(single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.
Sindarin
mein
ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent
mein
ordinal. first
Cognates
- Q. minya “first; eminent, prominent” ✧ VT42/10
main
ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent
minui
ordinal. first
minui
ordinal. first
Cognates
- Q. minya “first; eminent, prominent” ✧ VT42/25
ned
noun. first, *one more; first; *during
Element in
- S. a Pherhael ar am Meril suilad uin aran o Minas Tirith nelchaenen ned Echuir “to Samwise and Rose the King’s greeting from Minas Tirith, the thirty-first day of Stirring” ✧ SD/129
- ᴺS. neman “when, (lit.) during what”
erui
first
minui
first
1) minui (lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form), 2) mîn (lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”; 3) erui (single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.
minui
first
(lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form)
mîn
first
(lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”
This word replaced the preposition uin “of the” in the third version of the King’s Letter, appearing in the phrase nelchaenen ned Echuir “the thirty-first day of Stirring”. Both Carl Hostetter (VT31/30) and David Salo (SG/229) theorized that this replacement has a similar prepositional function, from either √NOT “count” or √NED “middle”. Fiona Jallings suggested it might be a temporal preposition, with sense “during” (FJNS/349).
On VT47/40, note 67, Patrick Wynne suggested that this word might be a cognate of the newly published Quenya word net(ë) “one more”. This theory is supported by the most likely interpretation of nelchaenen. This word seems to mean “thirtieth” rather than “thirty-first”, and Patrick Wynne suggested that nelchaenen ned means “thirtieth and one more” = “thirty-first”. I find this theory the most compelling, and use it here.