[Beren IV]

I know that we have been using the Sindarin neri and nissi to refer to male and female Elves, respectively. But do they truly mean male and female Elves, or are they merely the Sindarin words, respectively, for men and women? Would Elves use the same words, for example, to refer to male and female Humans?

[Yiuel]

The word itself doesn't seem to imply any race at all, but it implies sentinence. The specific words for elf-man and elf-maid are, I assume, "penno" and "penne" (Quenya quendu and quendi).

[NaurwenT]

Beren,
Nér and nís are not Sindarin, but the Quenya stems for "adult man" (Elf, Mortal or of any speaking race) and "adult woman" (Elf, Mortal or of any speaking race)
However, "elf-man" and "elf-woman" are quendu and quendi
In Sindarin, dîr and dîs are the terms to use, respectively, for man and woman of any of the speaking races, and ellon and elleth when referring to elf-man and elf-woman.

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The specific words for elf-man and elf-maid are, I assume, "penno" and "penne" (Quenya quendu and quendi).

Yiuel,
what language would this be?
As far as I know those terms are neither Quenya nor Sindarin

[Beren IV]

They're Quenya? I assumed Sindarin because LACE talks about them as though they are in common usage.

Thanks for answering my question.

[NaurwenT]

Glad to be of any help
Btw, what does LACE mean?
Laws and Customs among the Eldar?

[Yiuel]

NaurwenT, on Oct 3 2005, 08:16 AM, said:

Yiuel,
what language would this be?
As far as I know those terms are neither Quenya nor Sindarin

It is a reconstruction based on Quenya quendu and quendi. Your both words are seem to come from "eldo" and "elde".

[NaurwenT]

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It is a reconstruction based on Quenya quendu and quendi. Your both words are seem to come from "eldo" and "elde".

That much I guessed
But of what language?
If Sindarin, those final vowels o/e would present a problem past the Old Sindarin stage, right before the asimmilation nd>nn takes place, and the resulting term would undergo reduction nn>n, most likely rendering *pen - the problem being that pen* is already attested as "one, somebody". It would require a suffix to coin a feminine counterpart

Anyway, Tolkien basically abandoned the derivation of "elf" from √KWEN(ED) upon later revisions of his Ety. It survived only as part of a few attested terms such as calben*, orodben*, rochben*, where ºpen<√KWEN(ED) portrays the general meaning of "anybody, somebody, one", forsaking all reference to "elf".
However attested ellon* and elleth* are derived from √EL(ED), the stem Tolkien came to prefer for the derivation of Sindarin (but also Quenya and Lindalambe) terms related to this meaning, "elf".

[Beren IV]

Yes, LACE = Laws and Customs Among the Eldar