#pitya adj. "little" in Pityafinwë, Pitya-naucor
Quenya
pitya
adjective. petty, little
pitya
little
pitya-naucor
collective name. Petty-dwarves
Quenya name of the “Petty-dwarves” (S. Nogoth Niben) (WJ/389). It is a compound of the pitya “little” and the plural of nauco “Dwarf”. It also appeared as Pikinaukor, containing the root ᴹ√PIK “small” from which pitya is derived.
Pitya-naucor
petty-dwarves
Pitya-naucor pl. noun "Petty-dwarves" (sg. #Pitya-nauco, cf. nauco) Also Picinaucor (WJ:389)
nitya
adjective. little
A word appearing only as an element in the name of Nityafinwë (PM/365). It was probably derived √NIK “small”, with ✱nikya becoming nitya because ky became ty in (Ancient) Quenya.
Conceptual Development: There seem to be earlier iterations of this word that began with m instead of n. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. minwa “small” under the early root ᴱ√MINI (QL/61). The Early Qenya Grammar had ᴱQ. mitya “little” (PE14/48, 80), while the contemporaneous English-Qenya Dictionary had ᴱQ. mitya “little (in quantity)” (PE15/74). The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. mitsa or minte under the root ᴹ√MIT “small”, but this entry was deleted (EtyAC/MIT).
pia
little
pia adj. "little" (PE17:115); variants picina ("k"), pincë ("k"), pitya
pia
adjective. little
A list of “large & small” words from around 1968 had pia “little” derived from √PEYE (PE17/115), probably from primitive ✱peya with eya > ia. This was followed by words pikina, pinke, and pitya, all probably derived from a different root ᴹ√PIK (Ety/PIK).
Neo-Quenya: I think the root √PEY was probably a transient idea, quickly reverted back to √PIK. For purposes of Neo-Quenya I prefer other words over pia “little”.
Picinaucor
petty-dwarves
Picinaucor ("k") pl. noun "Petty-dwarves" (sg. #Picinauco, cf. nauco). Also Pitya-naucor (WJ:389). A distinct term nuxo is listed in PE17:45.
nuxo
petty dwarf
nuxo noun "Petty dwarf" (PE17:45; the spellings "nukso" and "nuxo" both occur in the source). Elsewhere the Petty-dwarves are called Picinaucor or Pitya-naucor, q.v.
picina
adjective. little
pincë
adjective. little
titta
little, tiny
titta adj. "little, tiny" (TIT)
A word for “petty” appearing in the name Quenya name Pitya-naucor “Petty-dwarves” from the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/389). In The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968, it was used for “little” in the name Pityafinwë “Little Finwë” whose short name was Pityo (PM/353). In this document, the long name was revised to Nityafinwë, but the short name remained unchanged. In a word in a list of “large & small” roots from around 1968, Tolkien had pitya beside related words pikina and pinke, all following pia “little” which was derived from √PEYE (PE17/115). The words pikina, pinke were clearly derived from a different root ᴹ√PIK (Ety/PIK). The same is almost certainly true of pitya as well, with primitive ✱pik-yā becoming pitya because ky became ty in (Ancient) Quenya.
Conceptual Development: There are a couple of earlier “small” words beginning with p. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. pīnea “small” under the early root ᴱ√PIKI or ᴱ√PINI (QL/73). The first version of the Oilima Markirya poem had ᴱQ. pinilya “small” in the phrase pinilya wilwarindon “small like a butterfly” (MC/220).