S. #dag- [nd-] v. “to slay” (Category: to Kill)
A verb meaning “to slay” derived from the root √NDAK, best known from its passive participle dangen as in Haudh-en-Ndengin “Hill of Slain” (S/197). Tolkien wrote a set of possible past forms aðag, aðanc, aðarch in notes from 1962 (PE17/131), and the verb appeared in its Noldorin-style infinitive form degi “to slay” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√NDAK “slay” (Ety/NDAK), along with another couple of (Noldorin) past forms: danc, degant (EtyAC/NDAK). The verb form ᴱN. (n)dag- “to slay” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141), but its present form dág was glossed “kills” and in the contemporaneous Early Noldorin Grammar the form dagion was likewise glossed “I kill” (PE13/130). Thus “slay” and “kill” are both viable translations.
Possible Etymology: In notes from around 1962, Tolkien gave ✶dankĭna as the primitive form of its passive participle dangen, indicating a root √DAK rather than √NDAK, which is also consistent with its nasal mutated plural form on that page: {i dengin >>} i nengin (PE17/133). The 1964 past forms aðag and aðanc also seem to indicate derivation from √DAK (PE17/131). In notes from around 1967, however, Tolkien had the mixed mutated form n(d)engin in the phrase i·m(b)air en N(d)engin, indicating √NDAK, and he consistently gave nac- for the equivalent Quenya forms, so the early 1960s flirtation with √DAK seems to have been a transient idea.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the root is √NDAK, and hence I’d give it the past form *annanc “slayed” rather than aðanc.
References ✧ PE17/97, 131, 133; SA/dagor
Variations
Changes
Inflections
| aðarch | ? | ✧ PE17/131 |
| denghin | nasal-mutation passive-participle | ✧ PE17/133 |
| nenghin | nasal-mutation passive-participle plural; nd-mutation | ✧ PE17/133 |
| dangen | passive-participle | ✧ PE17/133 |
| aðag | past | ✧ PE17/131 |
| aðanc | past | ✧ PE17/131 |
Element In
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| √ndak- > #Dag- | [ndak-] > [dak-] > [dag-] | ✧ SA/dagor |
N. dag- [nd-] v. “to slay” (Category: to Kill)
References ✧ Ety/NDAK; EtyAC/NDAK
Inflections
| degi | infinitive | “to slay” | ✧ Ety/NDAK |
| danc | past | ✧ EtyAC/NDAK | |
| degant | past | ✧ EtyAC/NDAK |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ON. ndakie > degi | [ndakie] > [dakie] > [dekie] > [deki] > [degi] | ✧ Ety/NDAK |
ᴱN. dag- [nd-] v. “to slay, kill” (Category: to Kill)
References ✧ PE13/130, 141, 165; PE14/66
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