Tolkien used the verb ᴹQ. nem- “seem, appear” in the Quendian & Common Eldarin Verbal Structure (EVS1) and Quenya Verbal System from the late 1940s (PE22/93 note #7; PE22/99-100), and this verb was also indicated by Q. nemesta “appearance, seeming” Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s (PE22/137). In EVS1 Tolkien toyed with using the verb form nim- “seem”, but this was revised to nem- (PE22/93 note #6).

Conceptual Development: The forms Q. níma/nimulë and S. nîf/nivol in 1957 notes, all glossed “phantom” or “seeming”, indicate Tolkien may have restored *√NIM “seem”. An unglossed past tense form nemne appeared in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/152), but this could be the past form of Q. nem- “judge” appearing later in the same bundle of documents, a verb that Tolkien rejected and revised: {nem- >> ham- >>} nav- “judge/think” (PE22/154 and notes #53-55).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain better attested nem- for “seem, appear”. For clarity in the model, I treat the 1969 past form nemne as “seemed” rather than “judged” so that I can use it as the basis for early 1950s Q. nemesta “appearance, seeming” and to avoid giving the mistaken impression that 1969 Q. nem- “judge” was not rejected.