Early Quenya
nier
noun. (honey) bee
Cognates
- G. nio(s) “bee” ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Nielluin
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ✶negōn > nion [negōn] > [neɣōn] > [neōn] > [nion] ✧ GL/60 ᴱ✶negeher > nier [negexer] > [nier] ✧ GL/60 ᴱ√NEHE > neχier > neier > nier [nexies] > [nexier] > [neɣier] > [neier] > [nier] ✧ QL/065 Variations
- nion ✧ GL/60
- nies ✧ QL/065
nie
noun. tear
Cognates
- G. nîn “tear” ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Nienna
Derivations
Element in
- Eq. karnevaite úri kilde hísen níe nienaite “amid the red skies the Sun with wet eyes dropped tears of mist” ✧ MC/221; PE16/062; PE16/072; PE16/074
- Eq. karnevaite úri kilivande hísen nie nie nienaite “*red-skied the sun will gaze through a haze of tears” ✧ PE16/077; PE16/077
- Eq. nienaite “tearful”
- Eq. nieninqe “snowdrop, (lit.) white tear” ✧ QL/068
- Eq. Nieriltasinwa “Unnumbered Tears” ✧ LT2A/Nínin-Udathriol
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ✶nı̯eχie > nie [nʲexiē] > [nʲexie] > [nʲeɣie] > [nʲeie] > [nʲie] > [nie] ✧ GL/60 ᴱ✶nyeχie > nie [nʲexiē] > [nʲexie] > [nʲeɣie] > [nʲeie] > [nʲie] > [nie] ✧ QL/068 Variations
- nië ✧ LT1A/Nienna
- níe ✧ MC/221
nies
noun. honey bee
nyére
noun. grief
Cognates
- G. nîr “grief, sorrow” ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Mornië
Derivations
Element in
- Eq. Mornie “Black Grief” ✧ LT1A/Mornië
Variations
- nyēre ✧ GL/60
- nyérë ✧ LT1A/Mornië
piqis(se)
noun. grief
Derivations
- ᴱ√PIQI “*bitter” ✧ QL/074
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√PIQI > piqis [pikʷiss] > [pikʷis] ✧ QL/074 Variations
- piqis ✧ QL/074
- piqisse ✧ QL/074
A word appearing as ᴱQ. nier (nies-) “honey bee” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶neχier under the early root ᴱ√NEHE that was the basis for “honey” and “bee” words (QL/65). It had a variant form nies (niess-). It appeared as nier “bee” in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/65), but in the Gnomish Lexicon it had the forms nier and nion derived from primitive ᴱ✶negeher and ᴱ✶negōn respectively.
Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writings, the root √NEG “ooze, drip” was still connected to “honey” (PE19/91). Thus I think this word might be salvaged as ᴺQ. nier “bee” derived from an ancient agental formation neger(ŏ), where ege > eʒe > ëe > ie (PE19/63).