-lma pronominal ending "our", 1st person pl. exclusive (VT49:16), also attested (with the genitive ending -o that displaces final -a) in the word omentielmo "of our meeting" (nominative omentielma, PE17:58). Tolkien emended omentielmo to omentielvo in the Second Edition of LotR, reflecting a revision of the Quenya pronominal system (cf. VT49:38, 49, Letters:447). The cluster -lm- in the endings for inclusive "we/our" was altered to -lv- (VT43:14). In the revised system, -lma should apparently signify exclusive "our".
Quenya
-ma
suffix. instrumental
-mas
-mas
-lma
our
-mma
our
-mma "our", 1st person dual exlusive possessive ending: *"my and one others" (VT49:16). At an earlier conceptual phase, Tolkien apparently intended the same ending to be plural inclusive "our" (VT49:55, RS:324), cf. Mélamarimma "Our Home" (q.v.) In the latter word, Tolkien slips in i as a connecting vowel before this ending; elsewhere he used e, as in Átaremma "our Father" (see atar).
-matya
suffix. -eating
már
noun. home, dwelling, habitation, home, dwelling, habitation; [ᴹQ.] house; earth
This is the basic Quenya word for a “home” or “dwelling”, derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell”.
Conceptual Development: This word dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where (archaic) ᴱQ. †mar (mas-) was glossed “dwelling of men, -land, the Earth” (QL/60). It appeared under the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live”, but that root was mingled with many others, and its stem form mas- indicates some unusual developments. The contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa instead has mař “dwelling, -land, †Earth” (PME/60), consistent with an earlier deleted form of the root, ᴱ√MAŘA [MAÐA] (QL/60).
In the Name-list to The Fall of Gondolin from the 1910s Tolkien had mar as a cognate to G. bar “dwelling” (PE15/21). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s it was glossed “house” in the phrase ᴱQ. i·mar tye “that house (of yours)” (PE14/55). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s mar was glossed “home”, where its plural form mari indicated a stem form of mar- (PE15/74).
In the Declension of Nouns of the 1930s, ᴹQ. mar “house” had a stem form of mard- (PE21/27), and on the title page of The Etymologies from 1937, Tolkien had mar(d)- “home, dwelling” from the root ᴹ√MBAR (EtyAC/MBAR). It appeared in the form Mardello “from Earth” in Fíriel’s Song from the mid-1930s, along with an uninflected form i-mar “the earth” (LR/72), but as mar- in the (1930s) genitive form hon-maren “heart of the house” (LR/63).
In Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s, it appeared as már “habitation”, the first time that it had a long á (PE19/36). In Quenya Verbal System (QVS) and Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from the late 1940s, már “house” appeared with long á in a couple phrases like már karnelya e·tulle “having built a house he came” (PE22/108) and mana (már) tanion “which of those houses” (PE23/105). The word már “habitation” reappeared in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) of the 1950s (PE19/76).
Tolkien discussed the word már at length in notes from the 1960s on the root √MBAR, first writing:
> The usual word in Eldarin for a “home”, as the established residence of a family consisting of one or more associated buildings, was ✱mbā̆r (stem mbăr-), and ✱mbardā̆ (an adjectival formation). In Q mar (stem mard-), a blending of the two, was used like “residence” usually with a defining genitive, for the “great house” of a family. In place-names -mar (stem mār-) was used for a region settled by a community or group, as Eldamar “Elvenhome” the coastal region of Aman, settled by the Elves (PE17/164).
And then in a later version of the same notes:
> The simplest form of this base ✱mbără became a much used word or element in primitive Eldarin: which may be rendered “dwelling”. This application was probably a development during the period of the Great Journey to the Western Shores, during which many halls of varying duration were made by the Eldar at the choice of their leaders, as a whole, or for separate groups. This element survived in various forms in Quenya and Sindarin with sense changes due to the divergent history of the Eldar that passed over Sea and of those remaining in Beleriand. The principal forms were the primitive simple form PE ✱mbăr(a) > uninflected mbār, inflected mbar-; and the derivative form ✱mbardā ...
The former survived in Quenya in the archaic word már, which was used with a defining genitive or more often in genitival compound: as Ingwemar, Valimar, Eldamar ... This signified, when added to a personal name the “residence” of a family of which the head was the named person; it included not only the permanent buildings, developed by the Eldar in Aman, but also the surrounding attached land ... After the name of a people or “kindred” it referred to the whole area occupied or owned by them, in which their dwellings or “houses” were distributed (PE17/106).
These revised notes indicate that marda was a distinct word:
> The derivative form ✱mbardā became in Quenya marda “a dwelling”. This normally referred to the actual dwelling place, but was not limited to buildings, and could equally well be applied to dwellings of natural origin (such as caves or groves). It was nonetheless the nearest equivalent to “house” in most of its senses ... Not to the use of “house” as the name of a (small) separate building with a function such as bake-house, wood-house; nor to the use of “house” as a family especially of power or authority. The former in Quenya was usually koa. The latter was represented by words for “kindred” [nóre] (PE17/107).
Thus it seems in these notes, már = “residence”, marda = “dwelling” but coa = “house” as in a type of building.
In terms of its use in other words and phrases, mar or már is most notably an element in Eldamar “Elvenhome” (S/59), Val(i)mar “Dwelling of the Valar” (RGEO/62), and Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva “[ᴱQ.] Cottage of the Lost Play; House of Departed Mirth” (LT1/28; PE21/80). As for mard-, its most notable use was in oromardi “lofty halls” from the Namárië poem (LotR/377).
Although always meaning “home” or “dwelling” and always derived from √MBAR “dwell”, the various changes in the stem form between mar, mard- and már make the conceptual development difficult to trace. The rough timeline seems to be:
In the 1910s the stem was mař- >> mas-, becoming mar- in the 1920s.
In the 1930s the stem was mostly mard-, but in OP1 már (mar-) with long á was introduced and became more prevalent in the 1940s and 50s.
In the 1960s Tolkien decided that már (mar-) < ✱mbără and marda (mard-) < ✱mbardā were distinct words of similar meaning.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would use már mainly in the sense “home, a place dwelled in”, as opposed to marda for “a dwelling” whether inhabited or not. In place names -mar can refer to the dwelling place of an entire people, or of an individual family. The word már might be used as “house” in the sense of the dwelling place of a family, but when referring specifically to the building, the word coa is more appropriate.
-ndo
suffix. (masculine) agent
A masculine agental suffix given as -ndo in notes from around 1959 (PE17/190) and as (primitive) ✶-on, ondo in notes from the late 1960s (NM/353). A fair number of the words containing it seem to be neutral in meaning, such as Q. colindo “bearer” (LotR/953) and Q. runando “redeemer” (VT44/17). As a name suffix -on, it seems to be exclusively masculine, however.
Conceptual Development: The suffix ᴱQ. -ndo appears all the way back in the Early Qenya of the 1910s and 20s in words like ᴱQ. herendo “brother” vs. ᴱQ. heresse “sister” (QL/40) and ᴱQ. puyando “parent” (PE15/76). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien briefly had ᴹQ. -ando as the suffixal form of ᴹQ. hando “agent (male)” under the root ᴹ√ƷAN “male” (EtyAC/ƷAN), but that version of the root’s entry was replaced and this form did not appear in the updated version.
-wë
person
-wë a suffix occurring in many personal names, generally but not exclusively masculine (Elenwë is the sole certain example of a fem. name with this ending); it is derived from a stem simply meaning "person" (PM:340, WJ:399). In Etym, -wë is simply defined as an element that is frequent in masculine names, and it is there derived from a stem (WEG) having to do with "(manly) vigour".
camta-
to (make) fit; to fit, accommodate
camta- ("k")vb. "to (make) fit; to fit, accommodate" (VT44:14; the cluster mt seems unusual for Quenya, and it is not explicitly stated in the source that this is a Quenya word. Cf. PE17:91, where mt is shown to become nt in Quenya words.)
má
hand
má noun "hand" (MA3, LT2:339, Narqelion, VT39:10, [VT45:30], VT47:6, 18, 19); the dual "a pair of hands" is attested both by itself as mát (VT47:6) and with a pronominal suffix as máryat "his/her (pair of) hands" (see -rya, -t) (Nam, RGEO:67). The nominative plural form was only máli, not **már (VT47:6), though plurals in -r may occur in some of the cases, as indicated by the pl. allative mannar "into hands" (FS). Mánta "their hand", dual mántat "their hands" (two hands each) (PE17:161). Cf. also the compounds mátengwië "language of the hands" (VT47:9) and Lungumá "Heavyhand" (VT47:19); also compare the adj. -maitë "-handed". See also málimë.
toina
wood of material
toina adj.? "wood of material" (PE17:115). Since -ina is normally an adjectival ending, the word is best understood as meaning "(made) of wood".
maitë
adjective. handy, skillful; having a hand, handed; shapely, handy, skillful, [ᴹQ.] skilled; [Q.] shapely, well-shaped; (as suffix) having a hand, handed
An adjective for “handy, skilful” in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (VT47/6). ᴹQ. maite had a similar gloss “handy, skilled” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” (Ety/MAƷ). Tolkien gave its primitive form as ✶magiti in the 1960s (VT41/10) and as ᴹ✶maʒiti in the 1930s (Ety/MAƷ). Either way, it seems to be a combination of Q. má “hand” and the adjective suffix -itë, with a stem form of maiti-.
As a suffix in compounds, it has the sense “handed” as in Q. formaitë “righthanded” (Ety/PHOR) and Q. morimaitë “black-handed” (PE17/110). As prefix, however, it seems to have meant “shapely, well shaped” as in Maitimo “Well-shaped One” (PM/353). It seems likely the same would be true if the adjective were applied to an object, such as maitë macil “a well-shaped [skillfully made] sword”, as opposed to maitë ohtar “a handy/skillful warrior”.
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. maqa or maqalea meant “handy, skilled (with hands)” while ᴱQ. mavoite (mavoisi-) meant “having hands”, both under the early root ᴱ√MAHA (QL/57). The Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱQ. maite “handed” as an element in ᴱQ. erumaite “one handed” (PE14/51, 84; PE16/140). ᴹQ. maite appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as noted above, but with the abnormal plural form maisi (Ety/MAƷ) that seems to be remnant of Early Qenya phonetic developments from the 1910s.
-lwa
our
-lwa, possessive pronominal ending, 1st person pl. inclusive "our" (VT49:16), later (in exilic Quenya) used in the form #-lva, genitive -lvo in omentielvo (see -lv-).
-nen
suffix. instrumental
-ngwa
our
-ngwa "our", 1st person dual inclusive possessive pronominal ending: *"thy and my", corresponding to the ending -ngwë for dual inclusive "we" (VT49:16)
-nwa
passive suffix
-nwa is said to be "a passive suffix" irregularly occurring in the word vanwa "lost" (PE17:63), the word seems to be irregular since the underlying root means "go away" and so vanwa is in a sense a past active participle, *"having gone". Compare PE17:68.
-o
person, somebody
-o (2), also -ó, "a person, somebody", pronominal suffix (PM:340)
Námo
person, somebody
námo (2) noun "a person, somebody" (PM:340 writers may prefer the synonym quén to avoid confusion with # 1)
amu-
raise
amu- vb. "raise" (LT2:335; LotR-style Quenya has orta-)
as
with
as prep. "with" (together with), also attested with a pronominal suffix: aselyë "with thee" (VT47:31, VT43:29). The conjunction ar "and" may also appear in assimilated form as before s; see ar #1.
as
with
o (2) prep. "with" (MC:216; this is "Qenya"; WJ:367 states that no independent preposition o was used in Quenya. Writers may rather use as.) See ó- below.
as
preposition. with
cambë
noun. hand, (hollow of) hand
car-
with
#car- (2) prep. "with" (carelyë "with thee"), prepositional element (evidently an ephemeral form abandoned by Tolkien) (VT43:29)
fatanyu
hell
fatanyu noun "hell" (GL:51)
lé
with
lé (2) prep. "with" (PE17:95)
lé
preposition. with
The preposition lé “with” was mentioned in a (rejected) etymology of S. di “with” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/94), from the phrase le nallon sí di’nguruthos (LotR/729), usually translated “here overwhelmed in dread of Death, I cry”. In this note, Tolkien eventually decided that S. (n)di actually meant “beneath”, and its Quenya equivalent was Q. nî.
Conceptual Development: Prepositional ᴹQ. le also appeared in the Lament of Atalante from the 1940s, in the phrase ᴹQ. Númeheruvi arda sakkante lenéme Ilúvatáren “the Lords of the West broke the world by [or with] leave of Ilúvatar” (SD/246, 310). Here “with” seems to be used in the instrumental sense “by means of”. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. le “with (accompaniment)” under the early root ᴱ√LĒ (QL/52). Le was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the equivalent of G. li “with (of accompaniment only)”, but also used to mean “and” between nouns GL/54().
Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. lé for purposes of Neo-Quenya as a rarely-used instrumental preposition meaning “with, by (means of)”, reconceived as a derivative of √LEÑ “✱way, method, manner” (PE17/74).
mallë
street, road
mallë pl. maller noun"street, road" (MBAL, LR:47, 56, LT1:263, SD:310)
matl
food
matl noun "food"; read *matil in LotR-style Quenya (in which language final syllabic -l becomes -il) (QL:59); however, the word matso from a later source may be preferred.
matso
food
matso noun "food" (PE16:141)
matta
noun. food
matta
noun. food
A noun for “food” from the Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) of the early 1950s, derived from primitive ✶matnā, originally an ancient adjective meaning “eaten” (PE22/136).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “food” was ᴱQ. matl under the early root ᴱ√MATA (QL/59). This became ᴱQ. {masta} >> matso in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). In EVS2 the word was originally manna “food”, but this was struck through and replaced by matta (PE22/136 note #36), which likely reflects Tolkien’s shift in the phonetic developments of primitive tn, so that tn became tt rather than nn as it did in Tolkien’s earlier writings (PE19/85 and note #79).
Neo-Quenya: I find the phonetic developments associated with the above sound change to be problematic for various reasons. Therefore, I prefer to assume the primitive form of this word was an ancient noun: ✱mattā.
menya
our
menya (pl. menyë is attested) possessive pron. "our", 1st person pl. exclusive independent possessive pronoun (VT43:19, 35). Evidently derived from the dative form men "for us" by adding the adjectival ending -ya. Compare ninya, q.v.
má
noun. hand
hand
má
noun. hand
má
noun. hand
The most common Quenya word for “hand”, which Tolkien usually derived from a root √MAH or √MAƷ “hand; handle, wield”. The weak consonant h or ʒ in the root was lost very early, so that primitive ✶mā was one of a rare set of ancient monosyllabic nouns ending in a vowel. Tolkien said that of the various hand words, má was “the oldest (probably) and the one that retained a general and unspecialized sense - referring to the entire hand (including wrist) in any attitude or function” (VT47/6).
As a part of the body, má “hand” was usually referred to in the singular (má) or dual (mát). This was true when referring to the hands of groups of people as well. For example, to say that “the Elves raised their hands”, you would say either i Eldar ortaner mánta (singular, one hand each) or i Eldar ortaner mántat (dual, both hands each), with the possessive suffix -nta “their”.
The plural form már “hands” (or archaic †mai) was almost never used, in part because it conflicted with Q. már “dwelling”. The singular form was also used in general statements and proverbs: “hand is cleverer than foot” má anfinya epe tál (ná). A collection of otherwise unrelated hands would likely use the partitive-plural form: máli “some hands”, which in this case could also serve as the general plural (VT47/12 Note 2). See the discussions on PE17/161 and VT47/6 for more information.
This word is also unusual in that it retains its long vowel before consonant clusters in inflected forms such as mánta “their hand” (PE17/161) or márya “his/her hand” (PE17/69). As Tolkien described it:
> Lá is usually shortened to la before 2 consonants, according to the usual Q. procedure, but the long vowel can be retained, especially for additional emphasis, as in other cases where pronominal affixes follow a long vowel, as in márya “his hand” (PE22/160).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to ᴱQ. mā “hand” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√MAHA “grasp” (QL/57). ᴹQ. má “hand” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” (Ety/MAƷ). Tolkien mentioned this word with great frequency, usually derived from √MAH or √MAƷ (as noted above) though he sometimes considered deriving it from √MAG instead.
már
home, house, dwelling
már (mar-) (2) noun "home, house, dwelling" (also "house" in the sense of family as in Mardil, q.v.). See mar above for references. In Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil, and as final element in Eldamar, Fanyamar, Valimar, Vinyamar..
mélamar
home
mélamar noun "home", Exilic Quenya word of emotional sense: place of ones birth or the familiar places from which one has been separated (PE17:109). Mélamarimma noun "Our Home", an expression used by Exilic Noldor for Aman.
nassë
person, an individual
nassë (1) "a person, an individual" (VT49:30). Also translated "true-being" (pl. nasser is attested), the inner "true" being of a person. With a pronominal suffix in the form nassentar "their true-being" (PE17:175, cf. -nta #2), in the source referring to the "true" spiritual nature of the Valar, as hidden within their visible shapes. The word nassentar would seem to be plural, *"their true-beings". Not to be confused with the verb nassë/násë "he/she is"; see ná #1.
nonda
hand, especially in [?clutching]
nonda noun "hand, especially in [?clutching]" (VT47:23; Tolkien's gloss was not certainly legible)
on
stone
on, ondo noun "stone" (LT2:342, LT1:254 probably only ondo in LotR-style Quenya, see below). Various "Qenya" forms: ondoli "rocks" (MC:213; this would be a partitive plural in LotR-style Quenya), ondolin "rocks" (MC:220), ondoisen "upon rocks" (MC:221), ondolissen "rocks-on" (MC:214; the latter form, partitive plural locative, is still valid in LotR-style Quenya).
ondo
stone
ondo noun "stone" as a material, also "rock" (UT:459, GOND). Pl. ondor in an earlier variant of Markirya; partitive pl. locative ondolissë "on rocks" in the final version. Compounded in ondomaitar "sculptor in stone" (PE17:163), Ondoher masc.name, *"Stone-lord" (ondo alluding to Ondonórë = Sindarin Gondor, "stone-land") (Appendix A), #ondolunca ("k") "stonewain", possessive form in the place-name Nand Ondoluncava "Stonewain Valley" (PE17:28, also Ondoluncanan(do) as a compound). Ondolindë place-name "Gondolin" (SA:gond, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator p. 193); see Ondo. Earlier "Qenya" has Ondolinda _(changed from Ondolin) "singing stone, Gondolin" (LT1:254)_
orta
verb. raise
orta-
verb. raise
raise
orto-
raise
orto- vb. "raise" (LT1:256; in Tolkien's later Quenya orta-)
ó
with, accompanying
ʼondō
noun. stone
PQ. stone
arasso
noun. hart, stag, (male) deer
-mas final element in placenames, equivalent to English -ton, -by(LT1:251; hardly valid in Tolkien's later Quenya)