Pityafinwë

little finwë

Pityafinwë masc. name "Little Finwë"; he was called Amrod in Sindarin. Short Quenya name Pityo (PM:353)

pityafinwë

masculine name. Little Finwë

nityafinwë

masculine name. Little Finwë

The father name of Amrod (PM/353). It is a compound of the nitya “little” and the name of his grandfather Finwë.

Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote this name as Pityafinwë, but then changed the initial pitya >> nitya. He also wrote the short form of this name as Pityo, but this name was not revised (PM/365).

Ambarto

upwards-exalted

Ambarto masc. name *"upwards-exalted", mother-name (never used in narrative) of Pityafinwë = Amrod (PM:353, 354)

Pityo

pityo

Pityo see Pityafinwë

pitya

little

#pitya adj. "little" in Pityafinwë, Pitya-naucor

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”.

picina

adjective. little

A word appearing as pikina or pinke following the word pia “little” in a list of “large & small” words from 1968 (PE17/115). It is probably derived from the root ᴹ√PIK (Ety/PIK).

pincë

adjective. little

titta

little, tiny

titta adj. "little, tiny" (TIT)

tithen

adjective. little, tiny

pîn

adjective. little

Similar words occur in Gnomish (pinig "tiny, little", PE/11:64) and in Qenya (pinea "small" etc., PE/12:73)

pîn

adjective. little

A word appearing only in its mutated form bîn in the name S. Cûl Bîn “Little Load” (RC/536).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. pinig “tiny, little” (GL/64), likely based on the early root ᴱ√PINI or √PIKI having to do with small thinks (QL/73). The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. pigen “tiny” under the root ᴹ√PIK (Ety/PIK).

tithen

little

1. tithen (lenited dithen, pl. tithin) (tiny), 2) pîn (lenited bîn; no distinct pl. form) (RC:536).

pi(n) Reconstructed

root. little

Tolkien used a variety of roots for Elvish words for “small”. One early root was ᴱ√PIKI with variants ᴱ√PINI and ᴱ√PĪ from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with derivatives like ᴱQ. pínea “small” and ᴱQ. pinqe “slender, thin” (QL/73). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. pinig “tiny, little” and G. pibin “small berry, haw” (GL/64).

The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as unglossed {ᴹ√PEK >>} ᴹ√PIK with derivatives like N. pigen “tiny” and N. peg “small spot, dot” (Ety/PIK; EtyAC/PIK). Further evidence for this root can be seen in later words like Q. piki- or pitya “petty” (WJ/389) and Q. pic- “lessen, dwindle” (MC/223). A variant root √PEY appeared in a list of roots having to do with “large and small” from the late 1960s with a single derivative Q. pia “little” [< ✱peya], but it was immediately followed by the forms pikina, pinke, pitya which point back to √PIK (PE/117).

Further evidence of early forms ᴱ√PINI and ᴱ√PĪ can also be seen in Tolkien’s later writings. There is S. ✱pîn “little” in S. Cûl Bîn “Little Load” (RC/536), ✶pī {“small bird” >>} “small insect” (VT47/35), and T. pinke “little-one, baby” (VT48/6), though the last of these might be from √PIK. In any case it seems Tolkien continued to use all of √PI, √PIK and √PIN to form words for little things into the late 1960s.

In The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s, Tolkien changed pitya to Q. nitya in the name Q. Nityafinwë “Little Finwë” (PM/353, 365 note #59), which may indicate a replacement of √PIK by √NIK, another root used regularly in Tolkien’s later writings for “small”. But I believe √PIK and √NIK may coexist with slightly different meanings: “tiny” vs. “small”; see the entry on √NIK for further discussion.