venno

husband

venno noun "husband" (cited as **verno_ in the Etymologies as printed in LR, entry BES, but according to VT45:7, this is a misreading of Tolkien's manuscript)_. In a later source, the word for "husband" is given as veru, q.v.

verno

husband

**verno noun "husband", misreading for venno, q.v. (BES)

veru

husband

veru (1) noun "husband" (VT49:45). An earlier source gives the word for "husband" as venno.

veru

noun. husband

The most common word for “husband” in Quenya (VT49/45).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱQ. veru “husband” appeared as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√VEŘE [VEÐE] (QL/101). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s the word for “husband” appeared as ᴱQ. vero, but this form was marked as archaic (†) and became in normal speech the longer word ᴱQ. veruner (PE15/74). In Early Noldorin Word-lists and notes on the Valmaric Script from the 1920s the word was still veru (PE13/146; PE14/112), and in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s Tolkien gave ᴹQ. veru “husband” as an example of a ū-declension (PE21/15).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, Tolkien gave a different form ᴹQ. venno for “husband” while ᴹQ. veru was a dual form meaning “husband and wife, married pair”, both derived from the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES). The nn in venno is because it was derived from primitive ᴹ✶besnō and sn > zn > nn in Quenya (PE19/49). In a 1969 note, Tolkien restored Q. veru for “husband”, deriving it instead from a root √BER “to mate, be mated, joined in marriage” (VT49/45).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer to retain the 1930s root ᴹ√BES for marriage words in order to preserve Noldorin/Sindarin forms, but I would still use the well-established veru for “husband”, just conceived of as a derivative of the root √BES, coming from ✱besū with intervocalic s > z > r.

Derivations

• ✶verū “husband” ✧ VT49/45
  • √BER “to mate, be mated, joined in marriage” ✧ VT49/45

Element in

• ᴺQ. verulóra “widowed; widow”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶verū > veru	[berū] > [βerū] > [βeru] > [veru]	✧ VT49/45

veru

husband and wife, married pair

veru (2) dual noun "husband and wife, married pair" (BES). Obsoleted by #1 above? (Notice that the word veru "married pair" comes from the same source that has venno rather than veru as the word for "husband".)

benn

husband

(i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). Later used = "man" in general.

hervenn

husband

1) hervenn (i chervenn, o chervenn), pl. hervinn (i chervinn); 2) (archaic) benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). Later used = "man" in general.

hervenn

husband

(i chervenn, o chervenn), pl. hervinn (i chervinn)

verū

noun. husband

Derivations

• √BER “to mate, be mated, joined in marriage” ✧ VT49/45

Derivatives

• Q. veru “husband” ✧ VT49/45

hervenn

noun. husband

hervenn

noun. husband

herven

noun. husband

herven

noun. husband

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “husband”, a combination of ᴹ√KHER “govern” and N. benn “man” (which itself archaically meant “husband”), the latter element based on the root ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/BES, KHER).

Conceptual Development: In Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s, “husband” was {gwidhion >>} ᴱN. gwedhion, based on the root ᴱ√wed- having to do with marriage (PE13/146). It has a negated form ᴱN. yrwidhion “without husband” (PE13/156). Another precursor was ᴱQ. heruvesto “lord husband” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which was assembled from elements similar to N. hervenn, but in the Qenya branch of the language instead.

Neo-Sindarin: In later writings, Tolkien seems to have revised ᴹ√BES > √BER as the basis for marriage words (VT49/45). However, I prefer to retain the 1930s root ᴹ√BES and would therefore use hervenn for “husband” in Neo-Sindarin, though ᴺS. bethron “spouse (m.)” is an alternative.

Derivations

• ᴹ√KHER “rule, govern, possess” ✧ Ety/KHER

Elements

Word	Gloss
KHER	“rule, govern, possess”
benn	“man, male, †husband”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√KHER > hervenn	[kʰerbesno] > [xerbesno] > [xerbenno] > [xervenno] > [xervenn] > [hervenn] > [herven]	✧ Ety/KHER

Variations

• hervenn ✧ Ety/BES; Ety/KHER