Eldamo : Primitive Elvish : NIP

√NIP root. “small (usually with connotation of weakness)”

√NIP root. “small (usually with connotation of weakness)”

A root mentioned in some notes from the late 1960s as a variant of √NIK “small”, but with an added connotation of “weakness” (VT48/18). It was the basis for S. niben “petty” as in S. Nogoth Niben “Petty Dwarf”, and it contributed to the sense of frailty in S. nimp, usually glossed “pale, pallid” but in this note “small and frail”. Primitive √NIP might also be connected to √PI(N) which Tolkien used for “little” words for much of his life.

Reference ✧ VT48/18 ✧ nip “small (usually with connotation of weakness)”

nip “small (usually with connotation of weakness)” as opposed to nik “small” ✧ VT48/18
NIP “small (usually with connotation of weakness)” may be an inverted variant of *PI(N) “little”

Derivatives

> ✶nimpĭ “small” ✧ VT48/18
- > S. nimp “pale, pallid, white” ✧ VT48/18
  - ⇒ ᴺS. !nimmas “whiteness”
  - > S. nim “white” ✧ SA/nim
    - ⇒ 6 compounds
  - ⇒ S. Nimphelos “Pale ?Snow” ✧ PE17/168; SA/nim
  - ⇒ S. niphred “pallor” ✧ PE17/55; PE17/168; SA/nim
    - ⇒ S. niphredil “white flower (similar to a snowdrop); *(lit.) pale point” ✧ PE17/55; PE17/168; SA/nim
> Q. nípa “small (usually with connotation of weakness)” ✧ VT48/18
> S. niben “petty” ✧ VT48/18
- ⇒ S. Niben-nog “Petty Dwarf” ✧ UT/100
  - ⇒ S. Bar-en-Nibin-noeg “House of the Petty Dwarves” ✧ UT/100
- ⇒ S. Nogoth Niben “Petty Dwarf” ✧ WJ/388