In Lambengolmor message 924
(<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lambengolmor/message/924>),
Philipp Marquart wrote of N. _Thilim_ that:

>the ending _-im_ is very peculiar, it may be connected with _lim,
>rim_ "many"(V:369, as in _orodrim_ (ÔR-OT)) but that is very
>unlikely (could it be a comparative ending, intensifying _Thil_?).
>We may rather assume an alternative adjectival ending in _-im_.

Perhaps _-im_ is best explainable as being the cognate of Quenya
_-(i)ma_ or _-(i)me_. Compare the stem SIL- (variant of THIL-; V:385)
with derivatives _silimâ_ 'silver, shining white (adj.)' > Q. _silma_,
N. _*silef_. The latter form is theoretical and does not occur in Noldorin;
generally Sindarin and Noldorin do not show _-ef_, see "Quendi & Eldar":

"_Fíreb_ as compared with _Fírima_ shows the use of a different suffix,
[...] since the S equivalent of Q _-ima_ (*_-ef_) was not current." (XI:387)

I guess that Tolkien disliked the sound of _-ef_ and avoided it
(although it is a straightfoward etymological consequence). In the
given example he may have rejected the lenition of _m_, whatever
internal explanation may have stood behind this (lacking lenition of
_m_ is known in the northern dialect of Sindarin, e.g. in the name
_Celegorm_).

There is also no a-affection, so I suppose _thilim_ derives from
_*thilimê_ 'silvery light' (cf. _silimê_ 'light of Silpion' (V:385))
and is put into genitive position - _Neleg Thilim_ *'a tooth of
silvery/gleaming light'. On the other hand forms without a-affection
sometimes occur as well, e.g. _celebrin_ (V:367), later changed to
_celebren_. This way, _thilim_ would be an adjective from _*thilimâ_,
a variant of _silimâ_.

Apparently Tolkien made up another solution later - we find _silivren_
in _The Lord of the Rings_, where a second ending _-ren_ seems to be
attached.


Roman Rausch