S. -wen suf. “maiden, *female suffix” (Category: Female)
A common feminine suffix in Sindarin (SA/wen; PE17/190), a reduction of S. gwend “maiden” in compounds; see that entry for more examples.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the common female suffix was G. -win based on G. gwin “woman”, though Tolkien mentioned a variant -wein in Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising that document (PPE13/118). By the Noldorin of the 1930s, the usual suffix was -wen from N. gwenn “maiden”, and Tolkien seems to have stuck with it thereafter, as noted above.
Reference ✧ SA/wen ✧ wen “maiden”
Elements
| gwend | “maiden” |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| √wen > wen | [-wende] > [-wend] > [-wenn] > [-wen] | ✧ SA/wen |
G. -win suf. “*female suffix” (Category: Female)
References ✧ GL/24, 28, 31, 34-35, 42, 44; PE13/118
Variations
Related
Inflections
| -winith | plural | ✧ PE13/118 |
Elements
| gwin | “woman, female” | soft-mutation | ✧ PE13/118 (gwein); PE13/118; PE13/118; PE13/118; PE13/118 (gwein) |
Element In