Nénar

water

Nénar noun name of a star (or planet), evidently derived from nén "water" (Silm), tentatively identified with Uranus (MR:435)

nénar

proper name. Nénar

The name of a star (S/48), possibly Uranus (MR/435). The meaning of this name is obscure. Its initial element might be nén “water”.

Elements

Word	Gloss
nén	“water, water, [ᴱQ.] river”
?

nén

water

nén (nen-) noun "water" (NEN).

nén

noun. water, water, [ᴱQ.] river

The word for “water”, a derivative of the root √NEN of the same meaning (PE17/52; Ety/NEN). Its stem form was nen- (Ety/NEN) and its primitive form was given as ✶nē̆n, the vowel length variation due to distinct subjective nēn versus objective/inflected nĕn- in ancient monosyllables (PE21/64).

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with two senses: “river” and (archaic) “†water”. Tolkien indicated the two senses were based on distinct roots: ᴱ√NEŘE [NEÐE] and ᴱ√NENE respectively, with two distinct stem forms nend- and nēn (QL/64-65). The Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa also mentions the forms nen (nēn-) “water” versus nen(d-) “river” (PME/64-65). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the mid-1920s Tolkien had both nēn “river” (PE15/76) and nēn “water” (PE15/78), but in the Early Qenya Grammar he had only nēn “water” (PE14/43, 72), also appearing as nen “water” in documents on The Valmaric Script from this period (PE14/110).

In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien had ᴹQ. nēn “water”, but in this document it had nēn- with long ē in its inflected forms as well (PE21/23). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, uninflected nén “water” had a stem form of nen- with short e (Ety/NEN), and the reasons for this variation was discussed in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, the nominative/objective distinction noted above (PE21/64). This seems to be the paradigm Tolkien stuck with thereafter, as evidenced by S. nen “water” rather than ✱✱nîn.

Cognates

• S. nen “water; lake, pool; (lesser) river, water; lake, pool; (lesser) river, [ᴱN.] stream” ✧ PE17/052; SA/nen

Derivations

• ✶nē̆n “water”
  • √NEN “water, water, [ᴱ√] flow”
• √NEN “water, water, [ᴱ√] flow” ✧ PE17/052; SA/nen

Element in

• Q. Cuiviénen “Water of Awakening” ✧ SA/nen
• Q. Nénar
• Q. nenda “wet”
• Q. nendil “beast that lives in the water”
• Q. Nendili “Water-lovers”
• ᴺQ. nengarmo “otter, (lit.) water-wolf”
• Q. Nénimë “February, *Wet-ness”
• ᴺQ. nenungol “octopus, (lit.) water-spider”
• Q. Nenya “(Ring) of Water” ✧ SA/nen
• Q. Nísinen “*Fragrant Water”
• Q. Uinen ✧ SA/nen

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NEN > nēn	[nēn]	✧ PE17/052
√nen > nen	[nen]	✧ SA/nen

Variations

• nēn ✧ PE17/052
• nen ✧ SA/nen

Uinen

water

Uinen (Uinend-, as in dative Uinenden) fem. name, used of a Maia, spouse of Ossë (UY, NEN). Adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:404), though it is also said that it contains -nen "water" (SA:nen); the latter explanation may be folk etymology. In the Etymologies, the name is derived from the same stem (UY) as uilë "long trailing plant, especially seaweed".