Q. nén (nen-) n. “water” (Category: Water)
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.
References ✧ PE17/52; SA/nen
Glosses
Variations
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| √NEN > nēn | [nēn] | ✧ PE17/52 |
| √nen > nen | [nen] | ✧ SA/nen |
ᴹQ. nén (nen-) n. “water” (Category: Water)
References ✧ Ety/NEN; PE21/19, 23, 58; PE22/125
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√NEN > nén | [nēn] | ✧ Ety/NEN |
ᴱQ. nen¹ (nend-) n. “river, water” (Category: Water)
References ✧ LT1/248; LT1A/Koivië-néni, Neni Erúmëar; PE14/43, 72, 110; PE15/14, 76, 78; PE16/138; PME/65-66; QL/65-66
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| nēno | genitive | ✧ PE15/76 | |
| -néni | plural | ✧ LT1A/Koivië-néni | |
| nēni | plural | ✧ PE14/43; PE14/72; PE15/78 | |
| nen(d-) | stem | “river” | ✧ PME/66 |
| nend- | stem | ✧ QL/66 | |
| nend· | stem | ✧ QL/65 | |
| nēn | stem | “river” | ✧ PME/66 |
| nēn- | stem | ✧ PME/65 | |
| nēn· | stem | ✧ QL/65 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ√NENE > nen | [nen] | ✧ LT1/248 |
| ‽ᴱ√NENE > nen | [nen] | ✧ QL/65 |
| ᴱ√NEŘE > nen | [nenð] > [nend] > [nen] | ✧ QL/66 |