N. thêl n. “sister” (Category: Sister)
A word for “sister” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES of the same meaning, with an irregular plural thelei (Ety/THEL). It had a more elaborate form muinthel, the equivalent of muindor “(dear) brother”, with an initial element muin “dear”.
Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word nethel for “sister” from the root √NETH (VT47/14). However, I think thêl and related words might be retained to mean a “metaphorical sister”, a close female associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as gwathel “[sworn] sister, associate”. In this paradigm, I would assume muinthel still refers to a sister by blood, with an added connotation of strong affection. I think it’s best to assume the irregular Noldorin plural pattern was reformed to the normal Sindarin plural thîl.
References ✧ Ety/THEL
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| thelei | plural | ✧ Ety/THEL |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ON. thele > thêl | [θele] > [θel] > [θēl] | ✧ Ety/THEL |
N. muinthel n. “sister” (Category: Sister)
References ✧ Ety/THEL
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| muinthil | plural | ✧ Ety/THEL |
Elements
| muin¹ | “dear” | ✧ Ety/THEL |
| thêl | “sister” | ✧ Ety/THEL |
G. hethir n. “sister” (Category: Sister)
A word for “sister” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, a feminized form of G. heth¹ “brother or sister, *sibling”, along with several (archaic) variant forms hethwin, hestril, and hethril (GL/48). It was ultimately derived from the early root ᴱ√HESE¹ [HEÞE?] (QL/40).
References ✧ GL/48
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| †heth¹ | “brother or sister” | ✧ GL/48 (†heth¹) |
| #-(n)ir | “(feminine) agent” | ✧ GL/48 (#-ir) |
Cognates