eru

noun. waste, desert

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “waste, desert”, the cognate of ᴹQ. erume and a derivative of the root ᴹ√ERE “be alone, deprived” (Ety/ERE).

Conceptual Development: N. eru is probably a later iteration of G. ermin “desert, waste” from Gnomish Lexicon Slips of the 1910s (PE13/113), itself replacing G. armin with the same gloss from the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/20). These 1910s forms are probably derived from the early root ᴱ√ARA “be dry” (QL/32), with G. ermin the result of i-affection.

Eru

noun. waste, desert

ereg

place name. First

Earlier name for the river S. Erui from Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, apparently a Noldorin word meaning ereg “first” (TI/312, WR/436).

ant

noun. gift

ant

noun. gift

edhen

adjective. first

emil

noun. mother

emil

noun. mother

er-

prefix. alone, one

ereg

adjective. first

heltha-

verb. to strip

The form helta- in the Etymologies is a misreading according to VT/46:14

min

fraction. one (first of a series)

min

cardinal. one

minei

adjective. single, distinct, unique

nana

noun. mother, mummy

naneth

noun. mother

naneth

noun. mother

A noun for “mother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√NAN (Ety/NAN). It apparently replaced archaic/poetic N. †emil (Ety/AM¹; EtyAC/AM¹).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon had a similar set of words for “mother”: G. maba, mabir, baba, and mavwin from the early root ᴱ√maƀ “something nice” (GL/57). The last of these appeared as G. mavwen “ancestress” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document, with an archaic meaning of “mother” and variant forms mafwyn and mavuin (PE13/115). In these slips, it seems the normal “mother” word was G. nân (originally glossed “father”) with variant nanwin (PE13/115). This last word is likely the direct precursor of N. naneth.

Neo-Sindarin: I would use S. emel from the late 1960s as the normal word for “mother” in Neo-Sindarin, but would retain N. naneth as a dialectical or more formal variant.