ono

but

ono conj. "but" (VT43:23, VT44:5/9)

ono

conjunction. but

ono alyë eterúna me illumë ilya raxellor

but deliver us always from all dangers

The third line of Ortírielyanna, Tolkien’s translation of the Sub Tuum Praesidium prayer. The first word is the conjunction ono “but”. The second word alyë is 2nd-person-polite form of the imperative particle á. The third word eterúna is the aorist/infinitive form of the verb eterúna- “to deliver”. The fourth word is the pronoun me “us”.

The fourth word is the adverb illumë “always”, while the fifth word is the adjective ilya “all”. The last word raxellor “from dangers” is the ablative (-llo “from”) plural form of raxë “danger”. The final -r marks it as plural (“dangers”), so it is odd that the preceding adjective is not also plural, but it seems to be the rule that adjectives are not declined into the plural when they modify a noun that is itself in a noun case; see the discussion on Quenya adjectives.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ono a-lye eterúna me illume ilya raxe-llo-r = “✱but do-thou deliver us always all danger-from-(plural)”

Conceptual Development: The verb was first written eterunna >> eteruńna, which Wynne, Smith and Hostetter concluded was a slip for eterúna, the form of the verb as it appeared in the Átaremma prayer (VT44/9). The pronoun “us” changed from dative men >> uninflected me (VT44/5). Tolkien consider two other forms for “always”: vora >> vore before settling on illumë. The word for “from dangers” was first written raxalellor >> raxellor, apparently changing the underlying noun raxalë >> raxë (VT44/9).

onot-

verb. *to count up, reckon, [ᴹQ.] to count up, *reckon

A verb implied by the nouns onótimo and onótië (MR/49, 57), presumably “✱reckoner” and “✱reckoning” respectively, so the verb onot- likely means “✱to reckon”. It is clearly a combination of o- “together” and not- “count”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. onot- was glossed “count up” and was derived from the root ᴹ√NOT “count, reckon” (Ety/NOT).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. qoto- “count up; reckon; account, call up; think, consider” under the early root ᴱ√QOTO (QL/78), and ᴱQ. tasta- “reckon” under the early root ᴱ√TAÞA “count” (QL/90).

onot-

count up

onot- vb. "count up" (NOT). Compare not-.

onortanen rocco

I rode a horse

onónë

onónë

onónë see onórë

mal ámë etelehta ulcullo: násië

but deliver us from evil: Amen

The tenth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The conjunction mal “but” is followed by a combination of imperative particle á and the pronoun me “us”. This is followed by the aorist form of the verb etelehta “deliver” and ulcullo “from evil”, the ablative form of the noun ulco (perhaps a noun form of ulca). The final word násië, corresponding to English “Amen”, seems to be a Quenya word meaning “✱be it thus”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> mal á-më ete-lehta ulcu-llo: násië = “✱but (imperative)-us out-free evil-from: amen”

Conceptual Development: The tenth line underwent more changes than any other line in the prayer. In version III of the prayer, this phrase was first written as a near match to the phrase in version IIb, but was radically altered to a form that persisted to version IV. The analysis below designates these two variations of version III as IIIa and IIIb.

In earlier versions of the prayer, the word for “but” was mostly ono (IIa-IV), though in version I it was {anat >>} one, and it was elided to on’ in version IIIa.

The earlier imperative element was either na (I-IIa) or a (IIIb-IV), and it appeared either before the verb (I-IIa, IIIb-IV) or in the middle of the verb (IIb-IIIa) as et·a·rúna.

The object pronoun me consistently appeared immediately after the verb in the versions I-IV of the prayer rather than before the verb as in version V-VI.

The early versions (I-IV) used a different verb et(e)rúna for “deliver”, still in the aorist tense but in (IIIb-IV) with an embedded imperative et·a·rúna, as noted above.

Tolkien earlier considered several words for “evil”: olca (I deleted), ulca (I), ulco (IIa) and úro (IIa-IV), the last of these possibly a noun form of úra “nasty”. These appeared either with the allative suffix -llo (I) or the preposition va “(away) from” (IIa-IV). In versions IIIb-IV only, the prepositional phrase va úro appeared before the verb rather than after.

Quenya words corresponding to “Amen” appeared only in a few versions: san na (IIa), násan (IIb) and násië (VI), each meaning something like “✱be it thus” or “✱be it so”.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|IIIa|IIIb|IV|V|VI| |{anat >>}|one|ono|on’|ono|mal| |na etrúna me|et·a·rúna me|va úro|ám’ etelehta|áme etelehta| |{olcallo >>}|ulcallo|va ulco|{var-úra >>} va úro|aly’ eterúna me|ulcullo| | |san na|násan| |násie|

onta-

beget, create

onta- (pa.t. ónë or ontanë) vb. "beget, create" (ONO, PE17:170)

ónë

beget, create

ónë one pa.t. of onta- vb. "beget, create" (the pa.t. may also be ontanë) (ONO)

norta-

verb. to ride, [lit.] make run (specially used of riding horses or other animals)

A verb for “ride” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s as a causative verb based on the root √NOR “run”, thus more literally “make run, specially used of riding horses or other animals” (PE17/168). As examples of its use, Tolkien gave the phrases nortanen “I rode” and onortanen rokko “I rode a horse”. The function of the prefix o- in the latter phrase isn’t entirely clear, but Vyacheslav Stepanov suggested it might be o- “together”, so that “I rode a horse = I made a horse run together [with me]”. If so, it may be the case that o- is used when the verb has a direct object (onortanyes “I ride [together with] it”) and is omitted when the verb has no object (nortal sí “you ride now”).

Conceptual Development: See the entry for ᴱQ. lehta- “ride” for a discussion of earlier “ride” verbs.

onótimo

noun. *reckoner

An element in the name Quennar (i) Onótimo (MR/49), probably meaning “✱Quennar the Reckoner” as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (VT34/30), clearly based on √NOT “count, reckon”.

onótië

noun. *reckoning

An element in the name Yénonótië (MR/57), probably meaning “✱Reckoning of Years”, clearly based on √NOT “count, reckon”.

Onótimo

reckoner

Onótimo noun *"Reckoner" (the untranslated title of one Quennar, an expert of chronology) (MR:48-51)

norta-

make run, specially used of riding horses or other animals

norta- vb. (1) "make run, specially used of riding horses or other animals", onortanen rocco "I rode a horse", nortanen "I rode" (with ellipsis of object; the prefix o- must apparently be included if the animal one rides on is mentioned as a direct object) (PE17:168)

not-

reckon

not- vb. "reckon" (NOT); compare onot-. Passive participle nótina "counted, reckoned" (FS), nótima "countable" (PE17:68), #notië "counting, reckoning" in maquanotië "decimal system" (VT47:10), variant #nótië in caistanótië of similar meaning (VT48:11).

ó-

used in words describing the meeting, junction, or union of two things or persons, or of two groups thought of as units

ó- (usually reduced to o- when unstressed) a prefix "used in words describing the meeting, junction, or union of two things or persons, or of two groups thought of as units". In omentië, onóna, ónoni, q.v. _(WJ:367, PE17:191; in the Etymologies, stem WŌ, the prefix _o-, ó- is simply defined as "together".) In VT43:29 is found a table showing how pronominal endings can be added to the preposition ó-; the resulting forms are onyë or óni "with me", ómë "with us" [also in VT43:36, where "us" is said to be exclusive], ólyë or ólë "with you" (olyë only sg. "you", whereas ólë can be either sg. or pl.), ósë "with him/her", ótë *"with them" (of animates where "them" refers to non-persons, óta [or shortened ót] is used, though the conceptual validity of ta as a pl. pronoun is questionable), ósa (or shortened ós) "with it". (Two additional forms, ótar and ótari, presumably mean "with them" of inanimate things; see VT49:56 for a possible second attestation of tar as the word for plural inanimate "they".) However, Tolkien's later decision to the effect that ó- refers to two parties only may throw doubt upon the conceptual validity of some of these forms, where at least three persons would be implied (like ótë "with them", where one person is "with" two or more others though Tolkien indicates that two groups may also be involved where the preposition ó- is used). The explicit statement in WJ:367 that the prepostion o (variant of ó) did not exist independently in Quenya is however difficult to get around, so instead using the preposition ó/o (with or without endings) for "with", writers may rather use as, the form appearing in the last version of Tolkien's Quenya Hail Mary (also attested with a pronominal suffix: aselyë "with you").

#onótië

reckoning

#onótië noun "reckoning" (isolated from Yénonótië *"reckoning of years", MR:51)

nésa

sister

nésa (Þ) noun "sister" (VT47:14); this form from a late source possibly replaces earlier seler and onórë, q.v.

onóna

twin-born

onóna (1) adj. "twin-born"; (2) noun "one of a pair of twins"; pl. ónoni "twins" (WJ:367)

onóro

brother

onóro noun "brother" (of blood-kinship) (TOR, NŌ (WŌ) )

onórë

sister

onórë noun "sister" (of blood-kin) (THEL/THELES, NŌ; both of these entries in the Etymologies as reproduced in LR have the reading "onóne", but the "Old Noldorin" cognate wanúre listed in the entry THEL/THELES seems to indicate that the Quenya word should be onórë; the letters n and r are easily confused in Tolkien's handwriting. There is no clear evidence for a feminine ending -në in Quenya, but -rë is relatively well attested; cf. for instance ontarë.) A later source gives the word for "sister" as nésa instead.

nos(së)

noun. kindred, family, kindred, family, [ᴹQ.] clan, ‘house’, [ᴱQ.] folk, kin, people

anat

but

anat conj. "but" (VT43:23; possibly an ephemeral form)

apa

but

apa (3) conj. "but": melinyes apa la hé "I love him but not him" (another) (VT49:15)

apa

conjunction. but

hanno

brother

hanno noun "brother" (a colloquial form, cf. háno), also used in children's play for "middle finger" (VT47:12, 14, VT48:4, 6)

háno

brother

háno noun "brother", colloquially also hanno (VT47:12, 14). It is unclear whether Tolkien, by introducing this form, abandoned the older (TLT) word toron (q.v.)

háno

noun. brother

A word for “brother” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √KHAN of the same meaning (VT47/14). It had a diminutive/affectionate variant hanno used as a play name for the middle finger in several places in these notes (VT47/12; VT48/6).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. toron “brother” from the root ᴹ√TOR (Ety/TOR), and the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. herendo “brother” from the early root ᴱ√HESE (QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

mal

but

mal conj. "but" (VT43:23)

mal

conjunction. but

nan

but

nan conj. "but" (FS); the Etymologies also gives ná, nán (NDAN), but these words may be confused with forms of the verb "to be", so nan should perhaps be preferred, unless for "but" one uses the wholly distinct word mal. In Tolkien's later Quenya, it may be that he introduced new words for "but" to free up nan for another meaning (perhaps the adverb "back", compare the prefix nan-).

nosta-

beget

nosta- vb., variously glossed "beget" (SD:73) or passive "be begotten" (PE17:170); in earlier "Qenya" the gloss was "give birth" (LT1:272)

ná

but, on the contrary, on the other hand

ná (2), also nán, conj. "but, on the contrary, on the other hand" (NDAN; the form nan, q.v., is probably to be preferred to avoid confusion with ná "is", *nán "I am").

nésa

noun. sister

A word for “sister” coined by Tolkien in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, based on the root √NETH of similar meaning (VT47/12, 14). It had a diminutive/affectionate variant nettë used as a play name for the fourth finger in several places in these notes (VT47/12; VT48/6), but I prefer to mainly use nettë for “(little) girl” in Neo-Quenya (VT47/10, 15, 33).

Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. seler “sister” from the root ᴹ√THEL or THELES (Ety/THEL), and the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. heresse “sister” from the early root ᴱ√HESE (QL/40). See those entries for discussion.

nó

but

nó (2) conj. "but" (VT41:13)

nó

conjunction. but

onë

but

onë conj. "but" (VT43:23)

onë

conjunction. but

onóna

noun/adjective. twin-born; one of a pair of twins

osellë

sister, [female] associate

osellë (þ) noun "sister, [female] associate" (THEL/THELES, WŌ). Cf. otorno.

otorno

brother, sworn brother, [male] associate

otorno noun "brother, sworn brother, [male] associate" (TOR, WŌ). Cf. osellë.

sarda

hard

sarda adj. "hard" (VT39:17); pl. sardë "hards" may be used in the same sense as sarda tengwi, q.v. (As an independent form we would rather expect a nominal pl. sardar.)

seler

sister

seler (þ) (sell-, as in pl. selli) noun "sister" (THEL/THELES). In a later source, the word nésa (q.v.) appears instead, leaving the conceptual status of seler uncertain.

torna

hard

#torna adj. "hard", as in tornanga (q.v.), seemingly -storna after prefixes ending in a vowel, as in the comparative forms aristorna, anastorna (PE17:56; the forms are untranslated and may not necessarily be the same adjective "hard".)

torna

adjective. hard

toron

brother

toron (torn- as in pl. torni) noun "brother" (TOR; a later source gives háno, hanno [q.v.] as the word for "brother", leaving the status of toron uncertain)

urda

hard, difficult, arduous

urda adj. "hard, difficult, arduous" (PE17:154)