at(a)-

prefix. double, second time, double, [repeat a] second time; [ᴱQ.] bi-, twi-; [ᴹQ.] back, again, re-

A prefix for “double” based on √AT of similar meaning used in various words like atendëa “double-middle” (RC/728) and atamaitë “two-handed” (PE17/162). In notes from around 1959 Tolkien said it could also be used for “again”, but “only in literal sense of second time, double” (PE17/166). Compare ataquanta- “refill” = “fill a second time” vs. the more ordinary word for “refill” = enquanta-.

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s translated the prefix ᴹQ. at(a)- as “back, again, re-” under the root ᴹ√AT(AT), which in this document was glossed “again, back” (Ety/AT(AT)). This distinction can be seen in 1940s ᴹQ. at-tul- “return” vs. later entul- from the 1950s and 60s. Earlier still the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. at-, att-, or atta- “bi-, twi-” under the early root ᴱ√ATA “dual” (QL/33).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use at(a)- mainly in the sense “double, bi-, twi-”, and would only use it for the sense “re-” in the limited sense “do a second time” as described above. However, based on its meaning in The Etymologies, at(a)- is popular as a prefix for “re-” in many neologisms, but I would avoid this because these 1930s glosses predate Tolkien’s introduction of en- “re-”.

-nna

to

-n (1) dative ending, originating as a reduced form of -nă "to", related to the allative ending -nna (VT49:14). Attested in nin, men, ten, enyalien, Erun, airefëan, tárin, yondon (q.v.) and also added to the English name Elaine (Elainen) in a book dedication to Elaine Griffiths (VT49:40). The longer dative ending -na is also attested in connection with some pronouns, such as sena, téna, véna (q.v.), also in the noun mariéna from márië "goodness" (PE17:59). Pl. -in (as in hínin, see hína), partitive pl. -lin, dual -nt (Plotz). The preposition ana (#1) is said to be used "when purely dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that it can replace the dative ending, e.g. *ana Eru instead of Erun for "to God". In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the ending -n (or -en) expressed genitive rather than dative, but he later decided that the genitive ending was to be -o (cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren becoming Yénië Valinórëo, MR:200).

-nna

to, at, upon

-nna "to, at, upon", allative ending, originating from -na "to" with fortified n, VT49:14. Attested in cilyanna, coraryanna, Endorenna, Elendilenna, númenórenna, parma-restalyanna, rénna, senna, tielyanna, q.v. If a noun ends in -n already, the ending -nna merges with it, as in Amanna, formenna, Elenna, númenna, rómenna as the allative forms of Aman, formen, elen, númen, rómen (q.v.). Plural -nnar in mannar, valannar, q.v.

-nna

suffix. (movement) to, towards, onto, at (arriving at a point); allative suffix

The Quenya allative suffix indicating motion towards; see that entry for discussion.

Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s earlier writings, it had other forms like ᴱQ. -nta or -tta (PE14/46, 78).

ana

to

ana (1) prep. "to" (VT49:35), "as preposition _ana _is used when purely _dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that the preposition ana can be used instead of the dative ending -n (#1, q.v.) Also as prefix: ana- "to, towards" (NĀ1); an (q.v.) is used with this meaning in one source (PE17:127)_

ataquetië

saying again, repetition

ataquetië noun (or gerund of verb) "saying again, repetition" (PE17:166). Cited as at(a)quetië, implying an alternative form atquetië.

ataquetië

noun. saying again, repetition

atatya

double

atatya vb? adj.? "double" (VT42:26)

atatya

adjective. double

The Quenya word for “double” in notes from the late 1960s derived from primitive ✶atatya, an adjective form of the root √ATATA (VT42/26-27).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. tanta “double” under the root ᴹ√TATA “two” (Ety/TATA) and ᴹQ. atwa “double” under the root ᴹ√AT(AT) “again, back” (Ety/AT(AT)). The latter was glossed “either ... or” in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/107); see the entry for ᴹQ. atwa for further discussion.

atta

cardinal. two

atta (1) cardinal "two" (AT(AT), Letters:427, VT42:26, 27, VT48:6, 19). Elen atta "two stars" (VT49:44); notice how a noun is indeclinable before this numeral, and any case endings are "singular" and added to the numeral rather than the noun, e.g. genitive elen atto "of two stars" (VT49:45). Attalyar "Bipeds" (sg. *Attalya) = Petty-dwarves (from Sindarin Tad-dail) (WJ:389). A word atta_ "again" was struck out; see the entry _TAT in Etym and cf. ata in this list.

atta

cardinal. two

This is the usual Quenya counting number for “two”, derived from √ATATA (VT42/27; VT48/19), which in turn is based on √AT “bi-, double, again (a second time)” (PE17/148, 166). It may be contrasted with yúyo “both” referring to both elements of a pair.

Conceptual Development: There was no word for “two” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s. In the Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s, ᴱQ. yúyo meant “two” and ᴱQ. {satta >>} satto meant “both” (PE14/49, 82). By The Etymologies of the 1930s, these meanings were reversed with ᴹQ. atta “two” appearing under ᴹ√ATTA and ᴹQ. yúyo “both” appearing under ᴹ√YŪ (Ety/ATTA, YŪ).

atwa

double

atwa adj. "double" (AT(AT) )

lala-

verb. to laugh

na

to, towards

na (2) prep. "to, towards", possibly obsoleted by #1 above; for clarity writers may use the synonym ana instead (NĀ1). Originally, Tolkien glossed na as "at, by, near"; the new meaning entered together with the synonyms an, ana (VT45:36).

opto

noun. back

pontë

back, rear

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

satto

cardinal. two

satto, "Qenya" numeral "two" (in Tolkiens later Quenya atta) (VT49:54)

tanta

double

tanta (2) (prob. adj.) "double" (TATA)

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.

at

root. two, double, bi-, di-; back, re-; across, over, lying from side to side, two, double, bi-, di-; back, re-, [ᴹ√] again, twice; [ᴱ√] dual; [√] across, over, lying from side to side

As the main root for “two”, √AT dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱ√ATA appeared with the gloss “dual” (QL/33). At this very early stage, its derivatives had mainly to do with pairs such as ᴱQ. aqi “a brace, a couple of, both” and at- “bi-, twi-”, whereas the earliest Quenya word for “two” was ᴱQ. yúyo (PE14/49). Later on, Q. yúyo became “both” whereas “two” became Q. atta.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s this root appeared as ᴹ√AT(AT) (Ety/AT(AT)) with variants ᴹ√ATTA which became the basis for Quenya atta “two” (Ety/ATTA) and ᴹ√TATA which became the basis for Noldorin tâd “two” (Ety/TATA); these numerals retained this form thereafter into the Quenya and Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s (VT42/24-26). In the 1930s, the ᴹ√TATA variant took on the sense “double” in Quenya, and the ᴹ√ATTA variant took on the sense “across” in Noldorin. The base root ᴹ√AT had the sense “again, back”, as seen in both Quenya and Noldorin prefixes ᴹQ. at(a)-, N. ad- “back, again, re-” (Ety/AT(AT)).

This root continued to appear in the 1950s and 1960s, retaining its various meanings of “two” (VT42/27), “back, again” (PE17/148) and “across” (VT43/33). Tolkien explored the origin and development of this root at some length in his essays on Elvish numerals from the late 1960s, connecting it to √AT(AR) “father” via various Elvish finger names (VT48/19).

(a)tata

cardinal. two

an

preposition. to

atata

root. two, two; [ᴹ√] again, back

atatya

adjective. double

atta

cardinal. two

enki

pronoun. that by you over there (addressing or writing to someone at a distance)

khan

root. back

tata

masculine name. Two

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).

ad-

prefix. back, again, re-

ad-

prefix. back, again, re-

heltha-

verb. to strip

The form helta- in the Etymologies is a misreading according to VT/46:14

tad

cardinal. two

tadol

ordinal. double

tadol

adjective. double

tâd

cardinal. two

tâd

cardinal. two

ad-

prefix. back, again, re-

adu

adjective. double

A (Sindarin?) word for “double” in the name Adurant “Double Stream” from The Silmarillion (S/123; SA/rant).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Adurant was Ilkorin and its initial element was Ilk. adu/ado “double”, cognate to ᴹQ. atwa of the same meaning and derived from the root ᴹ√AT(AT) “back, again” (Ety/AT(AT)).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use adu only as a prefix, and would use edaid as the normal word for “double”. This prefixal use of adu- “double” would help distinguish it from ad- “re-, again”.

an

preposition. to, towards, for

With suffixed article and elision in aglar'ni Pheriannath

an

to

_ prep. _to, for. naur an edraith ammen! 'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. aglar an|i Pheriannath  'glory to all the Halflings'.

edaid

ordinal. double

edaid

adjective. double

The Sindarin word for “double” in notes from the late 1960s derived from primitive ✶atatya, an adjective form of the root √ATATA (VT42/26-27).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. tadol “double” under the root ᴹ√TATA “two”, an adjectival form of tâd “two” (Ety/TATA). This word reappeared in its mutated form dadol in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 40s in the term peg dadol “double dot” (PE22/31; PE23/22).

gladh-

verb. to laugh, to laugh [at a joke], *guffaw

This word is not compatible with the name Lalaith “Laughter” attested in The Silmarillion. The most likely explanation of this name is that it is the unattested verb ✱lala- “laugh” with the abstract noun suffix -th seen in tirith “watch(ing)” and sirith “flowing”. This indicates a primitive form ✶lala- instead of ✶glada- (both primitives produce Quenya lala-). If you were to accept gladh- as the Sindarin word for “laugh”, then the word for “laughter” would perhaps be the equivalent abstract noun ✱gladhath, and the name Lalaith might be a mix of Quenya and Sindarin. @@@ Neo-Sindarin uses

lala-

verb. to laugh

na

to

e _ prep. _to, towards (of spacetime). n' before vowels. >> nan 2

na

preposition. to

prep. to Na-chaered palan-díriel lit. "To-distance (remote) after-gazing" >> na-chaered, nan 2

tad

cardinal. two

tâd

cardinal. two

tâd

cardinal. two

The usual Sindarin word for “two” derived from ✶tata, a variant of √ATATA that was the basis for Q. atta “two” (PE17/14; VT42/27; Ety/TATA). It appears with both a short vowel as tad and a long vowel as tâd. I think the long-vowel form is the most correct one, but the short-vowel form is used for prefixes or when the word is not emphasized in a phrase.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. atha “two”, but this was deleted and revised to G. atha as the “pl. 3rd person pronoun” (GL/20) and no new word for “two” was given.

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".

an

to

(prep.) an (+ nasal mutation), with article ni "to the" (+ nasal mutation in plural).

an

to

(adverbial prefix) an-. 3)

dan

back

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

dan

back

(lenited nan) (again, against);

edaid

double

(adj.) 1) edaid; no distinct pl. form, 2) tadol (lenited dadol, analogical pl. dedyl)

edaid

double

; no distinct pl. form

tad-dal

two-legged

(lenited dad-dal), pl. tad-dail.

tadol

double

(lenited dadol, analogical pl. dedyl)

tâd

cardinal. two

1. tâd (in compounds tad-, as in tad-dal ”two-legged”), 2) (adjectival prefix) ui- (twi-, both).

tâd

two

(in compounds tad-, as in tad-dal ”two-legged”)

ui

two

(twi-, both).

u

preposition. to

satta

noun. two

The Adûnaic number “two” (SD/428). It seems likely that it is related to Q. atta “two”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (AAD/22), though it is unclear how the initial s- might have developed in the Adûnaic. It may also be related to the Adûnaic dual suffix -at, as suggested by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/SAT).

glada-

verb. to laugh

tata

cardinal. two