ᴱQ. nier (nies-) n. “(honey) bee” (Category: Honey)
A word appearing as ᴱQ. nier (nies-) “honey bee” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶neχier under the early root ᴱ√NEHE that was the basis for “honey” and “bee” words (QL/65). It had a variant form nies (niess-). It appeared as nier “bee” in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/65), but in the Gnomish Lexicon it had the forms nier and nion derived from primitive ᴱ✶negeher and ᴱ✶negōn respectively.
Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writings, the root √NEG “ooze, drip” was still connected to “honey” (PE19/91). Thus I think this word might be salvaged as ᴺQ. nier “bee” derived from an ancient agental formation neger(ŏ), where ege > eʒe > ëe > ie (PE19/63).
References ✧ GL/60; LT1A/Nielluin; PME/65; QL/65
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| nies- | stem | ✧ PME/65; QL/65 |
| niess- | stem | ✧ QL/65 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴱ✶negōn > nion | [negōn] > [neɣōn] > [neōn] ? [nion] | ✧ GL/60 |
| ᴱ✶negeher > nier | [negexer] ? [nier] | ✧ GL/60 |
| ᴱ√NEHE > neχier > neier > nier | [nexies] > [nexier] > [neɣier] > [neier] > [nier] | ✧ QL/65 |