-un

suffix. masculine subjective suffix

The subjective suffix for singular masculine-nouns (SD/430, 436), reduced to -n when the noun ends in a vowel.

undu

down, under, beneath

undu adv. (and prep.?) "down, under, beneath" (UNU, VT46:20); prefixundu- "down", in undulávë "down-licked" = covered. (Nam)

Nénar

water

Nénar noun name of a star (or planet), evidently derived from nén "water" (Silm), tentatively identified with Uranus (MR:435)

Uinen

water

Uinen (Uinend-, as in dative Uinenden) fem. name, used of a Maia, spouse of Ossë (UY, NEN). Adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:404), though it is also said that it contains -nen "water" (SA:nen); the latter explanation may be folk etymology. In the Etymologies, the name is derived from the same stem (UY) as uilë "long trailing plant, especially seaweed".

ala

not

ala, #ála (1) imperative particle á, a combined with the negation lá, -la "not" to express a prohibition (VT43:22; see lá #1). Also with 1st person suffix -lyë (alalyë and álalyë, VT43:10, 22, VT44:8) and 1st person pl. object suffix -më (alamë and álamë, "do not [do something to] us", as in álamë tulya, "do not lead us", VT43:12, 22). In the essay Quendi and Eldar, negative imperatives are rather indicated by áva, q.v., but this form can well coexist with ala, #ála.

ala-

not

ala- (2) negative prefix "not", "un-", reduced to al- before a vowel (VT42:33, GALA, VT45:25), though the example Alcorin would suggest that al- can sometimes appear before a consonant as well. In a deleted entry in Etym, al(a)- was defined as "not" and said to be a "pure negative" (VT45:5). In alahasta, Alamanyar, alasaila, Alcorin.

ala-

prefix. un-; -less; non-, without

an-

very

an- (2) intensive or superlative prefix carrying the idea of "very" or "most", seen in ancalima "most bright" (cf. calima "bright"), antara "very high, very lofty" and #anyára "very old" or "oldest" (the latter form occurring in the so-called Elaine inscription [VT49:40], there with the dative ending -n). Assimilated to am- before p-, as in amparca ("k") "very dry", and to al-, ar-, as- before words in l-, r-, s- (though Tolkien seems to indicate that before words in l- derived from earlier d, the original quality of the consonant would be preserved so that forms in and- rather than all- would result). See also un-. (Letters:279, VT45:5, 36) Regarding the form of the superlative prefix before certain consonants, another, partially discrepant system was also set down in the Etymologies and first published in VT45:36. The prefix was to appear as um- or un- before labialized consonants like p-, qu-, v- (the consonant v preserving its ancient pronunciation b- following the prefix, thus producing a word in umb-), as in- (technically iñ-) before c- and g- (the latter presumably referring to words that originally had initial g-, later lost in Quenya but evidently preserved following this prefix), and as an- otherwise. However, this system would contradict the canonical example ancalima, which would have been *incalima if Tolkien had maintained this idea. In a post-LotR source, the basic form of the prefix is given as am- instead (see am- #2). In this late conception, the prefix still appears as an- before most consonants, but as ama- before r, l, and the form an- is used even before s- (whether original or from þ), not the assimilated variant as- described above. General principles would suggest that the form am- should also appear before y- (so the form #anyára probably presupposes an- rather than am- as the basic form of the prefix, Tolkien revisiting the earlier concept in the _Elaine inscription). (PE17:92)_

ar hísië untúpa calaciryo míri oialë

and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya forever

End of the thirteenth and the fourteenth lines @@@

ar hísië untúpa calaciryo míri oialë

and mist covers (lit. down-roofs) Calacirya’s jewels forever

The 14th phrase in the prose Namárië, which is essentially the same as its poetic version, differing only in its more literal translation. There is nothing particularly notable about its word order.

il-

verb. no, *un-

il- (prefix) "no, *un-" (LA); cf. ilfirin "immortal" (vs. firin "dead"). This prefix "denotes the opposite, the reversal, i.e. more than the mere negation" (VT42:32). But il- can also mean "all, every"; see ilaurëa, ilqua, ilquen.

ita

very, extremely

ita, íta adv. 2) "very, extremely" (PE17:112). Like #1 above, this element emerged as part of Tolkiens efforts to explain the initial element of the name Idril (Q Itaril), so it is questionable if #1 and #2 were ever meant to coexist in the "same" version of Quenya.

la

no, not

la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)

la-

prefix. not, in-, un-, not, in-, un-; [ᴹQ.] none, not any

lai

very

[lai adverbial particle "very" (VT45:8)]

latya-

verb. to open anything (so as to allow entry)

latya- (2) vb. "to open anything (so as to allow entry)" (PE17:159). Cf. the negated form avalatya *"un-open" = to "close"? (VT41:6). See ava- #3.

lá

no, not

lá (1) adv. "no, not" (LA, VT45:25) According to VT42:33, lá is the stressed form, alternating with la when the negation is unstressed. In another conceptual phase of Tolkien's, lá had the opposite meaning "yes" (VT42:32-33), but this idea is contradicted by both earlier and later material: usually lá is conceived as a negation. The negation can receive tense markers and be used as a negative verb "when [another] verb is not expressed" (VT49:13), apparently where the phrase "is not" is followed by a noun or an adjective as a predicate, or where some verb is understood, as in English "I do not" (i.e. "I do not do whatever the context indicates"). With pronominal endings la- in the aorist, e.g. lanyë "I do not, am not" (etc.) (Tolkien abandoned the form lamin.) Exemplified in the sentence melin sé apa lanyë hé *"I love him but I do not [love] him" (another person) (VT49:15). Present tense laia, past lánë, perfect alaië, future lauva.

nén

water

nén (nen-) noun "water" (NEN).

nén

noun. water, water, [ᴱQ.] river

The word for “water”, a derivative of the root √NEN of the same meaning (PE17/52; Ety/NEN). Its stem form was nen- (Ety/NEN) and its primitive form was given as ✶nē̆n, the vowel length variation due to distinct subjective nēn versus objective/inflected nĕn- in ancient monosyllables (PE21/64).

Conceptual Development: This word first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with two senses: “river” and (archaic) “†water”. Tolkien indicated the two senses were based on distinct roots: ᴱ√NEŘE [NEÐE] and ᴱ√NENE respectively, with two distinct stem forms nend- and nēn (QL/64-65). The Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa also mentions the forms nen (nēn-) “water” versus nen(d-) “river” (PME/64-65). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the mid-1920s Tolkien had both nēn “river” (PE15/76) and nēn “water” (PE15/78), but in the Early Qenya Grammar he had only nēn “water” (PE14/43, 72), also appearing as nen “water” in documents on The Valmaric Script from this period (PE14/110).

In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien had ᴹQ. nēn “water”, but in this document it had nēn- with long ē in its inflected forms as well (PE21/23). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, uninflected nén “water” had a stem form of nen- with short e (Ety/NEN), and the reasons for this variation was discussed in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, the nominative/objective distinction noted above (PE21/64). This seems to be the paradigm Tolkien stuck with thereafter, as evidenced by S. nen “water” rather than ✱✱nîn.

opto

noun. back

pontë

back, rear

pontë (ponti-) noun "back, rear" (QL:75)

ufárëa

not enough

ufárëa adj. "not enough" (FS). Cf. ú- "un-" and fárëa "enough, sufficient" (read *úfárëa?)

ui

no

ui interjection "no" (originally an endingless negative verb in the 3rd person aorist: "it is not [so]"; see #u-). Apparently this is the word for "no" used to deny that something is true (compare vá, which is rather used to reject orders, or to issue negative orders). (VT49:28) Compare uito.

un-

in evil sense

un- intensive prefix used before qu; the assimilated variant um- is said to occur before p, and "b" (the latter evidently = v developed from prehistoric b, but following um- its original quality would be preserved so that we would see umb-). This prefix is reportedly only used "in evil sense"; otherwise the intensive prefix is an- (and assimilated variants thereof). (VT45:5)

undu

down

undu

adverb. down, under, down, under, [ᴹQ.] beneath

An adverb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “down, under, beneath” under the root ᴹ√UNU, parallel to amba “up(wards)” (Ety/UNU). It was also used as a prefix meaning “down, under” in unduláve “swallowed = down-licked” from the Namárië “poem” (LotR/377; PE17/72). As a prefix, it had a shorter form un(u)- as in untup- “cover down” (PE17/73) and [ᴹQ.] unutikse “under dot [in writing]” (Ety/TIK).

Conceptual Development: A rejected page of verbal roots from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 had ᴹQ. undu “down from on high” (prefixal form unu-) and ᴹQ. undo “down, low down”, both based on ᴹ√NDŪ (PE22/127).

untup-

verb. to cover (over or up), lie as a covering upon, (lit.) to cover down

A verb appearing in the Namárië poem (LotR/377; RGEO/58), a combination of un- “down” and tup- “cover” (PE17/73). The poem translates this word as “covers”, but notes elsewhere indicate the actual meaning is “lies as a covering upon” (PE17/73).

ú

particle. not

ú-

verb. not-, un-, in-

ú- (2) prefix "not-, un-, in-", denying presence or possession of thing or quality (VT39:14, UGU/UMU/VT46:20, GŪ, LT1:272), or simply suggesting something bad or immoral (see #úcar-, Úmaiar). Tolkien at one point considered redefining ú- as an element signifying "bad, uneasy, hard"; the already-published form únótima would then mean "difficult/impossible to count" rather than simply "uncountable" (VT42:33). However, Tolkien's very last word on the matter seems to be that ú- was to remain a mere negative (VT44:4). Compare úa, q.v. According to the Etymologies, the prefix ú- usually has a "bad sense", whereas according to early material u- (uv-, um-, un-) is a "mere negation" (UGU/UMU vs. VT42:32) According to a later source, ú- could be used as an uninflected verbal prefix, mainly in verse, but in a normal style the prefix was "verbalized" as ua-, q.v. (PE17:144). The stem Ū, as a negation, was accompanied by "pursed lips and shaking of the head" (PE17:145).

ú-

prefix. no, not, un-, in-; hard, difficult, bad, uneasy; hardly, with difficulty, ‘badly’

úlairi

collective name. Ring-wraiths, (lit.) ?Un-living, Un-summer

Quenya name of the Nazgûl, of unclear meaning (S/296, PM/175). The first element is likely the negative prefix ú-. The second element resembles a plural form of the noun lairë “summer”, so perhaps it means “✱Un-summer”, referring to their cold and undead nature. Alternately, the second element could a derivative of an unattested primitive noun ✱lay-ro “living one” from the root √LAY (having to do with life), so that the name means “✱Un-living”. Both these derivations are quite speculative.

catta

noun. back

A neologism for “back” coined by Paul Strack in 2022 specifically for Eldamo, based on Q. ca(ta) “behind, at back of place”. This word can refer to the back of body as well as the back of other things.

lai

adverb. very

penta-

verb. to lose

There have been various neologism for verbs meaning “to lose”, all rendered moot by the publication of [ᴹQ.] rov- “lose” in 2024.

úhep-

verb. to lose, (lit.) to un-keep

únet-

verb. to lose, (lit.) to un-get

ad-

prefix. back, again, re-

al-

prefix. no, not

dad

adverb. down, downwards

dad

adverb. down

A word for “down” in The Etymologies under the root ᴹ√DAT “fall down”; Tolkien marked dad as EN [Exhilic Noldorin] (Ety/DAT). The original ink entry had a prefix dad- “down” that Tolkien simply marked as N[oldorin] (EtyAC/DAT).

Conceptual Development: Early Noldorin Word-lists had ᴱN. dad as an element in words like ᴱN. dadvenn “downhill” (PE13/139) and ᴱN. dadnuin “sinking down” (PE13/161).

dae

adverb. very

lhorn

noun. quiet water

lhorn

noun. anchorage, harbour

mû

interjection. no

nen

noun. water (used of a lake, pool or lesser river)

nen

noun. waterland

nen

noun. water

ú-

prefix. un, bad-

khan

root. back

nen

root. water, water, [ᴱ√] flow

A root connected to water and (to a lesser extent) rivers for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appearance was as ᴱ√NENE “flow” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though Tolkien marked both the root and the gloss with a “?”; it had derivatives like ᴱQ. nen “river, †water” and ᴱQ. nēnu “yellow water lily” (QL/65). Under this entry Tolkien noted that “nen water is perhaps different from nen river, which is from neře” (QL/65); elsewhere in QL Tolkien gave ᴱ√NERE² or ᴱ√NEŘE [NEÐE] as the basis for nen (nend-) “river”, a root he said was often confused with ᴱ√NESE “give to feed; feed, pasture; graze” (QL/66). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon he had G. nenn “(1) water, (2) river” and G. nendil “water fay” which were probably a blending of NENE and NEÐE, as well as G. nern “brook” from ✱nere¹ (GL/60), probably corresponding to ᴱ√NERE² from QL.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had unglossed ᴹ√NEN with derivatives like ᴹQ. nén/N. nen “water” and ᴹQ. nelle “brook” (Ety/NEN), whereas ᴱ√NERE² and ᴱ√NEÐE from the 1910s seems to have been abandoned. The primitive form √NEN or nē̆n “water” continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s writings from the 1940s, 50s and 60s (PE17/52, 167; PE19/102; PE21/64, 79).

nenda

noun. water

nē̆n

noun. water

tō/oto

root. back

The earliest appearance of this root was ᴹ√TOTO- “repeat” from Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/109). The root appeared as √TŌ/OTO in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, where Tolkien specified its meaning as “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). In this 1959 note Tolkien crossed √TŌ/OTO through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).

aba-

prefix. not

al-

prefix. not

pref. not. >> alfirin

baw

interjection. no, don't!

lorn

noun. quiet water

lorn

noun. anchorage, harbour

nen

noun. water (used of a lake, pool or lesser river)

nen

noun. waterland

nen

water

{ĕ}_ n. _water, lake. Q. nén. >> nîn

ú

prefix. no, not (negative prefix or particle)

û

interjection. no

adv. or interj. no, not (of fact).

ad

back

(as prefix) ad-, also meaning "second, again, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".

ad

back

also meaning "second, again, re-", e.g. aderthad "reunion".

al

not

al- (prefix) as in alfirin "not-mortal", immortal.

al

not

(prefix) as in alfirin "not-mortal", immortal.

an-

very

(as adverbial prefix) an-, as in:

an-

very

as in:

ava

will not

(i ava, in avar).

baw!

no

! (interjection expressing refusal or prohibition, not denying facts) baw! (dont!) Prefix

baw!

no

(don’t!) Prefix

dad

downward

;

dadbenn

downhill, sloping down

(inclined, prone [to do]), lenited dhadbenn, pl. dedbinn;

dae

very

dae (exceedingly). Lenited dhae.

dae

adverb. very

dae

very

(exceedingly). Lenited dhae.

dan

back

(prep.) dan (lenited nan) (again, against);

dan

back

(lenited nan) (again, against);

gú

no, not

also ú

law

adverb. not

lorn

quiet water

(anchorage, haven, harbour), pl. lyrn (VT45:29).

nên

water

nên (lake, pool, stream, waterland), construct nen, pl. nîn. FLOOD-WATER (or ”wash”) iôl (pl. ŷl) (RC:334, VT48:33).

nên

water

(lake, pool, stream, waterland), construct nen, pl. nîn.

penna

slant down

(i benna, i phennar)

said

not common

(lenited haid; no distinct pl. form) (separate, private, excluded) (VT42:20)

torn

down

(noun) *torn (i dorn, o thorn), pl. tyrn (i thyrn). Only the pl. tyrn is attested, as part of the name Tyrn Gorthad ”Barrow-downs”.

torn

down

(i dorn, o thorn), pl. tyrn (i thyrn). Only the pl. tyrn is attested, as part of the name Tyrn Gorthad ”Barrow-downs”. 

ú

not

(adverbial prefix) ú-, u- (followed by lenition, e.g. ú-chebin ”I do not keep”) (without). Verb

ú

not

u- (followed by lenition, e.g. ú-chebin ”