nā

root. be (the same as another), exist

Tolkien used this root as the basis for Elvish “to be” verbs for much of his life. ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like the verb ᴱQ. ná- “to be” and ᴱQ. nasta “existence, being, creature” (QL/64). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. na- “to be” and G. nast “being” (GL/58-59). It appeared again in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NĀ “be” (Ety/NĀ²), along with an invertible variant ᴹ√ANA² “be, exist” with the derivative ᴹQ. anwa “true, real, actual” (Ety/ANA²); this seems to be the only point where Tolkien considered this root to be invertible. The root √NĀ “be” is mentioned several times in Tolkien’s later writings as well (PE17/93; PE22/147; VT49/27-28).

The root √NĀ was often contrasted with other roots of similar meanings. For example:

> Stem of verb “exist” (have being in primary world of history) was √EŊE, distinct from √NA joining adjs./nouns/pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have a certain quality, or to be the same as another (PE22/147).

There were also periods when roots other than √NĀ were the basis for “to be” statement in Elvish. See the entry on √EÑ “exist” for a conceptual history of these alternate roots and their derivatives.

olā-

verb. to become, come into being, turn into (another state)

empollië

adverb. *retrying, redoing, another attempt

The word empollie appeared in the untranslated phrase á rike empollie in rough notes from the 1960s (PE17/167). Christopher Gilson suggested this was likely an early attempt by Tolkien to define the Quenya expression for “try harder”, elsewhere given as ā rike am(a)ríkie which more literally means “try [with] more trying” (PE17/94). The second element of empollië is clearly based on pol- “to be [physically] able to” and Arael suggested its first element might be en- “again”. If so, it may mean something like “✱[with] retrying, redoing”.

Neo-Quenya: I would avoid empollië in the sense “harder” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, using the á ricë amrícië construction instead; see that entry for discussion. However, empollië might be worth retaining in the sense “✱retrying, redoing, another attempt”. I also think it is worth adapting an intensified form of this noun as ᴺQ. ampollië meaning “great effort, struggle”.

exë

the other, *another

exë noun "the other, another" _(VT47:40, VT49:33). _Though Tolkien included the article "the" in his gloss, this may be simply to indicate that exë is a noun, not to suggest that it is inherently definite and does not require the definite article i. Used in an indefinite sense, without i preceding, exë would likely translate as "another".

hyana

adjective. other, other, *another [a different one]

An adjective for “other” in notes from 1968 or later, derived from primitive ✶khyana (VT49/14).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would use hyana for “other” and also “an other” or “another” in the sense “a different one”, as opposed to “another” = “one more” for which I would use enta (see below). For example: cennen hyana elda “I saw another elf [different from the one previously discussed]” vs. á anta enta “give me another [one more]”. Saying á anta hyana would mean “give me another [a different one]”.

Conceptual Development: A different note from the late 1960s had exa “other” based on the root √KES (VT47/40). This same note had enta “another: in sense one more (not except by implication ‘another different one’)”, so presumable exa “other” had the sense “another different one”. Notes on Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 had ᴹQ. aia(na) “other, different”, also meaning “alien, strange, any other” (PE23/105). It had quite a few rejected variants; see the discussion in the entry on the related pronoun ᴹQ. ai(a)na for discussion.

The Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s had ᴱQ. nyanya “other (general)” with the additional gloss “alter”, which is Latin for “another, other (of many)” according to Carl Hostetter and Bill Welden (PE14/55 and PE14/56 note #97). The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s ᴱQ. vāra “other” under the early root ᴱ√VARA (QL/100).

hótul-

verb. to come away (to leave a place and go to another)

A verb in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 glossed “come away, so as to leave a place or group and join another in the thought or place of the speaker”, used to illustrate the mean of the prefix hó- “away from” in combination with the verb tul- “come” (WJ/368).

netë

one more, another

netë *"one more, another", used in enumerating a series: e.g. 1, 2, (3), netë, netë, netë...with netë used instead of citing the actual numbers. (VT47:15, VT48:14-15, 31)

oantë

went away (to another place)

oantë vb. "went away (to another place)"; past tense of auta-. Also perfect oantië. (WJ:366, VT48:32)

enta

adjective. another, one more

han-

prefix. *back as an answer or return by another agent

hyanen

adverb. otherwise, in another way, by another means

A neologism coined as part of my research into Quenya correlatives, and instrumental form based on hya “other” so meaning something like “by another means”: caruvan sa hyanen “I will do it by other means”.

hyallë

adverb. otherwise, another way, differently

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-01-31 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of hya “other” and the suffix -llë; compare sillë “like this” and tallë “like that”. Tamas Ferencz instead suggested exanen, an instrumental based on exa, but I prefer hya for “other”.

hyalumë

adverb. another time

hyandë

adverb. to another degree

A neologism coined as part of my research into Quenya correlatives.

hyanomë

adverb. another place

A neologism coined as part of my research into Quenya correlatives.

hyaquen

pronoun. someone else, another

hyaro

adverb. for another reason

A neologism coined as part of my research into Quenya correlatives.

alfirin

noun/adjective. also used for another small white flower

egel

adjective. other, another

eithor

adjective. other, another

nevia-

verb. to localize, bring close, translate (into your own language), translate (into another language when used with the dative case)