ni

pronoun. I, me

nienna

feminine name. Nienna

A powerful female Vala, at this stage the sister of Manwe and Melko (LR/206).

ninqitáre

noun. whitening, whitewashing

nienor

feminine name. Sorrowful, Mourning

ninqeri

noun. *white (female thing or personification)

ninqeru

noun. white man, white male swan, white ship, white (male thing or personification)

ní

noun. woman, female

An archaic noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “woman” or “female” directly derived from the root ᴹ√NĪ, in ordinary speech usually replaced by ᴹQ. nis (Ety/INI, NĪ¹).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. nî “woman” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a cognate to G. †nîr of the same meaning (GL/60).

nirwa

adjective. scarred

A word for “scarred” The Etymologies of the 1930s in the entry for the deleted root ᴹ√NID “hurt, injure” (Ety/NID²).

nirwa

noun. bolster, cushion

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from ᴹ✶nidwō “bolster, cushion” under the root ᴹ√NID “lean against” (Ety/NID).

nirwe

noun. scar

A word for “scar” The Etymologies of the 1930s in the entry for the deleted root ᴹ√NID “hurt, injure” (Ety/NID²).

ninqelóte

proper name. Pale Blossom

Another name for Silpion appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/209, SD/58), a compound of ninqe “white” and lóte “flower”. This name appeared in the texts as Ninquelóte (with a qu), but this entry uses Ninqelóte (with a q) for this entry to be more consistent with the spelling conventions of this period. At this stage the name was unglossed, but probably had the same meaning as its Noldorin cognate N. Nimloth “Pale Blossom”.

ninqendi

collective name. White-elves

Another name for the Lindar appearing in a name list from the 1930s (LR/403). It seems to be a combination of ninqe “white” and the plural of Qende “Elf”.

nikse

noun. minnow, little fish

A word appearing in the Declension of Noun from the early 1930s as nis (niks-) or nikse “minnow, little fish” (PE21/20, 27). It reappeared in the Quenya Verbal System from the 1940s in the phrase ᴹQ. niksi koitar nenesse “fish live in water” (PE22/125). It might be related to the root √NIK “small”.

nil

noun. blue-bell, harebell

A word in the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s translated as “harebell” (PE21/19) or “blue-bell” (PE21/26), which are different English names for the same kind of flower.

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s, ᴱQ. qille (qilli-) was “bluebell” based on the early root ᴱ√QILI having to do with colours (QL/77; PME/77). These documents also had a more elaborate form ᴱQ. {qillenen >>} qillinin (qillinind-) for “bluebell”, where the second element was probably ᴱQ. nin (nind-) “blue” (QL/66).

nisíte

adjective. womanly

An adjective for “womanly” based on √NIS “woman” appearing in notes from the late 1940s (PE23/87). The actual form given was nizíte. Ordinarily [[q|[z] became [r]]] in modern Quenya, but I think it is possible this word instead of dissimilated back to nisíte to make it more distinct from neríte “manly”. Conceptual Development: The word for “womanly” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was ᴱQ. anaina, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. anai “woman” (QL/31).

A word for {“a woman” >>} “womanl[y]” in Gnomish Lexicon Slips of the 1910s appearing with variants venă and [ven]in, derived from primitive ᴱ✶u̯enı̯ā̆́- (PE13/118). A similar adjective ᴹQ. wenda “female” < ᴹ√WEN in the 1940s notes mentioned, but this adjective was deleted, presumably replaced by nizíte “womanly” (PE23/87 note #83).

ninqe

adjective. white

ninqita-

verb. to whiten, make white; to shine white

nila ista má

I know not what

ninqinta-

verb. to grow pale

ni tele karite

I mean to make it

ni tele tule

I intend to come

ni·kenne allane umma

I saw nobody at all

nieninqe

noun. snowdrop, (lit.) white tear

nilda

adjective. friendly, loving (towards)

nilde

noun. friend (f.)

nildo

noun. friend [m.]

nilme

noun. friendship

nilmo

noun. friend

ninde

adjective. slender

ninqisse

noun. whiteness

niqe

noun. snow

nis

noun. woman (of any kindred: elf, human or dwarf)

nie

noun. tear

nikenne karnietta ye mírindanet/s

*I saw its redness and admired it

nilaistama

noun. something/body or other

nim-

verb. to seem, appear

ninakithe

I bite him

ninya

pronoun. my (emphatic possessive), my [independent possessive]; [ᴺQ.] mine

ninyen antanéta ko

I gave it to myself

nissa

noun. lady

ni·antata ha’thá

I give it and it another

ni·istas

I know (that)

ni·than·antata

I give it to it (another)

nie karienna

I am to make; I am for/towards making it

nikaritu

I make the pair

niksi koitar nenesse

fish live in water

nila karit

I do not make it

nila tyaze matie makse

I do not like eating meat

nila tyaze sine, ni tyaze thé

I don’t like this, I like the other

ni mene imma teo

I want some (of it)

nin

noun. nose, beak

ni nahtanelya

I (am) having slain, I have slain

ninakis

I bite it

nindari

noun. river-maid, nymph

ni qente (sa) e·tule

I said he is coming, I said (that) he was coming

ni qente (sa) e·tulle

I said he came, I stated that (at some time previous to my speaking) he came (but was no longer present)

ni qente (sa) e·utúlie

I said he had come

niqenteza

I said it

ni qete (sa) e·tule

I say (that) he is coming

ni qetis tule

I tell him to come, say to him to come, bid him to come

nis

noun. minnow, ‘little fish’

nisse

noun. woman

ni taltalya

I am slipping down

niule

?. [unglossed]

nizíte

adjective. womanly

ni·akárate tyé

I am making it for you

ni·ista

I know

ni·la nyára pa matie

I am not talking about eating

ni·mere in e·karithe

I wish him to do it/that he do(es) it

ni·mere in e·tule

I wish him to come/that he come(s)

ni·merite karithe

I wish him to do it

ni·merite tule

I wish him to come

ni·te·qete tule

I tell him to come, say to him to come, bid him to come

ni·tyen akára té

I am making thát for you

ni·tyen·akárat

I am máking it for you

ni·tyen·akárate

I am making it for you

ni·utúlie nyariello ve atarella

I have just come from talking with your father

ni’anta

I give

-nie

suffix. female

A feminizing suffix for pronominal forms in Quenya Personal Pronouns (QPP1) from the late 1940s (PE23/102), so that for example mane “who (neutral)” could become manie “who (female)” and ane “someone” could become anie “someone (female)”. It is probably based on the contemporaneous feminine primitive suffix ✶-eye. The suffix -nie replaced a rejected variant -re (PE23/102 note #37).

taniqetil

place name. High White Horn

tyén ni·akárate

I am making it for you

morilinde

noun. nightingale

A noun for “nightingale” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, a combination of ᴹQ. móre “night” and ᴹQ. linde “song” (Ety/MOR). Q. lómelindë “nightingale” is better attested.

hui

proper name. Night

A name for (Primordial?) Night appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√PHUY, along with its (archaic?) variant Fui (Ety/PHUY).

Conceptual Development: This name is most likely a remnant of the name ᴱQ. Fui from the earliest Lost Tales, where it was another name for the goddess ᴱQ. Nienna (LT1/66, LT1A/Fui). According to the Qenya and Gnomish Lexicons from the 1910s, this earlier version of the name is derived from the root ᴱ√ǶUẎU (GL/36, QL/38).

ló

noun. night, a night

lóme

noun. night, night-time, shades of night, gloom

lómelinde

noun. nightingale

nerte

cardinal. nine

núre

noun. night

tindómerel

feminine name. Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight

narta-

verb. to kindle, to kindle, *ignite, inflame, set fire to

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s for “kindle” derived from the root ᴹ√NARTA of the same meaning (EtyAC/NARTA). This root is probably just a causative verb formation from ᴹ√NAR “flame, fire”, more literally “✱make fire”. Hence I think this verb can be used in the general sense of “✱ignite, inflame, set fire to”, etc.

-nye

suffix. I

huine

noun. deep shadow, nightshade

móre

noun. blackness, dark, night

naikelea

adjective. painful, painful, [ᴱQ.] agonizing

inya

adjective. female

An adjective for “female” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√INI “female” (Ety/INI).

Conceptual Development: In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, Tolkien gave a similar form ᴱQ. qinya “female”, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. qin “woman” (PE16/135).

In drafts for the first version of Quenya Personal Pronouns (QPP1) from the late 1940s, Tolkien had various adjectival forms based on the root ᴹ√(G)ERE/(G)RÉ “bear, produce” such as ᴹQ. rea “female”, réna, or ᴹQ. ríte “female [of any kind]” (PE23/87), but the relevant sections were rejected and there are no signs of the root ᴹ√RÉ in the revised text.

nengwe

noun. nose

A word for “nose” in The Etymologies written around 1937, derived from ᴹ√NEÑ-WI (Ety/NEÑ-WI), an elaboration of the shorter root ᴹ√NEÑ (EtyAC/NEÑ-WI). Given its primitive form, its stem ought to be nengwi-, but in attested compounds this word is consistently nengwe-, so perhaps Tolkien changed his mind on its primitive form.

Conceptual Development: The earliest percursor to this word seems to be ᴱQ. nen (neng-) “nostril” in several documents from the 1920s (PE14/72; PE15/75; PE16/113), whose dual nenqi was also used for a “nose” of one person (PE14/76; PE15/75). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien had nin (ning-) “beak, nose” < ᴹ✶nengǝ (PE21/26), though this phonetic shift of short e to i is rather unusual and seems to be limited to this document.

kim-

verb. to find, to find; [ᴱQ.] to heed

In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien gave ᴱQ. kim- “heed” as related to G. gima- “hear” (GL/38), probably based on an (unattested) early root ✱ᴱ√GIMI since initial g became k in Early Qenya. In the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 Tolkien instead had ᴹQ. kim- “find” as a replacement for ᴹQ. tuv- (PE22/108 note #50, PE22/125), but this seems to have been transient since tuv- was restored in The Lord of the Rings.

Neo-Quenya: I would keep ᴺQ. cim- as “to heed” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, since this is the closest to a verb for “obey” that we have in Quenya.

linya

noun. pool

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “pool” derived from the root ᴹ√LIN of the same meaning (Ety/LIN¹).

Conceptual Development: A similar word ᴹQ. linde “pool” appears in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/10), but this word is probably best avoided, as it clashes with Q. lindë “singing, song” (PE17/80).

seler

noun. sister

A noun for “sister” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES of the same meaning, with an irregular plural selli (Ety/THEL), where the stem form sell- is because the Quenya syncope caused the second e to be lost and then the ancient ls became ll.

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word nésa for “sister” (VT47/14). However, I think seler might be retained to mean a “metaphorical” sister, a close female associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as meletheldi “love-sister, ✱close female friend” or ᴹQ. oselle “sworn sister”. In this sense, nésa would be limited to biological relationships, but seler would refer to sisterly (or sister-like) affection.

sáva

noun. juice

A noun in The Etymologies of the late 1930s glossed “juice” from the root ᴹ√SAB of the same meaning (Ety/SAB).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. văsă “juice” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (a cognate to G. gwâs) is a possible precursor (GL/44).

elda

noun. Elf

anta-

verb. to give

kavinye antās

I can give it

nye

pronoun. me, I

yú

adverb. too, too, *also

A word used for “too” in several sentences from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 (PE22/121-122), for example ᴹQ. qe (ai) e·tulle, (san) inye tulle yú “if/when he came, I came too”. It clearly means “too = ✱also”, and is probably connected to the dual sense of yú- “both”.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. yando “also” under the early root ᴱ√YA and related to ᴱQ. ya(n) “and” (QL/104). This word also appeared in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, but there it was deleted (PE15/69).

elendil

masculine name. Elf-friend

-(n)ikka

suffix. small

are

noun. day

atan

noun. Man

lenna-

verb. to go, depart; to come

lóna

adjective. dark

lúne

adjective. blue, blue, [ᴱQ.] deep blue

mar-

verb. to abide

mitsa

adjective. small

nehte

noun. honeycomb

nem-

verb. to seem, appear

nén

noun. water

nése

noun. youth

níte

adjective. moist, dewy, moist, dewy, *damp (of weather)

qende

noun. Elf

si

pronoun. this

véne

noun. girl

ye-

verb. to be

-el

suffix. friend

-nya

suffix. *my

-ser

suffix. friend

a

preposition. [unglossed]

ala

noun. day

alama

noun. [unglossed]

amaldume

noun. [unglossed]

anaristya

noun. [unglossed]

anta

noun. face

apsa

noun. juice

assa

pronoun. [unglossed]

asse

pronoun. [unglossed]

asso

pronoun. [unglossed]

elesser

masculine name. Elf-friend

A variant of Elendil appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/SER), perhaps a compound of the root ᴹ√ELED “star-folk, Elf” and the suffix -ser “friend”, as indicated by the archaic form †Eleðser.

engwa

?. [unglossed]

ente

pronoun. [unglossed]

ento

pronoun. [unglossed]

ereáma

?. [unglossed]

es

[unglossed]

fuine

noun. deep shadow

helde

noun. friend

heldo

noun. friend

helle

noun. frost

helme

noun. friendship

helmo

noun. friend

helor

noun. frost

heri

noun. lady

hir-

verb. to find

hyelma

?. [unglossed]

hó

noun. shout

ilin

adjective. pale blue

inya

pronoun. my (emphatic possessive), my

inye

pronoun. I (emphatic)

kaltua

?. [unglossed]

kanda

noun. [unglossed]

karpalimaite

noun. [unglossed]

kumna

adjective. empty

lanta

noun. fall

laqe[t]-

verb. [unglossed]

lau(w)e

?. [unglossed]

lepse

noun. finger

let

noun. finger

linde

noun. pool

lingwe

noun. fish

linqe

adjective. wet, wet, [ᴱQ.] flowing; water, stream

lis

noun. honey

luina

adjective. pale

mahtya

?. [unglossed]

mai(y)a

noun. [unglossed]

maldo

noun. [unglossed]

mende

noun. will

miksa

adjective. wet, wet, *damp

more

adjective. black, dark

málo

noun. friend

nairea

adjective. sorrowful, sorrowful, *sad

nakuvan tye uvana néra

I will slay thee, wicked man

nandakka-

verb. [unglossed]

nauko

noun. dwarf

nende

noun. pool

nerno

?. [unglossed]

nessa

adjective. young

nesse

noun. youth

nyelle

noun. bell

ná-

verb. to be

níla tyaze matite sí

I don’t like eating (to eat) it now

níre

noun. níre

nístaza

I know it, I am aware of it, quite so

nú

proper name. Moon

A name for the moon in linguistic notes from 1930s (PE21/38, 41), perhaps a derivative of the root ᴹ√NDŪ “go down”, though this root usually applied to the Sun. Its dual form Nunt referred to both the sun and moon (PE21/38).

olta-

verb. [unglossed]

pite

noun. juice

qen

noun. Elf

rampa

?. [unglossed]

rea

noun/adjective. female

ringe

noun. cold, cold, *chill

sahte

noun. [unglossed]

sarya

noun. [unglossed]

serme

noun. friend (f.)

sermo

noun. friend

seron

noun. friend

sisíria-

verb. [unglossed]

sondo

noun. friend

séra

?. [unglossed]

sóla

?. [unglossed]

tante

noun. [unglossed]

tatalta-

verb. [unglossed]

tekil

noun. pen

ten

conjunction. for

teren

adjective. slender, slender; [ᴱQ.] lissom, lithe

terene

adjective. slender

teuka

?. [unglossed]

thar-

verb. [unglossed]

timpana

noun. [unglossed]

toina

adjective. [unglossed]

toróma

noun. [unglossed]

tuv-

verb. to find

tyue

noun. [unglossed]

unda-

verb. to sink

ungwe

noun. gloom

varinye

noun. [unglossed]

veo

noun. man

vinde

adjective. pale blue

vinya

adjective. pale blue

vírie

noun. youth

wenda

adjective. female

yelme

noun. [unglossed]

yuale

noun. twilight

yúkale

noun. twilight

éma

?. [unglossed]