-ien fem. ending in certain names like Yávien, Silmarien (q.v.) At one point -ien implied "daughter", see -iel above.
Quenya
-iel
daughter
-ien
daughter
anel
daughter
anel noun "daughter" (PE17:170), possibly intended by Tolkien as a replacement for seldë (q.v.). Compare anon.
anel
noun. daughter
A transient word for “daughter” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, written of above the more common sel-de (PE17/170).
seldë
noun. daughter, daughter; [ᴹQ.] child [f.], *girl
This seems to be the word that Tolkien favored for “daughter” in his later writings (PE17/170; VT47/10; PE19/73), though it had competition from other forms like Q. yeldë.
Conceptual Development: The earliest word resembling this form was ᴱQ. sui “daughter” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√SUẈU (QL/87), a word also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/87). This became ᴱQ. silde “daughter” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/135).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien experimented with several different forms. He had ᴹQ. yelde “daughter” under the root ᴹ√YEL, but this entry was deleted (Ety/YEL). Tolkien also had a root ᴹ√SEL(D) “daughter” with a derivative ᴹQ. selde, but the meaning of this root was changed to “child”, and masculine and neuter forms ᴹQ. seldo and ᴹQ. selda were added to the entry (Ety/SEL-D). Finally, under the entry for ᴹ√YŌ or YON “son”, Tolkien added a primitive feminine variant ᴹ✶yēn or yend “daughter”, producing ᴹQ. yende and (suffixal?) yen (Ety/YŌ).
These vacillations continued in later writings, where at one point Tolkien wrote “Q[uenya] Wanted: Son, Daughter” (PE17/170). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 Tolkien wrote Q. sel-de for “daughter”, but above it he wrote a variant form anel. In rough notes from around 1959 Tolkien explored a large number of masculine and feminine suffixes, and on the page he had yeldë “daughter”, though at the end of the sentence he wrote “also yen” (PE17/190). In notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, Tolkien wrote selyë as a diminutive/affectionate word for “daughter”, with seltil as a play name for the fourth finger representing a daughter (VT47/10, 27).
Also of note is Tolkien’s Quenya name for S. Tinúviel “Daughter of Twilight”, which he generally represented as something like Q. Tindómerel < ✶Tindōmiselde. Tolkien was fairly consistent in this Quenya form starting in the 1930s (Ety/SEL-D; PE19/33), with examples in the 1950s (PE19/73) and 1960s (VT47/37) as well. Indeed, in a couple cases he used this name to illustrate how medial s generally became z and eventually r in Quenya (PE19/33, 73), so it seems that for this name Tolkien consistently imagined the primitive form for “daughter” as ✶selde.
Neo-Quenya: I’d assume selde is the main word for “daughter” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but I’d assume a variant form yeldë, especially since -iel was the most common suffix for “daughter of”. This variant probably arose very early under the influence of √YON “son”.
Cognates
- S. sell “*daughter, daughter; [N.] †girl, maid”
Derivations
Element in
- Q.
Elerondorel“*Daughter of Elrond”- Q. selyë “daughter (diminutive)”
- Q. Tindómerel “Daughter of Twilight”
Variations
- sel-de ✧ PE17/170
selyë
daughter
[selyë noun "daughter", used in children's play for "fourth finger" or "fourth toe" _(VT47:10, 15, VT48:4) _It is unclear whether it was the word selyë "daughter" itself that was rejected, or just its use as a play-name of a digit. Compare yeldë, yendë.]
yeldë
daughter
yeldë noun "daughter" (YEL) This word was struck out in Etym, but it may have been restored together with the ending -iel, q.v.
yeldë
noun. daughter
A less common Quenya word for “daughter”, an analog of Q. yondo “son”.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had ᴹQ. yelde “daughter” under the root ᴹ√YEL of the same meaning, but the meaning of the root was first changed to “friend”, and then the root was then deleted (Ety/YEL). Meanwhile, under the root ᴹ√YŌ or YON, Tolkien introduced a feminine variant ᴹQ. yende “daughter” along with (suffixal?) yen, derived from primitive ᴹ√yēn or yend (Ety/YŌ). Previously this yende/yendi form was a feminine agent, but Tolkien rejected that meaning (EtyAC/ƷAN).
In between yelde >> yende for “daughter” in The Etymologies, Tolkien considered using the form ᴹQ. selde, and in later writings this seems to be his preferred Quenya word for “daughter”. However, yeldë “daughter” was mentioned again briefly in rough notes from around 1959 (PE17/190), and -iel remained Tolkien’s preferred suffix for “daughter of”.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I recommend seldë as the more common word for “daughter”, but assume yeldë also exists as variant due to the influence of yondo “son”; see the entries on seldë and the root √YE(L) for further discussion.
Derivations
- √YE(L) “daughter” ✧ PE17/190
Variations
- yelde ✧ PE17/190
yen
daughter
yen, yendë noun "daughter" (YŌ/YON). This word replaced another form, but this form may have been restored; see yeldë. In VT45:16, yendë is said to refer to a female "agent", a word changed by Tolkien from yendi, but Tolkien deleted all of this.
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".
Tindómiel
daughter of twilight
Tindómiel, fem. name (UT:210), probably *"daughter of twilight" (tindómë + -iel) and thus the equivalent of Sindarin Tinúviel. Compare tindómerel.
tindómerel
daughter of twilight
tindómerel (also capitalized Tindómerel) fem. name "daughter of twilight", a kenning (poetic name) of the nightingale; = Sindarin Tinúviel. (TIN, SEL-D, SA:tin; "Tindómrl" in mirrored Tengwar in VT47:37 would seem to be an incomplete annotation of the same word). The form Tindómiel (UT:210) could well be an alternative Quenya equivalent of Tinúviel, and it is possibly to be preferred because the status of the ending -rel "daughter" is uncertain (it was to represent older -zel, -sel corresponding to the independent word seldë, but Tolkien changed the meaning of this word from "daughter" to "child", and since the word for "child" appears as hína in later texts, it may be that seldë and the corresponding ending -rel were dropped altogether).
tindómerel
feminine name. Daughter of Twilight
The Quenya name of Tinúviel (SA/tin, PE19/73). Since she was a Sindarin elf, this name is largely theoretical, as a development from the same primitive form: ✶Tindōmiselde. This name is a compound of tindómë and a suffixal form -rel of seldë “daughter”. In a couple places, Tolkien used this name to illustrated the development of primitive intervocalic ✶[s] into Quenya [r] (PE19/33, 73).
Conceptual Development: The earliest “Qenya” name for Tinúviel was ᴹQ. Tinúviel in linguistic notes from the early 1930s; it was declined in various noun cases, and was clearly intended to be a purely Qenya name rather than an adaptation of the Noldorin Tinúviel (PE21/35). The name ᴹQ. Tindómerel appeared in The Etymologies from the mid-1930s, where it already had the derivation described above (Ety/SEL-D, TIN). In some notes on Quenya phonology from the 1930s, this name appeared as Tindómirel with a medial i (PE19/33), but in a revision of those notes from the 1950s it was reverted back to Tindómerel (PE19/73). It appeared as (Tindómrl) in some examples of left-handed tengwar writing from the 1960s (VT47/37); Tolkien probably neglected to add the vowel diacritics in this case.
Cognates
- S. Tinúviel “Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight” ✧ PE19/073; SA/tin
Derivations
- ✶Tindōmiselde “Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight” ✧ PE19/073
Elements
Word Gloss tindómë “(starry) twilight, (usually) time near dawn, (starry) twilight, time near dawn, [ᴹQ.] starlit dusk” seldë “daughter, daughter; [ᴹQ.] child [f.], *girl” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶tindōmi-sel(dĕ) > tindómizel > tindómerel [tindōmiselde] > [tindōmiseld] > [tindōmizeld] > [tindōmizel] > [tindōmirel] > [tindōmerel] ✧ PE19/073 Variations
- tindómerel ✧ PE19/073; SA/tin
- Tindómrl ✧ VT47/37
selyë
noun. daughter (diminutive)
A diminutive/affectionate word for “daughter” appearing in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (VT47/10, 27), based on Q. seldë “daughter”. See that entry for further discussion.
Elements
Word Gloss seldë “daughter, daughter; [ᴹQ.] child [f.], *girl” Variations
- selye ✧ VT47/10; VT47/16; VT47/27; VT47/33
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
- nette → nette “girl” ✧ VT47/26
- nette → nette “girl” ✧ VT47/15
Cognates
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
Development Stages Sources √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
selda
child
selda adj.?noun? (meaning not clear, related to seldë "child" (meaning changed by Tolkien from "daughter") and seldo "boy". Thus selda may be an adjective "childlike", since -a is a frequent adjectival ending. Alternatively, as suggested in VT46:13, selda may be a neuter noun "child", corresponding to masc. seldo "boy" and fem. seldë "girl" (before Tolkien changed the meaning of the latter to "child"). (SEL-D, cf. VT46:22-23)
yelmë
loathing
yelmë (1) noun "loathing". In the Etymologies as printed in LR, entry DYEL, the word appears as **yelma, but according to VT45:11 this is a misreading of Tolkien's manuscript. According to VT46:22, yelmë briefly appeared as a word for "daughter" (?)
onna
noun. child, child, *offspring; [ᴹQ.] creature
A word for “child” appearing in various late notes and phrases (NM/31; PM/391; VT49/42), derived from the root √NŌ/ONO “beget, be born” and once appearing in a variant form onwe (PE17/170). Giving its derivation, its actual meaning may be closer to “✱offspring”, as first suggested to me by Tamas Ferencz.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. onna was instead glossed “creature”, though it was still derived from the root ᴹ√ONO “beget” (Ety/ONO).
Derivations
- √NŌ/ONO “beget, give birth to; be born, beget, give birth to; be born; [ᴱ√] become” ✧ PE17/170; PE17/170
Element in
- Q. Aulëonnar “Children of Aulë” ✧ PM/391
- ᴺQ. heconna “child born out of wedlock, bastard”
- Q. nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya “*may your (sg.) child be blessed throughout his/her life” ✧ VT49/42
- Q. nai calambar onnalda ter coivierya “*may your (pl.) child be light-fated throughout his/her life” ✧ VT49/42
- Q. Onnalúmë “Time of the Children”
- Q. Onnarië “Time of Children”
- Q. onya “my child”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √ON/NO > onwe [onwe] ✧ PE17/170 √ONO/NŌ > onna [onna] ✧ PE17/170 Variations
- onwe ✧ PE17/170; PE17/170; PE17/170
onwë
child
onwë noun "child" (PE17:170)
onwë
noun. child
sén
noun. child
Element in
- Q. Erusēn “Children of God” ✧ MR/423
- Q. Melkorsēni “Children of Melkor”
- Q. senya “*my child”
hína
child
hína noun "child", also hina used in the vocative to a (young) child (also hinya "my child", for hinanya) (WJ:403). Pl. híni (surprisingly not **hínar) in Híni Ilúvataro "Children of Ilúvatar" (Silmarillion Index); dative hínin in VT44:35. In compounds -hin pl. -híni (as in Eruhíni, "Children of Eru", SA:híni). According to one source, the word is hín(i) and solely plural (PE17:157), but this is obviously contradicted by some of the sources quoted above.
hína
noun. child
A word for “child” derived from the root √KHIN (PE17/157; WJ/403), most notably an element in Eruhíni “Children of God”, a term for Elves and Men as the children of Eru. This word illustrates that hína has an abnormal plural form: híni rather than the expected ✱✱hínar. A variant hina with a short i was “only used in the vocative addressing a (young) child, especially in hinya (< hinanya) ‘my child’ (WJ/403)”.
Conceptual Development: The term Êruhîn “Children of God” first appeared as an Adûnaic word in the 1940s (SD/247-8, 358), later adapted as Quenya Eruhíni and Sindarin Eruchîn, which seems to be the source of Q. hína and S. hên “child”. At one point Tolkien coined masculine and feminine variants Q. hindo and Q. hindë, but they were deleted (PE17/157). Tolkien occasionally used an alternate Quenya form sén (MR/423; UT/274), perhaps out of a desire to have a Sindarin form Eruhîn that was closer to the original Adûnaic form; this variant continued to appear as late as 1969, where sén was written below Eruhíni as a variant form in Late Notes on Verbs (LVS: PE22/158).
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. ar mi cemen rainë i hínin “and on earth peace, good will toward men” ✧ VT44/35; VT44/35; VT44/35
- Q. Eruhin “Child of Eru (God)” ✧ SA/híni
- Q. Híni Ilúvataro “Children of Ilúvatar” ✧ PE21/83; SI/Children of Ilúvatar
- Q. Melkorohíni “Children of Melkor”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √KHIN > hīn(i) [kʰīni] > [xīni] > [hīni] ✧ PE17/157 ✶khīnā/khinā > hína [kʰīnā] > [xīnā] > [hīnā] > [hīna] ✧ WJ/403 Variations
- hina ✧ WJ/403
seldo
child
seldo noun (meaning not quite clear, likely the masculine form of seldë "child", hence *"boy") (SEL-D, VT46:13, 22-23)
seldë
child
seldë noun "child" (meaning changed by Tolkien from "daughter"; in his later texts the Quenya word for "child" is rather hína, and the final status of seldë is uncertain. See also tindómerel.) (SEL-D, VT46:13, 22-23) In one late source, Tolkien reverts to the meaning "daughter", but this may have been replaced by anel, q.v.
-iel patronymic/matronymic ending -"daughter" (YEL, VT46:22-23) In the Etymologies, Tolkien struck out this ending and the corresponding independent word yeldë "daughter", changing them to -ien, yendë. However, the ending -iel later turns up in later forms: Uinéniel "Daughter of Uinen" in UT:182 and Elerondiel "daughter of Elrond" (Elerondo) in PE17:56. Hence it would seem that Tolkien changed his mind again and restored this ending, and perhaps the noun yeldë along with it. The form Elerondiel (from Elerondo) demonstrates that a final vowel is omitted before -iel.