Eldamo : Middle Quenya : ní

ᴹQ. †ní n. “woman, female” (Category: Woman)

ᴹQ. †ní, n. “woman, female” (Category: Woman)

An archaic noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “woman” or “female” directly derived from the root ᴹ√NĪ¹, in ordinary speech usually replaced by ᴹQ. nis (Ety/INI, NĪ¹).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. nî “woman” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a cognate to G. †nîr² of the same meaning (GL/60).

References ✧ Ety/INI, NĪ¹; EtyAC/NĪ¹

Glosses

“female, woman” ✧ Ety/INI
“woman” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹ (†ní)

†ní “woman” was archaic and poetic and usually replaced by nis “woman” ✧ Ety/NĪ¹
nér “man” was influenced by ní ✧ Ety/NĪ¹

Changes

nī »» ní ✧ EtyAC/NĪ¹

Element In

ᴺQ. curuni “witch, *sorceress, female magician (not necessarily evil)”
ᴺQ. !inimë “femininity, womanliness”

Derivations

< ᴹ√NĪ¹/INI “female” ✧ Ety/INI (NĪ); Ety/NĪ¹ (NĪ¹)

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√NĪ > ní	[nī]	✧ Ety/INI
ᴹ√NĪ¹ > †ní	[nī]	✧ Ety/NĪ¹

ᴱQ. nî n. “woman” (Category: Woman)

Reference ✧ GL/60

Element In

ᴱQ. #-ni “feminine suffix”

Cognates

ᴱN. nain “woman”
G. †nîr² “woman” ✧ GL/60 (†nîr²)