12.565 Bit, Small Thing
- ⚠️ᴱQ. mitta n. “piece, bit”
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The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. min (mind-) “a bit, piece” under the early root ᴱ√MINI (QL/61). The English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s instead had ᴱQ. mie “bit” = “small piece” (PE15/70) while Early Qenya word-lists of this same period had mie “a bit” (PE16/143). The Qenya word mie was also mentioned in contemporaneous Early Noldorin word-lists as a cognate to ᴱN. mui “crumb”, both derived from ᴱ✶smeigé (PE13/150).
The English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s had a variant form ᴱQ. mitta “bit = of indeterminate size” (PE15/70). The contemporaneous Early Qenya Grammar used mitta with the meaning “piece” (PE14/48, 81). These 1920s words seem to be based on a root *ᴱ√MIKI; compare adverbial ᴱQ. mike “a (little) bit” (PE14/48, 80-81; PE15/70).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would update these words to ᴺQ. nihta “piece, bit, small part” derived from the later root √NIK.
- Q. únehta n. “*atom”
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A word given only in its plural form {únexi >>} únehtar as term for “the smallest quantities possible” (NM/250 note #1; NM/265 note #6). It appeared in a discussion distinguishing the platonic ideal of IRON and GOLD from the tiny components making up such matter. As suggested by Carl Hostetter, it seems to be based on a negated form of the root √NEK “divide”, so more literally “*indivisible [thing]”. As such, it is probably the Elvish word for “*atom”, whose original meaning in ancient Greek was similar.
- N. peg n. “dot, small spot”
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A word for “dot, small spot” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from ON. pika under the root ᴹ√PIK having to do with tiny things (Ety/PIK). The word peg “dot” also appeared in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 40s (PE22/031; PE23/22).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. pî “anything very small, a bit, mote” (GL/64), probably based on the early root ᴱ√PĪ (QL/73). The Gnomish Lexicon also had G. teg “point, dot, spot” (GL/69), probably based on the early root ᴱ√TEKE “make marks” (QL/90).