Ad. *bên n. (weak-I gendered common) “servant, ?person” (Category: Servant)
A noun attested only in its plural form bênî “servants” as an element in the term Êru-bênî “Servants of God” (SD/341, 357). This noun resembles the Sindarin word pen² “person”, especially in the Sindarin lenited form -ben. The Adûnaic noun may be related, having undergone phonetic development similar to that discussed for Ad. bêth “word”, so that bên is ultimately derived from Primitive Elvish ✶kwēn “person”, which could be its archaic meaning. Andreas Moehn instead suggested (EotAL/BIN) that it is derived from a root *BIN, possibly related to Ed. Bëor “Vassal, Servant”.
References ✧ SD/341, 357
Inflections
| bēnī | draft-plural | “servants” | ✧ SD/341 |
| bênî | plural | “servants” | ✧ SD/357 |
Element In
Derivations