Early Quenya
nel
adverb. thrice
nele
noun. tooth
Derivations
- ᴱ√NELE “point” ✧ QL/065
Element in
- Eq. karkanel “fang” ✧ QL/048
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√NELE > nele [neli] > [nele] ✧ QL/065
nelma
noun. needle
Derivations
Element in
- Eq. horinel “pine-needle” ✧ QL/041
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√NELE > nelma [nelmā] > [nelma] ✧ QL/065 ᴱ√NEME > nemya [nemjā] > [nemja] ✧ QL/065 Variations
- nemya ✧ QL/065 (nemya)
nelkea
cardinal. thirteen
Element in
- Eq. nelke(a)llume “*thirteen times” ✧ PE14/082
- Eq. nelkaiya “thirteenth” ✧ PE14/049
- Eq. nelkesto “one thirteenth” ✧ PE14/049; PE14/082; PE14/082
- Eq. nelkestya “one thirteenth” ✧ PE14/082; PE14/082
ole
cardinal. three
Derivations
- ᴱ√OLO “tip” ✧ LT1A/Lindelos; QL/069
Element in
- Eq. olwen “thirty six” ✧ QL/069
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√OLO¹ > ole [olē] > [ole] ✧ QL/069 Variations
- olë ✧ LT1A/Lindelos
- ole ✧ QL/069
nyat
noun. tooth
A word appearing as ᴱQ. nelma “needle” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, but Tolkien vacillated on whether it was derived from the early root ᴱ√NELE “point” or ᴱ√NEME “✱sew” (QL/65). As a derivative of ᴱ√NEME, Tolkien considered an alternate form nemya. The word nelma “needle” also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/65).
Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. nelma “needle” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but as a derivative of √NEL since √NEM “sew” did not survive in Tolkien’s later writing. In Quenya of the 1930s and later, the root √NEL was generally glossed “three”, but was still associated with pointed things like in √NELEK “tooth” due to triangular shapes.