_3rd pl. poss. suff. their.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ent_. >> -ent
Sindarin
-wen
suffix. maiden, *female suffix
-wen
suffix. their
gwen
noun. maiden
wen
maiden
, see MAIDEN. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.
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.
-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.
dadwen
verb. return
_v. _return, going/coming back. Q. nanwen-. >> damen
damen
verb. return
_ v. _return. Q. nanwen-. >> dan-
gwend
noun. maiden
bad
go
#bad- (i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.
bad
go
(i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.
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”.
iell
maid
1) iell (-iel) (girl, daughter), pl. ill, 2) sell (i hell) (daughter, girl), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath** **
iell
maid
(-iel) (girl, daughter), pl. ill
sell
maid
(i hell) (daughter, girl), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. *sellath*** **
A common feminine suffix in Sindarin (SA/wen; PE17/190), a reduction of S. gwend “maiden” in compounds; see that entry for more examples.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the common female suffix was G. -win based on G. gwin “woman”, though Tolkien mentioned a variant -wein in Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising that document (PPE13/118). By the Noldorin of the 1930s, the usual suffix was -wen from N. gwenn “maiden”, and Tolkien seems to have stuck with it thereafter, as noted above.