me (1) 1st person pl. exclusive pronoun "we, us" (VT49:51; VT43:23, VT44:9). This pronoun preserves the original stem-form (VT49:50). Stressed mé (VT49:51). Cf. also mel-lumna "us-is-heavy", sc. *"is heavy for us" (LR:47, mel- is evidently an assimilated form of men "for us", dative of me; the form men is attested by itself, VT43:21). For me as object, cf. álamë** "do not [do something to] us", negative imperative particle with object pronoun suffixed (VT43:19: álamë tulya, "do not lead us"), ámen** "do [something for] us", imperative particle with dative pronoun suffixed (ámen apsenë "forgive us", VT43:12, 18). Dual exclusive met "we/us (two)" (Nam, VT49:51), "you and me" (VT47:11; the latter translation would make met an inclusive pronoun, though it is elsewhere suggested that it is rather exclusive: "him/her and me", corresponding to wet [q.v.] as the true inclusive dual form). Rá men or rámen "for us/on our behalf", see rá. Locative messë "on us", VT44:12 (also with prefix o, ó- ?"with" in the same source). See also ménë, ómë.
Quenya
men-
go
men-
verb. to go, proceed, move (generally); to come, arrive
Changes
men-→ men- “go, come” ✧ PE17/013Derivations
- √MEN “go, move, proceed (in any direction); make for, go towards; have as object, (in)tend; direction, object, point moved toward; region” ✧ VT49/23
Element in
- Q. alamen “good omen on departure”
- Q. Haimenar “*Far-farer”
- Q. Ambarmenië “Way of the World”
- Q. á menë amménië “proceed with more determination” ✧ PE17/094; PE17/094
- Q. Ermenië “One Beginning”
- ᴺQ. etemen- “to go out, go forth”
- Q. imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië “between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon” ✧ VT47/11
- ᴺQ. menemma “movie, motion picture”
- Q. mennen sís “I arrive[d] here” ✧ VT49/24
- Q. menta- “to send, cause to go (in a desired direction)”
- Q. menta- “have as object[ive], (in)tend, proceed, make for, go towards” ✧ PE17/013
- Q. mentië “passage, journey, direction of travel” ✧ PE17/013
- Q. nanwen- “to return, go/come back”
- Q. omen- “to move to a common point, meet, to meet, move to a common point, *(lit.) move together” ✧ PE17/013
- Q. omentië “meeting (of pathways), (lit.) coming together of journey-path, meeting or junction of the directions of two people” ✧ PE17/013
- Q. quiquië menin coaryanna, arsë “whenever I arrive at his house/come to/get to, he is out” ✧ VT49/24
- Q. vá ménanyë “I am not coming (I say)” ✧ PE22/162
- Q. vá meninyë ó le “I won’t come with you” ✧ PE22/162
- Q. yá hríve menë, ringa ná “when winter comes/arrives/is with us, it is cold” ✧ VT49/24
- Q. yomenië “meeting, gathering, meeting, gathering, *congress”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √men- > mēna- [mēna-] ✧ VT49/23
me
we, us
-lmë
we
-lmë 1st person pl. pronominal ending: "we" (VT49:38; 51 carilmë *"we do", VT49:16). It was originally intended to be inclusive "we" (VT49:48), including the person(s) spoken to, but by 1965 Tolkien made this the ending for exclusive "we" instead (cf. the changed definition of the corresponding possessive ending -lma, see above). _(VT49:38) Exemplified in laituvalmet "we shall bless them" (lait-uva-lme-t "bless-shall-we-them") (the meaning apparently changed from inclusive to exclusive "we", VT49:55), see also nalmë under ná# 1. (LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308_)
-mmë
we
-mmë "we", 1st person dual exclusive pronominal ending: "I and one other" (compare the inclusive dual form -ngwë or -nquë). First written -immë in one source (VT49:57). Carimmë, "the two of us do" (VT49:16, cf. VT43:6). At an earlier conceptual stage, the ending was already exclusive, but plural rather than dual: vammë "we won't" (WJ:371), firuvammë "we will die" (VT43:34), etemmë ?"out of us" (VT43:36); see also VT49:48, 49, 55. Also compare the corresponding emphatic pronoun emmë (q.v.). The ending -lmë replaced -mmë in its former (plural exclusive) sense. In some early material, -mmë was apparently used as an ending for plural inclusive "we" (VT49:55).
-nen
suffix. instrumental
Derivations
- ✶-mē̆n “instrumental, with (which)” ✧ PE21/79
emmë
we
emmë (2) pron. "we", emphatic pronoun; dative emmen (VT43:12, 20). In the source this pronoun is intended as the 1st person plural exclusive; later Tolkien changed the corresponding pronominal ending from -mmë to -lmë, and the plural emphatic pronoun would likewise change from emmë to *elmë. Since the ending -mmë was redefined as a dualexclusive pronoun, the form emmë may still be valid as such, as a dual emphatic pronoun "we" = "(s)he and I".
-ngwë
we
-ngwë "we", 1st person dual inclusive pronominal ending: "thou and I" (compare the exclusive dual form -mmë). Caringwë, "the two of us do" (VT49:16). One source lists the ending as "-inke > -inque" instead (VT49:51, 53, 57; "inke" was apparently Old Quenya). In an earlier pronoun table reproduced in VT49:48, the ending -ngwë is listed as an alternative to -lmë, which Tolkien at the time used as the plural inclusive ending (a later revision made it plural exclusive).
Hesin
winter
Hesin noun "winter" (LT1:255; LotR-style Quenya has hrívë instead)
Yelin
winter
Yelin noun "winter" (LT1:260; LotR-style Quenya has hrívë, and Yelin was probably obsoleted together with the adjective yelwa_ "cold", that appears with a different meaning in the Etymologies)._
hríve
noun. winter
hrívë
winter
hrívë noun "winter", in the calendar of Imladris a precisely defined period of 72 days, but also used without any exact definition (Appendix D). Yá hrívë tenë, ringa ná "when winter comes (arrives, is with us), it is cold" (VT49:23; Tolkien changed tenë to menë, p. 24). The word Hrívion, heading a section of the poem The Trees of Kortirion that has to do with the "fading time", would seem to be related (LT1:42)
hrívë
noun. winter
Cognates
- S. rhîw “winter” ✧ LotR/1107
Element in
- Q. hrívë úva véna “winter is drawing near (to us)” ✧ PE22/167; VT49/14
- Q. Hrívion
- Q. Metterrívë “January, *(lit.) End-winter”
- Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168
- Q. yá hríve menë, ringa ná “when winter comes/arrives/is with us, it is cold” ✧ VT49/23 (
yá hríve tene, ringa ná)Variations
- hríve ✧ PE22/167; PE22/168; VT49/14; VT49/23
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.
-ma
suffix. instrumental
Derivations
- ✶-mā “instrumental suffix”
Element in
-lwë
we
-lwë, later -lvë, pronominal ending "we" (VT49:51), 1st person pl. inclusive ending, occurring in the verbs carilwë "we do" (VT49:16) and navilwë (see #nav-). The ending became -lvë in later, Exilic Quenya (VT49:51). See -lv-.
ve
we
ve (2) pron. "we", 1st person pl. inclusive (corresponding to exclusive me), derived from an original stem-form we (VT49:50, PE17:130). Variant vi, q.v. Stressed wé, later vé (VT49:51). Dative (*wéna >) véna, VT49:14. Dual wet*, later vet "the two of us" (inclusive; cf. exclusive met) (VT49:51). Also compare the dative form ngwin or ngwen (q.v.), but this would apparently be wen > ven** according to Tolkiens later ideas.
vi
we
vi pron. "we", 1st person inclusive (PE17:130), variant of ve #2.
we
we
we, wé, see ve #2
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-.
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.
#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.