númen is a noun meaning "west" in Quenya.[1]
Númen is also the name in Quenya of the seventeenth letter of the Tengwar alphabet.[1] It is the first letter of the fifth grade or Tyellë, which contains "nasal" consonants and it is the fifth letter in the dental or t-series of consonants, the Tincotéma. In most modes this letter represents N.[2] However, in the Mode of Beleriand, this letter represents NN, a common occurrence in Sindarin.[3] Númen was one of the most widely known and used of all the Tengwar since it indicated "west" even in languages that used a very different term.[1] The Westron name for this letter is Nó.[4]
Etymology
The word derives from the Primitive Quendian root NDU plus MEN, indicating direction.[5] Also PQ nūme-n "going down", sunset, West.[6]
In the West-lands of Middle-earth the four cardinal directions were Númen, Hyarmen, Rómen, and Formen, and they were named in this order, beginning with (and facing) west. Hyarmen meant a left-hand region and Formen meant a right-hand region.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The names of the letters
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", footnote 2
- ↑ See Alphabet of Fëanor: Numenian, or Westron, Mode
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", NDU-
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 227, (dated 5 January 1961)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, "Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters", Note, The names of the letters