nam-

verb. to judge, to judge, *think (have as an opinion)

The verb nam- “judge” appeared in 1968 notes associated with The Shibboleth of Fëanor, attested in the phrase namin alasaila “I judge [it] unwise” (VT41/13). This version of the verb is consistent with the name Námo, given in The Silmarillion as the true name of Mandos (S/28).

In a marginal note within Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 Tolkien revised the root to √NDAB “to judge” with a new form Návo to replace Námo (PE22/154 note #53). These notes initially had nem- for “judge”, revised to ham- and finally to nav- (PE22/154 note #53, 55, 56); it was after all these revisions that he coined the new root √NDAB.

The verb nav- “judge” appeared in several phrases:

• la năvin karitalya(s) mára “I do not advise you to do so, (lit.) I don't judge your doing (it) good”

• lá karitas, navin, alasaila ná “not doing this would be (I think) unwise”

• alasaila ná lá kare tai mo nave mára “it is unwise not to do what one judges good”

Based on the above phrases, it seems the basic sense of the verb is “judge” or “think = ✱have as an opinion”.

Conceptual Development: Tolkien introduced the name Námo in the 1950s, which is probably where this concept originated. It seems to have remained √NAM up through 1968, and then nam- >> nem- >> ham- >> nav- in 1969.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to use the form nam- “judge, ✱think [have as an opinion]” for consistency with the name Námo in The Silmarillion as published.

nam-

verb. judge

#nam- vb. "judge", attested in the 1st person aorist: namin "I judge" (VT41:13). Compare Námo.

Námo

judge

Námo (1) noun "Judge", name of a Vala, normally called Mandos, properly the place where he dwells (WJ:402)

námo

noun. judge

Anamo

of doom

Anamo noun in genitive "of doom" in Rithil-Anamo "Ring of Doom" (q.v.) Since the reference is to a place (a circle) where judgement was passed, this seems to be "doom" in the sense of "juridical decision" or "(legal) justice". The nominative "doom" may be *anan, with stem anam- (since the root would be NAM as in nam- "to judge", námo* noun "judge"). Alternatively, but less probably, the nominative may be anama**.

nem-

verb. judge

[#nem- vb. "judge", attested as endingless aorist nemë, changed by Tolkien to hamë and finally to navë "in all but one case" (Bill Welden). Forms like námo "judge" and namna "statute" point rather to #nam- (q.v.) as a verb "to judge" (VT42:34); the verb namin "I judge" is even listed in Etym.]

ham-

verb. to judge

ham-

verb. judge

#ham- (2) vb. "judge", attested in the aorist form hamil "you judge". (VT42:33; notice the pronominal ending -l "you". See nemë. The verb #ham- with the meaning "judge" may seem to be an ephemeral form in Tolkien's conception.)

nav-

verb. judge

#nav- vb. "judge" (cited in the form navë, apparently the 3rd person aorist). Also given with pronominal suffixes: navin *"I judge" (Tolkien's free translation: "I think"), navilwë "we judge" (VT42:33, 4, VT48:11)

nem-

verb. to judge

īdō kathī batānī rōkhī-nam

lo! now all ways bent-are

The first draft of the 12th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). Although all of its word are similar to the final version, each has differences in grammar or spelling from the later versions of the text.

• The first word īdō is the same as in the final version, but is glossed “lo! now” instead of simply “now”.

• The adjective kathī “all” is the plural form of katha, not singular as it is in the final text, perhaps indicating a shift in the rules for adjective-noun agreement.

• The subject batānī “ways” is the normal plural form of batân, not inflected to the subjective case as it is in the final text.

• The final word rōkhī-nam “(are) bent” has the plural adjective rōkhī instead of later form lōkhī. It also use the suffix -nam “are”, likely the plural of the predicate suffix -n “is”. This probably serves the same function as the subjective inflection of the final version: to represent the “to be” verb “are”.

-n

suffix. predicate suffix

A suffix appearing at the end of several words in the first draft of Lament of Akallabêth, variously glossed with different forms of the verb “to be”: burudan “heavy-is”, rōkhī-nam “bent-are”, īdōn “now is” (SD/312). Evidentally the suffix -n “is” is the singular form and -nam “are” is plural. The plural form probably includes the plural verbal suffix -m. This use of the suffix -n is probably no longer be valid in later versions of Adûnaic, as discussed below.

Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/36) that -nam maybe related to Q. ná- “to be”, but they fail to analyze the singular forms of the suffix. Andreas Moehn (LGtAG) does connect the singular instances of the suffix -n to the plural -nam, but without connecting it to Q. ná-. I think both authors got part of the story right: the suffixal form -na is most likely derived from the same Elvish root √NĀ as Q. ná-, losing its final a in the singular form but preserving it in the plural form when the plural suffix -m is added.

In its first two appearances in the draft version of the Lament, this suffix is attached to the predicate of a copula (a linguistic term for a “to be” expression). For that reason, the discussion here uses the term “predicate suffix” for this use of the -n suffix:

• agannūlo burudan nēnum “death-shade heavy-is on-us” subject agannūlo “death-shade”, predicate buruda “heavy” + -n “is”.

• īdō kathī batānī rōkhī-nam “lo! now all ways bent-are” subject batānī “ways”, predicate rōkhī “bent” + -nam “are”.

The suffix’s second two appearances in the draft version of the Lament are more ambiguous.

• ēphalek īdōn akallabēth “far away lo!now is She-that-is-fallen”.

• ēphal ēphalek īdōn athanātē “far far away is now the Land of Gift”.

Going by word order alone, it seems that the -n is attached to the predicate in both of these sentences as well. However, as Andreas Moehn points out (LGtAG), īdō could be the subject of both sentences if the predicates are the final word of each sentence, which is more consistent with the later subjective inflection.

In the later version of Adûnaic described in Lowdham’s Report, the suffix -n has a new function, namely as the common subjective suffix: -an/-n. This new use differs from the older one in that it applies to the subject of a copula instead of the predicate. Despite this grammatical change from draft-Adûnaic, the word form īdōn appears in all later versions of the Lament of Akallabêth except the final manuscript version.

• Ēphalak īdōn Yōzāyan “far away now (is) Land of Gift” (SD/247).

• Ēphal ēphalak īdōn hi-Akallabēth “far far away now (is) She-that-hath-fallen” (SD/247).

These later appearances of īdōn still have the gloss “now (is)”, so it seems possible that these they are remnants of the predicate suffix from draft Adûnaic. Moehn, Hostetter and Wynne all suggested (LGtAG, AAD/16) that these later appearances of īdōn can be reinterpreted as a subjective inflection. However, this interpretation is still problematic, since îdô would surely be a neuter instead of a common noun, whose subjective form would therefore be ✱îdôwa.

The suffix -n did not appear after īdō in the final manuscript version of the Lament, and the gloss “is” was removed as well:

• Ēphalak īdō Yōzāyan “far away now Gift-land” (VT24/12).

• Ēphal-ēphalak īdō hi Akallabēth “far far away now She that hath Fallen” (VT24/12).

It is my belief that Tolkien eventually decided that the suffix -n could no longer be used in this context and removed it.

nam Reconstructed

root. judge

A root implied by various Quenya words having to do with “judgement” from the 1950s and 60s, most notably Q. Námo “Ordainer, Judge” as the true name of Q. Mandos (S/28), a name that began to appear in documents starting in the early 1950s (PE21/85). The root is evident in other words from this period, such as Q. namna “statute” (MR/258), Q. námië “a single judgment or desire” (VT41/13) and the verb Q. nam- “judge” in the phrase: Q. ore nin karitas nō namin alasaila “I feel moved to do so but judge it unwise” (VT41/13). ✱√NAM might also be the basis for the second element of the name Q. Rithil-Anamo “Doom-ring”, the circle of thrones where the Valar sat in council (WJ/401).

In notes from 1969 Tolkien seems to have changed his mind of the root for “judge”, writing Q. nemin >> Q. hamin >> Q. navin for “I judge”, and giving a new root √NDAB “to judge” in a marginal note along with a revised name Návo to replace Námo (PE22/154, notes #53 and #55). This new root conflicts with √NDAB “endeavor, try” from earlier in the same bundle of documents (PE22/151).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore the late change of ✱√NAM >> √NDAB “judge”, since ✱√NAM has more attested derivatives and Námo appears in the published Silmarillion. Also, all of the derivatives of this root are Quenya, and its possible use in the name Rithil-Anamo (coined in Valinor) imply that it might be a root invented after the Elves arrived in Aman. Thus I think it is best to treat it as Quenya-only root, and used ᴹ√BAD “judge” as the basis for (Neo) Sindarin words for judgement by retaining Noldorin words with these meanings from the 1930s (Ety/BAD).

ndab

root. to judge

badh-

verb. to judge

badhor

noun. judge

badhor

noun. judge

badhron

noun. judge

badhron

noun. judge

dav-

verb. to judge

badhron

judge

badhron (i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

badhron

judge

(i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)