nén (nen-) noun "water" (NEN).
Quenya
nen
river
nén
water
nén
noun. water, water, [ᴱQ.] river
The word for “water”, a derivative of the root √NEN of the same meaning (PE17/52; Ety/NEN). Its stem form was nen- (Ety/NEN) and its primitive form was given as ✶nē̆n, the vowel length variation due to distinct subjective nēn versus objective/inflected nĕn- in ancient monosyllables (PE21/64).
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with two senses: “river” and (archaic) “†water”. Tolkien indicated the two senses were based on distinct roots: ᴱ√NEŘE [NEÐE] and ᴱ√NENE respectively, with two distinct stem forms nend- and nēn (QL/64-65). The Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa also mentions the forms nen (nēn-) “water” versus nen(d-) “river” (PME/64-65). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the mid-1920s Tolkien had both nēn “river” (PE15/76) and nēn “water” (PE15/78), but in the Early Qenya Grammar he had only nēn “water” (PE14/43, 72), also appearing as nen “water” in documents on The Valmaric Script from this period (PE14/110).
In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien had ᴹQ. nēn “water”, but in this document it had nēn- with long ē in its inflected forms as well (PE21/23). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, uninflected nén “water” had a stem form of nen- with short e (Ety/NEN), and the reasons for this variation was discussed in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, the nominative/objective distinction noted above (PE21/64). This seems to be the paradigm Tolkien stuck with thereafter, as evidenced by S. nen “water” rather than ✱✱nîn.
Cognates
- S. nen “water; lake, pool; (lesser) river, water; lake, pool; (lesser) river, [ᴱN.] stream” ✧ PE17/052; SA/nen
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Cuiviénen “Water of Awakening” ✧ SA/nen
- Q. Nénar
- Q. nenda “wet”
- Q. nendil “beast that lives in the water”
- Q. Nendili “Water-lovers”
- ᴺQ. nengarmo “otter, (lit.) water-wolf”
- Q. Nénimë “February, *Wet-ness”
- ᴺQ. nenungol “octopus, (lit.) water-spider”
- Q. Nenya “(Ring) of Water” ✧ SA/nen
- Q. Nísinen “*Fragrant Water”
- Q. Uinen ✧ SA/nen
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √NEN > nēn [nēn] ✧ PE17/052 √nen > nen [nen] ✧ SA/nen Variations
- nēn ✧ PE17/052
- nen ✧ SA/nen
Uinen
water
Uinen (Uinend-, as in dative Uinenden) fem. name, used of a Maia, spouse of Ossë (UY, NEN). Adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:404), though it is also said that it contains -nen "water" (SA:nen); the latter explanation may be folk etymology. In the Etymologies, the name is derived from the same stem (UY) as uilë "long trailing plant, especially seaweed".
Nénar
water
Nénar noun name of a star (or planet), evidently derived from nén "water" (Silm), tentatively identified with Uranus (MR:435)
nuinë
suffix. river
Element in
- ᴺQ. nuinerocco “hippopotamus, (lit.) river-horse”
celusindi
river
celusindi _("k")_noun "river" (LT1:257; hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya, where the terms sírë and sirya appear instead)
sindi
river
sindi noun "river" (LT1:265; rather sírë in LotR-style Quenya)
sirya
river
#sirya noun "river", attested in the dual form siryat (VT47:11). Compare sírë.
sír
river
sír noun "river", shorter form of sirë (PE17:65, VT49:17)
sír(ë)
noun. river, river, [ᴱQ.] stream
The most common Quenya word for “river”, derived from the root √SIR “flow”.
Conceptual Development: This word first appeared as ᴱQ. sīre “stream” as a derivative of ᴱ√SIŘI [SIÐI] (QL/84), and this form and gloss also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/84). The form ᴹQ. siri- “river” appeared in the Declension of Nouns (DN) from the early 1930s, along with uninflected sire with short i and various inflected forms with siry- (PE21/10). The form sīre “river” with long ī appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√SIR “flow” (Ety/SIR; EtyAC/SIR). In several notes from the mid-1960s, it appeared in monosyllabic form sír (PE17/65) or sīr (VT49/17), but it had dual form siryat from the late 1960s implying a stem form of sirĭ- and a development similar to that of DN from the early 1930s (VT47/11).
Neo-Eldarin: Its form síre is probably better known and more commonly used in Neo-Quenya. For example this is the typical form in Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT).
Cognates
- S. sîr “river, stream”
Derivations
- √SIR “flow”
Element in
- ᴺQ. anasirë “tributary”
- Q. caitas lá i sír “it is beyond the river” ✧ PE17/065
- Q. caitas palla i sír “it is far beyond the river” ✧ PE17/065
- Q. imbë siryat “between two rivers” ✧ VT47/11
- ᴺQ. lantasírë “waterfall, (lit.) falling river”
- Q. lendes lann’ i sír “he came (to a point) beyond the river” ✧ PE17/065
- Q. lendes pallan(na) i sír “he came (to a point) far beyond the river” ✧ PE17/065
- Q. Siril
Variations
- sír ✧ PE17/065
- sīr ✧ VT49/17
sírë
river
sírë noun "river" (SIR, VT46:13), "stream" (LT1:265). Also short form sír, q.v.Compare #sirya.
hlóna
river, especially given to those at all seasons full of water from mountains
[hlóna (2) noun "a river, especially given to those at all seasons full of water from mountains" (VT48:27; the word is marked with a query and the note containing it rejected; it was apparently replaced by lón, q.v.)]
lutta-
flow, float
lutta- vb. "flow, float" (LT1:249)
lutu-
flow, float
lutu- vb. "flow, float" (LT1:249)
sir-
flow
sir- (1) vb. "flow" (SIR)
sir-
verb. flow
sirya
verb. flow
nen
noun. nostril
Derivations
- ᴹ√NEÑ “*nose”
nen noun "river" (LT1:248), "river, water" (LT1:262) (In Tolkien's later Quenya, nén with a long vowel means "water", but hardly "river" - that is sírë.)