An ending in feminine names, most notably Q. Írissë (PM/345).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. -sse was also a feminine suffix in Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s in words like ᴱQ. heresse “sister” from neuter ᴱQ. hes “✱sibling” (QL/40).
Quenya
tyelma
ending
-issë
suffix. ending in feminine names
telma
noun. conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair, conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair; [ᴹQ.] ending
A noun for “a conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 as a derivative of √TELE “close, end, come at the end” (WJ/411 note #15).
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had unglossed ᴹQ. tyelma derived from the root ᴹ√KYEL “come to an end” (Ety/KYEL; EtyAC/KYEL). This word appeared as tyelma “ending” in the poem Fíriel’s Song, also from the 1930s (LR/72).
The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. telū̆me or telumen “finish, conclusion” under the early root ᴱ√TEL+U (QL/91), given as telūme “the great end” in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/91). In a list of names also from the 1910s, it appeared as an element in ᴱQ. Irmina Telume “End of the World” (PE13/104).
-incë
suffix. diminutive ending
The most common Quenya diminutive suffix as seen in words like Atarinkë “Little Father” (PM/353), lepinke “little finger” (VT47/26; VT48/5), or luminke “a little while” (CPT/1296). It is used to indicate little things, but it is also used to form affectionate words like hérinkë “✱little lady” (UT/195). With adjectives it means “a little, somewhat, -ish” as in luininkĭ “bluish” (VT48/18). It is clearly based on the primitive diminutive suffix ✶-i(n)ki which also produced Sindarin diminutive S. -eg/-ig.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had suffixes ᴱQ. -īne, -inēa under the early root ᴱ√INI “small” (QL/42), but also “dim[inutive] endings” ᴱQ. -pi, pit, -pin, -pinke under the early root ᴱ√PIK or ᴱ√PINI (QL/73). The Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s had diminutive ᴱQ. -(i)tsa with adverbial variant -ste(n) (PE14/47, 80), while the typescript version also had diminutive prefixes ᴱQ. mi(e)-, miki-, mike- and ᴱQ. itsi-, itse- (PE41/81). The last of these was often used as a suffix in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s in words like ᴱQ. inwilitse “little fairy” (QL/42) and ᴱQ. miqilitse “little or tender kiss” (QL/61). The Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s also had suffixes for “less intense”, including -íne and -ínea as mentioned above, but also ᴱQ. -(w)inte or -linte, (PE14/49, 81), with variants -inya, -(w)inta, -(l)inta appearing only in the typescript version (PE14/81).
-itë
suffix. adjectival ending; [with verbs] capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing
A suffix for adjective formation, dating all the way back to Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s. When used with verbs, it has the more specific meaning “capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing”, as in active cenítë “able to see” vs. passive cénima “visible, able to be seen”, both from cen- “to see”. The verbal use of this suffix was first described in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 (PE22/111), and was described again in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/155).
When used with a verb, the suffix was preceded by the base vowel of the verb: i, e, a, o, u. This produced various diphthongs, and in the case of ei usually had [[q|[ei] becoming [ī]]]. The basic examples Tolkien gave were tirítë “watchful, vigilant, ✱apt to watch”, cenítë “able to see”, caraitë “active, busy, ✱apt to do”, coloitë “capable of bearing, tolerant (of), enduring”, and yuluitë “drinking (as a habit), ✱aquatic”.
Conceptual Development: As a general adjective suffix, there was a variant ᴱQ. -voite that was quite common in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, also appearing in ᴹQ. hanuvoite “✱masculine” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/INI), but not thereafter. In Tolkien’s earlier writings, -itë had no specific verbal function, and ᴱQ. -alka, -elka, -olka was the suffix meaning “able to” in notes on The Qenya Verb Forms from the 1920s (VT14/33). This earlier verbal suffix also varied in form depending on the base vowel of the verb.
-ien
suffix. feminine ending; feminine patronymic, -daughter
A feminine suffix common in Quenya names, in one place given as a feminine patronymic (PE17/170), though there are no attested Quenya names in which it was used that way.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ien was given as a (suffixal?) variant of ᴹQ. yen(de) “daughter” (Ety/YŌ; EtyAC/YŌ), but again there are no actual names from this period using the suffix in that way.
-t
suffix. dual ending
metta
noun. ending, end
sinomë maruvan ar hildinyar tenn’ ambar-metta
In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world
Second phrase @@@
-mie
suffix. *noun ending
-o
suffix. of; genitive ending
-ssë
suffix. locative ending
-u
suffix. dual ending
-va
suffix. possessive or adjectival ending
-wa after consonants
et sillumello ter yénion yéni tenn’ ambarmetta
*from this hour, through years of years until the ending of the world
-li
the elves
-li partitive pl. ending (simply called a plural suffix in the Etymologies, stem LI). The ending is used to indicate a plural that is neither generic (e.g. Eldar "the Elves" as a race) nor definite (preceded by article); hence Eldali is used for "some Elves" (a particular group of Elves, when they are first mentioned in a narrative, VT49:8). Sometimes Tolkien also lets -li imply a great number; in PE17:129, the form falmalinnar from _Namárië _is broken down as falma-li-nnar "foam wave-many-towards-pl. ending", and falmali by itself Tolkien translated "many waves" (PE17:73). A distinct accusative in -lī seems to occur in the phrase an i falmalī (PE17:127, apparently meaning the same as i falmalinnar, but replacing the allative ending with a preposition). Genitive -lion in vanimálion, malinornélion (q.v. for reference), allative -linna and -linnar in falmalinnar, q.v. The endings for other cases are only known from the Plotz letter: possessive -líva, dative -lin, locative -lissë or -lissen, ablative -lillo or -lillon, instrumental -línen, "short locative" -lis. When the noun ends in a consonant, r and n is assimilated before l, e.g. Casalli as the partitive pl. of Casar "Dwarf" (WJ:402), or elelli as the partitive pl. of elen "star" (PE17:127). It is unclear whether the same happens in monosyllabic words, or whether a connecting vowel would be slipped in before -li (e.g. ?queneli or ?quelli as the partitive pl. of quén, quen- "person").
-uva
fill
-uva future tense ending. In avuva, caluva, cenuva, hiruva, (en)quantuva, (en)tuluva, laituvalmet, lauva, maruvan, termaruva, tiruvantes. A final -a drops out before the ending -uva is added: quanta- "fill", future tense quantuva (PE17:68). A verbal stem in -av- may be contracted when -uva follows, as when avuva is stated to have become auva (VT49:13). Origin/etymology of the ending -uva, see VT48:32. In VT49:30, the future tense of the verb "to be" is given as uva, apparently the future-tense "ending" appearing independently, but several other sources rather give nauva for "will be" (see ná #1).
parma
book
parma noun "book", also name of tengwa #2 (PAR, Appendix E). In early "Qenya", the gloss was "skin, bark, parchment, book, writings" (LT2:346); Tolkien later revisited the idea that parma basically is a noun "peel" and refers to bark or skin (as primitive writing materials, PE17:86): "peel, applied to bark or skin, hence "book", bark (literally skinning, peeling off), parchment, book; a book (or written document of some size")" (PE17:123). In the meantimeTolkien had associated the word with a root PAR meaning "compose, put together" (LR:380); the word loiparë "mistake in writing" (q.v.) may also suggest that the root PAR at one point was to mean "write", so that a parma was a "written thing". Instrumental form parmanen "with a book" or "by means of a book" (PE17:91, 180), parmastanna "on your book" (with the endings -sta dual "your", -nna allative) (VT49:47), parmahentië noun "book reading" (PE17:77). Other compounds: parmalambë noun "book-language" = Q[u]enya (PAR), #parma-resta noun "book-fair", attested with the endings -lya "thy" and the allative ending -nna (parma-restalyanna *"upon your book-fair") (VT49:38, 39). Parma as the name of the tengwa letter for P occurs compunded in parmatéma noun "p-series", labials, the second column of the Tengwar system (Appendix E).
tenna
until, up to, as far as
tenna prep. "until, up to, as far as" (CO), "unto" (VT44:35-36), "to the point", "right up to a point" (of time/place), "until", "to the object, up to, to (reach), as far as" (VT49:22, 23, 24, PE17:187), elided tenn' in the phrase tenn' Ambar-metta "unto the ending of the world" in EO, because the next word begins in a similar vowel; cf. tennoio "for ever" (tenna + oio, q.v.) The unelided form appears in PE17:105: Tenna Ambar-metta.
-on
suffix. masculine suffix
-ien
suffix. -land
-r
suffix. plural suffix
cendë
point
cendë noun "point" (PE16:96)
cendë
noun. point
A word for “point” in the glossary for the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem, an element in pirucendëa “on the point of her toes” (PE16/96).
Conceptual Development: The word pirucendëa is a reinterpretation of the word ᴱQ. pirukendea “tripping lightly, whirling lightly” = “pirouetting” from the version of Nieninqe from around 1930 (MC/215; QL/74). The derivation of 1950s cende “point” isn’t clear since in Tolkien’s later writings the root √KEN means “see”, but it might be a later iteration of the word ᴱQ. kent “a sharp point” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√KENYE “prick” (QL/46).
mennai
until
mennai prep. "until" (VT14:5; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather tenna)
mentë
point, end
mentë noun "point, end" (MET)
parma
noun. book
book, writing, composition
quanta-
verb. fill
quanta- (2) vb. "fill" (PE17:68), cf. enquantuva "will refill" in Namárië. This verb seems to spring from a secondary use of the adjective quanta "full" as a verbal stem, whereas the synonym quat- (q.v.) is the original primary verb representing the basic root KWAT.
quat-
verb. fill
quat- vb. "fill" (WJ:392), future #quantuva "shall fill" (enquantuva "shall refill") (Nam, RGEO:67) Irrespective of the prefix en- "re", the form enquatuva (VT48:11) displays the expected future tense of quat-. The Namárië form enquantuva seems to include a nasal infix as well, which is possibly an optional feature of the future tense. On the other hand, PE17:68 cites the verb as quanta- rather than quat-, and then the future-tense form quantuva would be straightforward.
telma
conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair
telma noun "a conclusion, anything used to finish off a work or affair", often applied to the last item in a structure, such as a coping-stone, or a topmost pinnacle (WJ:411). Notice that the form telmanna in the entry TEL/TELU in the Etymologies is a misreading for talmanna (VT46:18) and therefore not the same word as telma.
tilma
noun. point
tyelma noun "ending" (FS, VT45:25)