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).

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).

Ná merye i turuhalmeri!

5~C t$7RÍ `B 1J7U9Cjt$7TÁ Merry christmas!

Neo. Lit. 'may the christmas days be joyful'.

alassëa

adjective. joyful, happy, *merry

Cognates

• ᴺS. glassui “joyful, happy”

Elements

Word	Gloss
alassë	“happiness, happiness, [ᴹQ.] joy, merriment”

gelir

masculine name. Merry

Sindarin translation of the name of Sam’s son Merry, appearing in Tolkien’s unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Rings and in the King’s Letter (SD/126, 129). Most likely this name is an elaboration of [N.] gell “joy”.

Conceptual Development: In drafts of the epilogue, this name was initially (rejected) Riben (SD/117).

Element in

• S. ar Iorhael, Gelir, Cordof, ar Baravorn, ionnath dîn “and Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Hamfast his sons” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129

gelir

adjective. merry

Sindarin translation of the name of Sam’s son Merry, appearing in Tolkien’s unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Rings and in the King’s Letter from the early 1950s (SD/126, 129). This word is apparently an adjective, most likely an elaboration of [N.] gell “joy”. In Didier Willis’s Sindarin Dictionary, it is suggested this word might instead be a noun, an agental formation meaning “✱merry person” (HSD/gelir).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, the word for “merry” was G. dairog (GL/29), likely derived from ᴱ√TYALA “play”. This was revised to G. dairion in the “Gnomish Lexicon Slips” (PE13/112) and again to ᴱN. gair in Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s (PE13/141, 143). This last change probably also reflects a new root, though exactly what this root might be is unclear. There isn’t a clear connection between these early forms and later gelir beyond a superficial resemblance of form.

Element in

• S. Gelir “Merry” ✧ SD/129

Elements

Word	Gloss
gell	“joy, triumph, (?victory), joy, triumph”

Variations

• Gelir ✧ SD/129

gelir

noun. merry, happy, gay person

ar iorhael, gelir, cordof, ar baravorn, ionnath dîn

and Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Hamfast his sons

Element in

• S. King’s Letter

gwein

adjective. young

adj. young. Q. vinya. >> gwîn

gwein

adjective. young

gelir

merry

(attested as the S equivalent of the name Merry) gelir (lenited elir; no distinct pl. form).

gelir

merry

(lenited ’elir; no distinct pl. form).

No veren in oer Eruchúd

5`N r7R5$ 5% lY6 5$7Rc&~M2 Merry christmas!

Neo. Lit. 'Be joyous the days of Christmas.'

glaich

adjective. merry, joyous, happy

@@@ from ✱g(a)las-yā

Derivations

• ᴹ√GALAS “joy, be glad”
  • ᴹ√GAL “grow, thrive” ✧ Ety/GALA

dess

young woman

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

neth

young

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

neth

young

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

neth

root. (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young

This root had a variety of meanings over Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴹ√NETH “young” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with various Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of similar meaning, the most notable being the name ᴹQ. Nessa (Ety/NETH). In rough notes probably from around 1959, Tolkien redefined √NETH or √NES to mean “feminity apart from sex”, contrasted with √WEG or √WEƷ for masculinity, but he abandoned this line of reasoning deciding that √WĒ simply meant “person” independent of gender (PE17/189-190).

In notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, Tolkien again redefined √NETH, this time as the basis for Elvish “sister” words, either specifically meaning “sister” (VT47/12, 26, 34), meaning “(young) woman” (VT47/15, 32, 39) or perhaps “fresh, lively, merry” (VT47/32), the last of these probably a callback to its 1930s meaning “young”. In notes from 1959-60, however, the name Q. Nessa was disconnected from the root √NETH, derived instead from ✶Neresā meaning “she that has manlike valour or strength” (WJ/416).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best for √NETH to retain its essential 1930s meaning “young, fresh, lively”, but with an association to young women as described in Tolkien’s notes from the 1960s, and thus by extension “sister” as named from the perspective of the parents.

Derivatives

• Ad. nithil “girl”
• ✶nesī/nese “a person of female nature” ✧ PE17/190
• ✶nēthā “sister” ✧ VT47/12
  • Q. nésa “sister” ✧ VT47/14
  • Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/14
  • S. nîth “sister” ✧ VT47/14
  • T. néþa “sister” ✧ VT47/14
• ✶nethē “young woman, girl” ✧ VT47/32
• ✶nēthā “gay, lively, girlish” ✧ VT47/32
  • T. nétha “gay, lively, girlish” ✧ VT47/32
• ✶netthi “girl approaching the adult, sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/15; VT47/39
  • Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/16; VT47/33; VT47/39
  • S. neth “(little) girl; sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/33
  • T. nettë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/16; VT47/33
• Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/12; VT47/26; VT47/32; VT47/34
• S. neth “(little) girl; sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/12
• T. nettë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/12

Variations

• NES ✧ PE17/167; PE17/190 (NES)
• neth ✧ VT47/26; VT47/34

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

riben

masculine name. Merry

Changes

• Riben → Gelir “Merry” ✧ SD/117
• Riben → Gelir “Merry” ✧ SDI1/Gelir
• Riben → Gelir “Merry” ✧ SDI1/Riben

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