S. minui num. ord. “first” (Category: First)
The ususal Sindarin word for “first” appearing in notes from the late 1960s, replacing more archaic †mein that was a direct cognate of Q. minya “first” (VT42/10, 25). It is a combination of min “one” and the adjectival suffix -ui.
Conceptual Development: The word N. ereg “first” appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s as the initial version of the river-name S. Erui (TI/312). The Etymologies of the 1930s had various rejected words for “first” tied to variations on Firstborn as a title of the Elves: N. edhen “first” under rejected entry ᴹ√EDE or ᴹ√EDEL “precede, come forward” (EtyAC/EDE) and N. seth “first” {>> “forth”} under rejected ᴹ√SET “precede forward” (EtyAC/SET). The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. thegra “first, foremost” related to G. thegor “chief” (GL/72).
References ✧ VT42/10, 25
Glosses
Related
Elements
| -ui | “-ful, having quality, adjective suffix; [as verbal suffix] possibility, suitability, *-able” | ✧ VT42/10; VT42/25 |
| min¹ | “one” | ✧ VT42/25 (mîn) |
Cognates
N. ereg² adj. “first” (Category: First)
Reference ✧ TI/312 ✧ Ereg “first”
Elements
| *er | “one, alone” |
| -eg² | “suffix for ordinal numbers” |
Element In
N. edhen adj. “first”
Reference ✧ EtyAC/EDE ✧ eðen “first”
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶edenā > eðen | [edenā] > [edena] > [eðena] > [eðen] | ✧ EtyAC/EDE |
N. seth adj. “first, forth”
Reference ✧ EtyAC/SET ✧ “first, forth”
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶settā > seth | [settā] > [setta] > [settʰa] > [seθθa] > [seθθ] > [seθ] | ✧ EtyAC/SET |
G. thegra adj. “first, foremost” (Category: First)
References ✧ GL/72; LT1A/Cûm a Thegranaithos
Glosses
Element In