Quenya 

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".

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

  • nettenette “girl” ✧ VT47/26
  • nettenette “girl” ✧ VT47/15

Cognates

  • S. neth “(little) girl; sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/14; VT47/33; VT48/06
  • S. nethig “sister, girl (diminutive)” ✧ VT48/06
  • T. netticë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT48/06
  • T. nettë “sister (diminutive)” ✧ VT47/11; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT48/06

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

DevelopmentStagesSources
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
Quenya [VT47/10; VT47/11; VT47/12; VT47/14; VT47/15; VT47/26; VT47/32; VT47/33; VT47/34; VT47/39; VT47/42; VT48/06] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nectë

honey

nectë noun "honey" (LT1:262; Tolkien's later Quenya has lis; otherwise, nectë would have had to become nehtë_, a form appearing in the Etymologies with the meaning "honeycomb" [VT45:38]. However, this word clashes with _nehtë "angle" or "spearhead, gore, wedge, narrow promontory" from later sources [PE17:55, UT:282].)

nehte

noun. honey

honey

Quenya [PE 19:91] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

nehtë

noun. honey, honey; [ᴹQ.] honeycomb

A noun for “honey” appearing in 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) derived from ✶negdē “exudation” based on the root √NEG “ooze, drip” (PE19/91). It was a later iteration of ᴹQ. nehte “honeycomb” in The Etymologies of the 1930s which had essentially the same derivation (EtyAC/NEG). This in turn was a later form of ᴱQ. nekte “honey” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√NEHE having to do with bees and honey (QL/65).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use this word only for “honey”. For “honeycomb” I’d use ᴺQ. nehtelë inspired by ᴱQ. nektele “honeycomb” (QL/65)

Cognates

  • S. nîdh “juice, [N.] honeycomb; [S.] juice” ✧ PE19/091
  • T. nettë “honey” ✧ PE19/091

Derivations

  • negdē “exudation” ✧ PE19/091
    • NEG “‽ooze, drip, ooze, drip; *honey” ✧ PE19/091

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
negdē > nehte[negdē] > [nektē] > [nextē] > [nexte]✧ PE19/091

Variations

  • nehte ✧ PE19/091

lís

noun. honey, honey, *sugar, sweetener

A word for “honey” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 given as lîs and derived from the root √(G)LIS (PE17/154); the usual representation of a long vowel in Quenya would be ✱lís. In DLN Tolkien said that it sometimes appeared as līr- in inflections with the usual change of intervocalic s to r, but that its usual stem form was liss-. Indeed, in The Etymologies of the 1930s this word was ᴹQ. lis “honey” under the root ᴹ√LIS of the same meaning, and its stem form was also liss- as indicated by its [ᴹQ.] genitive lissen (Ety/LIS). Tolkien originally gave the base noun as lisse in The Etymologies, but this was deleted and replaced by lis (EtyAC/LIS). In The Etymologies its Noldorin cognate was N. glî.

Conceptual Development: A likely precursor to this word was ᴱQ. ile “honey” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, cognate to ᴱN. glí “honey” (GL/59).

Neo-Quenya: Since there are other honey-words in Quenya like Q. nehtë, I would use lís (liss-) for sweeteners in general, including both honey and sugar.

Derivations

  • LIS “*sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey” ✧ PE17/154

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
(G)LIS > lîs[līs]✧ PE17/154

Variations

  • lîs ✧ PE17/154

melu

honey

#melu noun "honey", isolated from melumatya, q.v. (PE17:68)

melu

noun. honey

A word for “honey” appearing only in the compound Q. melumatya “honey-eating” in notes from 1967 (PE17/68).

Element in

  • Q. melumatya “honey-eating” ✧ PE17/068
  • ᴺQ. meluquetya “sweet-speaking person, flatterer”