vand- noun "way, path" (LT1:264; a final vowel would seem to be required, but in Tolkien's later Quenya, the words tië or mallë are to be preferred)
Quenya
urra
adjective. bad
Changes
unca→ urra “bad” ✧ PE22/168Derivations
- √UG “dislike”
Element in
- Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168
Variations
- unca ✧ PE22/168 (
unca)
pal-
beat
vand-
way, path
urra
adjective. nasty, bad
olca
adjective. bad, wicked
Changes
ŏlca→ olca ✧ PE17/170Cognates
- S. ogol “bad, evil, wrong; gloom(y)” ✧ PE17/149; PE17/170; VT48/32
Derivations
Element in
- Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √OKO > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ PE17/149 ✶oklā > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ PE17/170 ✶oklā > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ VT43/24 √oko > olca [oklā] > [olkā] > [olka] ✧ VT48/32 Variations
- ŏlca ✧ PE17/170 (
ŏlca)
la
no, not
la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)
ampano
building
ampano noun "building" (especially of wood), "wooden hall" (PAN; alternative form umpano, VT45:36, which Tolkien in one case altered to ampano, VT46:8). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, ampano was also the name of tengwa #6 (VT46:8), which letter Tolkien would later call umbar instead (changing its value from mp to mb).
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.
lé
way
lé (1) noun "way" = "method, manner" ("as in that is not As way"). Not to be confused with lé as a stressed form of le = plural "you"; Tolkien was himself dissatisfied with this clash (PE17:74).
men
way
men (2) noun "way" (SA) or "place, spot" (MEN)
men
noun. way, way; [ᴹQ.] place, spot
Cognates
- S. men “road, way, road, way; [N.] *place”
Derivations
- √MEN “go, move, proceed (in any direction); make for, go towards; have as object, (in)tend; direction, object, point moved toward; region”
Element in
- ᴺQ. catamen “background, milieu”
- Q. formen “north, north, [ᴹQ.] right-hand [direction]” ✧ SA/men
- Q. hyarmen “south, (lit.) left-hand direction” ✧ SA/men
- Q. Ilmen “*Place of Starlight”
- ᴺQ. mancamen “market, (lit.) trade-place”
- ᴺQ. menessë “instead, (lit.) in place”
- Q. mentië “passage, journey, direction of travel”
- ᴺQ. mótamen “office”
- ᴺQ. natsemen “website, (lit.) web-spot”
- Q. númen “west, direction or region of the sunset, occident, (lit.) going down” ✧ SA/men
- ᴺQ. parmen “school, place of study”
- ᴺQ. quermen “a turning, turn, corner (of a street)”
- Q. rómen “east, uprising, sunrise” ✧ SA/men
- ᴺQ. tirmen “theater”
- ᴺQ. tungwemen “tax-office”
alima
fair, good
alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)
alya
fair, good
alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)
olca
evil, bad, wicked
olca adj. "evil, bad, wicked" (VT43:23-24, VT48:32, VT49:14, PE17:149). The root meaning implies "wickedness as well as badness or lack of worth" (PE17:170). Variant of ulca.
ú-
prefix. bad, uneasy, hard
-ima
fair
-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)
londa
path
[londa noun "path"], changed by Tolkien to londë noun "road (in sea)" (VT45:28)
naxa
adjective. evil
naxa
noun/adjective. evil
Element in
- Q. carë mára quí tyarë naxa “doing good may cause evil” ✧ PE22/154
Variations
- naxa ✧ PE22/154
tier
path
tier is, besides the pl. form of tië "path" above, an ephemeral word for "so", abandoned by Tolkien in favour of tambë (VT43:17)
ulca
evil, bad, wicked, wrong
ulca adj. "evil, bad, wicked, wrong" (QL:97, VT43:23-24, VT48:32, VT49:14; compounded in henulca "evileyed", SD:68); variant olca, q.v. Compare noun ulco. The adj. ulca may also itself be used as a noun "evil", as in the ablative form ulcallo "from evil" (VT43:8, 10) and the sentence cé mo quetë ulca *"if one speaks evil" (VT49:19).
vanya
fair
vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.
vanë
fair
vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)
vanë
adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely
Derivations
- √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/056
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √BAN > vane [bani] > [bane] > [βane] > [vane] ✧ PE17/056 Variations
- vane ✧ PE17/056
úra
evil, nasty
úra (1) adj. "evil, nasty" (VT43:24, VT48:32)
úra
adjective. nasty
Changes
úra→ úro “*evil” ✧ VT43/24Derivations
- √UG “dislike” ✧ VT43/24
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √UG > úra [ugra] > [uɣra] > [ūra] ✧ VT43/24 Variations
- úra ✧ VT43/24 (
úra); VT43/24
tele
verb. mean, intend
linda
fair, beautiful
linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.
saura
foul, evil-smelling, putrid
saura (þ) adj. "foul, evil-smelling, putrid" (THUS), "foul, vile" (PE17:183). This adjective underlies the name Sauro, Sauron (q.v.) Alternatively explained to mean "cruel" (PE17:184); a deleted gloss defined the word as "bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched" (PE17:172). Tolkien did not consistently hold that the initial s represents older þ; sometimes he derived saura (and so implicitly Sauron) from stems with original s-.
saura
adjective. cruel, evil, vile; stinking, foul; bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched, stinking, foul, [ᴹQ.] evil-smelling, putrid; [Q.] cruel, evil, vile; [Q.] bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched
Changes
- saura → Saura “foul, vile” ✧ PE17/184
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √ÞAW > saura [tʰaura] > [θaura] > [saura] ✧ PE17/068 √SAWA > saura [saura] ✧ PE17/172 √SAWA > saura [saura] ✧ PE17/183 √THAW > Saura [tʰaura] > [θaura] > [saura] ✧ PE17/184 Variations
- Saura ✧ PE17/184
úmëa
evil
úmëa (2) adj. "evil" (UGU/UMU). Obsoleted by #1 above? Possibly connected to úmëai in Narqelion, if that is a "Qenya" plural form.
ampano
noun. building, construction, edifice
lelya-
go, proceed (in any direction), travel
lelya- (1) vb. "go, proceed (in any direction), travel", pa.t. lendë / elendë (WJ:363, VT14:5, PE17:139) At one point Tolkien assigned a more specific meaning to the underlying root LED: "go away from the speaker or the point in mind, depart" (PE17:52), which would make lelya- a near synonym of auta-. The same source denies that the derivatives of _LED _were used simply for "go, move, travel", but elsewhere Tolkien assigns precisely that meaning to lelya-.
lenna-
go
lenna- vb. "go", pa.t. lendë "went" (LED; cf. lelya-). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word lenna- wrongly appears as **linna-; see VT45:27.
naicea
adjective. cruel
nwalca
cruel
nwalca ("k")adj. "cruel" (ÑGWAL; this must represent earlier *ñwalca = *ngwalca; these forms are not given in Etym, but compare nwalmë_ below. In Tengwar writing, the initial NW would be represented by the letter nwalmë.)_
vanya-
go, depart, disappear
vanya- (2) vb. "go, depart, disappear", pa.t. vannë (WAN). The verb auta- may have replaced this word in Tolkien's later conception.
úmara
adjective. bad, ill-used, evil, sinister
Element in
- Q. epetai i hyarma ú ten ulca símaryassen “consequently the left hand was not to them evil in their imaginations” ✧ VT49/15
- Q. úmárë “not good = evil”
tië
path, course, line, direction, way
tië noun "path, course, line, direction, way" (TE3, VT47:11); pl. tier in Namárië(Nam, RGEO:67); tielyanna "upon your path" (UT:22 cf. 51; tie-lya-nna "path-your-upon")
us-
prefix. [wrong] with a bad sense; unsuitable, bad, improper, useless, wrong
Cognates
- S. oth- “[wrong] with a bad sense; unsuitable, bad, improper, useless, wrong” ✧ PE17/151; PE17/172
Derivations
- √UTHU “bad; unsuitable; improper, useless, wrong; [wrong] with a bad sense” ✧ PE17/151; PE17/172
Element in
- Q. uxarë “doing wrong, doing wrong, *misdeed” ✧ PE17/151
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √UTHU > us- [utʰ-] > [uθ-] > [us-] ✧ PE17/151 Variations
- ur(u) ✧ PE17/172 (ur(u))
ú-
prefix. no, not, un-, in-; hard, difficult, bad, uneasy; hardly, with difficulty, ‘badly’
Cognates
- S. ú- “no, not, negative; impossible, no, not, negative; impossible; [N.] bad-” ✧ PE17/062
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. úpuhta- “to fornicate”
- ᴺQ. úhep- “to lose, (lit.) to un-keep”
- ᴺQ. únet- “to lose, (lit.) to un-get”
- Q. úcalima “dim, murky, dim, murky, *not bright” ✧ PE22/156
- Q. úcar- “*to trespass, do wrong, sin”
- Q. úcarë “*sin, debt, trespass”
- Q. úcárima “hard to do, difficult” ✧ PE22/156
- Q. úcarnë “not red” ✧ PE22/152
- ᴺQ. úcim- “disregard”
- ᴺQ. úfailië “unrighteousness”
- Q. úfantima “not concealable”
- Q. úfanwëa “not veiled, unveiled”
- ᴺQ. úhandë “unreason, incomprehension”
- Q. úχarin “unmarred” ✧ PE17/150
- Q. Úlairi “Ring-wraiths, (lit.) ?Un-living, Un-summer”
- ᴺQ. úlaita- “to dishonour”
- ᴺQ. úlévima “paralyzed, lame”
- Q. Úmaiar “Evil Spirits”
- Q. úmaitë “clumsy(-handed), unskilled”
- Q. Úmaneldi “*Elves not of Aman”
- Q. Úmanyar “Those not of Aman”
- Q. úmara “bad, ill-used, evil, sinister” ✧ VT49/15
- Q. úmárë “not good = evil” ✧ PE22/152
- Q. únat “thing impossible to be or to be done”
- Q. únehta “*atom”
- Q. Úner “Noman” ✧ UT/211
- Q. únotë(a) “not counted, uncounted” ✧ PE17/143; VT39/14
- Q. únótima “numberless, innumerable, countless, difficult/impossible to count” ✧ PE17/062; PE17/063; PE17/143; PE22/156; PE22/160; VT39/14; VT42/33
- ᴺQ. únut- “to untie”
- Q. únyárima “impossible to recount”
- Q. úpa “dumb [unable to speak]”
- Q. úpahtëa “speechless”
- ᴺQ. úpoica “unclean”
- ᴺQ. úqua “nothing”
- ᴺQ. úquen “nobody, no one”
- Q. úquétima “unspeakable, impossible to say or put into words, unpronounceable”
- Q. úsahtië “inducement to do wrong, *temptation”
- Q. úsië “on the contrary” ✧ VT49/18
- Q. úsir “on the contrary” ✧ VT49/18
- ᴺQ. útancië “uncertainty”
- ᴺQ. útulya- “to mislead”
- ᴺQ. útúrima “unruly”
- Q. úvana “marred”
- Q. úvanë(a) “without beauty”
- Q. úvanima “not fair, ugly; hard to call beautiful, hideous” ✧ PE17/143; PE22/156; VT39/14
- Q. úvanimo “monster, corrupt or evil creature”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √UG > ú [ugu-] > [uɣu-] > [ū-] ✧ PE22/160 √û > ú [ū-] ✧ VT42/33 Variations
- ū- ✧ PE17/062; PE17/144; PE22/152; PE22/156
- ū ✧ PE22/156; PE22/167; VT44/04
- ú ✧ PE22/160; VT42/33
- Ú- ✧ UT/211 (Ú-)
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.
men-
go
#men- (4) vb. "go" (VT47:11, cf. VT42:30, VT49:23), attested in the aorist (menë) in the sentence imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië "between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon". In the verb nanwen- "return" (or go/come back), -men- is changed to -wen- following nan- "back" (etymological form cited as nan-men-, PE17:166). In examples from VT49:23, 24, Tolkien used men- in the sense of "go as far as": 1st person sg. aorist menin (menin coaryanna "I arrive at [or come/get to] his house"), endingless aorist menë, present tense ména- "is on point of arrival, is just coming to an end", past tense mennë "arrived, reached", in this tense usually with locative rather than allative (mennen sís "I arrive[d] here"), perfect eménië "has just arrived", future menuva "will arrive". All of these examples were first written with the verb as ten- rather than men-, Tolkien then emending the initial consonant.
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.
ulco
evil
ulco (stem #ulcu-) noun "evil", pl. *ulqui (VT43:23-24; the stem-form is attested in the ablative case: ulcullo "from evil", VT43:12)
ulco
noun. evil
Derivations
- √UK “nasty”
Element in
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).
úro
evil
úro noun "evil" (VT43:24); Tolkien may have abandoned this form in favour of ulco, q.v.
[pal- (2) vb. "beat", also in an alternative (extended?) form palap-, VT46:8. See palpa-.]