N. benn n. “man, male, †husband” (Category: Man)
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “man” or “male” but originally with the sense “†husband”, derived from primitive ᴹ✶besnō under the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES, DER). The scenario in The Etymologies was that word for “husband” became N. herven while the original word for “man”, N. dîr, fell out of use except as an element in names and as an agental suffix.
Conceptual Development: G. {bend >>} †benn was a word for “husband” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, but it was marked archaic and was replaced by bedhron; these Gnomish words were derived from the early root ᴱ√Bedh- [VEÐE] (GL/22).
Neo-Sindarin: The root for “marry” words was altered in Tolkien’s later writings to √BER, so many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. dîr as the normal word for “man”; see that entry for discussion. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable, since I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES for “marry, wed”.
References ✧ Ety/BES, DER; EtyAC/DER
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| ON. benno > benn | [benno] > [benn] | ✧ Ety/BES |