mai-

prefix. excellent, admirable, excellent, admirable; *well, happily

mai-

verb. to have, possess

An irregular verb for “have, possessive” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/148). The section where it appeared was struck through (PE22/148 note #24). It may have been supplanted by öa- “possess, own, keep” from the same bundle of documents (PE22/151).

mai

adverb. well, well; [ᴱQ.] too much

mai

well

mai (1) adv. "well" (VT47:6), apparently also used as prefix (PE17:17:162, 163, 172)

mai

if

mai (2) conj. "if" (PE14:59 cf. VT49:20; possibly obsoleted by #1 above; for "if", Tolkien later used qui)

Mairen

well

Mairen fem. name(UT:210), initial element perhaps related or identical to mai "well". The second element is obscure; the root REN "recall, have in mind" (PM:372) could be related; if so the name may imply "well remembered", "(of) good memory" or something similar. It may also connect with the adj. maira, q.v. and compare the masc. name Mairon (PE18:163).

amya-

verb. [unglossed]

amya-

prefix. excellent, admirable

arra

adjective. [unglossed]

cairë

?. [unglossed]

conta-

verb. [unglossed]

cé

conjunction. if

cúma

noun. [unglossed]

ehtelu-

verb. well, bubble out

felca

adjective. [unglossed]

felehta-

verb. [unglossed], *to excavate, tunnel, mine

An untranslated form appearing in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 derived from the root √PHELEG/PHELEK (PE17/118), possibly a verb derived from ✱phelektā- or ✱phelegtā-. The derivatives of this root had to do with mines and tunnels, so perhaps this verb meant “✱to excavate, tunnel, mine”.

finca

noun. [unglossed]

hendas

?. [unglossed]

hindo

noun. [unglossed]

hindë

noun. [unglossed]

holdë

noun. [unglossed]

hríva

place name. [unglossed]

háro

?. [unglossed]

iqui

conjunction. if

iqui

conjunction. if

lingi-

verb. [unglossed]

maitya

?. [unglossed]

malsa

?. [unglossed]

mandë

well

mandë (2) adv. "well" (VT49:26; this is "Qenya"). Rather mai in Tolkiens later Quenya.

melya-

verb. [unglossed], *to be in love

má

noun. hand

The most common Quenya word for “hand”, which Tolkien usually derived from a root √MAH or √MAƷ “hand; handle, wield”. The weak consonant h or ʒ in the root was lost very early, so that primitive ✶mā was one of a rare set of ancient monosyllabic nouns ending in a vowel. Tolkien said that of the various hand words, má was “the oldest (probably) and the one that retained a general and unspecialized sense - referring to the entire hand (including wrist) in any attitude or function” (VT47/6).

As a part of the body, má “hand” was usually referred to in the singular (má) or dual (mát). This was true when referring to the hands of groups of people as well. For example, to say that “the Elves raised their hands”, you would say either i Eldar ortaner mánta (singular, one hand each) or i Eldar ortaner mántat (dual, both hands each), with the possessive suffix -nta “their”.

The plural form már “hands” (or archaic †mai) was almost never used, in part because it conflicted with Q. már “dwelling”. The singular form was also used in general statements and proverbs: “hand is cleverer than foot” má anfinya epe tál (ná). A collection of otherwise unrelated hands would likely use the partitive-plural form: máli “some hands”, which in this case could also serve as the general plural (VT47/12 Note 2). See the discussions on PE17/161 and VT47/6 for more information.

This word is also unusual in that it retains its long vowel before consonant clusters in inflected forms such as mánta “their hand” (PE17/161) or márya “his/her hand” (PE17/69). As Tolkien described it:

> Lá is usually shortened to la before 2 consonants, according to the usual Q. procedure, but the long vowel can be retained, especially for additional emphasis, as in other cases where pronominal affixes follow a long vowel, as in márya “his hand” (PE22/160).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to ᴱQ. mā “hand” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√MAHA “grasp” (QL/57). ᴹQ. má “hand” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” (Ety/MAƷ). Tolkien mentioned this word with great frequency, usually derived from √MAH or √MAƷ (as noted above) though he sometimes considered deriving it from √MAG instead.

máriel

feminine name. [unglossed]

naue

?. [unglossed]

níva

?. [unglossed]

que

conjunction. if

qui

if

qui conj. "if" (VT49:19)

qui

conjunction. if, when

qui

conjunction. if

quí(ta)

conjunction. if

sal-

verb. [unglossed]

sélo

?. [unglossed]

sóla

?. [unglossed]

tampo

well

tampo noun "well" (QL:93)

thar- Archaic

verb. [unglossed]

tomba

noun. [unglossed]

tompë

noun. [unglossed]

um(ba)-

prefix. [unglossed]

umbacarin

noun. [unglossed]

éna

?. [unglossed]

úpa-

verb. [unglossed]

þúna Archaic

?. [unglossed]

it(ë) Speculative

adverb. if

tampo

noun. well