enquë

cardinal. six

enquë ("q") cardinal "six" (ÉNEK, VT48:4, 6, 9, VT49:57); enquëa ordinal "sixth" (VT42:25); see also enquië. According to VT48:8, the word for "six" may have been encë ("k") in very early Quenya (the form is asterisked by Tolkien), but this was altered to enquë under the influence of yunquë "twelve" (perceived as meaning "2 times 6", *yú-enquë, with the prefix yú- "twi-").

enquë

cardinal. six

Cognates

• S. eneg “six” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06; VT48/08
• T. enec “six” ✧ VT48/06; VT48/08

Derivations

• √ENEK “six” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/07; VT48/08; VT48/09; VT48/10

Element in

• Q. enenquë “sixteen”
• ᴺQ. enquain “sixty”
• ᴺQ. enenquain “sixty”
• ᴺQ. enenquëan “sixty”
• Q. enquëa “sixth”
• ᴺQ. enquellumë “six times”
• Q. enquesta “one sixth”
• Q. enquië “Elvish week of six days”
• Q. yunquë “twelve” ✧ VT48/10

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√enk- > enque	[eŋkwe]	✧ PE17/095
√eneke/enke > enque	[eneke] > [eŋke] > [eŋkwe]	✧ VT48/07
√eneke > enke > enque	[eneke] > [eŋke] > [eŋkwe]	✧ VT48/08
√enek > enekw > enque	[eneke] > [eŋke] > [eŋkwe]	✧ VT48/09
√enekwe > enque	[enekwe] > [eŋkwe]	✧ VT48/10

Variations

• enque ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06; VT48/07; VT48/08; VT48/09; VT48/10

eneg

cardinal. six

eneg

cardinal. six

Cognates

• Q. enquë “six” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/06; VT48/08

Derivations

• √ENEK “six” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/08

Element in

• S. enchui “sixth” ✧ VT42/25
• ᴺS. enephaen “sixty”
• ᴺS. paeneg “sixteen”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√enk- > eneg-	[eneke] > [enek] > [eneg]	✧ PE17/095
√eneke > eneg	[eneke] > [enek] > [eneg]	✧ VT48/08

Variations

• eneg- ✧ PE17/095

eneg

card

_ card. _six. Q. enque, enc-. >> odog

nel

card

_ card. _three. Q. nelde. Fcan, canad, neledh

caen-

card

_ card. _ten. Q. cainen. >> cae, mimp. This gloss was rejected.

leben

card

_ card. _five. Q. lepen, lempe. >> eneg

neder

card

_ card. _nine. Q. nerte. >> cae, caen-

er

card

_ card. _one. Q. er. >> min, tad

cae

card

_ card. _ten. Q. cea. >> caen-, mimp. This gloss was rejected.

can

card

_ card. _four. Q. canta. >> canad, leben

min

card

_ card. _one. Q. min. >> er, tad

odog

card

_ card. _seven. Q. otos. >> tolod

canad

card

_ card. _four. Q. canta. >> can, leben

tad

card

_ card. _two. Q. atta. Fnel, neledh

tad

card

card. two. . This gloss was rejected.

tolod

card

_ card. _eight. Q. tolto. >> neder

eneg

cardinal. six

eneg;

eneg

six

;

enecthui

sixth

also ✱engui (the latter is David Salo’s suggested normalized form of a word that actually appears as enchui in the source, but the longer form enecthui can be used to avoid the problem) (VT42:25).

enec

cardinal. six

Cognates

• Q. enquë “six” ✧ VT48/06; VT48/08

Derivations

• √ENEK “six” ✧ VT48/08

Variations

• enec(e) ✧ VT48/08

enek

root. six

The root and words for “six” remained very similar throughout Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was ᴱ√ENE “six” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with the derivative ᴱQ. ende “six” (QL/35). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, the Qenya word for “six” became ᴱQ. enqe [enkwe] with variant enekse (PE14/49, 82), implying a primitive base ✱enek-. This primitive form was made explicit in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where the root was given as ᴹ√ENEK “six” with derivatives ᴹQ. enqe and N. eneg (Ety/ÉNEK). The root and its derivatives retained this form thereafter.

Tolkien spent a fair amount of time analyzing the origin of this root and the basis for the Q. addition of w in various notes on Elvish numbering systems written in 1968 (VT41, VT42, VT47, VT48). One connection Tolkien regularly made was between √ENEK “six” and √ENED “middle”, as “six” was the “middle” of the duodecimal system of numbering (VT41/16; VT48/9); in this respect it was probably an elaboration of the root √NEK “divide, separate, part” by analogy with √ENED (VT47/16; VT48/9). The Quenya -we may have been either a dual suffix based on “six” as twice three (VT48/10) or it might have been by analogy with other important duodecimal numbers like Q. minquë “eleven” and Q. yunquë “twelve” (48/7). Personally I find the second theory more compelling.

Derivatives

• Q. enquë “six” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/07; VT48/08; VT48/09; VT48/10
• S. eneg “six” ✧ PE17/095; VT48/08
• ᴺS. eneph “sixteen”
• T. enec “six” ✧ VT48/08

Element in

• ✶yūnekē “twelve, 2 sixes” ✧ VT47/41; VT48/08; VT48/09; VT48/10

Variations

• enk- ✧ PE17/095
• enek ✧ VT41/16 (enek); VT47/12; VT47/15; VT47/16; VT47/16; VT47/41; VT48/09; VT48/10
• en-ek(w) ✧ VT42/24
• eneke/enke ✧ VT48/07
• eneke ✧ VT48/08
• enekē̆ ✧ VT48/08
• enekwe ✧ VT48/10
• nekew ✧ VT48/10

eneg

cardinal. six

eneg

cardinal. six

Cognates

• ᴹQ. enqe “six” ✧ Ety/ÉNEK

Derivations

• ᴹ√ENEK “six” ✧ Ety/ÉNEK

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√ÉNEK > eneg	[eneke] > [enek] > [eneg]	✧ Ety/ÉNEK