S. thent adj. “short” (Category: Short)
The most common Sindarin word for “short”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. thent “short” derived from ᴹ√STINTĀ of the same meaning where the e was the result of a-affection (Ety/STINTĀ). In 1957 Notes on Names (NN), it was thent < ✶stentā where it was contrasted with thenn “grey-elf” < ✶thindā (PE17/141).
In 1957 Quenya Notes (QN) Tolkien instead had thenn “short” < ✶stenna, but this was part of a (brief?) paradigm where medial nt did not become nn in Sindarin (PE17/185). As such thent could no longer be the basis for Ann-thennath “*Long-shorts” (LotR/193), name of a form of Elvish verse from The Lord of the Rings, and thus a new etymology was required:
Since nt &c. no longer are held to yield nn &c., the word for “short” should be ✶stenna √STEN- “cut short, limit, confine, cramp”. Q thenna/senna. S thenn, esten (PE17/185).
However, this word appeared again as thent in the name of another style of Elvish alliterative verse: Minlamad Thent “*First-echoing Short” in the draft introduction to the tale Narn i Chîn Húrin (WJ/311).
Neo-Sindarin: Since I prefer to assume medial nt did become nn, I would use thent “short” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.
References ✧ PE17/141, 185; WJ/311
Glosses
Variations
Related
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶stentā > thent | [stentā] > [stenta] > [sθenta] > [sθentʰa] > [sθenθa] > [θenθa] > [θenθ] > [θent] | ✧ PE17/141 |
| ✶stenna > thenn | [stenna] > [sθenna] > [θenna] > [θenn] | ✧ PE17/185 |
N. thent adj. “short” (Category: Short)
Reference ✧ Ety/STINTĀ ✧ “short”
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ON. sthinta > thent | [sθinta] > [sθintʰa] > [sθinθa] > [θinθa] > [θenθa] > [θenθ] > [θent] | ✧ Ety/STINTĀ |