ᴺQ. [ᴱQ.] nelma n. “needle” (Category: Needle)
Element In
Derivations
ᴱQ. nelma n. “needle” (Category: Needle)
A word appearing as ᴱQ. nelma “needle” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, but Tolkien vacillated on whether it was derived from the early root ᴱ√NELE “point” or ᴱ√NEME “*sew” (QL/65). As a derivative of ᴱ√NEME, Tolkien considered an alternate form nemya. The word nelma “needle” also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/65).
Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. nelma “needle” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but as a derivative of √NEL since √NEM “sew” did not survive in Tolkien’s later writing. In Quenya of the 1930s and later, the root √NEL was generally glossed “three”, but was still associated with pointed things like in √NELEK “tooth” due to triangular shapes.
References ✧ PME/65; QL/41, 65
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| #nel | suffix | “needle” | ✧ QL/41 |
Element In
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ√NELE > nelma | [nelmā] > [nelma] | ✧ QL/65 |
| ᴱ√NEME > ‽nemya | [nemjā] > [nemja] | ✧ QL/65 |