Quenya 

nettë

girl, daughter

nettë (stem *netti-, given the primitive form listed in VT47:17) noun "girl, daughter" (but also "sister", see below), also used as a play-name of the "fourth finger" or "fourth toe" (VT47:10, VT48:6), in two-hand play also used for the numeral "nine" (nettë is conceived as being related to nertë, q.v.) Nettë is also defined as "sister" or "girl approaching the adult" (VT47:16, VT49:25), "girl/daughter" (VT47:15-16); it may be that "sister" was Tolkien's final decision on the meaning (VT48:4, 22) - The related word nésa seems like a less ambiguous translation of "sister".

nettë

noun. (little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing

A word appearing in several sets of notes from the late 1960s having to do with Hands, Fingers and Numerals. It was related to the finger name of the fourth finger (representing the sister). Tolkien mostly glossed it either as “(little) girl” or “sister (diminutive)”, but in one placed indicated it originally meant “pretty little thing” (VT47/33) and in another that it might be used for “daughter” (VT47/15). He also gave it several derivations, from √NET “trim, pretty, dainty” (VT47/33) or the root √NETH which itself was given a variety of meanings: “sister” (VT47/12, 26, 34), “(young) woman” (VT47/15, 32, 39) or “fresh, lively, merry” (VT47/32).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think the meaning “(little) girl” is the most useful. For “sister” I would use nésa.

Changes

  • nettenette “girl” ✧ VT47/26
  • nettenette “girl” ✧ VT47/15

Cognates

  • S. neth “(little) girl; sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/14; VT47/33; VT48/06
  • S. nethig “sister, girl (diminutive)” ✧ VT48/06
  • T. netticë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT48/06
  • T. nettë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/11; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT48/06

Derivations

  • NETH “(young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young” ✧ VT47/12; VT47/26; VT47/32; VT47/34
  • nēthā “sister” ✧ VT47/14
    • NETH “(young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young” ✧ VT47/12
  • netthi “girl approaching the adult, sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/16; VT47/33; VT47/39
    • NETH “(young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young” ✧ VT47/15; VT47/39
  • NET “trim, pretty, dainty” ✧ VT47/33

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
NETH > nette[nettʰe] > [nette]✧ VT47/12
nēthā > nette[nettʰe] > [nette]✧ VT47/14
neth > nette[nettʰe] > [nette]✧ VT47/26
NETH > nette[nettʰe] > [nette]✧ VT47/32
netthi > nette[nettʰi] > [nettʰe] > [nette]✧ VT47/33
net > nette[nette]✧ VT47/33
net > nette[nette]✧ VT47/33

Variations

  • nette ✧ VT47/10; VT47/11; VT47/12; VT47/12; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/15; VT47/15; VT47/15; VT47/26; VT47/26; VT47/32; VT47/33; VT47/33; VT47/33; VT47/33; VT47/34; VT47/39; VT47/42; VT48/06
Quenya [VT47/10; VT47/11; VT47/12; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/26; VT47/32; VT47/33; VT47/34; VT47/39; VT47/42; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nectë

honey

nectë noun "honey" (LT1:262; Tolkien's later Quenya has lis; otherwise, nectë would have had to become nehtë_, a form appearing in the Etymologies with the meaning "honeycomb" [VT45:38]. However, this word clashes with _nehtë "angle" or "spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow promontory" from later sources [PE17:55, UT:282].)

nehte

noun. honey

honey

Quenya [PE 19:91] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

nehtë

noun. honey, honey; [ᴹQ.] honeycomb

A noun for “honey” appearing in 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) derived from ✶negdē “exudation” based on the root √NEG “ooze, drip” (PE19/91). It was a later iteration of ᴹQ. nehte “honeycomb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s which had essentially the same derivation (EtyAC/NEG). This in turn was a later form of ᴱQ. nekte “honey” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√NEHE having to do with bees and honey (QL/65).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use this word only for “honey”. For “honeycomb” I’d use ᴺQ. nehtelë inspired by ᴱQ. nektele “honeycomb” (QL/65)

Cognates

  • S. nîdh “juice, [N.] honeycomb; [S.] juice” ✧ PE19/091
  • T. nettë “honey” ✧ PE19/091

Derivations

  • negdē “exudation” ✧ PE19/091
    • NEG “‽ooze, drip, ooze, drip; *honey” ✧ PE19/091

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
negdē > nehte[negdē] > [nektē] > [nextē] > [nexte]✧ PE19/091

Variations

  • nehte ✧ PE19/091

lís

noun. honey, honey, *sugar, sweetener

A word for “honey” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 given as lîs and derived from the root √(G)LIS (PE17/154); the usual representation of a long vowel in Quenya would be ✱lís. In DLN Tolkien said that it sometimes appeared as līr- in inflections with the usual change of intervocalic s to r, but that its usual stem form was liss-. Indeed, in The Etymologies of the 1930s this word was ᴹQ. lis “honey” under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning, and its stem form was also liss- as indicated by its [ᴹQ.] genitive lissen (Ety/LIS). Tolkien originally gave the base noun as lisse in The Etymologies, but this was deleted and replaced by lis (EtyAC/LIS). In The Etymologies its Noldorin cognate was N. glî.

Conceptual Development: A likely precursor to this word was ᴱQ. ile “honey” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, cognate to ᴱN. glí “honey” (GL/59).

Neo-Quenya: Since there are other honey-words in Quenya like Q. nehtë, I would use lís (liss-) for sweeteners in general, including both honey and sugar.

Derivations

  • LIS “*sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey” ✧ PE17/154

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
(G)LIS > lîs[līs]✧ PE17/154

Variations

  • lîs ✧ PE17/154

melu

honey

#melu noun "honey", isolated from melumatya, q.v. (PE17:68)

melu

noun. honey

A word for “honey” appearing only in the compound Q. melumatya “honey-eating” in notes from 1967 (PE17/68).

Element in

  • Q. melumatya “honey-eating” ✧ PE17/068
  • ᴺQ. meluquetya “sweet-speaking person, flatterer”

Sindarin 

medlin

adjective. honey-eater, bear-like

Sindarin [Ety/369, X/DL] Group: SINDICT. Published by

neth

girl

(also used = ”sister”), pl. nith (VT47:14-16, 33; VT48:6). Notice the homophone neth ”young”. – The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

glî

honey

glî (i **lî**);

glî

honey

(i ’lî);

nîdh

honeycomb

(construct nidh; no distinct pl. form) (VT45:38).

iell

girl

1) iell (-iel) (daughter, maid), pl. ill; 2) sell (i hell) (daughter, maid), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath. 3) (girl in her teens, approaching the adult) neth (also used = ”sister”), pl. nith (VT47:14-16, 33; VT48:6). Notice the homophone neth ”young”. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

iell

girl

(-iel) (daughter, maid), pl. ill

sell

girl

(i hell) (daughter, maid), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath.

Telerin 

nettë

noun. honey

Cognates

  • Q. nehtë “honey, honey; [ᴹQ.] honeycomb” ✧ PE19/091

Derivations

  • negdē “exudation” ✧ PE19/091
    • NEG “‽ooze, drip, ooze, drip; *honey” ✧ PE19/091

Variations

  • necte/nette ✧ PE19/091

nettë

noun. sister (diminutive)

Cognates

  • Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT47/11; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT48/06

Derivations

  • NETH “(young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young” ✧ VT47/12
  • netthi “girl approaching the adult, sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/16; VT47/33
    • NETH “(young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young” ✧ VT47/15; VT47/39

Element in

  • T. netticë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/14; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/33

Variations

  • nette ✧ VT47/14; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/33; VT48/06
Telerin [VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/33; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

netticë

noun. sister (diminutive)

Changes

  • netticanettice ✧ VT47/14
  • netticanettice ✧ VT47/32

Cognates

  • S. nethig “sister, girl (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/32; VT47/32
  • Q. nettë “(little) girl, sister (diminutive), daughter, pretty little thing, (little) girl, sister (diminutive), ️daughter, pretty little thing” ✧ VT48/06

Variations

  • nettice ✧ VT47/14; VT47/14; VT47/14; VT47/32; VT47/33
  • nettica ✧ VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/32 (nettica)
  • nettike ✧ VT48/06
Telerin [VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/32; VT47/33; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

necte, nette

noun. honey

honey

Telerin [PE 19:91] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

Adûnaic

nithil

noun. girl

A noun translated “girl” and fully declined as an example of a feminine Strong I noun (SD/430). It is also used as an example of feminine nouns that use the suffix -i in their objective inflection as opposed to the usual -u: nithli (SD/431). Though not explicitly stated, nithli is also an example of the variant objective-with-syncope syntax discussed on SD/435. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) it may be related to the Elvish root √NETH “young”.

Derivations

  • NETH “(young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry, (young) woman, female person; sister; fresh, lively, merry; [ᴹ√] young”
Adûnaic [SD/427; SD/431; SD/436] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

glî

noun. honey

Noldorin [Ety/369] Group: SINDICT. Published by

glî

noun. honey

A word for “honey” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶g-lisi under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning (Ety/LIS).

Conceptual Development: In Early Noldorin Word-lists Tolkien also had ᴱN. glí “honey” (PE13/144), presumably similarly derived from the early root ᴱ√LISI. However, in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “honey” was G. neglis with an initial element √neg- (GL/59), the Gnomish equivalent of the early root ᴱ√NEHE that was the basis for ᴱQ. nekte “honey” (QL/65). It is possible that the second element of G. neglis was based on ᴱ√LISI and this was carried forward into later “honey” words.

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. lis “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶glisi “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS
    • ᴹ√LIS “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Element in

  • ᴺS. glidheb “like honey”
  • N. megli “bear, (lit.) honey-eater”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶g-lisi > glî[glisi] > [glihi] > [glih] > [glīh] > [glī]✧ Ety/LIS

meglin

adjective. honey-eater, bear-like

Noldorin [Ety/369, X/DL] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

lis

noun. honey

Changes

  • lisselis ✧ Ety/LIS

Cognates

  • N. glî “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Derivations

  • ᴹ√LIS “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√LIS > lis[liss] > [lis]✧ Ety/LIS

Variations

  • lisse ✧ EtyAC/LIS (lisse)
Qenya [Ety/LIS; EtyAC/LIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

véne

noun. girl

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶wen- “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
    • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN

Element in

  • ᴹQ. venesse “virginity” ✧ Ety/WEN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶wen- > wéne > véne[wēne] > [vēne]✧ Ety/WEN

Doriathrin

gwen

noun. girl

A noun for “girl” derived from primitive ᴹ✶wen- (Ety/WEN). Here the [[ilk|initial [w] became [gw]]].

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶wen- “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
    • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶wen- > gwen[wen] > [gwen]✧ Ety/WEN
Doriathrin [Ety/WEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

glisi

noun. honey

Derivations

  • ᴹ√LIS “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Derivatives

  • N. glî “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Variations

  • g-lisi ✧ Ety/LIS
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/LIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lis

root. honey

Derivatives

  • ᴹ✶glisi “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS
    • N. glî “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS
  • ᴹQ. lis “honey” ✧ Ety/LIS

Element in

  • ᴹ✶madlī “honey-eater” ✧ Ety/LIS
  • N. megli “bear, (lit.) honey-eater” ✧ Ety/MAT; EtyAC/MAT (magli)
  • N. meglivorn “blackbear” ✧ Ety/MOR
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/LIS; Ety/MAT; Ety/MOR; EtyAC/MAT] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wen-

noun. girl

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN

Derivatives

  • Ilk. gwen “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
  • ᴹQ. véne “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN

Element in

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/WEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

neglis

noun. honey

Cognates

Derivations

  • ᴱ√NEHE “*honey” ✧ GL/59

gwennin

noun. girl

Changes

  • gwengwennin ✧ GL/45

Cognates

  • Eq. wen(di) “maid, girl, maiden”

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GWENE “*maiden; woman” ✧ GL/45

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√gu̯eđe > gwennin[gʷendin] > [gʷennin]✧ GL/45

Variations

  • gwen ✧ GL/45 (gwen)

Early Noldorin

glí

noun. honey

Cognates

  • Eq. ile “honey”

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LISI “sweetness”

Element in

  • En. glidheb “like honey” ✧ PE13/144
  • En. glinui “honey-bee” ✧ PE13/144
Early Noldorin [PE13/144] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

nekte

noun. honey

Cognates

Derivations

  • ᴱ√NEHE “*honey” ✧ LT1A/Nielluin; QL/065

Element in

  • Eq. nektele “honeycomb” ✧ QL/065

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√NEHE > nekte[nextē] > [nexte] > [nekte]✧ QL/065

Variations

  • nektë ✧ LT1A/Nielluin
Early Quenya [LT1A/Nielluin; PME/065; QL/065] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ile

noun. honey

Cognates

  • En. glí “honey”

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LISI “sweetness”

Element in

  • Eq. matsile “bear” ✧ PE13/149
Early Quenya [PE13/149] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mella

noun. girl

A word for “girl” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√MELE “love”, but Tolkien marked it with a “?” (QL/60). The same word did appear in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa, however (PME/60).

Derivations

  • ᴱ√MELE “love” ✧ QL/060

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√MELE > mella[mellā] > [mella]✧ QL/060
Early Quenya [PME/060; QL/060] Group: Eldamo. Published by