Quenya 

inyë

i, too

inyë emphatic independent 1st person sg. pronoun, "I" with emphasis, translated "I, too" in LR:61 (and, according to one reading of Tolkiens manuscript, in VT49:49).

inyë

pronoun. I (emphatic)

Quenya [PE22/140; PE22/162; PE23/069; VT49/49] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-nyë

i do

-nyë, 1st person sg. pronominal suffix "I"; also short form -n (q.v.). Carin or carinyë *"I do" (VT49:16). With object -s following in utúvienyes "I have found it" (see tuv-). It may be that Tolkien at one point considered nye (or ne, inyë) as an independent emphatic pronoun "I", but this was struck out (VT49:49).

imnë

myself

imnë, also imni, *"myself", 1st person sg. reflexive pronoun, e.g. *tirin imnë/imni "I watch myself" (but apparently the general reflexive pronoun immo can also be used) (VT47:37). In PE17:41, imnë is mentioned as an Old Quenya pronoun meaning "I, I myself" (cf. inyë).

imnë

pronoun. myself

inyenna

adverb. have, (lit.) [added] to me

An old neologism coined by David Kiltz in PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s, supplanted by attested sam- “have” published in 2007.

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

-ne

i love

#-ne (4) "I", a 1st person pronominal suffix occurring in the word melánë "I love" (LR:61), but Tolkien later used -n or -nyë for this meaning (melin "I love", VT49:21). It may be that Tolkien at one point considered ne (or nye, inyë) as an independent emphatic pronoun "I", but this was struck out (VT49:49).

ni

me

ni (1) 1st person sg. pron. "I" (according to PE17:68 also "me" as object), with long vowel () when stressed (VT49:51), cf. ní nauva next to nauvan for "I will be" (VT49:19), the former wording emphasizing the pronoun. The pronoun ni represents the original stem-form (VT49:50). Dative nin "for me, to me" (Arct, Nam, RGEO:67, VT41:11/15). Compare the reflexive pronoun imni, imnë "myself" and the emphatic pronoun inyë, q.v. The ancient element ni is said to have implied, originally, "this by me, of my [?concern]" (VT49:37)

-n

suffix. I

-n(yë)

suffix. I

Quenya [PE17/057; PE17/075; PE17/190; PE22/161; VT49/16; VT49/48; VT49/51] Group: Eldamo. Published by

imni

pronoun. myself

Quenya [PE17/041; VT47/37; VT47/38] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ná-

verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist

The basic Quenya verb for “to be”, based on the root √ (PE17/93). It was typically used as the copula equating a noun to another noun or an adjective:

> √NA joining adjs./nouns/pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have a certain quality, or to be the same as another (PE22/147).

In many circumstances this verb was optional:

> As a copula “be, is” is not usually expressed in Quenya where the meaning is clear: sc. in such expressions as “A is good” where the adjective (contrary to the usual order in Quenya of a qualifying adjective) follows: the normal Quenya for this is A mára (PE17/93).

For further discussion see the entry on the Quenya copula.

Conceptual Development: This verb dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was given as the early root ᴱ√ “be, exist” (QL/64). This verb and its root appeared regularly throughout Tolkien’s writings thereafter, but at times Tolkien considered alternative verbs for “to be”; see the entry ëa- for further discussion.

Quenya [LotR/0377; Minor-Doc/1955-CT; PE17/057; PE17/058; PE17/059; PE17/074; PE17/090; PE17/093; PE17/126; PE17/162; PE22/154; PE22/158; PE22/166; PE22/167; PE22/168; RGEO/58; RGEO/59; RGEO/60; VT42/33; VT42/34; VT43/13; VT43/14; VT43/15; VT43/16; VT43/23; VT43/30; VT43/34; VT44/34; VT49/09; VT49/10; VT49/19; VT49/23; VT49/27; VT49/28; VT49/29; VT49/30] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pen-

to have

pen- vb. negative of #sam- "to have" (q.v.), used as a negative answer to inquires on ownership: penin "no / I haven't" (PE17:173)

ovëanta-

verb. to imitate, make like

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Noldorin 

im

pronoun. I

Adûnaic

pronoun. me

This element appears to be the object pronoun “me” in the phrase bâ kitabdahê “don’t touch me” (SD/250). It is not clear whether it could also serve as a subject pronoun “I”. Thorsten Renk instead suggested (NBA/18) that -hê may be a marker for the imperative, and proposed the invented word Ad. !ni for “I, me”, a hypothetical cognate of Q. ni.

Primitive elvish

inni

pronoun. I (emphatic)

Primitive elvish [PE23/127; PE23/128] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

anim

pronoun. for myself

Sindarin [LotR/A(v)] an+im. Group: SINDICT. Published by

enni

pronoun. to me

Sindarin [VT/41:11] an+ni. Group: SINDICT. Published by

im

pronoun. I

In late writings (see esp. VT/47:37-38), Tolkien reinterpreted this form as a reflexive pronoun (= "self").

Sindarin [LotR/II:IV, LB/354, VT/47:14,37-38] Group: SINDICT. Published by

na-

verb. to be

A verb for “to be” based on the root √ of the same meaning. This verb is barely attested in the Sindarin language, and the general consensus is that [for purposes of Neo-Sindarin at least] Sindarin omits the verb “to be” in most phrases, such as in naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for saving us” (LotR/299) or ✱orchal i adan “tall [is] the man”; see the entry on the copula for further discussion.

The clearest attestation of the verb na- is its imperative form no “be!” in the phrase no aer i eneth lín “hallowed be thy name, (lit.) ✱be holy the name your”, from the Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s (VT44/21). This imperative form was preceded by some hard-to-read deleted forms, perhaps {dôd >> dád >> hae >>} no (VT44/22). The d-forms might be eroded/mutated variants of na-. Compare đa in the phrase inn đa v’im “a mind there is in me = I have a good mind (to do so)” in notes from the late 1960s (PE22/165), where đa could be another eroded form of na-. This phrase was first written as inn no v’im (PE22/165 note #108); see the entry for đa for further discussion.

Another clear attestation of na “be” is an apparent future form natho in the untranslated phrase Sí il chem {na} en i naugrim en ir Ellath {natho} thor den ammen in the so-called “Túrin Wrapper” from the late 1950s (VT50/5). This future[?] form natho was deleted and replaced by thor, and a deleted {na} also appears earlier in the phrase, possibly a false start. Carl Hostetter suggested this phrase might mean something like “✱now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) us” (VT50/22-25). If so, it seems the future of na- “be” was constructed from the bare future suffix (a)tha-, manifesting as tho “✱will be”.

Neo-Sindarin: As noted above, for purposes of Neo-Sindarin the general consensus is that this verb is barely used, and is omitted from most “to be” phrases as in the example orchal i adan given above. The verb’s one widely accepted use is as an imperative, such as in no mae “be well”. Based the Túrin Wrapper, I posit that tho can also be used for a future form “will be”, as in i adan tho orchal “the man will be tall”. I likewise posit a (purely hypothetical) past form [ᴺS.] “was”, based on the primitive past-tense element ✶-nē with [[os|long [ē] becoming [ī]]], as in i adan nî orchal “the man was tall”. Neither tho or are widely accepted Neo-Sindarin, however.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the verb G. na- “is” (GL/58), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√ “be, exist” (QL/64). This irregular Gnomish verb had some inflected forms: plural nain, participle ol· and past form {ni >>} thi, the last of these being another inspiration for Neo-Sindarin “was”.

Sindarin [VT44/22; VT44/24; VT50/23] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nin

pronoun. me

Sindarin [LotR/IV:X, RGEO/72] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nin

pronoun. me

_ pron. _me.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:95] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

nin

pronoun. me

Sindarin [Let/279; LotR/0729; PE17/095; RGEO/64] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gar

have

(i ’âr, i ngerir = i ñerir) (hold, possess; be able, can); pa.t. garant. (AI:92, VT45:14)

im

i

but as subject usually simply the ending -n, as in ónen

ni

pronoun. I

nin

i

”me”, genitive nín ”my”, dative anim or enni ”to me, for me”.

nin

me

(object form of ”I”) nin; as indirect object anim or enni ”for myself, (to) me”.


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

inye

pronoun. I (emphatic)

Qenya [LR/061; PE22/121; PE23/078; PE23/079] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-nye

suffix. I

ye-

verb. to be

Qenya [LR/072; PE22/011; PE22/107; PE22/115; PE22/117; PE22/119; PE22/120; PE22/123; PE23/097; PE23/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ná-

verb. to be

Qenya [Ety/N²; PE22/096] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

inye-

verb. to imitate, make like

Early Quenya [QL/042] Group: Eldamo. Published by

e-

verb. to be

Early Quenya [PE14/051; PE14/054; PE14/057; PE16/062; PE16/066; PE16/140; PE16/141; PE16/143] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ó-

verb. to be

Early Quenya [QL/069] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

im

pronoun. I

na-

verb. to be

Gnomish [GG/09; GL/58] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

ni

pronoun. I

Old Noldorin [PE22/098; PE22/121] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

eʒ-

verb. to be

Middle Primitive Elvish [PE22/122] Group: Eldamo. Published by

root. to be

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/YĒ; PE18/060; PE18/084; PE22/123] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ē

root. to be

Middle Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

ī

root. to be

Middle Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by