prep. to Na-chaered palan-díriel lit. "To-distance (remote) after-gazing" >> na-chaered, nan 2
Sindarin
na-
verb. to be
na-
verb. to be
na
preposition. to
na
used with subject
poss. art. used with subject, e.g. roch na-heryna 'the horse of (the) lady'. >> an, roch na-heryna
na-chaered palan-díriel
to lands remote I have looked afar
na
preposition. with, by (also used as a genitive sign)
na
preposition. to, towards, at
na
to
e _ prep. _to, towards (of spacetime). n' before vowels. >> nan 2
na
preposition. at
prep. at (a point of time or place). Ai na vedui Dúnadan. Mae g'ovannen. 'Ah! At last, Dúnadan ! Well met !'.
na
preposition. like French à
_ prep. _like French à, provided with, marked by, with, etc.. >> nan 2
na
'with'
d prep. 'with', possessing, provided with, esp. of characteristic feature. nan before vowels. Orod na Thôn 'Mount of the Pines Tree(s)'. >> nan 2
orod-na-thôn
place name. Mount of the Pine Tree(s)
A mountain in Dorthonion (LotR/469) translated “Pine-mountain” (RC/384) or “Mount of the Pine Tree(s)” (PE17/147). This name is a combination of orod “mountain”, na(n) “of” and thôn “pine-tree” (PE17/82).
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as (singular) N. Orod Thon >> (plural) N. Orod Thuin (TI/420), omitting the na “of”.
taur-na-neldor
place name. Beech-forest
dor-na-daerachas
place name. Land of Great Dread
A proposed replacement name for Dor Daedeloth in very late notes from 1971 that Tolkien made to The Lord of the Rings maps (WJ/187), translated “Land of Great Dread” (WJ/183). The first few elements seem to be dôr “land”, na(n) “of” and daer “great”. This means the final element achas (perhaps lented from ✱gachas) must mean “dread”, but there are no other clear equivalents to this word in Tolkien’s writing. In a Discord chat from 2022-10-17, Röandil proposed the first element might instead by dae (still meaning “great”), and that the second element rachas might be related to Q. raxë “danger”.
taur-na-chardhîn
place name. Forest of Southern Silence
Another name for Taur-im-Duinath appearing in revisions to the Silmarillion maps from the 1950s-1960s, translated “Forest of Southern Silence” (WJ/185). This name a combination of taur “forest”, na(n) “of”, the nasal mutation char- of harn “southern” and the soft mutation dhîn of dîn “silence”.
taur-na-foen
place name. Forest of the Foen
Another name for Dorthonion translated “Forest of the Foen” in a philological fragment of uncertain date, a combination of taur “forest”, na(n) “of” and the mountain name Foen (WJ/187 note #32). It also appeared in another note from the early 1950s where the name was said to be “Beleriandric” (PE21/79).
roch na-heryna
the horse of (the) Lady
roch na-heryna
noun. 'the horse of lady'
na
near
(as preposition, = ”at, by”) na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
near
(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
with
(in instrumental sense?) na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
with
(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
by
(near) na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
by
(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
be
: The verb ”to be” is poorly attested. Apparently the root is na-. The imperative is attested as no, and nad (used = ”thing”) may be seen as an original gerund *”a being”. It seems that the copula ”is, are” (and ”was, were”?) can be omitted altogether, as in the ”Noldorin” sentence lheben teil brann i annon ”five feet high [is] the door” (AI:92), in Sindarin perhaps *leben tail brand i annon.
na
be
. The imperative is attested as no, and nad (used = ”thing”) may be seen as an original gerund ✱”a being”. It seems that the copula ”is, are” (and ”was, were”?) can be omitted altogether, as in the ”Noldorin” sentence lheben teil brann i annon ”five feet high [is] the door” (AI:92), in Sindarin perhaps ✱leben tail brand i annon.
na
at
na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
at
(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
na
to, toward
- na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of” 2)
na
to, toward
(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”
arthor na challonnas
place name. Realm of the South-harbourage
arthor na forlonnas
place name. Realm of the North-harbourage
dorthonion
place name. Land of Pines
A forested region in northern Beleriand, meaning “Land of Pines”. After its corruption by the forces of Morgoth, the region was renamed to Taur-nu-Fuin.
Possibly Etymology: The name contains the elements S. dôr “land” and thôn “pine”, but its final element -ion is harder to explain. It could be the suffix -ion “-land” appearing in names like Eregion and Rhovanion, but then both the first and final elements of Dorthonion would mean “land”, which seems unlikely.
In one note (PE17/81), Tolkien said that this word was “Sindarin Noldorized”, so perhaps the final element is the Quenya genitive plural -ion, so that -thonion is Quenyarized Sindarin for “of Pines”. In the same note, Tolkien gives Dor i Thuin, apparently as the proper Sindarin name of the region. Since Dorthonion is where many Noldor settled after their arrival in Beleriand, this scenario is plausible.
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the early 1930s, this name first appeared as Taur Danin (SM/107), later revised to Taur-na-Danion “Forest of Pines” (SM/296, LR/145) with variants -Thanion, -Donion, -Thonion. It became Dorthanion >> Dorthonion in Silmarillion drafts from the mid-1930s (LR/145, 257), the last of these forms being used thereafter.
In The Etymologies, Tolkien specified that the name was from the Ilkorin language, Ilk. Dorthonion “Land of Pines”, while its Noldorin form was N. Dor-na-Thuin (Ety/THŌN). Since the Ilkorin language also used -(i)on for is genitive plural, this is an earlier parallel of the Quenyarized Dorthonion versus proper Sindarin Dor i Thuin discussed above.
tol-in-gaurhoth
place name. Isle of Werewolves
The name of Tol Sirion after it was inhabited by Sauron and his minions, translated “Isle of Werewolves” (S/156), a combination of tol(l) “island”, the plural in of the definite article i and the class-plural of gaur “werewolf” using the suffix hoth “host” (SA/gaur, hoth).
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name was Tol-na-Gaurhoth (SM/311, LR/284).
no aer i eneth lín
hallowed be thy name
The second line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word no is the imperative form of the verb na- “to be” followed by aer “✱hallowed, holy”; see that word’s entry for further discussion.
The third word is the definite article i “the”, followed by eneth “name” and the possessive pronoun lín “your”, with the adjectival element following the noun as is usual in Sindarin. As pointed out by Bill Welden (VT44/24), the formation i eneth lín seems to be modeled after Welsh, with the possessive pronoun following the noun, which itself is preceded (at least sometimes) by the definite article. A rough English equivalent might be “✱the name yours”. A similar construction appears in the Moria gate inscription: i thiw hin = “the signs these”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> no aer i eneth lín = “✱be holy the name yours”
ón annin
*he gave (it) to me
-eb
suffix. adjective suffix
-en
suffix. adjective suffix
-i
suffix. adjectival suffix
-iel
suffix. adjective suffix
-in
suffix. adjective suffix
-ren
suffix. adjective suffix
@@@ perhaps a later, S-only, innovation
Arthor na Challonnas
'Realm of the South-harbourage'
topon. 'Realm of the South-harbourage', older name of Gondor. Q. Turmen Hyallondiéva. >> Arnor, Arthor na Forlonnas, Forlonnas
Arthor na Forlonnas
'Realm of the North-harbourage'
topon. 'Realm of the North-harbourage', another name of Arnor that soon fell out of general colloquial use. Shorter form Forlonnas. Q. Turmen Follondiéva. >> Arnor, Arthor na Challonas, Forlonnas
Orod na Thôn
place name. 'Mount with Pine Tree'
ai na vedui dúnadan
Ah! at last, Dúnadan!
an
preposition. to, towards, for
With suffixed article and elision in aglar'ni Pheriannath
an
to
_ prep. _to, for. naur an edraith ammen! 'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. aglar an|i Pheriannath 'glory to all the Halflings'.
aran cîr lim
*king of swift ships
aran na chîr lim
*king of swift ships
baran
adjective. brown, swart, dark brown, golden brown, yellow brown
bo ceven sui vi menel
on Earth as [it is] in Heaven
The fifth line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word is the preposition bo “on” (possibly a mutated form for po), followed by ceven “earth”. The third word is the preposition sui “as”, followed by vi the lenited form of mi “in” and menel “heaven”. There is no Sindarin equivalent for English “it is” in this phrase.
See the entry for the first line of this prayer for a discussion of the (mis)use of menel for “Heaven” in this phrase.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> bo Ceven sui vi Menel = “✱on Earth as in Heaven”
caro den i innas lin
thy will be done
The fourth line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word caro is the imperative form of the verb car- “to do”. The third word is the definite article i “the”, followed by innas “will” and the possessive pronoun lin “your”, with the adjectival element following the noun as is usual in Sindarin.
The function of the word den in this phrase is unclear. Bill Welden suggested (VT44/25) that is a marker of the passive voice (“thy will be done” instead of “do thy will”), and is the lenited form of ten, either a 3rd-plural pronoun “they” (as in impersonal English phrases such as “they say ...”) or a neutral pronoun “it”. Since “they” appears as di (← ti) elsewhere in the prayer, I think the second possibility is more likely.
See the entry for the second line of this prayer for a discussion of the use of the definite article i before the possessed noun in this phrase.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> car-o den i innas lin = “✱do-(imperative) it the will yours”
celair
adjective. brilliant
di
preposition. with
_ prep. _with. Q. lé.
di
preposition. with
e
pronoun. he
The meaning "he" is deduced from the apparent function of this word in the so-called "King's Letter", but it also seems possible to interpret it as "indeed" (as in Q. e, LR/63, VT/45:11), used here in a way of formal address expressing the wishes or the will of the King
e
pronoun. he
enni
pronoun. to me
govannen
Ai na vedui Dúnadan
pp. of govan-. Ai na vedui Dúnadan. Mae g'ovannen. 'Ah! At last, Dúnadan ! Well met !'. Tolkien notes that the explanation with the stem ba(n) "Won't really do".
i arben na megil and
Knight of the Long Sword
mell
adjective. dear
_ adj. _dear, beloved. Q. melda.
mell
adjective. dear, beloved
nan
preposition. of
nan
'with'
prep. 'with', possessing, provided with, esp. of characteristic feature. Form of na before vowels. >> na 2b/c/d/e
nauglamír
proper name. Necklace of the Dwarves
The Necklace of the Dwarves holding a Silmaril (S/114), a combination of [N.] naugol “Dwarf” and mîr “jewel” (SA/mîr), the middle a perhaps being the archaic genitive suffix -a.
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name was G. Nauglafring (LT2/221), a form that was retained in the early Silmarillion drafts (SM/33, SM/134), but was replaced with Ilk. Nauglamír later in the 1930s (SM/313, LR/141). In The Etymologies, this name was designated Doriathrin [Ilkorin], with its initial element being the genitive of Dor. naugol “dwarf” (Ety/NAUK, MIR). This form was not updated in the Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, but no longer fit the phonology of later Sindarin (the expected form would be Nauglavir). Either it was dialectical or (more likely) Tolkien never got around to revising it.
nin
pronoun. me
nin
pronoun. me
_ pron. _me.
nin
pronoun. me
no
verb. be!
rhosg
adjective. brown
sí il chem en i naugrim en ir ellath thor den ammen
*now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) to us
tolo
verb. come!
tolo i arnad lín
thy kingdom come
The third line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word tolo is the imperative form of the verb tol- “to come”. The second word is the definite article i “the”, followed by arnad “kingdom” and the possessive pronoun lín “your”, with the adjectival element following the noun as is usual in Sindarin.
See the entry for the second line of this prayer for a discussion of the use of the definite article i “the” before the possessed noun in this phrase.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> tol-o i arnad lín = “✱come-(imperative) the kingdom yours”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote aranarth for “kingdom” before replacing it with arnad. He also wrote lin (with short i) initially for lín, but this could have been a slip.
tíra-
verb. to see
tírad
gerund noun. to see, for the seing
uin
preposition. of the
ach
conjunction. but
[it] appears that ach is the contrastive coordinating conjunction 'but'.
ach
conjunction. but
[it] appears that ach is the contrastive coordinating conjunction 'but'.
ad
again
(as prefix) ad-, also meaning "back, second, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".
ad
again
also meaning "back, second, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".
ammen
for us
(to us).
ammen
to us
(for us)
an
for
(prep.) an (+ nasal mutation), with article ni ”for the” (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
for
(adverbial prefix) an-
an
for
(+ nasal mutation), with article ’ni ”for the” (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
for the
(for) + i (the).
an
to
(prep.) an (+ nasal mutation), with article ni "to the" (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
to
(adverbial prefix) an-. 3)
an
to
(+ nasal mutation), with article ’ni "to the" (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
to the
(for) + i (the).
baran
brown
- baran (swart, dark brown, yellow brown, golden-brown), pl. berain; 2) rhosc (red, russet), lenited ?throsc or ?rosc (the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhysc
baran
brown
(swart, dark brown, yellow brown, golden-brown), pl. berain
celair
brilliant
celair (lenited gelair; no distinct pl. form)
celair
brilliant
(lenited gelair; no distinct pl. form)
cen
verb. see
cen- (i gên, i chenir), also tíra- (i díra, i thírar), the latter rather meaning “watch”. SEEING #cened (i gened) (sight), pl. cenid (i chenid) if there is a pl. Isolated from cenedril, see mirror, SEEING STONE *gwachaedir (*i 'wachaedir) (palantír), no distinct pl. form. except with article (in gwachaedir); coll. pl. ?gwachaediriath or ?gwachadirnath (the latter assuming that -dir is reduced from older -dirn) The form occurring in the primary source, gwahaedir, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciation with h for ch (PM:186)
cen
see
(i** gên, i** chenir), also tíra- (i** díra, i** thírar), the latter rather meaning “watch”.
cened
seeing
(i gened) (sight), pl. cenid (i chenid) if there is a pl. Isolated from cenedril, see MIRROR.
cûn
bent
cûn (bowed, bowshaped), lenited gûn; pl. cuin
cûn
bent
(bowed, bowshaped), lenited gûn; pl. cuin
e
he
- e (SD:128-31), 2) ho, hon, hono. (The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ho is the nominative ”he”, whereas hon is the accusative ”him”. Hono could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns, except e, are ”Noldorin” and were not maintained in Sindarin proper.)
e
he
(SD:128-31)
eden
begun again
(new), pl. edin
en
of the
e- (sg. genitival article)
gwachaedir
seeing stone
(i ’wachaedir) (palantír), no distinct pl. form. except with article (in gwachaedir); coll. pl. ?gwachaediriath or ?gwachadirnath (the latter assuming that -dir is reduced from older -dirn) The form occurring in the primary source, gwahaedir, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciation with h for ch (PM:186) ****
ho
he
hon, hono. *(The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ho is the nominative ”he”, whereas hon is the accusative ”him”. Hono could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns, except e, are ”Noldorin” and were not maintained in Sindarin proper.)*
dear
mail (lenited vail, pl. mîl), also mell (lenited vell; pl. mill), also muin (lenited vuin; no distinct pl. form)
dear
(lenited vail, pl. mîl), also mell (lenited vell; pl. mill), also muin (lenited vuin; no distinct pl. form)
nev
near
(adj. pref.) nev- (hither, on this side). Also used as a preposition nef ”on this side of”.
nev
near
(hither, on this side). Also used as a preposition nef ”on this side of”.
nin
me
(object form of ”I”) nin; as indirect object anim or enni ”for myself, (to) me”.
o
from
(od), followed by hard mutation; with article uin ”from the, of the” (followed by mixed mutation according to David Salo’s reconstuctuons). (WJ:366) Not to be confused with o ”about, concerning” (q.v. for this meaning of ”of”). 2) na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of” 3)
rhosc
brown
(red, russet), lenited ?throsc or ?rosc *(the lenition product of rh is uncertain)*, pl. rhysc
tol
come
tol- (i dôl, i thelir). The present tense tôl is attested (WJ:254). MAKE COME, see FETCH
tol
come
(i dôl, i thelir). The present tense tôl is attested (WJ:254).
A verb for “to be” based on the root √NĀ of the same meaning. This verb is barely attested in the Sindarin language, and the general consensus is that [for purposes of Neo-Sindarin at least] Sindarin omits the verb “to be” in most phrases, such as in naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for saving us” (LotR/299) or ✱orchal i adan “tall [is] the man”; see the entry on the copula for further discussion.
The clearest attestation of the verb na- is its imperative form no “be!” in the phrase no aer i eneth lín “hallowed be thy name, (lit.) ✱be holy the name your”, from the Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s (VT44/21). This imperative form was preceded by some hard-to-read deleted forms, perhaps {dôd >> dád >> hae >>} no (VT44/22). The d-forms might be eroded/mutated variants of na-. Compare đa in the phrase inn đa v’im “a mind there is in me = I have a good mind (to do so)” in notes from the late 1960s (PE22/165), where đa could be another eroded form of na-. This phrase was first written as inn no v’im (PE22/165 note #108); see the entry for đa for further discussion.
Another clear attestation of na “be” is an apparent future form natho in the untranslated phrase Sí il chem {na} en i naugrim en ir Ellath {natho} thor den ammen in the so-called “Túrin Wrapper” from the late 1950s (VT50/5). This future[?] form natho was deleted and replaced by thor, and a deleted {na} also appears earlier in the phrase, possibly a false start. Carl Hostetter suggested this phrase might mean something like “✱now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) us” (VT50/22-25). If so, it seems the future of na- “be” was constructed from the bare future suffix (a)tha-, manifesting as tho “✱will be”.
Neo-Sindarin: As noted above, for purposes of Neo-Sindarin the general consensus is that this verb is barely used, and is omitted from most “to be” phrases as in the example orchal i adan given above. The verb’s one widely accepted use is as an imperative, such as in no mae “be well”. Based the Túrin Wrapper, I posit that tho can also be used for a future form “will be”, as in i adan tho orchal “the man will be tall”. I likewise posit a (purely hypothetical) past form [ᴺS.] nî “was”, based on the primitive past-tense element ✶-nē with [[os|long [ē] becoming [ī]]], as in i adan nî orchal “the man was tall”. Neither tho or nî are widely accepted Neo-Sindarin, however.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the verb G. na- “is” (GL/58), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This irregular Gnomish verb had some inflected forms: plural nain, participle ol· and past form {ni >>} thi, the last of these being another inspiration for Neo-Sindarin nî “was”.