A word for “woman” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s with stem form nyel-, as indicated by its accusative nyela (PE16/135). Its etymology is unclear; Patrick Wynne and Christopher Gilson suggested it might be connected to the early root ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” or later root ᴹ√NYEL “ring, sing”, but these both feel like stretches to me.
Early Quenya
nî
noun. woman
Cognates
Element in
- Eq. -ni “feminine suffix”
anî
noun. woman
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
anai
noun. woman
Element in
- Eq. anaina “womanly” ✧ QL/031
Variations
- anî ✧ QL/031
eru
adverb. once
Element in
- Eq. erumaite “one handed” ✧ PE14/051; PE14/084
Variations
- eru ✧ PE14/051; PE14/084
- eru- ✧ PE14/051; PE14/084
nún
adverb. beneath
Derivations
- ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down, stoop, sink”
Element in
- Eq. ondoin mórin ninkuváron, núni silmerána tindon “*the dark rocks will shine white, shining under the gleaming-moon” ✧ PE16/077
Variations
- nuun ✧ PE16/077
nyél
noun. woman
Variations
- nyēl ✧ PE16/135
ú
preposition. beneath
Cognates
- G. uf “out of, forth, from” ✧ GL/74
Derivations
- ᴱ√Ū “under” ✧ QL/096
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√Ū¹ > ū [ū] ✧ QL/096 Variations
- ū ✧ GL/74; QL/096
A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s form “woman” with variants anai and anî, a feminine form ᴱQ. anu “a male” (QL/31).