13.54 Cardinal Number
- S. canad num. “four”
-
The Sindarin word for “four” based on the root √KANAT of the same meaning (PE17/95; VT42/24; VT48/6; Ety/KÁNAT).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. cant “four” (GL/25). Some rough notes from the 1960s had a variant form cened “four”, but this seems to have been a ephemeral concept according to Patrick Wynne (VT47/41 note #69).
- S. eneg num. “six”
-
The Sindarin word for “six” based on the root √ENEK of the same meaning (PE17/95; VT42/25; VT48/6; Ety/ÉNEK).
Conceptual Development: Rough notes associated with the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s had the deleted forms ᴱN. leme and limel near undeleted ᴱN. eneg, all unglossed but probably words for “*five” and “*six” (PE13/128 note #78).
- S. leben num. “five”
-
The Sindarin word for “five” based on the root √LEPEN of the same meaning (PE17/95; VT42/24; VT47/10; VT48/6).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. elf(in) “five” derived from the early root ᴱ√lef [LEǶE] (GL/32, 53). Rough notes associated with the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s had the deleted forms ᴱN. leme and limel near ᴱN. eneg “*six”, so these were probably words for “five” (PE13/128 note #78). The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. lheben “five” under the root ᴹ√LEPEN of the same meaning (Ety/LEPEN), with the 1930s sound change of initial l to lh which did not occur in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s.
- S. minib num. “eleven”
-
The Sindarin word for “eleven” in notes from the late 1960s derived from ✶minikwē (VT48/6-8), with kw > p in Ancient Telerin and then p > b in Sindarin.
Conceptual Development: Notes from the late 1950s had S. mimp under Q. minquë “eleven”, but this form mimp was marked through (PE17/95).
- S. neder num. “nine”
-
The Sindarin word for “nine” based on the root √NETER of the same meaning (PE17/95; VT42/25; VT48/6; Ety/NÉTER).
- S. odog num. “seven”
-
The usual Sindarin word for “seven” was odog based on the root √OTOK, but it also had a shorter variant odo based on √OTOS (PE17/95; RC/384; VT42/25; VT47/42; VT48/6; Ety/OT).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. odin “seven”, which originally just meant “many” (GL/62; PE14/16).
- S. pae num. “ten”
-
The Sindarin word for “ten” in notes on numbers from the late 1960s (VT42/25; VT48/6). Its primitive form is ✶kwayam based on the root √kwaya originally referring to the whole (√KWA) set of ten fingers (VT42/24). In one place it had a longer variant pae(an) (VT48/21), which appeared in reduced form in the adjective paenui “tenth” (VT42/25).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Grammar of the 1910s had G. sath “10” of unclear derivation (GG/13). The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. caer “ten” derived from a variant √KAYAR of the root ᴹ√KAYAN “ten” (Ety/KAYAN), where the -r was borrowed from neder “nine” (EtyAC/KAYAN). In notes probably from the late 1950s Tolkien had caen- or cae “ten” (PE17/95), a form Tolkien probably used for some time given nelchaenen “thirtieth” from around 1950 (SD/129) and caenui “tenth” from the late 1960s (VT42/10), a rejected form of paenui appearing in the same 1960s notes on numbers mentioned above.
- S. tolodh num. “eight”
-
The Sindarin number “eight” derived from the root √TOLOD, probably from primitive *✶tolodō, where the [d] became [ð] after a vowel as usual.
Conceptual Development: The earliest attested word for “eight” was G. uvin in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s (GL/75), replacing rejected ung. In The Etymologies from the 1930s it became N. toloth from the root ᴹ√TOLOTH, similar to but not quite the same as ᴹQ. tolto from the root ᴹ√TOLOT (Ety/TOL¹-OTH/OT).
In some notes from the 1950s, Tolkien used S. tolod (PE17/95), apparently deciding both Quenya and Sindarin were derived from the same root √TOLOT. Later still, toloth reappeared, but it was rejected and replaced by tolodh (toloð: VT42/25, 31). When Tolkien revisited the Elvish number system in the 1960s, he changed the t to a d in the root form for “eight” (VT47/11) and established tolodh as its Sindarin form (VT48/6).
Neo-Sindarin: I personally prefer tolodh as the Sindarin word for “eight”, but some Neo-Sindarin writers use the older (and perhaps better known) toloth. It seems Tolkien had considerable trouble deciding on the primitive root for “eight”, so any of these forms could be valid (VT47/31).
- S. ýneg num. “twelve”
-
The Sindarin word for “eleven” in notes from the late 1960s was ýneg or yneg derived from ✶yūnekē “twelve = two sixes” (VT47/41; VT48/6, 9). Tolkien also considered yneb or inib as more direct cognates of yunquë “twelve”, but that seems to have been a transient idea (VT48/8).
Conceptual Development: Notes from the late 1950s had S. {iug} > imp under Q. yunquë “twelve”, but these forms were deleted (PE17/95-96).