Quenya 

-iel

suffix. -daughter; feminine suffix

The most common Quenya suffix for “daughter of” such as in Elerondiel “✱Daughter of Elrond” (PE17/56) or Uinéniel “Daughter of Uinen” (UT/182).

Conceptual Development: The earliest hint of this suffix was ᴱQ. -il mentioned by Tolkien in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as the equivalent of feminine patronymic ᴱQ. -wen (QL/103), but its only use in this period was in the masculine name ᴱQ. Indorildo, a variant of ᴱQ. Indorion and hence probably meaning “son of” (LT2/217). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien mentioned ᴹQ. -iel as a feminine patronymic under the root ᴹ√YEL “daughter” (Ety/YEL¹), but this root was rejected and in that document Tolkien seems to have replaced it with ᴹQ. -ien (EtyAC/YŌ).

In later writings Tolkien considered a bewildering variety of suffixes for the feminine patronymic, including -iel(d), -well, -wend and -ien (PE17/170, 190). In practice, though, only -iel appeared in actual names for “daughter of” (see above), perhaps because it is was the cleanest equivalent of the well-established masculine patronymic -ion “son of”.

Changes

  • -yel-well- ✧ PE17/190
  • iel-uell- ✧ PE17/190
  • -yelde-wend- ✧ PE17/190

Cognates

  • S. -iel “daughter; feminine suffix” ✧ PE17/023

Derivations

  • -iel “feminine suffix”

Element in

Variations

  • iel ✧ PE17/023; PE17/170; PE17/190 (iel)
  • -ĕl ✧ PE17/170
  • -ielde ✧ PE17/170
  • -well- ✧ PE17/190
  • -uell- ✧ PE17/190
  • -wend- ✧ PE17/190
  • -wel ✧ PE17/190
  • -yel ✧ PE17/190 (-yel)
  • -yelde ✧ PE17/190 (-yelde)
Quenya [PE17/023; PE17/170; PE17/190] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ien

suffix. feminine ending; feminine patronymic, -daughter

A feminine suffix common in Quenya names, in one place given as a feminine patronymic (PE17/170), though there are no attested Quenya names in which it was used that way.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ien was given as a (suffixal?) variant of ᴹQ. yen(de) “daughter” (Ety/YŌ; EtyAC/YŌ), but again there are no actual names from this period using the suffix in that way.

Cognates

  • S. -ien “feminine ending” ✧ PE17/170

Element in

Variations

  • -en ✧ PE17/170
  • -ien ✧ PE17/170

-wen

maiden

-wen "maiden" as suffix, a frequent ending in feminine names like Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (SA:wen). Early "Qenya" also has -wen, feminine patronymic "daughter of" (LT1:271, 273), but the patronymic ending seems to be -iel "-daughter" in Tolkien's later Quenya.

vendë

maiden

vendë < wendë noun "maiden" (WEN/WENED, VT45:16), "virgin" (in Tolkien's translations of Catholic prayers where the reference is to Mary; see VT44:10, 18). The form Véndë in VT44:10 seems abnormal; normally Quenya does not have a long vowel in front of a consonant cluster.

wendë

noun. maiden

Sindarin 

-eth

suffix. feminine ending

Cognates

  • Q. -issë “ending in feminine names” ✧ PM/345

Derivations

  • -ittā “ending in feminine names” ✧ PM/345

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
-ittā > -eth[-ittā] > [-itta] > [-ittʰa] > [-iθθa] > [-eθθa] > [-eθθ] > [-eθ]✧ PM/345

Variations

  • -es ✧ PE17/141
  • eth ✧ RC/579
Sindarin [PE17/141; PM/345; RC/579; WJ/387] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ien

suffix. feminine ending

An occasional feminine suffix in Sindarin, in one place given as a feminine patronymic (PE17/170) as in the name Lúthien “Daughter of Flowers” (PE17/15, 161). See the entry on the root √YE(L) for a discussion of conceptual vacillations on its connection to “daughter”.

Conceptual Development: In Noldorin it seems N. -ien was simply a feminine suffix in the name N. Lhúthien “Enchantress” (Ety/LUK).

Cognates

  • Q. -ien “feminine ending; feminine patronymic, -daughter” ✧ PE17/170

Derivations

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
(ĭ)ondī > -ien[-iondī] > [-iondi] > [-iœndi] > [-iœnd] > [-iœnn] > [-ienn] > [-ien]✧ PE17/170
Sindarin [PE17/170] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwen

noun. maiden

_n. _maiden. Q. wendē. >> gwend, gweneth

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:191] < WEN-ED girl, virgin, maiden. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwend

noun. maiden

_n. _maiden. Q. wendē. >> gwen, gweneth

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:191] < WEN-ED girl, virgin, maiden. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwend

noun. maiden, maiden, *young woman

A word for “maiden” or “✱young woman”, frequently appearing as suffixal -wen as an element in female names, derived from the root √WEN(ED) (PE17/191; Ety/WEN).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word G. gwin meant “woman, female” and G. {gwen >>} gwennin was “girl” (GL/45). The former was derived from the root ᴱ√giu̯i which had to do with pregnancy, but the latter was derived from {ᴱ√gw̯ene >>} ᴱ√gu̯eđe. In the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE was the basis of words like ᴱQ. ’wen(di) “maiden” (QL/103). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips it seems G. gwin was also reassigned to the root ᴱ√(G)WENE [ᴱ√u̯enĭ-], derived from ᴱ✶u̯einā́, though possibly shifted or blended in meaning with an adjectival sense “womanly” (PE13/113).

In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. uin “woman” (PE13/123), a form that also appeared with this gloss in contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists as a replacement for deleted {gwind, gwinn} (PE13/146, 155). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. gwend, gwenn “maiden” under the root ᴹ√WEN(ED) which he said was “often found in feminine names” (Ety/WEN). He noted that “since the [suffixed names] show no -d even in archaic spelling, they probably contain a form wen-”. Tolkien seems to have stuck with these forms thereafter.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for a young woman or adolescent girl, especially prior to marriage, but for female children I would use neth.

Cognates

  • Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin” ✧ PE17/191

Derivations

  • wendē “maiden, young or small woman, girl”
    • WEN(ED) “maiden, girl, virgin; woman” ✧ VT47/17; VT48/18
  • WEN(ED) “maiden, girl, virgin; woman” ✧ PE17/191

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
WEN-ED > gwen(d)[wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn]✧ PE17/191

Variations

  • gwen(d) ✧ PE17/191
Sindarin [PE17/191] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

A fairly common feminine suffix appearing as -il in Sindarin, either formed on its own or as a variant of the feminine suffix -iel. This suffix was also common Noldorin words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, along with an alternate form -ril that seems to be a feminine agental suffix, the equivalent of masculine -(r)on, seen in pairs like N. melethril/melethron “lover” and N. odhril/odhron “parent” (Ety/MEL, ONO). The -il suffix and its -ril variant are seen all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in pairs like G. gwadhril/gwadhron “inhabitant” (GL/47) and G. ainil/ainos “god”, female and male respectively (GL/18). So it seems this feminine suffix was well established in Tolkien’s mind.

Element in

  • S. brethil “princess, (lit.) queen-daughter”
  • S. híril “lady, lady; [G.] princess, †queen” ✧ SA/heru
  • ᴺS. regil “mare”
  • S. Thuringwethil “Woman of Secret Shadow”

gwend

maiden

gwend (i **wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath**. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.

gwend

maiden

(i ’wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.

wen

maiden

, see MAIDEN. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

Adûnaic

-êth

suffix. feminine suffix

A feminine suffix appearing in several names, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/11). On SD/427, Tolkien said that the affix -th was often found in feminine forms.

Element in

suffix. feminine suffix

A suffix used to form feminine nouns from common or masculine nouns (SD/435). Another common variant was (SD/438).

Variations

  • ✧ SD/435

-phel Reconstructed

suffix. ?-daughter

An element appearing only in the name Zimraphel (UT/224). Though unglossed, her Quenya name Míriel seems to be mírë “jewel” + -iel “daughter”. The Adûnaic element zimra appears elsewhere as the Adûnaic equivalent of Q. mírë: in Zimrathôn whose Quenya name is Hostamir. These leaves the -phel to be “daughter” as suggested by several authors (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/PHIL), perhaps the feminine equivalent of -thôr “son” appearing in Sakalthôr “✱Shore-son”.

Phonetically, this element does not fit the earlier Adûnaic phonetic rules of Lowdham’s Report, which state that only a long ] was allowed in Adûnaic (SD/423). When Tolkien wrote Lowdham’s Report, Zimraphel’s Adûnaic name was instead Zimrahil, so perhaps -hil was an earlier form of this suffix. If the suffix -phel were to be used in the phonetic context of the Adûnaic of Lowdham’s Report (Middle Adûnaic) it might have the form ✱-phêl. See the entry on conceptual-changes-in-late-Adûnaic for further discussion.

Element in

Primitive elvish

-iel

suffix. feminine suffix

Derivatives

  • Q. -iel “-daughter; feminine suffix”
  • S. -iel “daughter; feminine suffix”

Element in

Variations

  • iel ✧ MR/388
  • -el ✧ NM/349; NM/353
  • -elle ✧ NM/349; NM/353
  • r/l-iē̆l ✧ PE17/190 (r/l-iē̆l)
Primitive elvish [MR/388; NM/349; NM/353; PE17/190] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

gwend

noun. maiden

Noldorin [Ety/398, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwenn

noun. maiden

Noldorin [Ety/398, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwenn

noun. maiden

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. vende “maiden, maid” ✧ Ety/WEN

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WENED > gwend > gwenn[wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn]✧ Ety/WEN

-(r)il

suffix. feminine suffix

Element in

Variations

  • -il ✧ Ety/BARÁD (-il); Ety/BERÉTH
  • -ril ✧ Ety/MEL (-ril); Ety/SLIG (-ril)
Noldorin [Ety/BARÁD; Ety/BERÉTH; Ety/MEL; Ety/SLIG] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

-ien Reconstructed

suffix. feminine ending

Cognates

  • Ilk. -ien “element in female names”

Element in


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Primitive adûnaic

-th

suffix. feminine suffix

A (primitive?) feminine suffix used in the formation of mîth “baby girl” from the root ✶Ad. √MIYI (SD/427). Tolkien stated that that th was one of the “favoured” feminine consonants (SD/427).

Element in

  • Ad. mîth “baby girl, maid-child, little girl” ✧ SD/427
Primitive adûnaic [SD/427] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

-il Reconstructed

suffix. feminine suffix

Apparently a feminine suffix attested in the name Thuringwethil “(Woman of) Secret Shadow” (Ety/THUR) and the noun tóril “queen” (Ety/TĀ).

Cognates

  • N. -iel “daughter; feminine suffix”

Element in

  • Ilk. tóril “queen” ✧ Ety/TĀ
  • Ilk. Thuringwethil “(Woman of) Secret Shadow” ✧ Ety/THUR
Doriathrin [Ety/TĀ; Ety/THUR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

wende

noun. maiden

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/BAN

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WEN > wende[wende]✧ Ety/BAN
Old Noldorin [Ety/BAN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

wen(ed)

root. maiden

Derivatives

  • ᴹ✶wen- “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
    • Ilk. gwen “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
    • ᴹQ. véne “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
  • ᴹQ. vende “maiden, maid” ✧ Ety/GWEN; Ety/WEN
  • N. gwenn “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN
  • On. wende “maiden” ✧ Ety/BAN

Variations

  • WEN ✧ Ety/BAN; Ety/WEN
  • WENED ✧ Ety/WEN
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/BAN; Ety/GWEN; Ety/WEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

-sse

suffix. feminine suffix

Element in

Variations

  • -sse ✧ QL/040 (-sse); QL/055 (-sse)
Early Quenya [QL/040; QL/055] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-tsi

suffix. feminine suffix

wende

noun. maiden

Element in

Early Quenya [MC/215; PE16/090; PE16/092] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ni

suffix. feminine suffix

A common feminine suffix in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s in words like varyani “foreigner (fem.)”, probably a suffixal form of ᴱQ. “woman” (GL/60) and often paired with its masculine equivalent ᴱQ. -nu.

Element in

  • Eq. heruni “lady” ✧ QL/040
  • Eq. kuruni “witch” ✧ QL/049
  • Eq. ettani “female cousin” ✧ QL/036
  • Eq. haruni “grandmother” ✧ QL/039
  • Eq. hestani “sister” ✧ QL/040
  • Eq. túrani “queen” ✧ QL/095
  • Eq. varyani “foreigner (fem.)” ✧ QL/100
  • Eq. veruni “wife” ✧ QL/101
  • Eq. vestani “*bride” ✧ QL/101

Elements

WordGloss
“woman”
Early Quenya [QL/036; QL/039; QL/040; QL/049; QL/095; QL/100; QL/101] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-si

suffix. feminine suffix

A feminine suffix in several words from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s such as ᴱQ. felusi “witch” (QL/38) and ᴱQ. varitsi “foreigner (fem.)” (QL/100).

Element in

  • Eq. felusi “witch” ✧ QL/038
  • Eq. varitsi “foreigner (fem.)” ✧ QL/100
  • Eq. yaksi “cow” ✧ QL/105

Variations

  • -tsi ✧ QL/100 (-tsi)
Early Quenya [QL/038; QL/100; QL/105] Group: Eldamo. Published by