can-

cardinal. four

can- (1) (prefix)("k") "four" (KÁNAT)

canta

cardinal. four

canta (1) ("k") cardinal "four" (KÁNAT, VT42:24, VT48:6). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, this word was cited with a final hyphen (as if it were a verb), but the hyphen does not actually appear in Tolkien's manuscript (VT45:19). Ordinal cantëa ("k") "fourth" (VT42:25) Compare cantil.

canta

cardinal. four

Cognates

• S. canad “four” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06
• T. canat “four” ✧ VT42/24; VT48/06

Derivations

• ✶kanatā “four” ✧ VT42/24
  • √KANAT “four”

Element in

• Q. ca(na)sta “one fourth, one fourth, *quarter”
• ᴺQ. canquain “forty”
• ᴺQ. canaquain “forty”
• ᴺQ. canaquëan “forty”
• ᴺQ. cantallumë “four times”
• ᴺQ. cantalya “four-legged, quadruped, (lit.) four-footed”
• Q. cantëa “fourth”
• ᴺQ. cantil “quadrangle, *quadrilateral, rectangle, square”
• Q. lepecan “fourth finger”
• Q. cantil “fourth finger”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶kanatā > kanta	[kanatā] > [kantā] > [kanta]	✧ VT42/24

Variations

• can-ta ✧ PE17/095
• kanta ✧ VT42/24; VT48/06

canad

cardinal. four

canad

cardinal. four

Cognates

• Q. canta “four” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06
• T. canat “four” ✧ VT42/24; VT47/41

Derivations

• ✶kanatā “four” ✧ VT42/24
  • √KANAT “four”
• √KANAT “four” ✧ VT47/41

Element in

• ᴺS. canthil “square”
• S. canthui “fourth” ✧ VT42/25

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶kanata > canad	[kanata] > [kanat] > [kanad]	✧ VT42/24
√KENET > cened	[kenet] > [kened]	✧ VT47/41

Variations

• can(ad ✧ PE17/095
• cened ✧ VT47/41

cened

ordinal. four

canad

cardinal. four

canad;

canad

four

;

canath

fourth part

(i ganath, o chanath) (farthing), pl. cenaith (i chenaith). As coin, the fourth part of the more valuable coin called mirian. (PM:45)

cannui

fourth

. The reading in VT42:25  is "canthui", but the phonology presupposed in LotR would require ✱cannui. David Salo regards "canthui" as a dialectal form.

canat

cardinal. four

Cognates

• Q. canta “four” ✧ VT42/24; VT48/06
• S. canad “four” ✧ VT42/24; VT47/41

Derivations

• ✶kanatā “four” ✧ VT42/24
  • √KANAT “four”
• √KANAT “four” ✧ VT47/41

Variations

• cenet ✧ VT47/41

kan-

verb. to hold

A verb translated “hold”, given by Tolkien as an example of a biconsonantal-verb (SD/439). There is unfortunately no information on how it might be conjugated.

Variations

• kan ✧ SD/439

kan

root. cry aloud; (Q. only) command; lead, rule, cry aloud; (Q. only) command; lead, rule; [ᴹ√] dare

The root √KAN was used to explain the Sindarin element -gon in names like S. Fingon and Turgon. For this function, it was introduced in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√KAN “dare” with derivatives like N. cann “bold” and ᴹQ. káne/N. caun “valour”, the latter becoming -gon in names (Ety/KAN).

It appeared again in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 with the gloss {“govern, manage” >>} “lead” (PE17/113), but in this document it was ultimately replaced by √KON which could serve as the basis for both -gon in Fingon/Turgon as well -gond [<< -gund] in the name Felegond [<< Felagund] (PE17/118). This √KON (and Felegond) seems to have been transient, and the root √KAN reappeared with the sense “ruler” in a 1967 notes on the derivation of Q. Incánus “Mind Master”, where Tolkien again mentioned in passing its use in deriving -gon in Fingon/Turgon (UT/400).

A new interpretation for this root appeared in The Shibboleth of Fëanor written in 1968. Tolkien there stated that √KAN originally meant “cry, call aloud”, and was used only for this purpose in Sindarin (PM/361-362, note #36). In Quenya, however, it shifted to primarily have the sense “command” which served as the basis for Q. cáno “commander, chief” as an element in the names Q. Findecáno and Q. Turucáno (PM/345). These were adapted phonetically into Sindarin as Fingon/Turgon, and the suffix -gon was perhaps interpreted as “-lord” in other names, such as Felagon “Fair-minded Lord”: a Sindarization of Felagund which in 1959 notes had been redefined as a loan word from Khuzdul (PM/352).

Thus, while √KAN was generally the basis for -gon, it went through many different interpretations in Tolkien’s life: 1930s “dare” >> 1957 “lead” >> 1967 “ruler” >> 1968 “cry, call aloud” with the Quenya-only sense “command”. This conceptual evolution makes a hash of other derivatives of the root, particularly those appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s which have mainly to do with boldness and daring. √KAN is also one of the better candidates for the derivation of S. caun “prince”, but that’s incompatible with the 1968 notion that the root meant only “cry, call aloud” in Sindarin, and indeed those notes gave another meaning to caun: “outcry, clamour” (PM/362).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think the 1930s derivatives from ᴹ√KAN “dare” are probably best avoided, and using derivatives of ᴹ√BER “valiant” is preferable.

Changes

• KAN → KAN “govern, manage” ✧ PE17/113

Derivatives

• ✶kānā “outcry, clamour” ✧ PM/361
  • S. caun “outcry, clamour” ✧ PM/362
• ✶kānō “leader, ruler; crier, herald” ✧ PE17/113; PM/361
  • Q. cáno “commander, chief(tain), ruler, governor; †crier, herald” ✧ PM/362
  • S. -gon “lord, prince, lord, prince; [N.] valour” ✧ PM/352
  • T. cáno “herald” ✧ PM/362
• ᴺQ. cacanna- “to announce repeatedly, herald, propagate, advertise”
• ᴺQ. can- “to claim, demand (when applied to things)”
• Q. cáno “commander, chief(tain), ruler, governor; †crier, herald” ✧ UT/400
• Q. canta- “?”
• Q. canwa “announcement, order” ✧ PM/361
• Q. canya- “?to command” ✧ PE17/113
• S. can- “to cry out, shout, call” ✧ PM/361
• T. can- “to cry aloud, call; to summon or name a person” ✧ PM/361

Element in

• Q. Incánus “Mind Master(ship)” ✧ UT/400

Variations

• kan- ✧ UT/400

kanat

root. four

This root was established as the basis for “four” very early, though the earliest known Elvish word for “four” was actually ᴱQ. nelde from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/65), which became “three” later on (PE14/49). In the Gnomish Lexicon written soon after, the Gnomish word for “four” was G. cant (GL/25), and by the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, the Qenya word likewise became ᴱQ. kanta “four” (PE14/49, 82). The Quenya word kept this form thereafter, and the Noldorin form became N. canad in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where the root ᴹ√KANAT “four” explicitly appeared for the first time (Ety/KÁNAT). The words and root for “four” remained the same thereafter (VT42/24-26; VT47/15-16; VT48/10), with occasional minor (and transient) variations such as √KENET (VT47/41).

Derivatives

• ✶kanakwe “*14”
  • ᴺQ. canquë “*fourteen”
  • ᴺQ. canaquë “*fourteen”
• ✶kanatā “four”
  • Q. canta “four” ✧ VT42/24
  • S. canad “four” ✧ VT42/24
  • T. canat “four” ✧ VT42/24
• ᴺS. canab “fourteen”
• S. canad “four” ✧ VT47/41
• S. canath “quarter”
• T. canat “four” ✧ VT47/41

Element in

• ᴺS. caphaen “forty”
• ᴺS. paegan “fourteen”

Variations

• kan-at ✧ VT42/24; VT47/12; VT47/15; VT48/10
• KAN ✧ VT42/26
• kanat ✧ VT47/16; VT47/16
• KENET ✧ VT47/41

kanatā

cardinal. four

Derivations

• √KANAT “four”

Derivatives

• Q. canta “four” ✧ VT42/24
• S. canad “four” ✧ VT42/24
• T. canat “four” ✧ VT42/24

Element in

• ✶galadā kanta “4 trees” ✧ PE21/74

Variations

• kanta ✧ PE21/74
• kanata ✧ VT42/24

canad

cardinal. four

canad

cardinal. four

Changes

• canath → canad ✧ Ety/KÁNAT

Cognates

• ᴹQ. kanta “four” ✧ Ety/KÁNAT

Derivations

• ᴹ√KANAT “four” ✧ Ety/KÁNAT

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KÁNAT > canad	[kanata] > [kanat] > [kanad]	✧ Ety/KÁNAT

Variations

• canath ✧ EtyAC/NEL (canath)

canath

cardinal. four