A word variously glossed “void, abyss” (Let/383), “chasm, pit” (PE17/35), or “gulf” (Ety/YAG), it was the final element in the name S. Moria “Black Chasm, Black Pit”. It was a derivative of the root √YAG, and in The Etymologies of the 1930s its primitive form was given as ᴹ✶yagu- (Ety/YAG), in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s its primitive form was ᴹ✶yagō (RS/437), while in a 1967 letter its primitive form was ✶yagā (Let/383).
Sindarin
iâ
noun. gulf
iâ
noun. abyss, void
iâ
chasm
iâ
noun. chasm, pit; void, abyss, chasm, pit; void, abyss; [N.] gulf
Derivations
Element in
- S. Moria “Black Chasm, Black Pit” ✧ Let/383; PE17/035; SA/iâ
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶yagā > iâ [jagā] > [jaga] > [jaɣa] > [jā] ✧ Let/383 √YAG > iâ [jagā] > [jaga] > [jaɣa] > [jā] ✧ PE17/035
ia
iâ
The word is a descendant form of yagā, deriving from the root YAG.
iâ
gulf
1) iâ (chasm, void, abyss), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383), 2) iaw (cleft, ravine), pl. ioe. Note: a homophone means ”corn”.
iâ
gulf
(chasm, void, abyss), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
iâ
chasm
iâ (gulf, void, abyss), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
iâ
chasm
(gulf, void, abyss), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
iâ
void
(chasm, gulf, abyss), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
iâ
abyss
iâ (chasm, void, gulf), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
iâ
abyss
(chasm, void, gulf), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
iaw
gulf
(cleft, ravine), pl. ioe. Note: a homophone means ”corn”.
gaw
void
(noun) 1) gaw (i **aw), pl. goe (i ngoe = i ñoe), 2) (noun, "the Void" beyond the world) Gast (i **Ast if the word can occur with article and is not counted as a proper name), 3) iâ (chasm, gulf, abyss), pl. iai (LR:400, RS:437, Letters:383)
gaw
void
(i ’aw), pl. goe (i ngoe = i ñoe)
cofn
void
(adjective) cofn (empty), lenited gofn, pl. cyfn
cofn
void
(empty), lenited gofn, pl. cyfn
dath
abyss
dath (i dhath) (hole, pit, steep fall), pl. daith (i naith) (VT45:8)
dath
abyss
(i dhath) (hole, pit, steep fall), pl. daith (i naith) (VT45:8)
gast
void
(i ’Ast if the word can occur with article and is not counted as a proper name)
_ n. _chasm, pit. >> Moria