Select Elvish Words 2.44-2.452: Brother, Sister, Sibling

2.44 Brother

Q. háno n. “brother”

A word for “brother” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √KHAN of the same meaning (VT47/14). It had a diminutive/affectionate variant hanno used as a play name for the middle finger in several places in these notes (VT47/12; VT48/6).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. toron “brother” from the root ᴹ√TOR (Ety/TOR), and the Quenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. herendo “brother” from the early root ᴱ√HESE¹ (QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

Q. melotorno n. “love-brother”

A word for a close male friend whom one loves deeply appearing in notes from 1959 (NM/20), a combination of √MEL “love” with ᴹQ. otorno “brother”, appearing only in its plural form melotorni. This relationship “included no sexual or procreative desire, though naturally in Incarnates the difference of sex altered the emotion”.

ᴹQ. otornasse n. “brotherhood, *association”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “brotherhood”, an abstract noun formation of ᴹQ. otorno “sworn brother, associate” (Ety/TOR).

ᴹQ. otorno n. “sworn brother, associate [m.]”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sworn brother, associate”, a combination of ᴹQ. toron “brother” with the prefix o- “together” (Ety/TOR, WŌ).

ᴹQ. toron (torn-) n. “brother”

A noun for “brother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√TOR of the same meaning, with a somewhat irregular plural torni (Ety/TOR). Its stem form is torn-, since with most inflected forms the Quenya syncope comes into play and the second o is lost.

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word háno for “brother” (VT47/14). However, I think toron might be retained to mean a “metaphorical brother”, a close male associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as melotorni “love-brother, *close male friend” or ᴹQ. otorno “sworn brother”. In this sense, háno would be limited to biological relationships, but toron would refer to brotherly (or brother-like) affection.

N. gwador n. “(sworn) brother, associate”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “brother” that was “especially used of those not brothers by blood, but sworn brothers or associates”, a combination of prefix N. gwa- “together” with the root ᴹ√TOR “brother” (Ety/TOR).

S. hanar n. “brother”

A word for “brother” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √KHAN¹ of the same meaning and replacing the archaic form of the word †hawn (VT47/14). Remnants of this archaic form can be seem in the diminutive/affectionate form honeg “[little] brother” (VT48/6); Tolkien considered and apparently rejected alternates of the diminutive: honig and hanig (VT47/14; VT48/17).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. tôr “brother” from the root ᴹ√TOR (Ety/TOR), and the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hethos “brother” from the early root ᴱ√HESE¹ [HEÞE] (GL/48-49; QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

N. †tôr n. “brother”

An (archaic) word for “brother” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√TOR of the same meaning, with an irregular plural terein (Ety/TOR). In ordinary speech, it was replaced by muindor, with an initial element muin “dear”.

Neo-Sindarin: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word hanar for “brother” (VT47/14). However, I think †tôr and related words might be retained to mean a “metaphorical brother”, a close male associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as gwador “(sworn) brother, associate”. In this paradigm, I would assume muindor still refers to a brother by blood, with an added connotation of strong affection.

2.45 Sister

Q. meletheldë n. “love-sister”

A word for a close female friend whom one loves deeply appearing in notes from 1959 (NM/20), a combination of √MEL “love” with some form of the root ᴹ√THEL(ES) “sister”, appearing only in its plural form meletheldi. This relationship “included no sexual or procreative desire, though naturally in Incarnates the difference of sex altered the emotion”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would adapt this word as singular ᴺQ. melesellë [þ] “love-sister” for better compatibility with the 1930s form of the root ᴹ√THEL(ES) where ancient ls became ll, as well as avoiding confusion with Q. seldë “daughter”.

Q. nésa n. “sister”

A word for “sister” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √NETH of similar meaning (VT47/12, 14). It had a diminutive/affectionate variant nettë used as a play name for the fourth finger in several places in these notes (VT47/12; VT48/6), but I prefer to mainly use nettë for “(little) girl” in Neo-Quenya (VT47/10, 15, 33).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. seler “sister” from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES (Ety/THEL), and the Quenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. heresse “sister” from the early root ᴱ√HESE¹ (QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

ᴹQ. oselle n. “[sworn] sister, associate [f.]”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sister, associate”, a combination of ᴹQ. seler “sister” with the prefix o- “together” (Ety/THEL, WŌ), presumably meaning “*sworn sister” like its male equivalent ᴹQ. otorno “sworn brother”.

ᴹQ. seler (sell-) n. “sister”

A noun for “sister” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES of the same meaning, with an irregular plural selli (Ety/THEL), where the stem form sell- is because the Quenya syncope caused the second e to be lost and then the ancient ls became ll.

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word nésa for “sister” (VT47/14). However, I think seler might be retained to mean a “metaphorical sister”, a close female associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as meletheldi “love-sister, *close female friend” or ᴹQ. oselle “sworn sister”. In this sense, nésa would be limited to biological relationships, but seler would refer to sisterly (or sister-like) affection.

N. gwathel n. “[sworn] sister, associate [f.]”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sister, associate”, the female equivalent of N. gwador “(sworn) brother, associate”, a combination of prefix N. gwa- “together” with the root ᴹ√THEL “sister” (Ety/THEL). It is used for metaphorical “sisters” by oath or association, and not by blood.

S. nethel n. “sister”

A word for “sister” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √NETH of similar meaning and replacing the archaic form of the word †nîth (VT47/12, 14). The diminutive/affectionate form nethig “[little] sister” was used as a play name for the fourth finger (VT48/6); Tolkien considered an alternate diminutive netheg (VT47/14, 32) and also considered giving this diminutive an alternate meaning “little girl” (VT47/15, 33); see S. neth for discussion.

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. thêl “sister” from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES (Ety/THEL), and the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hethir “sister” from the early root ᴱ√HESE¹ [HEÞE] (GL/48; QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

N. thêl n. “sister”

A word for “sister” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES of the same meaning, with an irregular plural thelei (Ety/THEL). It had a more elaborate form muinthel, the equivalent of muindor “(dear) brother”, with an initial element muin “dear”.

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien introduced a new word nethel for “sister” from the root √NETH (VT47/14). However, I think thêl and related words might be retained to mean a “metaphorical sister”, a close female associate who may or may not be related by blood, as with such words as gwathel “[sworn] sister, associate”. In this paradigm, I would assume muinthel still refers to a sister by blood, with an added connotation of strong affection.

2.452 Sibling

ᴱ√HESE¹ n. “brother or sister”

The root ᴱ√HESE appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with various derivatives having to do with siblings and blood relationships (QL/40). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the root was given as heth¹ (GL/48), but it is not clear whether this was a replacement or a variant root for ᴱ√HESE.

Neo-Eldarin: I would adapt this as a Neo-Root ᴺ√KHETH “sibling, consanguinity” to serve as the basis for gender-neutral “sibling” words.

ᴱQ. hes n. “brother, sister, *sibling”

A word ᴱQ. hes in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with stem form hest-. It was used as a generic term for “brother, sister”, hence = “*sibling”, and derived from the early root ᴱ√HESE (QL/40).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Quenya-Sindarin, I would retain the word ᴺQ. hes as a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√KHETH to serve as a gender-neutral term for “sibling”.

ᴱQ. hesta(le) n. “the nearest consanguinity”

The term ᴱQ. hesta appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with the gloss “the nearest consanguinity” (QL/40), that is the closest relative sharing a common ancestor, usually a sibling but possibly cousins if one has no siblings. The form hesta is followed by (-le) in parenthesis, which usually indicates a stem form but in this case probably indicates a variant form hestale. This word is derived from the early root ᴱ√HESE.

Neo-Quenya: I would retain this word for purposes of Neo-Quenya as a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√KHETH.

G. gochest n. “brother and brother, brother and sister, etc., *a set of siblings”

A word appearing as G. gochest in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a collective term for a pair (or set?) of siblings, a combination of G. go- “together” and hest “brother or sister” (GL/40, 49). It has a variant and “more correct” form gwachest (GL/43).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would retain the word ᴺS. gochest based on the word ᴺS. hest “sibling”.

G. hest n. “brother or sister, *sibling; †consanguinity”

A word appearing as G. hest in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s for “brother or sister” [sibling], but “properly consanguinity, the relationship of brother and sister, or brother and brother, etc.” (GL/48); this original meaning seems to be archaic. This word is derived from the early root ᴱ√heth¹ (GL/48).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would retain the word ᴺS. hest as a derivative of the Neo-Root ᴺ√KHETH to serve as a gender-neutral term for “sibling”.