ᴱ√QIMI root. “*woman”
An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s having to do with femininity with derivatives like ᴱQ. qin “woman, female” and ᴱQ. qinde “womanliness, femininity”, as well as various words for “nun” (QL/76). It seems to be related to the Gnomish root ᴱ√GIWI via G(I)WIMI > GWIM > KWIM. In the Gnomish Lexicon beneath various G. gwin- “woman” words Tolkien said: “cp. giwi-; Q qin rare correspondence of q > gw, because it is here from g’w-, not gu̯-” (GL/45). In later writings this root was likely supplanted by √WEN(ED) “woman, maiden, girl”.
Reference ✧ QL/77
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Derivatives