Acairis

bride

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

Lindissë

woman

Lindissë fem.name, perhaps lin- (root of words having to do with song/music) + (n)dissë "woman" (see nís). (UT:210)

indis

wife

indis noun, translated "wife" in UT:8, but the form is assigned the meaning "bride" in other places (the regular translation of "wife" is rather veri or vessë). Indis "Bride", name of the goddess Nessa. (NDIS-SĒ /SĀ (NETH, NI1, NDER, I) ); Indis Nessa *"Bride Nessa", title and name of the Valië (NETH) The stem-form of indis "bride" is somewhat obscure; according to VT45:37 the stem could be indiss- (pl. indissi given), but the alternative form pl. form inderi shows a curious shift from i to e as well as the more regular change from s (via z) to r between vowels (compare the pl. of olos, q.v.) The stem indiss- may be preferred by writers.

indis

noun. wife, [ᴹQ.] bride; [Q.] wife

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bride” derived from the root ᴹ√NDIS (EtyAC/NDIS). It was translate “wife” in the later phrase Q. Indis i·Ciryamo “The Mariner’s Wife” (UT/8), but I think this is a loose translation and “bride” is more accurate. In The Etymologies Tolkien gave two plural forms: inderi (which might be indesi) and indissi, the latter influenced by the plural ᴹQ. nissi for “women” (EtyAC/NDIS). I’d use the stem form indiss- for this word, to avoid awkward changes of the final consonant from s to r in inflected forms.

Derivations

• ✶ndī̆s “*bride, [ᴹ✶] bride”
  • √NIS “woman”

Element in

• Q. Erendis “?Lonely Bride”
• Q. Indis “Great Woman”
• Q. Indis i·Ciryamo “The Mariner’s Wife” ✧ UT/008

Variations

• Indis ✧ UT/008

veri

wife

veri noun "wife" (VT49:45)

veri

noun. wife

The most common word for “wife” in Quenya (VT49/45).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as ᴱQ. veri “wife” under the early root ᴱ√VEŘE [VEÐE] (QL/101), but there it was marked archaic (†). It also had a number of competing forms: archaic ᴱQ. †veruni and ᴱQ. †vesse alongside only one non-archaic form ᴱQ. vestin. One of these forms, ᴹQ. vesse, reappeared for “wife” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES). Later veri “wife” was restored, but derived from a new root √BER for marriage words (VT49/45).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer to retain the 1930s root ᴹ√BES for marriage words in order to preserve Noldorin/Sindarin forms, but I would still use the veri for “wife”, just conceived of as a derivative of the root √BES, coming from ✱besī with intervocalic s > z > r.

Derivations

• ✶verī “wife” ✧ VT49/45
  • √BER “to mate, be mated, joined in marriage” ✧ VT49/45

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶verī > veri	[berī] > [βerī] > [βeri] > [veri]	✧ VT49/45

vessë

wife

vessë noun "wife" (BES). A later source gives the word for "wife" as veri.

nissë

woman

nissë noun "woman" (NDIS-SĒ/SĀ, NI1, NIS, VT47:33); see nís. Note: nissë could apparently also mean "in me", the locative form of the 1st person pronoun ni, q.v.

nissë

noun. woman

wenci

woman, maiden

wenci ("k") noun, apparently a diminutive form of the stem wēn- "woman, maiden". It is possible that this is meant to be Common Eldarin rather than Quenya; if so the Quenya form would be *wencë (compare nercë "little man") (VT48:18)

ní

woman, female

†ní (2) noun "woman, female" (NI1, INI (NĒR ) ). Not to be confused with ní as a stressed form of the pronoun ni "I".

nís

woman

nís (niss-, as in pl. nissi) noun "woman" _(MR:213. The Etymologies gives _nis (or nissë), pl. nissi: see the stems NDIS-SĒ/SĀ, NI1, NIS (NĒR), VT46:4; compare VT47:33. In Tolkien's Quenya rendering of Hail Mary, the plural nísi occurs instead of nissi; this form is curious, since nísi would be expected to turn into *nízi, *_níri** (VT43:31). VT47:33 suggests that Tolkien at one point considered _niþ- as the older form of the stem, which etymology would solve this problem (since s from older þ does not become z > r). Even so, the MR forms, nís with stem niss-, may be preferred. - Compare †ní, #nína, nisto, Lindissë.

nís

noun. woman

The usual Quenya word for “woman” or more exactly a “female person” of any race, in later writings appearing as both nís (MR/213, 226, 229) and nisse (VT47/18, 33). Even in the cases where its singular was nís, its plural form was given as nissi, indicating a stem form of niss-. In rough notes from 1968 Tolkien said “The monosyllabic nouns (especially those with only one stem-consonant) were a small dwindling class often replaced by strengthened forms (as nis- was [by] nisse)” (VT47/18).

Thus it seems the ancient form was ✱nis- from the root √NIS, which like its male counterpart Q. nér “man” inherited a long vowel from the ancient subjective form ✱nīs. But the voiceless s was felt to be intrinsic to word, and it was thus strengthened to niss- in inflected forms to avoid the sound changes associated with an isolated s. From this a longer form nisse was generalized. In practice I think either form can be used, with singular nís being preserved by analogy with nér. However, I think inflected forms are probably all based on nisse, such as genitive nisseo “of a woman” rather than ✱✱nisso.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had both ᴹQ. nis and nisse “woman” derived the root ᴹ√NIS, with plural nissi in both cases (Ety/NIS, NDIS). He explained this variation as follows: “nis was a blend of old nīs (nisen) and the elab[orated] form ✱nis-sē” (EtyAC/NĪ¹). Hence it is was essentially the same as the scenario described above, but in the 1930s the long vowel in ancient nīs did not survive in the later short form nis.

In Quenya prayers of the 1950s, Tolkien experimented with some alternate plural forms nínaron [genitive plural] >> nísi [ordinary plural] (VT43/26-29, 31), the former apparently representing a variant singular form ✱nína, but in later writings plural nissi was restored.

Derivations

• ✶nīs “woman, female person”
  • √NIS “woman”
  • √NĪ/INI “*female, [ᴹ√] female” ✧ PE21/71
• √NIS “woman” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/33

Element in

• Q. aistana elyë imíca nísi “blessed art thou amongst women” ✧ VT43/31; VT43/31
• Q. Artanis “Noble Woman”
• Q. Hávanissi “Bread-women”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√nis- > nisse	[nisse]	✧ VT47/18
√nis > nisse	[nisse]	✧ VT47/33

Variations

• nisse ✧ VT47/18; VT47/33

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 ní "female" (compare Tintanië as a variant of Tintallë).

nína

woman

#nína (gen.pl. nínaron attested) noun "woman" (VT43:31; this word, as well as some other experimental forms listed in the same source, seem ephemeral: several sources agree that the Quenya word for "woman" is nís, nis [q.v.])

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).

bess

noun. wife, wife; [N.] woman

A word for “wife” appearing in the King’s Letter written towards the end of the 1940s (SD/129).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to G. bess “wife” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was a derivative of the early root ᴱ√Beđ (GL/22). In Early Noldorin Word-lists, Tolkien changed ᴱN. {bess >>} gweth “wife” based on the modified root ᴱ√wed- (PE13/139, 146); it also had a negated form ᴱN. urweth “without wife” (PE13/156). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien restored N. bess, now a derivative of the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES). However in that document the sense “†wife” was archaic, and it has come to mean “woman” in modern speech, replacing archaic N. †dî “woman” (Ety/BES, NDIS, NĪ¹). In the scenario of The Etymologies, the normal word for “wife” was herves (Ety/BES, KHER). However, in the late-1940s King’s Letter, it seems the sense “wife” was restored to bess.

At some point in the mid-to-late 1960s, Tolkien changed the root for marriage words from ᴹ√BES to √BER (VT49/45), apparently motivated by a need to deal with some etymological problems with the name S. Elbereth. Indeed, in The Road Goes Ever On from 1967, Tolkien said S. bereth meant “spouse”, also “used of one who is queen as spouse of a king” (RGEO/66). This calls into question the continued validity of bess from ᴹ√BES.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I prefer to retain the root ᴹ√BES for marriage word; see that entry for further details. I’d therefore keep bess, but I recommend using it only in the sense “wife”. For “woman” I’d use dî, much as I recommend using S. dîr for “man” over N. benn, which had similar conceptual developments.

Element in

• S. ar Meril bess dîn, ar Elanor, Meril, Glorfinniel, ar Eirien sellath dîn “and Rose his wife; and Elanor, Rose, Goldilocks and Daisy his daughters” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129

bess

noun. (young) woman

bess

noun. wife

arwen

noun. noble woman

adaneth

noun. (mortal) woman

gwein

adjective. young

adj. young. Q. vinya. >> gwîn

gwein

adjective. young

díneth

bride

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

dî

bride

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

dî

bride

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

bess

wife

(i vess, construct bes) (woman), pl. biss (i miss). The word bess was later used = ”woman” (in general).

bess

woman

bess (i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.

bess

woman

(i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.

dess

young woman

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

dess

young woman

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

herves

wife

1) herves (i cherves, o cherves), pl. hervis (i chervis), coll. pl. hervessath, 2) archaic bess (i vess, construct bes) (woman), pl. biss (i miss). The word bess was later used = ”woman” (in general).

herves

wife

(i cherves, o cherves), pl. hervis (i chervis), coll. pl. hervessath

dî

noun. woman, lady, bride

adaneth

mortal woman

(pl. edenith), also firieth (pl. firith).

neth

young

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

neth

young

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

gwanur

kinsman

(i ’wanur) (brother), pl. gwenyr (in gwenyr). Note: a homophone of the sg. means ”pair of twins”.

banâth

noun. wife

The noun for “wife”, given as an example of a noun with a long vowel in its final syllable that (archaically) uses the declension for a strong-noun (SD/437), an example of the rare class of Strong-Ib nouns. By the time of Classical Adûnaic, it could be declined as an ordinary weak-noun instead.

Variations

• banāth ✧ SD/437

kali

noun. woman

A noun translated “woman” (SD/434).

ndī̆s

noun. *bride, [ᴹ✶] bride

Derivations

• √NIS “woman”

Derivatives

• Q. indis “wife, [ᴹQ.] bride; [Q.] wife”

verī

noun. wife

Derivations

• √BER “to mate, be mated, joined in marriage” ✧ VT49/45

Derivatives

• Q. veri “wife” ✧ VT49/45

nis

root. woman

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NIS “woman”, an extension of ᴹ√NĪ “female” (Ety/NIS). It also had a strengthened form ᴹ√NDIS, unglossed but apparently meaning “bride” based on its derivatives ᴹQ. indis/N. dîs of that meaning (Ety/NDIS). Unstrengthened ᴹ√NIS seems to have survived only in Quenya as the basis for ᴹQ. nis (niss-) “woman”, but this word was also blended with ✱ndis-sē to produce a longer form nisse of the same meaning.

In Tolkien’s later writings, both short Q. nís and longer nissë appeared as words for “woman” (MR/213; VT47/33) and Q. indis reappeared as well, though glossed “wife” (UT/8). As primitive forms, both unstrengthened √nis (VT47/33) and strengthened ✶ndī̆s “woman” also appeared in later writings, the latter given as the feminine equivalent of ✶[[p|n[d]ēr]] “man” (PE19/102).

Derivatives

• ✶ndī̆s “*bride, [ᴹ✶] bride”
  • Q. indis “wife, [ᴹQ.] bride; [Q.] wife”
• ✶nīs “woman, female person”
  • Q. nís “woman”
• Q. nillë “small [woman]” ✧ VT47/33
• Q. nís “woman” ✧ VT47/18; VT47/33
• Q. nisto “large woman” ✧ VT47/33

Variations

• nis- ✧ VT47/18
• nis ✧ VT47/33

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√WĪ 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”.

Derivatives

• ✶wini “child not yet full grown” ✧ VT47/26
  • Q. winë “baby, little-one, child not yet full grown” ✧ VT47/26
• ᴺQ. vin “just, just now, only just, already”
• Q. vínë “youth, youth, *childhood” ✧ PE17/191; VT47/26
• Q. vinya “young, new” ✧ PE17/191; VT47/26
• Q. Víressë “April, *Freshness”
• S. gwain “young, *new” ✧ PE17/191
• ᴺS. gwí “just, just now, only just, already”
• S. gwîn “youth” ✧ PE17/191

Element in

• S. gwinig “little-one, baby”
• S. Gwirith “April, *Freshness”
• T. winicë “little-one, baby”

Variations

• wini ✧ VT47/26 (wini)
• win ✧ VT47/26

dineth

noun. bride

dineth

noun. bride

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bride”, a combination of N. †dî “woman, bride” and N. neth “young” (Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NDIS, NIS).

Element in

• N. Dineth “Nessa” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/NIS

Elements

Word	Gloss
dî	“woman, bride, lady”
neth	“young”

Variations

• di-neth ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NDIS

dîs

noun. bride

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. †dî “woman”, originally ON. nī < ᴹ√NĪ (Ety/DER, NĪ¹; 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.

Derivations

• ᴹ√NDIS “*bride” ✧ Ety/BES
  • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ Ety/BES
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS
• On. ndīs “bride” ✧ Ety/NDIS
  • ᴹ✶ndīse “bride” ✧ Ety/NDIS
  • ᴹ√NDIS “*bride” ✧ Ety/DER; Ety/I²; Ety/NDIS
    • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ Ety/BES
    • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS
  • ᴹ√NDIS “*bride” ✧ EtyAC/NIS
  • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ Ety/BES
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS
• ᴹ✶ndīse “bride” ✧ EtyAC/NIS
  • ᴹ√NDIS “*bride” ✧ Ety/DER; Ety/I²; Ety/NDIS
  • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ Ety/BES
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS

Element in

• N. -dis “female agent”
• S. Lindis
• S. Meldis “?Beloved Bride”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. ndîs > dîs	[ndīs] > [dīs]	✧ Ety/NDIS

bess

noun. (young) woman

bess

noun. wife

dess

noun. young woman

herves

noun. wife

herves

noun. wife

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s for “wife”, a combination of ᴹ√KHER “govern” and N. bess “woman” (which itself archaically meant “wife”), the latter element based on the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES, KHER).

Conceptual Development: A precursor to this word was ᴱQ. herivesti “wife, ✱lady spouse” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which was assembled from elements similar to N. herves, but in the Qenya branch of the language instead.

Neo-Sindarin: In later writings, Tolkien seems to have revised ᴹ√BES > √BER as the basis for marriage words (VT49/45). However, I prefer to retain the 1930s root ᴹ√BES and would therefore use herves for “wife”. However, in later writings Tolkien also used the short form bess for “wife” as well (SD/129), so I consider herves to be more formal.

Derivations

• ᴹ√KHER “rule, govern, possess” ✧ Ety/KHER

Elements

Word	Gloss
KHER	“rule, govern, possess”
bess	“woman; †wife”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KHER > hervess	[kʰerbesse] > [xerbesse] > [xervesse] > [xervess] > [hervess] > [herves]	✧ Ety/KHER

Variations

• hervess ✧ Ety/KHER

hervess

noun. wife

hervess

noun. wife

dî

noun. woman, bride, lady

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s for “woman” derived from the root ᴹ√NĪ of the same meaning (Ety/NĪ¹). It began with d- due to the influence of N. dîr and as partial blending with derivatives of ᴹ✶ndisi “bride” (Ety/DER); its Old Noldorin form was ON. nī (Ety/NĪ¹). In The Etymologies, this word was archaic: “dî was only rare and poetical (‘bride, lady’): it was replaced in sense ‘woman’ by bess [see BES], and in sense ‘bride’ by cpd. di-neth” (Ety/NĪ¹). The scenario in The Etymologies was that the word N. bess itself originally meant “†wife” but came to mean “woman”, much like its male counterpart N. benn meant “†husband” came to mean “man” (Ety/BES).

Conceptual Development: Earlier words of similar form include (archaic) G. †nîr “woman” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/60) and (rejected) ᴱN. {nain} “woman” from the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s.

Neo-Sindarin: The word S. bess reappeared in later writings with the gloss “wife” (SD/129), indicating Tolkien probably abandoned the scenario in The Etymologies whereby dî became archaic and was replaced by bess for “woman”. As such some Neo-Sindarin writers restore ᴺS. dî as the word for “woman”; this was first suggested to me by Elaran and it is my current recommendation. However, N. bess remains popular for “woman” in Neo-Sindarin as well.

Derivations

• ᴹ√NDIS “*bride” ✧ Ety/BES
  • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ Ety/BES
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ Ety/NIS
• On. nī “woman” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/NIS
  • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹
  • ᴹ✶nī “woman” ✧ EtyAC/NDIS
  • ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female” ✧ PE21/55
  • ᴹ√NIS “woman” ✧ EtyAC/NDIS; Ety/NIS

Element in

• N. dineth “bride” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/NIS

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. nī > dī	[nī] > [dī]	✧ Ety/NĪ¹

Variations

• dī ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NDIS
• Dí ✧ EtyAC/NIS (Dí)

dî

noun. woman, lady

neth

adjective. young

neth

adjective. young

irregular, compare: tathor @@@

Cognates

• ᴹQ. nessa “young” ✧ Ety/NETH

Derivations

• ᴹ✶nethrā “young” ✧ Ety/NETH
  • ᴹ√NETH “young” ✧ Ety/NETH
• ᴹ√NETH “young” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NIS

Element in

• N. dineth “bride” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹; EtyAC/NIS
• N. Neth “Nessa” ✧ Ety/NETH
• N. Nethwelein “Younger Gods”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶nethra > neth	[netʰra] > [neθra] > [neθr] > [neθ]	✧ Ety/NETH

gwîn

adjective. young

Changes

• gwîn → bîn ✧ EtyAC/GWIN

Cognates

• ᴹQ. vinya “young, new” ✧ EtyAC/GWIN; EtyAC/GWIN; EtyAC/WIR

Derivations

• ᴹ√WIN “new, fresh, young” ✧ EtyAC/GWIN; EtyAC/WIR

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√GWIN > bîn	[gwinje] > [binje] > [binie] > [bini] > [bin] > [bīn]	✧ EtyAC/GWIN
ᴹ√WINI > gwîn	[winje] > [gwinje] > [gwinie] > [gwini] > [gwin] > [gwīn]	✧ EtyAC/WIR

Variations

• bîn ✧ EtyAC/GWIN (bîn)
• gwîn ✧ EtyAC/GWIN (gwîn); EtyAC/WIR