apa (2) prep. denoting "on" with reference to contact of surfaces, especially vertical surface (in the sense in which a picture hangs on a wall). Apa is said to have this meaning in various Tolkien manuscripts (VT44:26), but apa is also used for "after" (see apa #1 above), and the two were probably never meant to coexist in a single variant of Quenya. The clash may be avoided by consistently using the variants pá, pa (q.v.) mentioned by Tolkien in the sense of apa #2. Another variant gives apa, pá "on (above but touching)" (VT49:18).
Quenya
-on
-on
apa
on
pá
on
pá, pa (1) prep. "on" with reference to contact of surfaces, especially vertical surface (in the sense in which a picture hangs on a wall); also used = "touching, as regards, concerning" (VT44:26). Another variant gives pá (and apa) with the meaning "on (above but touching)". (2) Variants of apa "after" (VT44:36), which preposition is in one source also ascribed the first meaning here discussed. For Neo-Quenya purposes, pá and pa may be used for "on" or "concerning", whereas apa is used for "after" (see entries for apa #1 and #2), or pa may also be seen as a shorter form of apa "after", as in the phrase yéni pa yéni *"years upon years" (VT44:36)
axor ilcalannar
on bones gleaming
The thirty-sixth line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is the plural of axo “bone” followed by the active-participle form of the verb ilca- “gleam” with the allative plural suffix -nnar (“on[to]”), which modifies the entire phrase, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Markirya).
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> axo-r ilca-la-nna-r = “✱bone-(plural) gleam-ing-on-(plural)”
cemendë tambe erumandë
on Earth as [it is] in Heaven
The fifth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word cemendë “on Earth” is an assimilated locative form of cemen “earth”. The word tambë likely corresponds to “as”, while Erumandë “in Heaven” is an assimilated locative form of Eruman “Heaven”. The English words “it is” are not represented in the Quenya phrase.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> cemen-dë tambe Eruman-dë = “✱earth-on as [it is] Heaven-in”
Conceptual Development: In earlier versions of this phrase (I-V), Tolkien used menel for “Heaven”. Elsewhere, Tolkien said that menel referred to the dome of the sky or “the firmament”, and therefore was not proper for “Heaven” (MR/387, PE17/152), which is probably why he changed the word to Eruman in version VI of the prayer.
Tolkien experimented with various ways of comparing Earth to Heaven: ier ... ar tér (I), ier ... tier (IIa), ya(n) ... ar san (IIb) and san ... ya (III-IV), each probably meaning something like “as ... so ...”, as suggested by Wynne, Smith and Hostetter (VT43/16-7). In versions V and VI Tolkien switched to a single word “as”: sívë (V) and tambë (VI).
The English words “it is” are only expressed in version III-IV, with the Quenya verb na, appearing at the end of the phrase as is typical of declarative statements.
| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |{yé >> ye >>}|ier|ya(n)|san| | |menelle|menelze|menelde|cemende| |ar tér|tier|ar san|ya|sívë|tambe| |{kemenze >>}|cemenze|cemende|menelde|Erumande| | |na| |
ondolissë mornë
on the dark rocks
The thirty-third line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is locative partitive-plural form of ondo “rock” followed by the plural form of the adjective morna “dark”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> ondo-li-ssë morn-ë = “✱rock-(partitive-plural)-on dark-(plural)”
colma
ring (on finger)
[colma ("k")noun "ring (on finger)" (VT45:23). See corma.]
Nando
one who goes back on his word or decision
#Nando (1) pl. Nandor noun name of the Green-elves (Laiquendi). The primitive word ¤ndandō, whence Quenya Nando, implied "one who goes back on his word or decision", since the Nandor left the March from Cuiviénen to Aman. Adj. Nandorin. (WJ:412, VT48:32)
alamen
noun. good omen on departure
an i falmalī Archaic
*on the foaming waves
apa
preposition. touching, against, on (above but touching)
cacarra-
verb. keep on doing
cim-
verb. light on, find, come by
cucumba-
verb. keep on bowing = to nod repeatedly
cuivië-lancassë
on the brink of life
elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo
a star shines on the hour of our meeting
i falmalinnar imbë met
on the foaming waves between us
Beginning of the thirteenth line @@@
lasi
on the contrary
lasi or lasir, -sír adv. "on the contrary", possibly an ephemeral form Tolkien replaced by úsië (VT49:17-18)
lerembas
noun. bread taken on leaving home (for a long journey)
menelyas
on Wednesday
ménë
on us
ménë pronoun in locative? "on us" (SD:310; compare me "us") The form is somewhat obscure.
nai laurë lantuva parmastanna lúmissen tengwiesto
may (a) golden light fall on your book at the times of your reading
nenemma-
verb. keep on (re)appearing
nornoro-
verb. run on, run smoothly
nornoro- vb. "run on, run smoothly" (LT1:263). Compare nor-.
ná
but, on the contrary, on the other hand
ná (2), also nán, conj. "but, on the contrary, on the other hand" (NDAN; the form nan, q.v., is probably to be preferred to avoid confusion with ná "is", *nán "I am").
pirucendëa
on the points of her toes
pirucendëa adj. "on the points of her toes" (PE16:96); see pirë, cendë. In earlier "Qenya", the word had a wholly different meaning: adj. "whirling lightly" (MC:215). Compare pirucenda ("k") "pirouetting" in QL:74.
pirucendëa
adjective. on the point of her toes
This adjective first appeared as ᴱQ. pirūkea or ᴱQ. pirukenda “pirouetting” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√PIRI (QL/74). It reappeared as pirukendea in the version of the Nieninqe prayer from around 1930, in the phrase ᴱQ. norolinde __pirukendea__ “tripping lightly, whirling lightly” (MC/215). In the version of Nieninquë from the 1950s, Tolkien gave a different explanation for its meaning as a combination of piru “toes (dual)” and an adjective form of cendë “point”, hence meaning “on the point of her toes” (PE16/96).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume this was a poetic word, not in common use.
pá
preposition. touching, against, on (above but touching); as regards, concerning, touching, against, on (above but touching); as regards, concerning, [ᴹQ.] about
rá
on behalf of
rá (1) [changed by Tolkien from hrá], prep. "on behalf of", followed by dative: rá men or contracted rámen "for us, on our behalf" (VT43:27, 28, 33). As these examples indicate, independent dative pronouns may be (but do not have to be) directly suffixed to rá. Nouns would presumably not be suffixed like this, e.g. *rá Eldan "for an Elf, on behalf of an Elf".
rámainen elvië
on wings like stars
The ninth line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is instrumental plural of ráma “wing” followed by the plural of the adjective elvëa “starlike” in agreement with the noun. The instumental is translated by the preposition “on” in the English text, but more typically means “with” or “by means of”.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> ráma-i-nen elv-ië = “✱wing-(plural)-with starlike-(plural)”
sapsarra-
verb. keep on rubbing, fray away
seru-
verb. settle on, sit or lie down, come to rest on
to
preposition. on, above; for, on, above; for; [ᴹQ.] in
A preposition appearing as tŏ in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 with some difficult-to-read glosses, but apparently including “on” and “above” (PE22/168).
Conceptual Development: The preposition ᴹQ. to appeared in a sentence from around 1948 with the gloss “in”: ᴹQ. lairesse nihare __to__ tarassi, yu unta hrívesse landannar “in the summer I live in the hills as a rule, and come down to the plains in the winter” (PE22/125), but this use of to might be a loose translation of “on”, since otherwise “hills” would just be in the locative. The preposition tó also appeared with a long ó in the second and third versions of the Löa Yucainen poem from 1958: ai __tó__ sí ilyama menta hwirya hondoringe fúmenen istarion “Alas for now all begins to wither in the breath of cold-hearted wizards” (CPT/1297, 1298), but this use is harder to reconcile with to = “on, above”.
A similar preposition ᴱQ. tă “on, above” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√TAHA, and with a long vowel tā was an adverb meaning “high above, high up” (QL/87). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, tá was again an adverb meaning “above”, but this was deleted (PE15/67). Elsewhere in this 1920s dictionary, ta was translated “beside, by, at side” (PE15/70) and “than” (PE15/78). In the contemporaneous Early Qenya Grammar this had the meaning “by, beside”, also used in comparisons where English would use “than” (PE14/48, 81).
Later to “on, above” might be a partial restoration of the 1910s meanings of ta.
tup-
verb. to cover, to cover, [ᴱQ.] put a lid on, put hat on, roof
A verb appearing as an element in untup- “cover over/down”, so likely “✱cover”, based on the root √TUP of similarly meaning (PE17/73).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. tupu- “roof, put lid on, put hat on, cover” under the early root ᴱ√TUPU (QL/95). Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. tump- “cover”, probably of similar derivation. The Etymologies of the 1930s instead had ᴹQ. tope “covers” under the root ᴹ√TOP “cover, roof” (Ety/TOP). It seems that by the time The Lord of the Rings was finished, Tolkien had reverted to √TUP “cover”.
tutulla-
verb. keep on coming (and going)
tutulla-
verb. to keep on coming (and going)
A frequentative variant of tul- “come”, and thus meaning “to keep on coming (and going)” = “✱come repeatedly/regularly” (PE22/95, 100, 130).
ululla-
verb. keep on pouring
urwa
on fire
urwa adj. "on fire" (LT1:271)
vorongandelë
harping on one tune
vorongandelë noun "harping on one tune", continual repetition. In the Etymologies as printed in LR, this word is misprinted as "vorogandale"; see VT45:7. (BOR)
ómen
on/for us
ómen prep. + pron. ?"on/for us" (órava ómen "have mercy on us", VT44:12, changed by Tolkien from the simple dative form men "for us", then replaced by (o)messë)
úsir
on the contrary
úsir adv. "on the contrary", a form Tolkien may have abandoned in favor of úsië (VT49:18)
úsir
conjunction. on the contrary
úsië
on the contrary
úsië adv. "on the contrary" (VT49:8, 35). Cf. lasi.
úsië
conjunction. on the contrary
ciryassëa
adjective. *ship-board, on-board, [ᴱQ.] what is on board ship
ener(a)
adverb. on, onward, further
nonóra-
verb. to run on, run smoothly and hum, *keep on running (especially of machines)
orro
adverb. up in the air, on high
taina-
verb. to last, continue, stretch on, drag out, stall, spin something out, grind on
A neologism for “last, continue” beyond an expected end, so meaning “stretch on, drag out, stall, spin something out, grind on”. It was coined by Luinyelle and Orondil, and posted on 2025-08-22 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS).
vehta-
verb. to activate, turn on, switch on
A neologism for “activate, turn on, switch on” coined by Vyacheslav Stepanov posted on 2024-12-13 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a causative verb based on √WEG “be active”.
-n (3) a plural sign used in some of the case endings (WJ:407): Pl. genitive -on, pl. ablative -llon (but also -llor), pl. locative -ssen.