(SD:129) The word is translated ”thirty-first”, but clearly seems to mean literally ”thirtieth”: nel-chaen would express 3 (times) 10, plus -en as an adjectival ending to make this an ordinal. The conceptual validity of this form is however questionable, since Tolkien later dropped the root KAYAN (whence -chaen) as a root for words for ”10”.
(SD:129) The word is translated ”thirty-first”, but clearly seems to mean literally ”thirtieth”: nel-chaen would express 3 (times) 10, plus -en as an adjectival ending to make this an ordinal. The conceptual validity of this form is however questionable, since Tolkien later dropped the root KAYAN (whence -chaen) as a root for words for ”10”.