Eldamo : Quenya : hen

Q. #hen (hend-) n. “eye” (Category: Eye)

Q. #hen (hend-), n. “eye” (Category: Eye): ᴱQ. sinda¹ “eye”; ᴹQ. yé² “eye”; ᴱQ. sé “eye, eyeball, pupil”

The Quenya word for “eye”, derived from the root √KHEN for eye-words (PE17/187; Ety/KHEN-D-E) and with stem-form hend- given its dual hendu (WJ/337).

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as ᴱQ. hen in The Qenya Phonology of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶þχe-ndǝ and appearing beside ᴱQ. sé “eye, pupil” < ᴱ✶þeχē (PE12/21). Hen (hend-) “eye” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon though it was marked “†” for archaic (QL/40), and ᴱQ. hend- also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the cognate of G. hen “eye” (GL/48). ᴱQ. hen appeared regularly in documents from the 1920s (PE13/147; PE14/43, 76; PE16/136), although in the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s ᴱQ. sinda was given as the cognate of ᴱN. hen(n) “eye” (PE13/122). The form ᴱQ. sinda seems to have been a transient idea.

A lengthy declension of ᴹQ. hen “eye” appeared in documents from the early 1930s (PE21/52) and in The Etymologies of the 1930s it was based on a new the root ᴹ√KHEN-D-E “eye” (Ety/KHEN-D-E). In both these documents, inflected forms indicate a stem form of hend-. Thus this word and its stem were quite stable in Tolkien’s mind, though he did alter its root from early ᴱ√SEHE [ÞEHE] to later √KHEN.

References ✧ WJ/337

Inflections

hendu

dual

✧ WJ/337

Element In

ᴺQ. !aurehen “dandelion, (lit.) day-eye”
ᴺQ. !hencalcat “eye-glasses, spectacles”
ᴺQ. !hencúne “eyebrow, (lit.) eye-arch”
ᴺQ. !hendelë “window”
ᴺQ. !hendelúpea cecet “peafowl, (lit.) eye-plumed pheasant”
ᴺQ. !hentópa “eyelid”
Q. alahen “eyeless”
Q. hendumaica “sharp-eye[d]” ✧ WJ/337 (hendumaika)
Q. henfanwa “eye-screen, veil upon eyes”
Q. henta- “to eye, examine, read, scan”

Cognates

S. hen(d) “eye”

Derivations

< √KHEN “base of eye-words”

ᴹQ. hen (hend-) n. “eye” (Category: Eye)

See Q. #hen for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E; PE21/52, 61

Glosses

“eye” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Variations

hen ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Inflections

hendullo	ablative		✧ PE21/52
hendulo	ablative		✧ PE21/52
henda	accusative		✧ PE21/52
hendalte	comitative dual		✧ PE21/52
hentar	dative dual		✧ PE21/52
hendū	dual	“eyes (of one person)”	✧ PE21/61
hendan	genitive		✧ PE21/61
hendu	genitive		✧ PE21/52
?henduen	genitive dual		✧ PE21/61
†hendunt	genitive dual		✧ PE21/61
hentu	genitive dual		✧ PE21/52
hendawen	instrumental dual		✧ PE21/52
†hetse	locative; assimilated	“in the eye”	✧ PE21/52: = hendse
hen	nominative		✧ PE21/52
hendat	nominative dual		✧ PE21/52
hent	nominative dual		✧ PE21/52
hendin	nominative plural		✧ PE21/52
hendi	plural		✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E
hendon	similative		✧ PE21/52

Element In

ᴹQ. henulca “*evil-eyed”

Cognates

N. hên “eye” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

Derivations

< ᴹ√KHEN(DE) “eye; look at, see, observe, direct gaze” ✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E (KHEN-D-E)

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√KHEN-D-E > hen

[kʰende] > [kʰend] > [xend] > [hend] > [hen]

✧ Ety/KHEN-D-E

ᴱQ. hen (hend-) n. “eye” (Category: Eye)

See Q. #hen for discussion.

References ✧ GL/48; PE12/21; PE13/147; PE14/43, 52, 76, 117; PE15/72; PE16/136; PME/40; QL/40, 82

Glosses

“eye” ✧ PE12/21; PE14/43; PE14/76; PE14/117; PE15/72; PE16/136; QL/40 (†hen)

Variations

hen ✧ PE12/21; PE13/147; PE14/43; PE14/76; PE14/117; PE15/72; PE16/136; QL/40 (†hen)
huen- ✧ QL/40

henwi is the commonly used dual of sē ✧ QL/40

Inflections

henda	accusative		✧ PE16/136
henqi	dual		✧ PE14/52; PE14/76; PE14/117; PE15/72
henwi	dual		✧ PE12/21; QL/40; QL/82
hendi	plural		✧ PE13/147; PE14/43; PE14/76; PE14/117; PE15/72; QL/40; QL/82
hend-	stem		✧ GL/48; QL/40
†hend-	stem	“eye”	✧ PME/40

Cognates

ᴱN. hen(n) “eye” ✧ PE13/147 (henn)
G. hen “eye” ✧ GL/48

Derivations

< ᴱ✶ske-ndá “eye” ✧ PE12/21 (þχe-ndǝ); PE13/147
- < ᴱ√ÞEHE “*see” ✧ PE12/21 (þeχe)

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ✶þχe-ndǝ > hen	[θxendǝ] > [θxend] > [xxend] > [hend] > [hen]	✧ PE12/21
ᴱ✶ske-ndá > hen	[skenda] > [skendǝ] > [skend] > [xend] > [hend] > [hen]	✧ PE13/147