hen

root. again; middle

This root and its extensions √HENET and (deleted) √HENED appeared in notes from 1968 as a way to better distinguish the roots for √EN “again” and √ENED “middle”; Tolkien alternately explored assigning both these meanings to √HEN(ET) instead, leaving √EN(ED) with the other meaning (VT41/16). Since the resulting forms in Quenya had no initial h-, this must have been in a period where Tolkien felt ancient voiceless velar spirants vanished in Quenya. These roots are problematic within the larger framework of Tolkien’s languages, and were most likely transient ideas.

Element in

• √HENET “middle” ✧ VT41/16
• Q. Endórë “Middle-earth, (lit.) Middle Land” ✧ VT41/16
• S. Ennor “Middle-earth” ✧ VT41/16
• T. Hendor “Middle-earth” ✧ VT41/16

Variations

• hen ✧ VT41/16

kholyē

noun. hen

Derivations

• √KHOL “crow, cry aloud” ✧ PE21/82

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. holyë “hen”
• ᴺS. huil “hen”
• ᴺS. hŷl “hen”

Variations

• kholjē ✧ PE21/82

korok

root. hen

porok

root. hen

An onomatopoeic root appearing in notes from the late 1960s with variants porok- and korok and the gloss “hen” (VT47/36). It seems to be a restoration of the form ᴱQ. poroke “barn fowl” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/75) with Gnomish cognate G. porog “fowl (domestic)” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/64). ᴱQ. poroke “hen” reappeared in Qenya Word-lists from the 1920s (PE16/132), and primitive ✶porokĭ “fowl” and ✶porokē “hen” appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s (PE21/82). Thus this root seems to be a pretty enduring notion.

Derivatives

• ✶porokē “hen”
  • ᴺQ. porocë “hen, barn fowl, *chicken”
• ✶poroki “fowl”
  • ᴺS. porog “fowl (domestic), *chicken”
• ᴺS. prôg “fowl, hen”

Variations

• porok ✧ VT47/36
• korok ✧ VT47/36

porokē

noun. hen

Derivations

• √POROK “hen”

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. porocë “hen, barn fowl, *chicken”

sin

root. this

si

root. this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now

Tolkien used √SI as the basis for “near demonstratives” like “here” and “now” from very early in his writings on Elvish. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had two competing roots ᴱ√HYA “this by us” with derivatives like ᴱQ. hyá “here by us” (QL/41) and ᴱ√KI “this by me” with derivative ᴱQ. tyá (< ᴱ✶kı̯-ā) “now” (QL/41, 49). Indications of the latter can be seen words in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. cî {“now” >>} “here” and G. cîrin “present (place or time), modern” [gloss deleted] (GL/26). However, Tolkien also introduced a new root ᴱ√si(n) “this here by me” with derivatives like G. sî “here” and G. sith “hither” (GL/68). Revisions of Gnomish ci- word glosses indicate Tolkien was vacillating on which forms were temporal and which were spatial.

In The Etymologies Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√SI “this, here, now” with derivatives like ᴹQ. sí or sin “now” and ᴹQ. sinya/N. sein “new” (Ety/SI). The root √SI was mentioned a couple times in Tolkien’s later writings, usually glossed “this” (PE17/67; VT48/25; VT49/18) and in one place with the variant √SIN (PE17/67). This root was not entirely without competition in Tolkien’s later notes, however: in one place he gave primitive ✶khĭn- as the possible basis for Q. hí “here” and S. hí “now” in 1968 notes on demonstratives, though it appeared beside primitive ✶si- forms (VT49/34 note #21).

Derivatives

• ✶sī “this (by me), now or here” ✧ PE17/067
  • Q. sí “now” ✧ PE17/067; VT49/18
  • S. sí “here, in this place (of speaker)” ✧ PE17/067
• Q. si “this”
• Q. sië “thus”
• Q. sin “*thus”
• ᴺS. se “this”
• ᴺS. sin “these”

Element in

• ✶kenásĭta “if it be so, may be, perhaps”
• Q. sinomë “here, (lit.) in this place” ✧ PE17/067
• ᴺS. sî “yet, hither(to), hereto”
• S. sír “*today, this day”

Variations

• SĬ/SĬN ✧ PE17/067; PE17/184
• SI ✧ VT48/25

sĭnā

adjective. this

Derivatives

• Q. sina “this” ✧ VT49/18
• S. sen “this” ✧ PE17/044; VT49/34

Variations

• sĭna ✧ PE17/044

poroki

noun. fowl

Derivations

• √POROK “hen”

Derivatives

• ᴺS. porog “fowl (domestic), *chicken”

Variations

• porokĭ ✧ PE21/82