First given in the manuscript as netheg in VT/47:14-15, but see especially VT/48:17 n. 13 for discussion
Sindarin
nethel
noun. sister
neth
noun. sister
neth
noun. girl (in her teens, approaching the adult)
nethig
noun. "litte sister"
nethig
noun. ring finger (Elvish play-name used by and taught to children)
First given in the manuscript as netheg in VT/47:14-15, but see especially VT/48:17 n. 13 for discussion
nîth
noun. sister
nîth
noun. sister
Cognates
- Q. nésa “sister” ✧ VT47/14
Derivations
Element in
- S. nethel “sister” ✧ VT47/14
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶nēthā > nîth [nētʰā] > [nētʰa] > [nēθa] > [nīθa] > [nīθ] ✧ VT47/14
neth
sister
1) neth (also used = ”girl”). (VT47:14-16, 33; VT48:6), pl. nith. Notice the homophone neth ”young”. Also nîth (no distinct pl. form though the plural article with show pluarlity when the noun is definite: in nîth) (VT47:14). 2) gwathel (i **wathel), pl. gwethil (in gwethil). 3) muinthel (i vuinthel), pl. muinthil (i muinthil), more usual than the shorter form thêl (stem thele-), pl. theli. In “Noldorin”, the pl. was thelei** (LR:392 s.v. THEL).
A word for “sister” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √NETH of similar meaning and replacing the archaic form of the word †nîth (VT47/12, 14). The diminutive/affectionate form nethig “[little] sister” was used as a play name for the fourth finger (VT48/6); Tolkien considered an alternate diminutive netheg (VT47/14, 32) and also considered giving this diminutive an alternate meaning “little girl” (VT47/15, 33); see S. neth for discussion.
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. thêl “sister” from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES (Ety/THEL), and the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hethir “sister” from the early root ᴱ√HESE [HEÞE] (GL/48; QL/40). See those entries for discussion.