√WEN(ED) root. “maiden, girl, virgin; woman”
This and similar roots were connected to Elvish words for maidenhood for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was unglossed {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wendi “maiden” and ᴱQ. ’wendele “maidenhood” (QL/103). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the primitive form was given as {ᴱ✶gw̯ene >>} ᴱ✶gu̯eđe having derivatives like G. gwennin “girl” and {G. gwendi >>} G. gwethli “maiden, little girl” (GL/45).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WEN “maiden” with extension ᴹ√WENED and derivatives like ᴹQ. venesse/N. gweneth “virginity” and ᴹQ. vende/N. gwenn “maiden” (Ety/WEN). In this entry Tolkien later wrote “transfer to GWEN”, indicating a relationship to ᴹ√GWEN, a root in The Etymologies with derivatives having to do with youth and freshness (Ety/GWEN). The root √WEN mostly retained the sense “maiden” in Tolkien’s later writings, though occasionally Tolkien said it was originally a more general feminine root before developing the more limit sense “young woman” (PE23/87; VT48/18).
The root √WEN(ED) appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings, mostly as the basis for Q. wendë/S. gwen(d) “maiden” (PE17/191; VT47/17; VT48/18). The frequency with which Tolkien used Q. wendë over Q. vendë indicates the primitive root may have been strengthened to *√GWEN(ED), since w derived from primitive gw survived longer in Quenya than ancient primitive w; see the entry on Q. vendë for further discussion.
References ✧ PE17/191; SA/wen; VT47/17, 42; VT48/18
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ᴹ√WEN(ED) root. “maiden, daughter, [orig.] female of any kind or age”
References ✧ Ety/BAN, GWEN, WEN; PE23/87
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ᴱ√GWENE¹ root. “*maiden; woman”
References ✧ GL/45; LT1A/Urwen; PE13/118; QL/103
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ᴱ√QIMI root. “*woman”
An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s having to do with femininity with derivatives like ᴱQ. qin “woman, female” and ᴱQ. qinde “womanliness, femininity”, as well as various words for “nun” (QL/76). It seems to be related to the Gnomish root ᴱ√GIWI via G(I)WIMI > GWIM > KWIM. In the Gnomish Lexicon beneath various G. gwin- “woman” words Tolkien said: “cp. giwi-; Q qin rare correspondence of q > gw, because it is here from g’w-, not gu̯-” (GL/45). In later writings this root was likely supplanted by √WEN(ED) “woman, maiden, girl”.
Reference ✧ QL/77
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