A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “give” with derivatives ON. yanta- “give” and ᴹQ. Ariante “Day-bringer” (EtyAC/YAN²). Tolkien marked this entry with a “?”, and elsewhere in The Etymologies he derived ᴹQ. anta-/N. anna- “give” from ᴹ√ANA (Ety/ANA¹), so I suspect this root was a transient idea.
Middle Primitive Elvish
ana
root. be, exist
ana
root. ANA
a
root. intensive prefix
Derivatives
Element in
Variations
- a ✧ EtyAC/GOS
nā/ana
root. be, exist
Derivatives
Variations
- NA² ✧ Ety/ANA²
- NĀ² ✧ Ety/NĀ²
nā/ana
root. to, towards
Derivatives
- ᴹ✶anta- “to give, present” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- ᴹQ. anta- “to give” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- ᴹQ. an(a) “to, towards” ✧ Ety/NĀ¹
- ᴹQ. ana- “to, towards” ✧ Ety/NĀ¹
- ᴹQ. anna “gift” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- ᴹQ. an(ner) “at hand”
- ᴹQ. anta “face” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- ᴹQ. ante “giver (f.)” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- ᴹQ. anto “giver (m.)” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- ᴹQ. -n “genitive suffix”
- N. ant “gift” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- N. anna- “to give” ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- N. Eriant “Day-bringer” ✧ Ety/AR¹
- N. na “with, by; of” ✧ Ety/NĀ¹
Element in
Variations
- NA¹ ✧ Ety/ANA¹
- NĀ¹ ✧ Ety/NĀ¹
- ANA¹ ✧ EtyAC/YAB
- NA ✧ PE18/037
- AN(A) ✧ PE18/037
- an ✧ PE18/038
- nā̆ ✧ PE18/038
- an/na ✧ PE18/038
e
root. intensive prefix
Element in
- ᴹ✶Endero “(?virile) young bridegroom” ✧ EtyAC/E
i
root. intensive prefix
Element in
Variations
- I ✧ Ety/I²; EtyAC/I²
eʒ
root. be
Derivatives
Variations
- Ē ✧ PE22/122
yan
root. give
Derivatives
Element in
- ᴹQ. Aryante “Day-bringer” ✧ EtyAC/YAN²
An “intensive” root addition described by Tolkien in The Etymologies from the 1930s (EtyAC/A). It was one of two basic intensive mechanisms, along with the (syllabic) prefixed N- (EtyAC/N). The prefixed vowel a- seems to have been used originally in Primitive Elvish when the base vowel was a, and similarly with E and I (EtyAC/E; Ety/I²); whether this was also true of the vowels o, u is unclear, as Tolkien didn’t mention them. These various vocalic intensifications were frequently accompanied by dynamic lengthening (doubling), with the example given by Tolkien being: ᴹ✶parkā “dry” → ᴹ✶apparkā “very dry, arid” (> N. afarch).
In the case of e- and i-, the examples were dero, dise → ᴹ✶Endero, ᴹ✶Indise “groom, bride”; these examples indicate that other kinds of consonant fortifications were possible, in this case nasalization of stops, which often replaced consonant-doubling for voiced stops in Primitive Elvish.
Specifically in the case of a-, however, it seems it could be used as a general intensive that “was distinct in origin, though similar in function, to the prefixed basic vowel”. Why this was true of a- alone is not clear, but there seems to have been some complex interplay between the vocalic intensives and the intensives derived from syllabic initial ṇ-, with the net result that the intensive prefix in Q. became an-, am-, añ-, depending on the initial consonant.
See the entry on the Quenya comparative for a more detailed discussion of the conceptual development of intensives in Eldarin.