ”silence”.

dîn

gap

1) dîn (i dhîn) (opening, mountain pass), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath. Note: a homophone means ”silence”. 2) gass (i **ass, construct gas) (hole), pl. gais (i ngais** = i ñais)

dîn

opening

dîn (i dhîn) (gap, mountain pass), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath. Note: a homophone means ”silence”.

dîn

mountain pass

(i dhîn) (opening, gap), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath.  Note: a homophone means ”silence”.

dîn

gap

(i dhîn) (opening,  mountain pass), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath. Note: a homophone means ”silence”.

dîn

opening

(i dhîn) (gap, mountain pass), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nîn); coll. pl. díniath. Note: a homophone means ”silence”.

ín

his

(pronoun referring to the subject, e.g. ✱i venn sunc i haw ín ”the man drank his [own] juice”, as opposed to ✱i venn sunc i haw dín ”the man drank his [= another’s] juice”)

glam

shouting

glam (i **lam) (din, uproar, confused yelling of beasts; tumult, confused noise; a body of Orcs), pl. glaim (in glaim), coll. pl. glammath**

-deid

suffix. his

_3rd sg. poss. suff. his, her.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ed_. >> -deith, -dyn, -ed, [[]]

-deith

suffix. his

_3rd sg. poss. suff. his, her.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ed_. >> -deid, -dyn, -ed, [[]]

-dyn

suffix. his

_3rd sg. poss. suff. his, her.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ed_. >> -deid, -deith, -ed, [[]]

gass

gap

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

tín

his

*tín (only attested in lenited form dín, following a noun with article). Possibly, the word also covers ”her(s)” and ”its” as a general 3rd person form. If ”his” refers to the same person as the subject, the form ín* is used instead (e.g. i venn sunc i haw ín** ”the man drank his (own) juice”, but *i venn sunc i haw dín ”the man drank his (somebody elses) juice”.

tín

his

(only attested in lenited form dín, following a noun with article). Possibly, the word also covers ”her(s)” and ”its” as a general 3rd person form. If ”his” refers to the same person as the subject, the form ín is used instead (e.g. ✱i venn sunc i haw ín ”the man drank his (own) juice”, but ✱i venn sunc i haw dín ”the man drank his (somebody else’s) juice”.

dîn

noun. opening, gap, pass in mountains

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “opening, gap, pass in mountains”, the only derivative of ᴹ√DEN “hole, gap, passage” (Ety/DEN). It was an element in the names N. Din-Dûhir and N. Din-Caradras, but neither of these names appeared in the narratives.

dîn

noun. opening, gap, pass in mountains

din Reconstructed

root. silence

A hypothetical root serving as the basis for Sindarin words like dîn “silence” and dínen “silent” (PE17/95, 98) and ᴹQ. lína- “be silent”. Tolkien’s use of the Sindarin words in The Lord of the Rings is rather inconsistent, reflecting shifting rules on the circumstances in which words mutated in Sindarin. In his Unfinished Index of The Lord of the Rings, he said these words were tîn and tínen (RC/551). Given the conflict this would have with the root √TIN “spark”, for purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is best to assume this root is √DIN.

yag

root. gap, gap; [ᴹ√] yawn, gape

This root appeared as ᴹ√YAG “yawn, gape” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. yáwe/N. iau “ravine, cleft, gulf” and N. ia “gulf”, the last of these the final element in N. Moria (Ety/YAG). The root √YAG was mentioned several times in Tolkien’s later writings, usually in connection to S. Moria (Let/383; PE17/35, 42). In one place it was given the gloss “gap” (PE17/42).

tin²

root. silence

-rya

his, her

-rya 3rd person sg. pronominal ending "his, her" and probably "its" (VT49:16, 38, 48, Nam, RGEO:67), attested in coivierya *"his/her life", máryat "her hands", ómaryo "of her voice" (genitive of *ómarya "her voice"), súmaryassë "in her bosom" (locative of súmarya "her bosom"); for the meaning "his" cf. coarya "his house" (WJ:369). The ending is descended from primitive ¤-sjā via -zya (VT49:17) and therefore connects with the 3rd person ending -s "he, she, it". In colloquial Quenya the ending -rya could be used for "their" rather than "his/her", because it was felt to be related to the plural ending -r,e.g. símaryassen "in their [not his/her] imaginations" (VT49:16, 17). See -ya #4.

-ya

his

-ya (4) pronominal suffix "his" (and probably also "her, its"), said to be used in "colloquial Quenya" (which had redefined the "correct" ending for this meaning, -rya, to mean "their" because it was associated with the plural ending -r). Hence e.g. cambeya ("k") "his hand", yulmaya "his cup" (VT49:17) instead of formally "correct" forms in -rya. The ending -ya was actually ancient, primitive ¤-jā being used for "all numbers" in the 3rd person, predating elaborated forms like -rya. It is said that -ya "remained in Quenya" in the case of "old nouns with consonantal stems", Tolkien listing tál "foot", cas "head", nér "man", sír "river" and macil "sword" as examples. He refers to "the continued existence of such forms as talya his foot", that could apparently be used even in "correct" Quenya (VT49:17). In PE17:130, the forms talya "his foot" and macilya ("k") "his (or their) sword" are mentioned.

-zya

his, her, its

-zya, archaic form of the pronominal ending -rya "his, her, its", q.v. (VT49:17)

fásë

gap, gulf

fásë noun "gap, gulf" (GL:36)

latya

opening

latya (1) noun "opening" (used as abstract in the source) (VT39:23). See sanwë-latya.

latya

noun. opening

An noun for “opening” appearing as an element in sanwë-latya “thought-opening” in the Ósanwe-kenta essay from 1959-60 (VT39/23). It is probably related to the verb latya- “open (so as to allow entry)”, perhaps an infinitive form.