Noldorin 

neth

feminine name. Nessa

Noldorin equivalent of ᴹQ. Nessa appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, derived from the same primitive root ᴹ√NETH (Ety/NETH, Nι). Given its Quenya form, the primitive form of this name might have been ✱✶netthā.

Noldorin [Ety/NETH; Ety/Nι] Group: Eldamo. Published by

neth

adjective. young

irregular, compare: tathor @@@

Noldorin [Ety/NETH; Ety/Nι; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

neth

adjective. young

Noldorin [Ety/377] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dineth

feminine name. Nessa

A Noldorin name for Nessa appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, it is simply dineth “bride” used as a name (Ety/Nι, NETH, EtyAC/NDIS).

Noldorin [Ety/NETH; Ety/Nι; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dineth

noun. bride

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bride”, a combination of N. † “woman, bride” and N. neth “young” (Ety/Nι; EtyAC/NDIS, NIS).

Noldorin [Ety/Nι; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dineth

noun. bride

Noldorin [Ety/377-378] dî+neth. Group: SINDICT. Published by

thêl

noun. sister

A word for “sister” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES of the same meaning, with an irregular plural thelei (Ety/THEL). It had a more elaborate form muinthel, the equivalent of muindor “(dear) brother”, with an initial element muin “dear”.

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word nethel for “sister” from the root √NETH (VT47/14). However, I think thêl and related words might be retained to mean a “metaphorical sister”, a close female associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as gwathel “[sworn] sister, associate”. In this paradigm, I would assume muinthel still refers to a sister by blood, with an added connotation of strong affection. I think it’s best to assume the irregular Noldorin plural pattern was reformed to the normal Sindarin plural thîl.

Noldorin [Ety/THEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nem

noun. nose

A word for “nose” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, with archaic form nemb and derived from ᴹ√NEÑ-WI (Ety/NEÑ-WI), an elaboration of the shorter root ᴹ√NEÑ (EtyAC/NEÑ-WI). The mb is a result of the Old Noldorin change of labialized velars into labials (ñw > ñgw > mb), a sound change that also occurred in Sindarin.

Conceptual Development: Similar but earlier “nose” words include G. nûn {“a nostril” >>} “a nose (of men only)” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/61) and ᴱN. {nheth >>} neth “nose” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/151).

Noldorin [Ety/NEÑ-WI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dîs

noun. bride

A word for “bride” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶ndīse under the root ᴹ√NDIS (Ety/NDIS). Ordinarily the s in this word would have been lost, but it was influenced by N. †dess “young woman” < ON. ndissa from the same root (EtyAC/NDIS). Dîs “bride” in turn influenced the form of N. † “woman”, originally ON. < ᴹ√ (Ety/DER, Nι; EtyAC/NDIS).

Neo-Sindarin: While I think this word is perfectly serviceable, for purposes of Neo-Sindarin it may be better to use the longer and more distinctive word dineth for bride.

Noldorin [Ety/BES; Ety/NDIS; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/Nι; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

muinthel

noun. sister

Noldorin [Ety/THEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dîs

noun. bride

Noldorin [Ety/352, Ety/375] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwathel

noun. sister, associate

Noldorin [Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwîn

adjective. young

Noldorin [EtyAC/GWIN; EtyAC/WIR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

muinthel

noun. sister

Noldorin [Ety/392] muin+thêl. Group: SINDICT. Published by

nem

noun. nose

Noldorin [Ety/376] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nemb

noun. nose

Noldorin [Ety/376] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thêl

noun. sister

Noldorin [Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Sindarin 

neth

noun. (little) girl; sister (diminutive)

A word appearing in several sets of notes from the late 1960s having to do with Hands, Fingers and Numerals. It was related to the finger name of the fourth finger (representing the sister). Tolkien gave it a variety of glosses: “girl” (VT47/33), “little girl” (VT47/33), or as an archaic diminutive for “sister” (VT47/14; VT48/6), where it was replaced by nethig in modern speech. He also gave it several different derivations, from √NET “trim, pretty, dainty” (VT47/33) or the root √NETH which itself was given a variety of meanings: “sister” (VT47/12, 26, 34), “(young) woman” (VT47/15, 32, 39) or “fresh, lively, merry” (VT47/32).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I think the meaning “(little) girl” is the most useful. For “sister” I would use †nîth or nethel, with nethig as the diminutive form.

Sindarin [VT47/14; VT47/33; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

neth

noun. sister

Sindarin [VT/47:14-16,33, VT/48:6] Group: SINDICT. Published by

neth

noun. girl (in her teens, approaching the adult)

Sindarin [VT/47:14-16,33, VT/48:6] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nethel

noun. sister

A word for “sister” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √NETH of similar meaning and replacing the archaic form of the word †nîth (VT47/12, 14). The diminutive/affectionate form nethig “[little] sister” was used as a play name for the fourth finger (VT48/6); Tolkien considered an alternate diminutive netheg (VT47/14, 32) and also considered giving this diminutive an alternate meaning “little girl” (VT47/15, 33); see S. neth for discussion.

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. thêl “sister” from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES (Ety/THEL), and the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hethir “sister” from the early root ᴱ√HESE [HEÞE] (GL/48; QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

nethig

noun. "litte sister"

First given in the manuscript as netheg in VT/47:14-15, but see especially VT/48:17 n. 13 for discussion

Sindarin [VT/47:14, VT/47:38-39, VT/48:6,17] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nethig

noun. ring finger (Elvish play-name used by and taught to children)

First given in the manuscript as netheg in VT/47:14-15, but see especially VT/48:17 n. 13 for discussion

Sindarin [VT/47:14, VT/47:38-39, VT/48:6,17] Group: SINDICT. Published by

neth

sister

  1. neth (also used = ”girl”). (VT47:14-16, 33; VT48:6), pl. nith. Notice the homophone neth ”young”. Also nîth (no distinct pl. form though the plural article with show pluarlity when the noun is definite: in nîth) (VT47:14). 2) gwathel (i **wathel), pl. gwethil (in gwethil). 3) muinthel (i vuinthel), pl. muinthil (i muinthil), more usual than the shorter form thêl (stem thele-), pl. theli. In “Noldorin”, the pl. was thelei** (LR:392 s.v. THEL).

neth

young

neth (pl. nith). A homophone is the noun ”sister, girl”.

neth

nessa

Neth, also called Díneth ”the young bride” (na Nineth)

neth

nessa

also called Díneth ”the young bride” (na Nineth)

neth

girl

(also used = ”sister”), pl. nith (VT47:14-16, 33; VT48:6). Notice the homophone neth ”young”. – The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

neth

young

(pl. nith). A homophone is the noun ”sister, girl”.

díneth

bride

(i níneth, o ndineth), pl. dínith (i ndínith)

bride

  1. (i nî, o ndi) (lady), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndî), 2) díneth (i níneth, o ndineth), pl. dínith (i ndínith)

iell

girl

  1. iell (-iel) (daughter, maid), pl. ill; 2) sell (i hell) (daughter, maid), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath. 3) (girl in her teens, approaching the adult) neth (also used = ”sister”), pl. nith (VT47:14-16, 33; VT48:6). Notice the homophone neth ”young”. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

nîth

noun. sister

gwein

adjective. young

adj. young. Q. vinya. >> gwîn

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:191] < WIN young. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwein

adjective. young

nîth

noun. sister

Sindarin [VT/47:14] Group: SINDICT. Published by

bund

nose

(i mund, o mbund, construct mun) (snout, cape [of land]), pl. bynd (i mbynd)

dess

young woman

(i ness, o ndess, constuct des), pl. diss (i ndiss)

bride

(i nî, o ndi) (lady), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndî)

iell

girl

(-iel) (daughter, maid), pl. ill

nem

nose

  1. nem (pl. nim; coll. pl. nemmath), 2) bund (i mund, o mbund, construct mun) (snout, cape [of land]), pl. bynd (i mbynd)

nem

nose

(pl. nim; coll. pl. nemmath)

sell

girl

(i hell) (daughter, maid), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath.

Primitive elvish

nēthā

noun. sister

Primitive elvish [VT47/14] Group: Eldamo. Published by

win

root. young, young, [ᴹ√] new, fresh

Tolkien used a similar set of Elvish roots for “youth” and “freshness” for many years. The earliest of these was primitive guı̯u̯ or gu̯iu̯ [ᴱ√GWIWI] in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like G. gui “just, just now, only just, already”, G. guin “recent, fresh”, and G. gwioth “youth” (GL/42). This root reappeared as ᴹ√WIR “new, fresh, young” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with variants ᴹ√ and ᴹ√WIN and derivatives ᴹQ. vírie “youth” and ᴹQ. virya “fresh” (EtyAC/WIR). The ᴹ√WIN variant had derivatives ᴹQ. vinya/N. gwîn “young”. Tolkien considered, but rejected, deriving these from strengthened ᴹ√GWIN instead, producing (also rejected) ᴹQ. winya/N. bîn (EtyAC/GWIN).

Q. vinya appeared in quite a few later names with the gloss “young” or “new”, but the Sindarin form became S. gwain as in S. Narwain “January, ✱(lit.) New Fire” (LotR/1110) and S. Iarwain “Old-young” (LotR/1114; RC/128). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, both were given as derivatives of √WIN “young” along with Q. víne/S. gwîn “youth”, though the Sindarin word for “young” was given as (archaic?) gwein (PE17/191). Also related are various words for “baby” from 1968 notes such Q. †wine/S. gwinig “little-one, baby” (VT48/6). In these notes primitive wini was glossed “little” but this was deleted (VT47/26), making it likely that the earlier senses “young, new” were restored for √WIN.

As for the 1930s root ᴹ√WIR, it might have survived as an element in the month names Q. Víressë/S. Gwirith “April” (LotR/1110), perhaps meaning “✱freshness”.

Primitive elvish [PE17/191; VT47/26] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Telerin 

néþa

noun. sister

nettë

noun. sister (diminutive)

Telerin [VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/33; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

netticë

noun. sister (diminutive)

Telerin [VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/32; VT47/33; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Adûnaic

nithil

noun. girl

A noun translated “girl” and fully declined as an example of a feminine Strong I noun (SD/430). It is also used as an example of feminine nouns that use the suffix -i in their objective inflection as opposed to the usual -u: nithli (SD/431). Though not explicitly stated, nithli is also an example of the variant objective-with-syncope syntax discussed on SD/435. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) it may be related to the Elvish root √NETH “young”.

Adûnaic [SD/427; SD/431; SD/436] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Quenya 

nésa

noun. sister

A word for “sister” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √NETH of similar meaning (VT47/12, 14). It had a diminutive/affectionate variant nettë used as a play name for the fourth finger in several places in these notes (VT47/12; VT48/6), but I prefer to mainly use nettë for “(little) girl” in Neo-Quenya (VT47/10, 15, 33).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. seler “sister” from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES (Ety/THEL), and the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. heresse “sister” from the early root ᴱ√HESE (QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

nessa

young

nessa adj. "young" (NETH), alsoNessa as name of a Valië, the spouse of Tulkas (adopted and adapted from Valarin, or an archaic Elvish formation: WJ:404 vs. 416). Also called Indis, "bride" (NETH, NI1). The fem. name Nessanië (UT:210) would seem to incorporate Nessa's name; the second element could mean "tear" (nië), but since Nessa is not normally associated with sorrow, this #nië is perhaps rather a variant of "female" (compare Tintanië as a variant of Tintallë).

Acairis

bride

Acairis ("k") fem. name, "bride" (LT1:252; in Tolkien's later Quenya, "bride" is rather indis)

nengwë

nose

nengwë (stem *nengwi-, given the primitive form ¤neñ-wi) noun "nose", pl. nengwi given (NEÑ-WI)

nettë

girl, daughter

nettë (stem *netti-, given the primitive form listed in VT47:17) noun "girl, daughter" (but also "sister", see below), also used as a play-name of the "fourth finger" or "fourth toe" (VT47:10, VT48:6), in two-hand play also used for the numeral "nine" (nettë is conceived as being related to nertë, q.v.) Nettë is also defined as "sister" or "girl approaching the adult" (VT47:16, VT49:25), "girl/daughter" (VT47:15-16); it may be that "sister" was Tolkien's final decision on the meaning (VT48:4, 22) - The related word nésa seems like a less ambiguous translation of "sister".

nésa

sister

nésa (Þ) noun "sister" (VT47:14); this form from a late source possibly replaces earlier seler and onórë, q.v.

onórë

sister

onórë noun "sister" (of blood-kin) (THEL/THELES, NŌ; both of these entries in the Etymologies as reproduced in LR have the reading "onóne", but the "Old Noldorin" cognate wanúre listed in the entry THEL/THELES seems to indicate that the Quenya word should be onórë; the letters n and r are easily confused in Tolkien's handwriting. There is no clear evidence for a feminine ending - in Quenya, but - is relatively well attested; cf. for instance ontarë.) A later source gives the word for "sister" as nésa instead.

osellë

sister, [female] associate

osellë (þ) noun "sister, [female] associate" (THEL/THELES, WŌ). Cf. otorno.

seler

sister

seler (þ) (sell-, as in pl. selli) noun "sister" (THEL/THELES). In a later source, the word nésa (q.v.) appears instead, leaving the conceptual status of seler uncertain.

vinya

young

vinya (1) adj. "young" (VT46:22, VT47:26, PE17:191) or "new" (cf. compounds Vinyamar, Vinyarië below; cf. also winya "new, fresh, young" in a deleted entry in the Etymologies, VT45:16; there the word was first written as vinya.) Vinya "the Young", original name of the isle of Númenor among its own people (SD:332).

nessa

Nessa

Nessa ([ˈnesːa]) is a Quenya name meaning "young".

Quenya [Tolkien Gateway] Published by

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!

Middle Primitive Elvish

neth

root. young

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/LEP; Ety/NETH; Ety/Nι; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nethrā

adjective. young

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NETH] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thel(es)

root. sister

Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√THEL and extended form ᴹ√THELES with the gloss “sister” and derivatives like ᴹQ. seler and N. thêl of the same meaning, both derived from the extended root as made clear by the Noldorin plural thelei < ON. thelehi (Ety/THEL). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. meletheldi “love-sisters” for close female friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. nésa and S. nethel as the words for “sister”, both from the root √NETH. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√THEL(ES) to represent more abstract notions of “sisterhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical sister”s as opposed to Q. nésa/S. nethel for sisters by blood.

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/THEL; Ety/TOR; Ety/WŌ] Group: Eldamo. Published by

indise

feminine name. bride

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/I²; Ety/NDIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ndīse

noun. bride

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/DER; Ety/I²; Ety/NDIS; EtyAC/I²; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

neñwi

noun. nose

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NEÑ-WI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wen-

noun. girl

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/WEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

neth

noun. nose

Early Noldorin [PE13/151] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

indis

feminine name. Bride

A name for Nessa (Ety/Nι) meaning “Bride” (Ety/I², NDIS, NETH). See Q. Indis for the later use of this name for the wife of Finwë.

Qenya [Ety/I²; Ety/NDER; Ety/NDIS; Ety/NETH; Ety/Nι] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nessa

adjective. young

seler

noun. sister

A noun for “sister” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES of the same meaning, with an irregular plural selli (Ety/THEL), where the stem form sell- is because the Quenya syncope caused the second e to be lost and then the ancient ls became ll.

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word nésa for “sister” (VT47/14). However, I think seler might be retained to mean a “metaphorical” sister, a close female associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as meletheldi “love-sister, ✱close female friend” or ᴹQ. oselle “sworn sister”. In this sense, nésa would be limited to biological relationships, but seler would refer to sisterly (or sister-like) affection.

indis

noun. bride

nengwe

noun. nose

A word for “nose” in The Etymologies written around 1937, derived from ᴹ√NEÑ-WI (Ety/NEÑ-WI), an elaboration of the shorter root ᴹ√NEÑ (EtyAC/NEÑ-WI). Given its primitive form, its stem ought to be nengwi-, but in attested compounds this word is consistently nengwe-, so perhaps Tolkien changed his mind on its primitive form.

Conceptual Development: The earliest percursor to this word seems to be ᴱQ. nen (neng-) “nostril” in several documents from the 1920s (PE14/72; PE15/75; PE16/113), whose dual nenqi was also used for a “nose” of one person (PE14/76; PE15/75). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien had nin (ning-) “beak, nose” < ᴹ✶nengǝ (PE21/26), though this phonetic shift of short e to i is rather unusual and seems to be limited to this document.

Qenya [Ety/NEÑ-WI; PE22/011; PE22/022; PE22/050] Group: Eldamo. Published by

véne

noun. girl

Early Quenya

nessa

feminine name. Nessa

Early Quenya [LBI/Nessa; LT1A/Nessa; LT1I/Nessa; LT2I/Nessa; PE14/014] Group: Eldamo. Published by

akairis

feminine name. Bride

Another name for Erinti appearing in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s (QL/36). It is simply akairis “bride” used as a name.

Early Quenya [LT1A/Erinti; QL/036] Group: Eldamo. Published by

heresse

noun. sister

A word for “sister” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with numerous variants: heresse, hesta(noi)ni, and hestaqin, all based on the early root ᴱ√HESE that was the basis for “brother” and “sister” words (QL/40). Of these Tolkien said heresse was the “ordinary word”, and it also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/40).

Early Quenya [PME/040; QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hestani

noun. sister

Early Quenya [QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hestanoini

noun. sister

hestaqin

noun. sister

Early Quenya [QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kana

adjective. young

Early Quenya [GL/37] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mella

noun. girl

A word for “girl” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√MELE “love”, but Tolkien marked it with a “?” (QL/60). The same word did appear in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa, however (PME/60).

Early Quenya [PME/060; QL/060] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

thele

noun. sister

Old Noldorin [Ety/THEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ndīs

noun. bride

Old Noldorin [Ety/NDIS; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/Nι; EtyAC/NIS; PE22/027] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

gwennin

noun. girl

gwiog

adjective. young

gwion

adjective. young

gwiw

adjective. young

gân

adjective. young

hethir

noun. sister

A word for “sister” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, a feminized form of G. heth “brother or sister, ✱sibling”, along with several (archaic) variant forms hethwin, hestril, and hethril (GL/48). It was ultimately derived from the early root ᴱ√HESE [HEÞE?] (QL/40).

Doriathrin

gwen

noun. girl

A noun for “girl” derived from primitive ᴹ✶wen- (Ety/WEN). Here the [[ilk|initial [w] became [gw]]].

Doriathrin [Ety/WEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nîw

noun. nose

A Doriathrin noun for “nose” derived from ᴹ✶neñwi (Ety/LIW). It is likely an example of how [[ilk|[ŋg] vanished before [w] lengthening the preceding vowel]], especially if the [[ilk|[e] first became [i] before the [ŋg]]], as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Doriathrin/nîw).

Doriathrin [Ety/NEÑ-WI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

gana Speculative

root. young

A hypothetical early root that would explain words appearing in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s such as ᴱQ. kana and G. gân “young” (GL/37). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writings.

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by