N. amben adj. “uphill” (Category: Slope, Cliff)
An adjective (and adverb?) for “uphill” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, a combination of am “up” and N. penn “declivity, *slope” (Ety/PEN). It was contrasted with N. dadben “downhill, inclined, prone” (Ety/AM², PEN).
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies it first appeared as N. amdenn, a derivative of ᴹ√DEN “hillside, slope”, but the meaning of this root was change to ᴹ√DEN “hole; gap, passage” (Ety/DEN), after which the form amben < ᴹ√PEN(ED) was introduced (see above). The earliest appearance of this word was in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s where it was ᴱN. amvenn “uphill; arduous, difficult, tiresome”, marked as both an adjective and adverb, along with a noun variant ᴱN. amvinn “slope, incline, hillside” (PE13/139, 159-160). This early Noldorin form was a combination of ᴱN. am “up” and ᴱN. benn “sloping”.
Neo-Sindarin: Given its Early Noldorin use for “arduous, difficult, tiresome”, amben might be used colloquially in Neo-Sindarin with a similar sense for a thing that is difficult, analogous to English usages like an “uphill battle”: dagor amben.
References ✧ Ety/AM², DEN, PEN
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| am | “up” | ✧ Ety/AM² | |
| penn¹ | “declivity” | ✧ Ety/DEN (denn); Ety/PEN | |
| ᴹ√PEN(ED) | “*hillside, slope” | ✧ Ety/AM² (PEN) | |
| ᴹ√AM² | “up” | ✧ Ety/PEN | |
Cognates
ᴱN. amvenn adj. and adv. “uphill; arduous, difficult, tiresome” (Category: Slope, Cliff)
References ✧ PE13/139, 159-160
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| amvinn | plural | ✧ PE13/159 |
Elements
| am | “up” | |
| benn | “sloping, inclined, slanting, up or down hill” | ✧ PE13/138; PE13/160 |
Element In
Cognates
G. amon² adv. “uphill, against stream” (Category: Up, Above, Over)
References ✧ GL/19; LT2A/Amon Gwareth
Glosses
Elements
| am¹ | “up, upwards, towards head of, above” | ✧ GL/19 |