Primitive elvish
min
cardinal. one
Derivations
- √MIN “one, first of a series, one, first of a series; [ᴹ√] stand alone, stick out”
Derivatives
- Q. min “one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first”
Element in
Variations
- Min ✧ NM/060
min
root. one, first of a series, one, first of a series; [ᴹ√] stand alone, stick out
Derivatives
- ✶min “one”
- Q. min “one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first”
- ✶sminu “slim”
- Q. minassë “fort, city (with a citadel and central watch tower)” ✧ VT42/24
- Q. mindë “turret” ✧ VT42/24
- Q. mindon “(lofty) tower, (lofty or isolated) tower; [ᴱQ.] turret” ✧ VT42/24
- Q. minya “first; eminent, prominent” ✧ VT42/24
- S. min “peak”
- ᴺS. minai “distinct, unique, single”
- S. minas “tower, fort, city (with a citadel and central watch tower)” ✧ VT42/24
Element in
- ✶min(i)kewē̆ “eleven, (lit.) fresh one” ✧ VT48/07
- ᴺQ. minquetyar- “to accentuate, (lit.) pronounce prominently”
Variations
- min ✧ VT47/16; VT47/17; VT48/07
imin
masculine name. One
Element in
- Q. Imillië “Company of Imin”
tilte
noun. peak
Derivations
- √TIL “point, horn”
Derivatives
- Q. tildë “a fine sharp point, fine sharp point, [ᴹQ.] spike; (mountain) horn, [ᴱQ.] tip, ️peak”
Element in
- ✶tār(a)-ninqui-tilte “High White Peak” ✧ PE17/186
This and similar roots were used for Elvish words for “one” for most of Tolkien’s life, though generally in competition with √ER. The root first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√MĪ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. mir “one” and ᴱQ. minqe “eleven”; the parenthetical comment (mi’i) indicated it originally had some other now-lost consonant, though Tolkien marked this comment with a “?” (QL/61). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. min “one single” (GL/57).
The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had a distinct root ᴱ√MINI from which “tower” words were derived, such as ᴱQ. mindon/G. mindon (QL/61; GL/57). In The Etymologies of the 1930s these roots were merged together into a single root ᴹ√MINI “stand alone, stick out”, whose derivatives included both ᴹQ. min/N. min “one” as well as ᴹQ. mindo and N. mindon/minnas “tower” (Ety/MIN).
In Tolkien’s later writings √MIN was mostly mentioned in the context of Elvish numbering systems, and given glosses like “one” or “first of a series” (VT42/24; VT47/16-17), but in notes written in 1967-69 Tolkien indicated it was still the basis for “tower” words, most likely from the sense “prominent” (VT42/24). In these later notes Tolkien was careful to distinguish √MIN “one” used in counting vs. √ER “one” used for individual things: √MIN was for the first of a series of things, whereas √ER was for a single thing that was unique, alone or in isolation. The distinct senses of these two roots dates back at least as far as The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/ER, MIN).