_fem. suff. _It corresponds to masc. -we. Q. -iel.
Sindarin
-iel
suffix. daughter; feminine suffix
Cognates
- Q. -iel “-daughter; feminine suffix” ✧ PE17/023
Derivations
- ✶-iel “feminine suffix”
Element in
- S. Adanel
- S. Ar-Feiniel “White Lady”
- S. Berúthiel “?Angry-queen”
- S. Elrenniel “Arwen; *(lit.) Elrond-daughter”
- S. Fíriel
- S. Gilthoniel “Star-kindler” ✧ PE17/023
- S. Glorfinniel “Goldilocks”
- S. Ivriniel
- S. Lothíriel
- S. Meiniel
- S. Nimrodel “Lady of the White Cave”
- S. Níniel “Tear-maiden”
- S. rodel “lady, high lady” ✧ PE17/049
- ᴺS. siel “granddaughter”
- S. Tinúviel “Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight”
Variations
- iel ✧ PE17/023
- -el ✧ PE17/049 (-el)
-iel
suffix. adjective suffix
Element in
- S. glóriel “golden” ✧ S/235
Variations
- -iel ✧ S/235 (-iel)
-iel
suffix. perfective-participle
Element in
- S. míriel “sparkling like jewels, like a jewel” ✧ PE22/152
Variations
- -iel ✧ PE22/152
-iel
suffix. It corresponds to masc
-il
suffix. feminine suffix
A fairly common feminine suffix appearing as -il in Sindarin, either formed on its own or as a variant of the feminine suffix -iel. This suffix was also common Noldorin words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, along with an alternate form -ril that seems to be a feminine agental suffix, the equivalent of masculine -(r)on, seen in pairs like N. melethril/melethron “lover” and N. odhril/odhron “parent” (Ety/MEL, ONO). The -il suffix and its -ril variant are seen all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in pairs like G. gwadhril/gwadhron “inhabitant” (GL/47) and G. ainil/ainos “god”, female and male respectively (GL/18). So it seems this feminine suffix was well established in Tolkien’s mind.
Element in
- S. brethil “princess, (lit.) queen-daughter”
- S. híril “lady, lady; [G.] princess, †queen” ✧ SA/heru
- ᴺS. regil “mare”
- S. Thuringwethil “Woman of Secret Shadow”
iell
daughter
1) iell (-iel) (girl, maid), pl. ill, 2) sell (i hell) (girl, maid), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath**. **DAUGTHER OF TWILIGHT, see NIGHTINGALE
iell
daughter
(-iel) (girl, maid), pl. ill
-eb
suffix. adjective suffix
Cognates
- Q. -inqua “-ful, complete” ✧ WJ/412
Derivations
Element in
- S. aglareb “glorious, brilliant, glorious, brilliant, *radiant” ✧ WJ/412
- ᴺS. eitheb “thorny, *(orig.) full of points; sharp”
- S. ereb “single, alone, lonely, single, alone, lonely, [N.] isolated”
- S. fíreb “mortal”
- ᴺS. glidheb “like honey”
- S. gorthob “horrible”
- S. maecheneb “sharp-eye[d]” ✧ WJ/337
- ᴺS. maeligeb “wealthy, rich”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶ikwā > -ipā > -eb [-ikwā] > [-ipā] > [-ipa] > [-epa] > [-ep] > [-eb] ✧ WJ/412
-en
suffix. adjective suffix
Derivations
- ✶-inā “adjective; passive participle”
Element in
- S. aewen “of birds” ✧ SA/lin¹
- ᴺS. anóren “sunny”
- S. dínen “silent” ✧ PE17/098
- S. firin “mortal, dying, dying, mortal; [N.] human”
- S. glórin “*golden, golden, [G.] of gold”
- S. lossen “snowy” ✧ RGEO/62
- ᴺS. mirwelthen “vintage, *(lit.) wine pressing”
- S. rhúnen “eastern”
- S. thurin “secret, hidden”
- S. tolothen “eighth” ✧ SD/129
Variations
- -en ✧ PE17/098 (-en); RGEO/62 (-en); SA/lin¹ (-en); SD/129
-in
suffix. adjective suffix
-ren
suffix. adjective suffix
@@@ perhaps a later, S-only, innovation
Cognates
- Q. -rin “-ian, racial-adjective, language”
Element in
- S. angren “of iron” ✧ SA/anga
- S. celebrin “like silver (in hue or worth), like silver (in hue or worth), [G.] of silver”
- ᴺS. cothren “hostile”
- S. edhellen “elvish”
- S. Falathren “Shore-language”
- ᴺS. fathren “tasselled”
- ᴺS. gwaeren “windy”
- S. gwaeren “windy”
- S. gwathren “shadowy, dim”
- ᴺS. mabren “handed, having hands, dextrous”
- S. mithren “grey”
- S. silivren “(white) glittering, crystalline”
- ᴺS. singren “salt, *salty”
gwen
noun. maiden
gwend
noun. maiden
gwend
noun. maiden, maiden, *young woman
A word for “maiden” or “✱young woman”, frequently appearing as suffixal -wen as an element in female names, derived from the root √WEN(ED) (PE17/191; Ety/WEN).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word G. gwin meant “woman, female” and G. {gwen >>} gwennin was “girl” (GL/45). The former was derived from the root ᴱ√giu̯i which had to do with pregnancy, but the latter was derived from {ᴱ√gw̯ene >>} ᴱ√gu̯eđe. In the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE was the basis of words like ᴱQ. ’wen(di) “maiden” (QL/103). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips it seems G. gwin was also reassigned to the root ᴱ√(G)WENE [ᴱ√u̯enĭ-], derived from ᴱ✶u̯einā́, though possibly shifted or blended in meaning with an adjectival sense “womanly” (PE13/113).
In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. uin “woman” (PE13/123), a form that also appeared with this gloss in contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists as a replacement for deleted {gwind, gwinn} (PE13/146, 155). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. gwend, gwenn “maiden” under the root ᴹ√WEN(ED) which he said was “often found in feminine names” (Ety/WEN). He noted that “since the [suffixed names] show no -d even in archaic spelling, they probably contain a form wen-”. Tolkien seems to have stuck with these forms thereafter.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for a young woman or adolescent girl, especially prior to marriage, but for female children I would use neth.
Cognates
- Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin” ✧ PE17/191
Derivations
Element in
- S. Rodwen “High Virgin Noble”
- S. Arwen “Noble Maiden”
- ᴺS. arwen “noble lady”
- S. Galadwen
- S. Gladhwen “Laughing Maiden”
- ᴺS. gwendren “maidenly, girlish”
- S. gweneth “maidenhood, maidenhood, [N.] virginity” ✧ PE17/191
- ᴺS. gwennod “elder tree; elderberry, *(lit.) maiden berry”
- S. Hirwen
- S. Ivonwin “Maidens of Yavanna”
- S. Ivorwen
- S. Laewen
- S. Urwen
- S. -wen “maiden, *female suffix”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √WEN-ED > gwen(d) [wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn] ✧ PE17/191 Variations
- gwen(d) ✧ PE17/191
sellath
noun. all the daughters
gwend
maiden
gwend (i **wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath**. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.
gwend
maiden
(i ’wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.
sell
daughter
(i** hell) (girl, maid), pl. sill (i** sill), coll. pl. *sellath***. **
wen
maiden
, see MAIDEN. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.
A widely used feminine suffix in Sindarin (PE17/23, 190). It sometimes more specifically meant “-daughter” in names such as Elrenniel “Arwen; ✱(lit.) Elrond-daughter” (PE17/56) or Tinúviel “Daughter of Twilight” (S/165), but in other cases it simply meant female as in names like Gilthoniel “Star-kindler [female]” (PE17/23). It was also sometimes reduced to -il or -el. See the entry on the root √YE(L) for a discussion of various conceptual vacillations in its connection to “daughter”.
Conceptual Development: The use of N. -iel dates back to Noldorin, where its connection to “daughter” was more explicit, though Tolkien vacillated on whether the suffix was based on ᴹ√YEL or ᴹ√SEL (Ety/SEL, YEL). The suffix does not appear to be specifically feminine in Gnomish of the 1910s, however, appearing in both female names like G. Níniel (LT2/100) and male names like G. Inwithiel (LT1/22).