-nyē

suffix. 1st person singular

-nyë

i am come

-n (2), also -nyë, pronominal ending, 1st person sg. "I" (VT49:51), as in utúlien "I am come" (EO), cainen "I lay" (VT48:12-13), carin or carinyë "I do" (VT49:16), veryanen *"I married" (VT49:45). See also VT49:48. Long form -nye- with object ending -s "it" following in utúvienyes (see tuv-). A possible attestation of -n in object position ("me") is provided by the untranslated verbal form tankassen (PE17:76), where -n may be preceded by -sse- as a longer form of the 3rd person sg. ending -s (see -s #1).

-nyë

i do

-nyë, 1st person sg. pronominal suffix "I"; also short form -n (q.v.). Carin or carinyë *"I do" (VT49:16). With object -s following in utúvienyes "I have found it" (see tuv-). It may be that Tolkien at one point considered nye (or ne, inyë) as an independent emphatic pronoun "I", but this was struck out (VT49:49).

-ne

i love

#-ne (4) "I", a 1st person pronominal suffix occurring in the word melánë "I love" (LR:61), but Tolkien later used -n or -nyë for this meaning (melin "I love", VT49:21). It may be that Tolkien at one point considered ne (or nye, inyë) as an independent emphatic pronoun "I", but this was struck out (VT49:49).

-n(yë)

suffix. I

inyë

i, too

inyë emphatic independent 1st person sg. pronoun, "I" with emphasis, translated "I, too" in LR:61 (and, according to one reading of Tolkiens manuscript, in VT49:49).

-n

suffix. I

ni

pronoun. me, I

ná-

verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist

The basic Quenya verb for “to be”, based on the root √NĀ (PE17/93). It was typically used as the copula equating a noun to another noun or an adjective:

> √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).

In many circumstances this verb was optional:

> As a copula “be, is” is not usually expressed in Quenya where the meaning is clear: sc. in such expressions as “A is good” where the adjective (contrary to the usual order in Quenya of a qualifying adjective) follows: the normal Quenya for this is A mára (PE17/93).

For further discussion see the entry on the Quenya copula.

Conceptual Development: This verb dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was given as the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This verb and its root appeared regularly throughout Tolkien’s writings thereafter, but at times Tolkien considered alternative verbs for “to be”; see the entry ëa- for further discussion.

im

pronoun. I

im

pronoun. I

In late writings (see esp. VT/47:37-38), Tolkien reinterpreted this form as a reflexive pronoun (= "self").

na-

verb. to be

A verb for “to be” based on the root √NĀ of the same meaning. This verb is barely attested in the Sindarin language, and the general consensus is that [for purposes of Neo-Sindarin at least] Sindarin omits the verb “to be” in most phrases, such as in naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for saving us” (LotR/299) or ✱orchal i adan “tall [is] the man”; see the entry on the copula for further discussion.

The clearest attestation of the verb na- is its imperative form no “be!” in the phrase no aer i eneth lín “hallowed be thy name, (lit.) ✱be holy the name your”, from the Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s (VT44/21). This imperative form was preceded by some hard-to-read deleted forms, perhaps {dôd >> dád >> hae >>} no (VT44/22). The d-forms might be eroded/mutated variants of na-. Compare đa in the phrase inn đa v’im “a mind there is in me = I have a good mind (to do so)” in notes from the late 1960s (PE22/165), where đa could be another eroded form of na-. This phrase was first written as inn no v’im (PE22/165 note #108); see the entry for đa for further discussion.

Another clear attestation of na “be” is an apparent future form natho in the untranslated phrase Sí il chem {na} en i naugrim en ir Ellath {natho} thor den ammen in the so-called “Túrin Wrapper” from the late 1950s (VT50/5). This future[?] form natho was deleted and replaced by thor, and a deleted {na} also appears earlier in the phrase, possibly a false start. Carl Hostetter suggested this phrase might mean something like “✱now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) us” (VT50/22-25). If so, it seems the future of na- “be” was constructed from the bare future suffix (a)tha-, manifesting as tho “✱will be”.

Neo-Sindarin: As noted above, for purposes of Neo-Sindarin the general consensus is that this verb is barely used, and is omitted from most “to be” phrases as in the example orchal i adan given above. The verb’s one widely accepted use is as an imperative, such as in no mae “be well”. Based the Túrin Wrapper, I posit that tho can also be used for a future form “will be”, as in i adan tho orchal “the man will be tall”. I likewise posit a (purely hypothetical) past form [ᴺS.] nî “was”, based on the primitive past-tense element ✶-nē with [[os|long [ē] becoming [ī]]], as in i adan nî orchal “the man was tall”. Neither tho or nî are widely accepted Neo-Sindarin, however.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the verb G. na- “is” (GL/58), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This irregular Gnomish verb had some inflected forms: plural nain, participle ol· and past form {ni >>} thi, the last of these being another inspiration for Neo-Sindarin nî “was”.

im

i

but as subject usually simply the ending -n, as in ónen ”

ni

pronoun. I

nin

i

”me”, genitive nín ”my”, dative anim or enni ”to me, for me”.