dîr
noun.
man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix
man
pronoun.
(?) what?
man
pronoun.
*what, who
- Q. mana “what, what; [ᴹQ.] who”
- √MA “interrogative base, interrogative base; [ᴱ√] root of indef[inite]”
- ᴺS. amman “why, (lit.) for what”
- S. man agorech? “*and said Rían to Tuor: what have we done?” ✧ VT50/21
- ᴺS. mallú “when, (orig.) what time”
- ᴺS. neman “when, (lit.) during what”
- ᴺS. mivan “where, (lit.) in/at what”
- ᴺS. movan “how, (lit.) by means of what”
- ᴺS. naman “how, (lit.) with what”
- ᴺS. navan “where, whither, to where, (lit.) at/to what”
- ᴺS. oman “whence, from where, (lit.) from what”
- N. uvan “*noone, nobody”
adanath
noun.
men
maw
noun.
hand
maw
noun.
hand
- Q. má “hand” ✧ PE17/162; VT47/06
- T. má “hand” ✧ VT47/18
- √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ PE17/162
- ✶mā “hand” ✧ VT47/06
- ✶maha “hand, the manager” ✧ PE19/074; PE19/102; VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/35
- √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/18
- √MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
- √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp” ✧ PE21/70
- √MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
- √MAG “good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state, good (physically); to thrive, be in a good state; [ᴹ√] use, handle” ✧ VT47/18
- S. forvo “right hand, right side” ✧ VT47/06
- S. harvo “left hand, left side” ✧ VT47/06
- S. maed “handy, skillful, handy, skillful, [N.] skilled” ✧ VT47/06
- ᴺS. mawedh “glove”
- S. molif “wrist, (lit.) hand-link” ✧ VT47/06
Development | Stages | Sources |
---|
√MAƷ > maw | [mā] > [mǭ] > [mau] | ✧ PE17/162 |
✶mā > maw | [mā] > [mǭ] > [mau] | ✧ VT47/06 |
√mag > maw | [mā] > [mǭ] > [mau] | ✧ VT47/18 |
adan
noun.
man, one of the Second People (elvish name for men)
cam
noun.
hand
camm
noun.
hand
dôr
noun.
land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land
- Q. -ndor “land, country” ✧ SA/dôr
- ✶ndorē “land” ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr; WJ/413
- √NDOR “land; hard, firm; [ᴹ√] dwell, stay, rest, abide” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- √DOR “hard, tough, dried up, unyielding”
- √DOR “hard, tough, dried up, unyielding” ✧ WJ/413
Development | Stages | Sources |
---|
✶ndor > -dor | [-ndorē] > [-ndore] > [-ndor] > [-dor] | ✧ PE17/164 |
✶ndor > dôr | [ndorē] > [ndore] > [dore] > [dor] > [dōr] | ✧ SA/dôr |
✶ndorē > dôr | [ndorē] > [ndore] > [dore] > [dor] > [dōr] | ✧ WJ/413 |
✶ndorē > -ndor > -nor/-nnor | [-ndorē] > [-ndore] > [-ndor] > [-nnor] | ✧ WJ/413 |
- Dor ✧ Let/417; MR/200; PE17/133; S/121; S/188; SI/Doriath; UT/245; UTI/Doriath; WJ/192
- dor ✧ Let/427; RC/384
- -dor ✧ PE17/164
- Dôr ✧ WJ/370
mab-
noun.
a hand-full, complete hand (with all five fingers)
mâb
noun.
hand, hand, [N.] grasp
- Q. maqua “hand-full, group of five (similar) things; hand (colloquial); closing or closed [hand] (facing down) for taking” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/19; VT47/20
- ✶makwā “a hand-full, complete hand with all five fingers” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/19
- √MAK “cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); ️[√] forge metal; kill, slay” ✧ VT47/19
- √MAP “take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize” ✧ VT47/20
Development | Stages | Sources |
---|
✶makwā > mâb | [makwā] > [mapā] > [mapa] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] | ✧ VT47/06 |
✶makwā > mâb | [makwā] > [mapā] > [mapa] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] | ✧ VT47/07 |
✶makwā > mâb | [makwā] > [mapā] > [mapa] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] | ✧ VT47/19 |
√MAP > măpo > mâb | [mapo] > [map] > [mab] > [māb] | ✧ VT47/20 |
mâb
noun.
a hand-full, complete hand (with all five fingers)
echil
noun.
human being
abonnen
noun/adjective.
born later, born after
abonnen
noun/adjective.
man, one born later than the Elves, a human being (elvish name for men)
ai
pronoun.
for those who
aphadon
noun.
follower
aphadon
noun.
man (elvish name for men)
aphadon
noun.
follower
- S. Aphadon “Men, (lit.) Followers” ✧ WJ/387
Word | Gloss |
---|
aphad- | “to follow” |
-on | “masculine suffix” |
gwanwen
proper name.
Departed
- Gwanwel ✧ WJ/378; WJI/Gwanwen
gwanwen
adjective.
departed, departed, *gone, lost [to time], past
- √WĀ/AWA “away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago, away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago; [ᴹ√] forth, out”
Dúnadan
noun.
Man of the west, Númenórean
adanadar
noun.
man, one of the Fathers of Men
drúadan
noun.
wild man, one of the Woses
-dyn
suffix.
his
în
adjective.
his (referring to the subject)
hador
masculine name.
Warrior
tîn
adjective.
his
tîn
pronoun.
his
- S. ar Iorhael, Gelir, Cordof, ar Baravorn, ionnath dîn “and Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Hamfast his sons” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129
- S. ar Meril bess dîn, ar Elanor, Meril, Glorfinniel, ar Eirien sellath dîn “and Rose his wife; and Elanor, Rose, Goldilocks and Daisy his daughters” ✧ AotM/062; AotM/062; SD/129; SD/129
drû
noun.
wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man
aphadrim
noun.
followers, men (elvish name for men)
bŷr
noun.
follower, vassal
dor
noun.
land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live
dôr
noun.
land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live
-deid
suffix.
his
-deith
suffix.
his
bŷr
follower
echil
noun.
follower
echil
noun.
follower
- S. Echil “Followers” ✧ WJ/219
adan
man
dîr
man
dîr
man
mân
departed spirit
mân
departed spirit
maw
hand
camlann
of the hand
bâr
land
cam
hand
cam
hand
dond
hand
dôr
land
dôr
land
mâb
hand
nand
wide grassland
gwann
departed
rhavan
wild man
bôr
trusty man
fair
mortal man
firion
mortal man
firion
mortal man
firion
mortal man
hadron
warrior
curunír
man of craft
gwanwen
departed
gwanwen
departed
maethor
warrior
maethor
warrior
thalion
dauntless man
dúnadan
man of the west
crûm
left hand
ín
his
fuir
right hand
daug
warrior
tín
his
tín
his
forgam
right-handed
parth
enclosed grassland
A word for “man” as a male person, attested only as an element in compounds or as (archaic?) ndir (PE17/60). This word likely refers to male individuals of all races including Elves, Men, Dwarves and so forth, much like its Quenya cognate Q. nér. This word must have been derived from the primitive subjective form ✶ndēr of the root √N(D)ER “male person”, where the ancient long ē became ī, and the initial cluster nd- became d-, though the ancient cluster would still be reflected in mutated forms, such as in i nîr “the man” rather than ✱✱i dhîr.
Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor to this word is (archaic) G. †drio “hero, warrior” with variants driw, driodweg and driothweg, a cognate of ᴱQ. nēr (GL/22). This Gnomish word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶n’reu̯, where the initial nr- became dr-. At this early stage, the root was unstrengthened ᴱ√NERE (QL/65), as reflected in (archaic) ᴱN. nîr “hero, prince, warrior-elf” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s (PE13/164).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DER “adult male, man” of any speaking race and the derived form was N. dîr (Ety/DER). However, in this document Tolkien said:
> EN †dîr surviving chiefly in proper names (as Diriel older Dirghel [GYEL], Haldir, Brandir) and as agental ending (as ceredir “doer, maker”) ... In ordinary use EN has benn [for “man”] (properly = “husband”).
Thus in the scenario described in The Etymologies, dîr “man” was archaic and used only as an element in names or as a suffix. In ordinary speech it was replaced by N. benn, which used to mean “husband” but now meant “man”, while the word for “husband” became N. hervenn (Ety/BES). It is unlikely Tolkien imagined this exact scenario in later Sindarin, however, since the 1930s root for benn was ᴹ√BES “wed”, but by the 1960s the root for husband/wife/marry words had become √BER.
Neo-Sindarin: Since the status of N. benn is questionable given ᴹ√BES >> √BER, many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. ✱dîr as the Sindarin word for man. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable for “man, male person”. This is because I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES as the root for “marry, wed”, since it is the best basis for attested husband/wife words in (Neo) Sindarin.