Primitive elvish

-wē

suffix. person; male suffix

Primitive elvish [MR/388; PM/340] Group: Eldamo. Published by

we

pronoun. we, us (inclusive)

Primitive elvish [PE17/130; PE23/069; PE23/113; PE23/119; PE23/120; PE23/124; VT48/10; VT49/50; VT49/52] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wē/ewe

root. person, being, individual

This root served as the basis for the suffix Q. -wë common in ancient Quenya names. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, this suffix had two variants: masculine ᴹQ. -we derived from root ᴹ√WEG “(manly) vigour”, but also abstract ᴹQ. -we derived from unrelated ᴹ✶-wē (Ety/WEG). In the first version of Quenya Personal Pronouns (QPP1) from the late 1940s where Tolkien said “Manwe etc. contain a stem or suffix √EWE, WĒ originally abstract” (PE23/87).

The suffix -we was sometimes specifically masculine in some later notes as well (circa 1959), where Tolkien said “√WEG, WEƷ, √NES, NETH- referred to masculinity and femininity apart from sex and so could refer to the Valar and Maiar” (PE17/190), but this etymology was rejected and in its place Tolkien wrote: “√WE ? WEƷ ‘person’, individual (only used of Elves and Men), thus origin of -we in Quenya names as Manwe, Voronwe” (PE17/189). In Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 Tolkien wrote:

> -we in Quenya names (Manwe, etc.). This is in origin a separate word √WĒ (WE’E ?), from its form an ancient element of Eldarin vocabulary. Probably related to Q ve “as, like”; vëa “seeming, apparent”; vávea, ovéa “(con)similar, alike”. In Sindarin adoption of Quenya names (as Voronwe > Bronweg) -we was sometimes used to represent -we, which historically had become w or u (as in Elu = Elwe). But this S -we is of distinct origin, √WEG- “live, be active”. Hence ✱wego(n) “living creature”: Q weo, vëo, S gwê (PE17/189).

In these Quenya Notes, √ as a name element was distinct from √WEG “active”, and neither were distinctly masculine. The initial version of this note glossed √WE as “a person or being” (PE17/190), but in revision Tolkien connected it to Q. ve “as, like” (PE17/189). The interpretation of the suffix -we as gender-neutral was mentioned again in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 where Tolkien said it was derived from √EWE “person” (PM/340). However, the only feminine name where this element appeared was Q. Elenwë the wife of Turgon (S/90, PM/345), and most of the names with this element were both masculine and ancient.

See the entry on √WEG for more on the evolution of earlier, largely masculine, forms.

Primitive elvish [PE17/189; PE17/190; PM/340] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wegō

suffix. a person of male nature (and fëa); ruler

Primitive elvish [PE17/190; PE21/81] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-iel

suffix. feminine suffix

Primitive elvish [MR/388; NM/349; NM/353; PE17/190] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ni

suffix. adjectival suffix

Seen in lugni < LUG, luini < LUY and ninkwi < NIKW (with subsequent metathesis). Possibly a (rare) variant of -nā and/or -i.

Primitive elvish [PE17/168, PE21/81, PE17/136, 161; VT48/24, 27] Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

-ntā

pronoun. their

Primitive elvish [PE23/128; PE23/129] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ya

suffix. adjectival suffix

Primitive elvish [PE21/78; PE21/81; PE22/136; PE23/128; VT42/10; VT42/25; VT49/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

khe

pronoun. we, us (inclusive)

noun. person

Primitive elvish [VT47/35] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nanmen-

verb. return

Primitive elvish [PE17/166] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ndē̆r

noun. man

Primitive elvish [PE19/102] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ñe

pronoun. we, us (inclusive)

-ye Reconstructed

suffix. feminine suffix