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S. amon n. “hill, mountain with steep sides; lump, clump, mass” (Category: Hill, Mountain)

S. amon, n. “hill, (isolated) mountain; lump, clump, mass; ⚠️[G.] steep slope” (Category: Hill, Mountain)
N. cum “mound, heap, [G.] burial mound”

The basis Sindarin word for “hill”. In one set of notes from around 1967, Tolkien said it could be applied also to any “lump, clump, mass” (PE17/93). In this same note Tolkien said it was “often applied to (especially isolated) mountains”, the most notable example being S. Amon Amarth “Mount Doom”. Its plural form emyn “hills” also appears in many names.

Conceptual Development: This word had a long history in Tolkien’s Elvish languages. It first appeared as G. amon “hill, mount, steep slope” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/19), where it was probably a derivative of the early root ᴱ√AM(U) “up(wards)”. ᴱN. amon “hill” also appears in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s again connected to am- “up” (PE13/137, 159), and was given as N. amon “hill” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√AM² “up” (Ety/AM²).

Its Quenya cognate Q. ambo was given as derivative of √AM “go up” in notes from 1967, but in other 1967 notes on the comparative, Tolkien coined some different roots as the basis for this S. amon “hill”, first √MAB “lump, mass” (PE17/90) and then √MBON, the latter being the basis for the alternate meanings “lump, clump, mass” mentioned above (PE17/90-93). Tolkien’s motivation for this change was that he wanted √AMA to have a new meaning “addition, increase, plus” to serve as the basis for the intensive.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume S. amon was derived from √AM “up”, since I prefer Q. an- for intensives, but it may have been influenced by √MBON and this was the reason for its alternate meanings “lump, clump, mass”.

References ✧ LotR/1097, 1115; LotRI/Emyn Uial; PE17/15, 33, 61, 93, 121; PM/186; RC/334, 772; S/204, 217; SA/er; UT/255, 280, 301; UTI/Emyn-nu-Fuin; VT42/17; WJ/187

Glosses

Variations

Related

Inflections

Emyn plural “hills” ✧ LotR/1097; LotRI/Emyn Uial; RC/334
Emyn plural   ✧ PE17/33; VT42/17
Emyn plural   ✧ PM/186
Emyn plural “mountains” ✧ UT/280; UTI/Emyn-nu-Fuin
emyn plural   ✧ LotR/1115; PE17/61; PE17/121

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ambuna > amon [ambuna] > [ambona] > [ambon] > [ammon] > [amon] ✧ PE17/93
ṃbono > amon [ṃbono] > [ambono] > [ambon] > [ammon] > [amon] ✧ PE17/93

N. amon n. “hill” (Category: Hill, Mountain)

See S. amon for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/AM²; TI/313

Glosses

Variations

Inflections

Emyn plural “hills” ✧ TI/313
emyn plural   ✧ Ety/AM²

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√AM² > amon [ambon] > [ambon] > [ammon] > [amon] ✧ Ety/AM²
ᴹ√AM² > emuin > emyn [amboni] > [ambuni] > [embyni] > [embyn] > [embyn] > [emmyn] > [emyn] ✧ Ety/AM²

ᴱN. amon n. “hill” (Category: Hill, Mountain)

See S. amon for discussion.

References ✧ PE13/137, 159

Glosses

Variations

Inflections

emyn plural ✧ PE13/137; PE13/159

Cognates


G. amon¹ n. “hill, mount, steep slope” (Category: Hill, Mountain)

See S. amon for discussion.

References ✧ GL/19; LT2A/Amon Gwareth; PE13/110; PE15/20

Glosses

Variations

Inflections

emyn plural ✧ PE13/110

Element In

Cognates

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ✶amundǝ > amon [amunde] > [amund] > [amunn] > [amun] > [amon] ✧ PE13/110