-li

the elves

-li partitive pl. ending (simply called a plural suffix in the Etymologies, stem LI). The ending is used to indicate a plural that is neither generic (e.g. Eldar "the Elves" as a race) nor definite (preceded by article); hence Eldali is used for "some Elves" (a particular group of Elves, when they are first mentioned in a narrative, VT49:8). Sometimes Tolkien also lets -li imply a great number; in PE17:129, the form falmalinnar from _Namárië _is broken down as falma-li-nnar "foam wave-many-towards-pl. ending", and falmali by itself Tolkien translated "many waves" (PE17:73). A distinct accusative in -lī seems to occur in the phrase an i falmalī (PE17:127, apparently meaning the same as i falmalinnar, but replacing the allative ending with a preposition). Genitive -lion in vanimálion, malinornélion (q.v. for reference), allative -linna and -linnar in falmalinnar, q.v. The endings for other cases are only known from the Plotz letter: possessive -líva, dative -lin, locative -lissë or -lissen, ablative -lillo or -lillon, instrumental -línen, "short locative" -lis. When the noun ends in a consonant, r and n is assimilated before l, e.g. Casalli as the partitive pl. of Casar "Dwarf" (WJ:402), or elelli as the partitive pl. of elen "star" (PE17:127). It is unclear whether the same happens in monosyllabic words, or whether a connecting vowel would be slipped in before -li (e.g. ?queneli or ?quelli as the partitive pl. of quén, quen- "person").

-li

suffix. partitive plural (suffix); many, some, a lot of

Derivations

• √LI “many”

Element in

• Q. i falmalinnar imbë met “on the foaming waves between us” ✧ PE17/127

-lin

-lin

-lin ending for partitive pl. dative (Plotz); see -li

-lion

-lion

-lion ending for partitive pl. genitive (Plotz); see -li

-linna

-linna

-linna or -linnar ending for partitive pl. allative (Plotz); see -li

-lissë

-lissë

-lissë or -lissen ending for partitive pl. locative (Plotz); see -li

-líva

-líva

-líva ending for partitive pl. possessive (Plotz); see -li

-linnar

-linnar

-linnar see -li

-línen

-línen

-línen ending for partitive pl. instrumental (Plotz); see -li

lin-

many

lin- (1) (prefix) "many" (LI), seen in lindornëa, lintyulussëa; assimilated lil- in lillassëa.

limbë

many

limbë (2) adj. "many", probably obsoleted by #1 above (LT2:342)

li(n)-

prefix. many

Derivations

• √LI “many”

Element in

• Q. lillassëa “having many leaves”
• ᴺQ. lillumë “many times, often”
• Q. lilómëa “very dark, full of darkness” ✧ PE17/081
• Q. lilótëa “having many flowers” ✧ VT42/18
• ᴺQ. lincantëa “diverse, (lit.) many shaped”
• ᴺQ. lindóra “millions of, many millions”
• ᴺQ. linima “of many kinds, manifold”
• ᴺQ. linitë “plural”
• ᴺQ. linquilea “having many colours”
• ᴺQ. linvainëa “onion, (lit.) many-sheathed”
• Q. liyúmë “host” ✧ VT48/32

Variations

• li- ✧ PE17/081 (li-); VT42/18 (li-); VT48/32 (li-)

lina

adjective. many

A neologism for the adjective “many” derived from the root √LI, typically appearing in its plural form linë. Like English, it has the sense “many but not all, a majority (of)”: compare with nótima which can be used with the “some”. Early versions of this lexicon recommended using ᴱQ. lia, but that word’s plural form collides with Q. lië “people”.

Derivations

• √LI “many”