The Quenya word for “six” derived from the root √ENEK of the same meaning (PE17/95; VT48/7-10; Ety/ÉNEK). The modification of ancient ✱enek- to ✱enekwē was a Quenya-only innovation, influenced by minquë “eleven” and yunquë “twelve” (VT48/7).
Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. enqe “six” dates all the way back to the Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s, but there it had a variant enekse (PE14/49, 82). The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. ende “six” under the early root ᴱ√ENE of the same meaning (QL/35).
enquë ("q") cardinal "six" (ÉNEK, VT48:4, 6, 9, VT49:57); enquëa ordinal "sixth" (VT42:25); see also enquië. According to VT48:8, the word for "six" may have been encë ("k") in very early Quenya (the form is asterisked by Tolkien), but this was altered to enquë under the influence of yunquë "twelve" (perceived as meaning "2 times 6", *yú-enquë, with the prefix yú- "twi-").