nie

noun. tear

Cognates

• N. nîr “tear, weeping, weeping, [G.] grief, sorrow; [N.] tear” ✧ Ety/NEI

Derivations

• ᴹ√NEY “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI
• ᴹ✶neinē “tear” ✧ EtyAC/NEI
  • ᴹ√NEY “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI; EtyAC/NEI

Element in

• ᴺQ. nienaitë “tearful”
• Q. nieninquë “snowdrop, snowdrop, [ᴹQ.] (lit.) white tear”
• ᴹQ. nieninqe “snowdrop, (lit.) white tear” ✧ Ety/NEI
• Q. Nienna “Lady of Pity and Mourning”
• ᴹQ. Nienna ✧ Ety/NEI
• Q. Nienor “Mourning”
• ᴹQ. Nienor “Sorrowful, Mourning”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√NEI̯ > níre	[neire] > [nīre]	✧ Ety/NEI
ᴹ√NEI̯ > nie	[neje] > [nie]	✧ Ety/NEI
ᴹ✶neñē > neʒe > nie	[neŋe] > [neɣe] > [neje] > [nie]	✧ EtyAC/NEI

Variations

• níre ✧ Ety/NEI

narak

root. tear, rend (tr. and intr.)

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tear, rend (tr. and intr.)”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. naraka “harsh, rending, violent” and N. narcha- “to rend” (Ety/NÁRAK). The element S. narch “bitter-biting” in S. Narchost from The Lord of the Rings is probably related (LotR/900; RC/601). This in turn hints that the early root ᴱ√NARA “(properly) bite at” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was a likely precursor, though a parenthetical comment indicates the actual form of this root was ᴱ√ŊARA or ᴱ√ŊAŘA [ŊAÐA] (QL/64).

Derivatives

• ᴹ✶narāka “rushing, rapid, violent” ✧ Ety/NÁRAK
  • ᴹQ. naraka “harsh, rending, violent of (?sounds)” ✧ Ety/NÁRAK
  • N. Narog ✧ Ety/NÁRAK
• ᴺQ. narca “snappy, ill-tempered”
• ᴺQ. narcë “*rend, tear; [ᴱQ.] snap of a dog; spiteful remark”
• ᴹQ. narka- “to rend” ✧ Ety/NÁRAK
• S. narch “bitter-biting”
• N. narch “*bitter-biting”
• N. narcha- “to rend” ✧ Ety/NÁRAK

Variations

• NÁRAK ✧ Ety/NÁRAK

neinē

noun. tear

Derivations

• ᴹ√NEY “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI; EtyAC/NEI

Derivatives

• ᴹQ. nie “tear” ✧ EtyAC/NEI
• N. nîn “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI

Element in

• ᴹ✶neiniel- “tearful” ✧ Ety/NEI

Variations

• neñē ✧ EtyAC/NEI (neñē)

ney

root. tear

Tolkien used similar forms throughout his life for Elvish words connected to “tears”, the most enduring being Q. Nienna “Lady of Pity and Mourning” and S. nirnaeth as in Nirnaeth Arnoediad “[Battle of] Tears Unnumbered”. The first manifestation of this root was as ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” and ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though Tolkien considered moving all the derivatives of ᴱ√NYE(NE) to ᴱ√NYEHE (QL/68). Nonetheless it seems the distinction survived in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon which had both nı̯e and nı̯eχe as primitive forms (GL/59-60). Early derivatives include ᴱQ. nyé “bleat” and ᴱQ. nyéni “she-goat” along with ᴱQ. nyére/G. nîr “grief” and ᴱQ. nie/G. nîn “tear”, the last of these appearing in G. Nínin-Udathriol, the earliest name of S. Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NEI̯ “tear” (Ety/NEI), though Tolkien considered and rejected alternate roots ᴹ√NEÑ (EtyAC/NEI) and ᴹ√NEI̯(ET) “moist” (NEI̯(ET)), the latter becoming the primitive word ᴹ✶neiti > ᴹQ. níte “moist, dewy” and N. nîd “damp, wet; tearful”. Other derivatives include ᴹQ. nie “tear”/N. nîn “tear” (same as the forms from the 1910s) as well as N. nírnaeth “lamentation” (Ety/NEI). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. Nienna (S/28) and S. nirnaeth (S/192) in later versions of the Silmarillion indicate this root’s ongoing validity.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think some of the Quenya nye- forms from the 1910s might be salvaged as abnormal vocalization from n(e)ye- < √NEY.

Changes

• NEÑ → NEI̯ ✧ Ety/NEI

Derivatives

• ᴹ✶neinē “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI; EtyAC/NEI
  • ᴹQ. nie “tear” ✧ EtyAC/NEI
  • N. nîn “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI
• ᴹ✶neiti “moist, dewy” ✧ Ety/NEI
  • ᴹQ. níte “moist, dewy, moist, dewy, *damp (of weather)” ✧ Ety/NEI
  • N. nîd “damp, wet; tearful” ✧ Ety/NEI
• ᴹ✶neñrē “tear, weeping” ✧ EtyAC/NEI
  • N. nîr “tear, weeping, weeping, [G.] grief, sorrow; [N.] tear” ✧ EtyAC/NEI
• ᴹQ. nie “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI
• ᴺQ. níta- “to weep, cry [tears]”
• ᴹQ. níte “moist, dewy, moist, dewy, *damp (of weather)” ✧ EtyAC/NEI̯(ET)
• ᴺQ. nyé “bleat, cry of goat or sheep”
• ᴺQ. nyenyë “weeping”
• ᴺQ. nyérë “grief”
• N. nîd “damp, wet; tearful” ✧ EtyAC/NEI̯(ET)
• N. nîn “tear” ✧ Ety/NEI
• ᴺS. nínia- “to weep”
• N. nîr “tear, weeping, weeping, [G.] grief, sorrow; [N.] tear” ✧ Ety/NEI

Element in

• ᴹQ. nieninqe “snowdrop, (lit.) white tear” ✧ Ety/NIK-W
• ᴺS. nída- “to weep, cry (tears)”

Variations

• NEI̯ ✧ Ety/NEI
• NEI ✧ Ety/NIK-W; EtyAC/NEI
• NEÑ ✧ EtyAC/NEI (NEÑ); EtyAC/NEI̯(ET) (NEÑ)
• NEI̯(ET) ✧ EtyAC/NEI̯(ET) (NEI̯(ET))

nien(n)

noun. tear

nîn

noun. tear

Cognates

• Eq. nie “tear” ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Nienna

Derivations

• ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Nienna
  • ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” ✧ GL/59

Element in

• G. Nenir ✧ GL/60
• G. Níniel “Child of Tears” ✧ LT2A/Níniel
• G. ninna- “to weep” ✧ GL/60; LT2A/Níniel
• G. ninios “lamentation, dropping of tears” ✧ GL/60; LT2A/Níniel
• G. Nínin-Udathriol “Unnumbered Tears” ✧ LT2A/Níniel

Variations

• nien(n) ✧ GL/60

nîr

noun. tear

Element in

• En. nírnaith “weeping” ✧ PE13/151

Variations

• nír ✧ PE13/151

nyeχie

noun. tear

Derivations

• ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” ✧ GL/60; QL/068
  • ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” ✧ GL/59

Derivatives

• Eq. nie “tear” ✧ GL/60; QL/068

Variations

• nı̯eχie ✧ GL/60

nie

noun. tear

Cognates

• G. nîn “tear” ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Nienna

Derivations

• ᴱ✶nyeχie “tear” ✧ GL/60; QL/068
  • ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” ✧ GL/60; QL/068
  • ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” ✧ GL/59
• ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” ✧ LT1A/Nienna
  • ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” ✧ GL/59

Element in

• Eq. karnevaite úri kilde hísen níe nienaite “amid the red skies the Sun with wet eyes dropped tears of mist” ✧ MC/221; PE16/062; PE16/072; PE16/074
• Eq. karnevaite úri kilivande hísen nie nie nienaite “*red-skied the sun will gaze through a haze of tears” ✧ PE16/077; PE16/077
• Eq. nienaite “tearful”
• Eq. nieninqe “snowdrop, (lit.) white tear” ✧ QL/068
• Eq. Nieriltasinwa “Unnumbered Tears” ✧ LT2A/Nínin-Udathriol

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴱ✶nı̯eχie > nie	[nʲexiē] > [nʲexie] > [nʲeɣie] > [nʲeie] > [nʲie] > [nie]	✧ GL/60
ᴱ✶nyeχie > nie	[nʲexiē] > [nʲexie] > [nʲeɣie] > [nʲeie] > [nʲie] > [nie]	✧ QL/068

Variations

• nië ✧ LT1A/Nienna
• níe ✧ MC/221