Eldamo : Middle Quenya : nisíte

ᴹQ. #nisíte adj. “womanly” (Category: Female)

ᴹQ. #nisítë, adj. “womanly” (Category: Female): ᴺQ. !iniva “womanly”

An adjective for “womanly” based on √NIS “woman” appearing in notes from the late 1940s (PE23/87). The actual form given was nizíte. Ordinarily [z] became [r] in modern Quenya, but I think it is possible this word instead of dissimilated back to nisíte to make it more distinct from neríte “manly”.

Conceptual Development: The word for “womanly” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was ᴱQ. anaina, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. anai “woman” (QL/31).

A word for {“a woman” >>} “womanl[y]” in Gnomish Lexicon Slips of the 1910s appearing with variants venă and [ven]in, derived from primitive ᴱ✶u̯enı̯ā̆́- (PE13/118). A similar adjective ᴹQ. wenda “female” < ᴹ√WEN in the 1940s notes mentioned, but this adjective was deleted, presumably replaced by nizíte “womanly” (PE23/87 note #83).

Reference ✧ PE23/87 ✧ nizíte “womanly”

Derivations

< ᴹ√NIS “(full grown) woman” ✧ PE23/87

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√NIS > nizíte

[nisīte] > [nizīte] > [nirīte]

✧ PE23/87

ᴹQ. wenda adj. “female” (Category: Female)

See ᴱQ. nisíte for discussion.

Reference ✧ PE23/87 ✧ “female”

Derivations

< ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden, daughter, [orig.] female of any kind or age” ✧ PE23/87 (WEN)

ᴱQ. nisíte adj. “womanl[y]” (Category: Female)

See ᴱQ. nisíte for discussion.

References ✧ PE13/118

Glosses

“a woman” ✧ PE13/118 (venya)
“womanl[y]” ✧ PE13/118 (venya)

Variations

venya ✧ PE13/118; PE13/118 (venya)
venă ✧ PE13/118
[ven]in ✧ PE13/118

Changes

venya “a woman” >> venya “womanl[y]” ✧ PE13/118

Cognates

G. gwin “woman, female” ✧ PE13/118

Derivations

< ᴱ✶u̯enı̯ā̆́- ✧ PE13/118
- < ᴱ√GWENE¹ “*maiden; woman” ✧ PE13/118 (u̯enĭ-)

ᴱQ. anaina adj. “womanly” (Category: Female)

See ᴱQ. nisíte for discussion.

Reference ✧ QL/31 ✧ “womanly”

Elements

anai	“woman”	✧ QL/31
#-ina	“adjectival suffix”	✧ QL/31 (#-na)