Quenya 

kemen

earth

kemen noun "earth"; see cemen.

cen-

see, behold

cen- ("k")vb. "see, behold", future tense cenuva ("kenuva") "shall see" in Markirya. Imperative cena ("k"), VT47:31.Also #cen = noun "sight" as the final element of some nouns (*apacen, tercen, q.v.) Compare the root KHEN-, KEN-, KYEN- "look at, see, observe, direct gaze" (VT45:21)

cenya

verb. see, perceive

Quenya [PE 22:103, 115; PE 22:155] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

le

you

le, pronominal element "you", (originally) the "reverential 2nd person sing" (RGEO:73, VT49:56). However, singular le was apparently altered to lye (q.v.), and le took on a plural significance (le for pl. "you" is apparently derived from de, the ancient 2nd person pl. stem, VT49:50-51). Stressed (VT49:51), dual let "the two of you" (ibid.). At certain points in Tolkiens conception, le was still sg. "thou" rather than pl. "you". It is attested as an ending in the imperative form antalë "give thou" (VT43:17); see anta-. The form ólë in VT43:29 apparently means *"with thee"; according to Tolkiens later system, it would rather mean "with you" (pl.) Compare aselyë "with thee" (sg.) in a later source (see as).

a-

see

a- (2) a prefix occurring in the Markirya poem (Tolkien first used na-, then changed it). It may be prefixed to verbal stems following a noun that is the object of sense-verbs like "see" and "hear" when the verb it is prefixed to describes what happens to this noun, as in man cenuva lumbor ahosta[?] (changed from na-hosta), "who shall see the clouds gather?" (hosta = "gather").

tye

you, thou, thee

tye pron. "you, thou, thee", 2nd person intimate/familar (LR:61, 70, Arct, VT49:36, 55), corresponding to formal/polite lye. According to VT49:51, tye was used as an endearment especially between lovers, and (grand)parents and children also used it to address one another ("to use the adult lye was more stern"). Tyenya "my tye", used = "dear kinsman" (VT49:51). The pronoun tye is derived from kie, sc. an original stem ki with an added -e(VT49:50). Stressed tyé; dual tyet "the two of you" (VT49:51 another note reproduced on the same page however states that tye has no dual form, and VT49:52 likewise states that the 2nd person familiar "never deleloped" dual or plural forms). Compare the reflexive pronoun intyë "yourself". Possibly related to the pronominal stem KE (2nd person sg.), if tye represents earlier *kye.

véla

verb. see

véla (2) vb. "see" (Arct); present/continuative tense of a verbal stem #vel-? The context of the sentence where it occurs ("till I see you next") suggests that this is "see" in the sense of "meet".

>> yomenië

-ldë

you

-ldë (1) pronominal suffix "you", 2nd person pl. (VT49:51; carildë *"you do", VT49:16). This ending Tolkien revised from -llë in earlier sources (VT49:48, cf. PE17:69).

-llë

you

-llë (2) abandoned pronominal ending "you", 2nd person pl. (VT49:48); Tolkien later revised this ending to -ldë.

-lyë

you, thou

-l or -lyë (VT49:48, 51), pronominal endings for 2nd person sg. polite/formal "you, thou": caril or carilyë *"you do" (VT49:16), hamil "you judge" (VT42:33), anel "you were" (see #1); see -lyë for further examples. These endings may also be added to pronouns (etel/etelyë or mil, milyë; see et, mi). In one source, -l is rather used as a reduced affix denoting plural "you"; see heca! (WJ:364)

-ndë

you

[#-ndë (2) pronominal suffix for dual "you", as in carindë *"you (two) do". Tolkien changed the ending to -stë (VT49:33)]

-stë

you

-stë "you", 2nd person dual pronominal ending (VT49:51, 53), e.g. caristë "the two of you do" (VT49:16). Tolkien first wrote carindë, but changed the ending (VT49:33). The ending -stë is derived from earlier -dde (VT49:46, 51). An archaic ending of similar form could also be the third person dual, "the two of them" (but see -ttë #1).

-tyë

you

-t (3) reduced pronominal affix of the 2. person, "you" (sg.), the long form being -tyë (both endings are listed in VT49:48). See heca regarding the example hecat (WJ:364). However, in a later source, Tolkien denies that -tyë has any short form (VT49:51, 57). The status of the ending -t is therefore doubtful.

-tyë

you, thou

-tyë pronominal ending "you, thou" (VT49:48, 51), 2nd person familiar/intimate: carityë *"you do" (VT49:16; the corresponding formal/polite ending is -l, -lyë, cf. PE17:135 where Tolkien states that hiruvalyë "thou shalt find" from Namárië would be hiruvatyë if the polite pronoun were replaced by the familiar one). Compare the independent pronoun tye. In VT49:51, Tolkien denies that the ending -tyë has any short form (see, however, -t # 3). Cf. natyë "you are"; see #1. Compare tye, -tya.

alyë

you

alyë imperative particle with ending -lyë "you"; see a #3.

cemi

earth, soil, land

cemi noun "earth, soil, land"; Cémi ("k")"Mother Earth" (LT1:257; the "Qenya" word cemi would correspond to cemen in LotR-style Quenya)

ilcë

you

ilcë ("k") (2) *"you", emphatic pronoun of the 2nd person pl. familiar, apparently a form abandoned by Tolkien. An alternative form incë was also listed; a query appears between the forms (VT49:48).

incë

you

incë ("k") *"you", emphatic pronoun for 2nd person pl. familiar, apparently a form abandoned by Tolkien. It is listed as an alternative to ilcë in the source, a query appearing between the forms (VT49:48, 49). The word could also be read as intë (VT49:49)

-ntyë

you

[-ntyë "you", abandonded pronominal ending for 2nd person pl. familiar (VT49:49)]

mar

earth

mar (1) noun "earth" (world), also "home, dwelling, mansion". Stem mard- (VT46:13, PE17:64), also seen in the ablative Mardello "from earth" (FS); the word is used with a more limited sense in oromardi "high halls" (sg. oromar, PM17:64), referring to the dwellings of Manwë and Varda on Mt. Taniquetil (Nam, RGEO:66). The initial element of Mardorunando (q.v.) may be the genitive mardo (distinguish mardo "dweller"). May be more or less identical to már "home, house, dwelling" (of persons or peoples; in names like Val(i)mar, Vinyamar, Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil) (SA:bar, VT45:33, VT47:6). Már is however unlikely to have the stem-form mard-; a "Qenya" genitive maren appears in the phrase hon-maren, q.v., suggesting that its stem is mar-. A possible convention could therefore be to use már (mar-) for "home, house" (also when = household, family as in Mardil, q.v.), whereas mar (mard-) is used for for "earth, world". Early "Qenya" has mar (mas-) "dwelling of men, the Earth, -land" (LT1:251); notice that in LotR-style Quenya, a word in -r cannot have a stem-form in -s-.

nehta

spearhead

nehta (1) noun "spearhead", isolated from nernehta, q.v.

tunta-

see, notice, perceive

tunta- "see, notice, perceive", pa.t. túne (QL:95)

-llo

you

[-llo (2) "you", dual; abandoned pronominal ending. Also written -illo. (VT49:49)]

Sindarin 

ceven

noun. Earth

Sindarin [VT/44:21,27] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ceven

noun. *Earth, *earth; Earth

A word for “Earth” used in the Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s, in the phrase: bo Ceven sui vi Menel “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” (VT44/21). It is clearly a cognate of Q. cemen of the same meaning, and like Quenya I suspect this word can be used for both “Earth” and “earth”. The more usual Sindarin word for “world” was amar, so I suspect that, where referring to the global realm, ceven meant more the “habitable surface of the earth” rather than the entire planet. See, for example Christopher Tolkien’s note on kemen “referring to the earth as a flat floor beneath menel, the heavens” from The Silmarillion appendix (SA/kemen).

Possible Etymology: If this word is indeed a direct cognate of Q. cemen < ✱kemen, it is not clear why the final n didn’t vanish as was usual in Sindarin; perhaps the Sindarin form was derived from a variant primitive form like kemenē. Alternately, it may be a back-formation from some inflected form, as happened with other similar words like S. aran and S. thoron.

Cognates

  • Q. cemen “the earth; earth, the earth; earth, [ᴹQ.] soil”

Derivations

  • kemen “earth”
    • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth”

Element in

Variations

  • Ceven ✧ VT44/27

de

pronoun. you

Sindarin [PE17/026] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ennorath

noun. central lands, middle-earth

Sindarin [LotR/E, LotR/II:I, RGEO/72-75] Group: SINDICT. Published by

cae

noun. earth

This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies

Sindarin [Ety/363, X/OE] Group: SINDICT. Published by

naith

noun. any formation or projection tapering to a point: a spearhead, triangle gore, wedge, narrow promontory

Sindarin [Ety/387, UT/282, RC/307] Group: SINDICT. Published by

tíra-

verb. to see

Sindarin [tírad SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

tírad

gerund noun. to see, for the seing

Sindarin [SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

-d

suffix. you

2nd du. pron. suff. #you (two). Q. -star.See paradigm PE17:132.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:132] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

-dh

suffix. you

{ð} 2nd du. pron. suff. #you (two). Q. -star.See paradigm PE17:132.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:132] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

-dh

suffix. you

{ð} 2nd sg. pron. suff. #you. Q. -tar.See paradigm PE17:132.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:132] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

-dhir

suffix. you

{ð} 2nd pl. pron. suff. #you. Q. -ltar.See paradigm PE17:132.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:132] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

cen

verb. see

cen- (i gên, i chenir), also tíra- (i díra, i thírar), the latter rather meaning “watch”. SEEING #cened (i gened) (sight), pl. cenid (i chenid) if there is a pl. Isolated from cenedril, see mirror, SEEING STONE *gwachaedir (*i 'wachaedir) (palantír), no distinct pl. form. except with article (in gwachaedir); coll. pl. ?gwachaediriath or ?gwachadirnath (the latter assuming that -dir is reduced from older -dirn) The form occurring in the primary source, gwahaedir, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciation with h for ch (PM:186)

cen

see

(i** gên, i** chenir), also tíra- (i** díra, i** thírar), the latter rather meaning “watch”.

cened

seeing

(i gened) (sight), pl. cenid (i chenid) if there is a pl. Isolated from cenedril, see MIRROR.

ceven

earth

1) ceven (i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23), 2) (world) Amar (archaic Ambar), pl. Emair; 3) bâr (dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds. 4) (maybe ”earth” as substance) cae (i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also SOIL.

ceven

earth

(i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23)

ennor

place name. central land, middle-earth

Sindarin [LotR/E, X/ND2] Published by

cae

noun. earth

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/adaptations. Published by

cae

earth

(i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also

gwachaedir

seeing stone

(i ’wachaedir) (palantír), no distinct pl. form. except with article (in gwachaedir); coll. pl. ?gwachaediriath or ?gwachadirnath (the latter assuming that -dir is reduced from older -dirn) The form occurring in the primary source, gwahaedir, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciation with h for ch (PM:186) ****

amar

earth

(archaic Ambar), pl. Emair

bâr

earth

(dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

naith

spearhead

naith (gore, wedge, point, promontory); no distinct pl. form;

Telerin 

de

pronoun. you

Derivations

  • le “you (sg.)” ✧ VT49/50

Adûnaic

dâira

noun. Earth

A noun translated as “Earth” in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). It may be related to S. dôr “land”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/13).

Conceptual Development: In the Lament of Akallabêth (first draft), this noun appeared as kamāt (SD/311).

Element in

Variations

  • dāira ✧ SD/247

Primitive elvish

ken

root. see, perceive, note, see, perceive, note, [ᴹ√] look at, observe, direct gaze

Tolkien first introduced this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a variant of ᴹ√KHEN “look at, see, observe, direct gaze” along with ᴹ√KYEN (EtyAC/KHEN). In The Etymologies it had no derivatives, but in the Quenya Verbal System it appeared with the gloss “see, perceive” as the basis for the verb ᴹQ. ken- of the same meaning (PE22/103). √KEN “see, perceive” appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writing thereafter (PE17/156, 187; PE22/155; VT41/5).

Derivatives

  • ᴺQ. cecenna- “to visit”
  • ᴺQ. cemma “picture, (lit.) something seen”
  • Q. cen- “to see, behold, look, to see, behold, look, *perceive”
  • Q. cenda- “to watch (intensively), observe (for some time); to read” ✧ PE17/156; VT41/05
  • Q. cénima “visible, visible, [ᴹQ.] able to be seen” ✧ PE22/155
  • Q. cenítë “seeing, *able to see” ✧ PE22/155
  • Q. centa “enquiry, *essay”
  • ᴺQ. cenya- “to study”
  • S. cen- “to see, perceive, look”

Element in

  • ᴺQ. ehten “outlook, sight, view, spectacle”

Variations

  • ken ✧ VT41/05
Primitive elvish [PE17/156; PE17/187; PE22/155; VT41/05] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kemen

noun. earth

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth”

Derivatives

  • Q. cemen “the earth; earth, the earth; earth, [ᴹQ.] soil”
  • S. cevenEarth, earth; Earth”
Primitive elvish [PE21/71] Group: Eldamo. Published by

keme

noun. earth

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth”

Variations

  • kĕmĕ ✧ PE21/80 (kĕmĕ)
Primitive elvish [PE21/80] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

cen-

verb. to see

Noldorin [cenedril TI/184] Group: SINDICT. Published by

coe

noun. earth

This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies

Noldorin [Ety/363, X/OE] Group: SINDICT. Published by

coe

noun. earth

An indeclinable word given as {cíw >>} coe “earth” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√KEM (Ety/KEM; EtyAC/KEM).

Possible Etymology: The primitive form of rejected cíw is given as ᴹ✶kēm and its derivation is clear: the long ē became ī and then the final m reduced to w after i as usual. The derivation of coe is more obscure, however. The likeliest explanation is that Tolkien imagined its ancient form with a slightly lowered vowel which he generally represented as ǣ in this period (in later writings as ę̄). According to the first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Comparative Vowel Tables from the 1930s (PE18/46; PE19/25), ǣ &gt; ei &gt; ai &gt; ae, and in The Etymologies itself, it seems ai often became oe instead of ae.

Neo-Sindarin: Updating the derivation of hypothetical ✱kę̄m would produced ᴺS. cae in Sindarin phonology. But given the obscurity of its derivation, I recommend using 1950s S. ceven for “earth” instead.

Changes

  • cíwcoe ✧ Ety/KEM

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. kemen “soil, earth; Great Lands” ✧ Ety/KEM

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” ✧ Ety/KEM
  • ᴹ✶kēm “*earth” ✧ EtyAC/KEM
    • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” ✧ Ety/KEM

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√KEM > coe[kǣm] > [kaim] > [kai] > [koe]✧ Ety/KEM
ᴹ✶kēm > cíw[kēm] > [kīm] > [kīv] > [kīw]✧ EtyAC/KEM

Variations

  • cíw ✧ EtyAC/KEM (cíw)
Noldorin [Ety/KEM; EtyAC/KEM] Group: Eldamo. Published by

amar

noun. earth

Noldorin [Ety/372] Group: SINDICT. Published by

amar

noun. Earth

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. Ambar “Earth, World” ✧ Ety/MBAR

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” ✧ Ety/MBAR
    • ᴹ√BAR “raise; uplift, save, rescue(?)” ✧ Ety/BAR

Element in

  • N. Emerin “Middle-earth” ✧ Ety/MBAR
  • N. Gondobar “Stone of the World” ✧ Ety/MBAR

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√MBAR > ambar > amar[ambar] > [ambar] > [ammar] > [amar]✧ Ety/MBAR
Noldorin [Ety/MBAR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ambar

noun. earth

Noldorin [Ety/372] Group: SINDICT. Published by

naith

noun. any formation or projection tapering to a point: a spearhead, triangle gore, wedge, narrow promontory

Noldorin [Ety/387, UT/282, RC/307] Group: SINDICT. Published by

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 

le

pronoun. you

Element in

Variations

  • le ✧ PE22/106; PE22/118; PE22/119; PE22/120; PE22/124; PE22/127
  • ✧ PE22/124
Qenya [PE22/106; PE22/118; PE22/119; PE22/120; PE22/123; PE22/124; PE22/127] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hún

noun. earth, earth, *ground

A word in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s with stem form hun- and gloss “earth” (QL/39). It might be a later iteration of ᴱQ. han “ground, earth” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/39), and if so then hún might also be used as “✱ground”. I think it is useful to assume so for purposes of Neo-Quenya, as the other attested word for “ground”, Q. talan, is probably used more often for “floor”, including floors above the ground level.

Variations

  • hun ✧ PE21/19
Qenya [PE21/19; PE21/24; PE21/25] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

ken

root. see, perceive, look at, observe, direct gaze

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. ken- “to see” ✧ PE22/103
  • ᴹQ. kenya- “to see”

Variations

  • KEN ✧ EtyAC/KHEN; PE22/103
  • KYEN ✧ EtyAC/KHEN
Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/KHEN; PE22/103] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ken

root. spearhead, gore

A rejected (Noldorin-only?) root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “spearhead, gore” (EtyAC/KEN).

Derivatives

  • N. Caint ✧ EtyAC/KEN
  • N. cîn “wedge, gore” ✧ EtyAC/KEN
  • N. coenel “gore, wedge” ✧ EtyAC/KEN

Variations

  • KEN ✧ EtyAC/KEN (KEN)
Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/KEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kyen

root. see, perceive, look at, observe, direct gaze

Middle Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

kēm

noun. *earth

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” ✧ Ety/KEM

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. kemen “soil, earth; Great Lands”
  • N. coe “earth” ✧ EtyAC/KEM
Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/KEM] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

-gen

suffix. *earth

An unglossed suffix in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, final element of G. grosgen “soil”, and cognate to ᴱQ. kēmi “earth, soil, land” (GL/42), and so probably derived from the root ᴱ√KEME “soil” (QL/46).

Cognates

  • Eq. kemi “earth, soil, land” ✧ GL/42

Derivations

  • ᴱ√KEME “soil” ✧ LT1A/Kémi

Element in

  • G. grosgen “soil” ✧ GL/42; LT1A/Kémi
Gnomish [GL/42; LT1A/Kémi] Group: Eldamo. Published by

groth

noun. earth, soil

A noun in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “earth, soil” (GL/42). Its derivation is unclear, but it might be from a strengthened form of the root ᴱ√ROTO “hollow”.

Derivations

  • ᴱ√ROTO “hollow”

Element in

Early Quenya

ken

noun. *earth, soil

ke

pronoun. you; 2nd sg. pronoun

Changes

  • te-ke- “Sg. 2” ✧ PE14/052

Element in

  • Eq. kéto “you (emphatic); 2nd sg. pronoun” ✧ PE14/052; PE14/052 (tēto)
  • Eq. ketya “*your; 2nd sg. possessive emphatic” ✧ PE14/052
  • Eq. mai ke·tule “do you come?” ✧ PE14/053
  • Eq. tya- “*your; 2nd sg. possessive” ✧ PE14/052

Variations

  • ke- ✧ PE14/052; PE14/085
  • te- ✧ PE14/052 (te-)
  • ke ✧ PE14/053
Early Quenya [PE14/052; PE14/053; PE14/085] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kemi

noun. earth, soil, land

An Early Qenya word derived from the root ᴱ√KEME and translated “earth, soil, land” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/46) and as “earth, soil” in Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa from this same period (PME/46). While this form and derivation are compatible with Tolkien later notions of the Elvish languages, I think it is better to use the later terms cemen for “earth, soil” and nór for “land”.

Cognates

  • G. -gen “*earth” ✧ GL/42

Derivations

  • ᴱ√KEME “soil” ✧ LT1A/Kémi; QL/046

Element in

  • Eq. Kémi “Earth-lady, Mother Earth” ✧ LT1A/Kémi

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√KEME > kemi[kemī] > [kemi]✧ QL/046

Variations

  • kēmi ✧ GL/42
  • ken ✧ GL/42
Early Quenya [GL/42; LT1A/Kémi; PME/046; QL/046] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tye

pronoun. you

Element in

Variations

  • tye ✧ LFC/030
Early Quenya [LFC/030] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sar

noun. earth, soil

A word for “earth, soil” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, but it was marked with an “X” and ᴱQ. kemen (of similar meaning) was written next to it as an alternative (PE16/139).

Changes

  • sarkemen “earth, soil” ✧ PE16/139
Early Quenya [PE16/139] Group: Eldamo. Published by