si

here

si adv. "here" (VT49:33; this may be a root or "element" rather than a Quenya word; see sissë, sinomë)

si

adverb. here

si

this

Derivations

• √SI “this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now”

Element in

• ᴺQ. silúmëa “current, contemporary, modern”
• Q. siar(ë) “*today, this day”
• Q. sítë “of this sort”
• Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168

Variations

• si ✧ PE22/168

sin

now

sin (2) adv., a form of sí "now" (q.v.) often occurring before vowels; also sín (SI). However, sí itself (q.v.) may also appear before a vowel.

sí

now

sí adv. "now" (Nam, RGEO:67, LR:47, SD:310, VT43:34, VT49:18, PE17:94), sin (SI, LR:47) or sín _(SD:247, 310) _before vowels. Compare the distribution of a/an in English, though in his Quenya version of Hail Mary, Tolkien used sí also before a vowel (sí ar "now and", VT43:28). Si, a short (or incompletely annotated) form of sí (VT43:26, 34). In Fíriel's Song, sí is translated "here".

sí

adverb. now

sí

adverb. now

Cognates

• S. hí “now” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/045; PE17/127; PE22/147
• S. sí “here, in this place (of speaker)” ✧ PE22/147

Derivations

• ✶sī “this (by me), now or here” ✧ PE17/067; VT49/18
  • √SI “this, this, [ᴹ√] here, now” ✧ PE17/067

Element in

• Q. an sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë “for now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. an sí Varda, Tintallë, Elentári ortanë máryat Oiolossëo ve fanyar “for now Varda, Star-kindler, Star-queen [has] lifted up her (two) hands from Mount Everwhite like (white) clouds” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. á carë (sí) ancárië “try harder” ✧ PE17/094
• Q. Eru fai, sî, euva “*Eru (was) before, (is) now, will be (after)” ✧ PE22/147
• Q. ma Varda enquantuva i yulma nin sí “will Varda now refill the cup for me?” ✧ PE22/161
• Q. násië “now and at the hour of our death: Amen” ✧ VT43/34; VT43/34
• Q. sillë “like this”
• ᴺQ. silomë “tonight”
• Q. silumë “now, (lit.) at this time, now, at this time, *present” ✧ VT49/18
• ᴺQ. silussë “present tense, (lit.) here-and-now-tense”
• Q. sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “who now shall refill the cup for me?” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “now who the cup for me will refill?” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. sí man i yulmar men enquantuva? “*who now shall refill the cups for us?” ✧ Minor-Doc/2013-05-13
• Q. sí man i yulmar n(g)wen enquantuva “*who now will refill the cups for us (dual)” ✧ VT21/06
• Q. sinomë “here, (lit.) in this place” ✧ PE22/147
• Q. sir(a) “hither” ✧ PE22/147
• Q. síra “*today, this day”
• Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost, lost to those from the east is Valimar!” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost is, [to one] from the East lost, Valimar!” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. sívë “*as”
• Q. tensi “already, still, up to now/here; yet [from present]”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sī > sí	[sī]	✧ PE17/067
✶si- > sí	[sī]	✧ VT49/18

Variations

• Sí ✧ LotR/0377
• sī ✧ PE17/070; PE17/094; RGEO/59
• sír ✧ PE22/147
• Sī̀ ✧ RGEO/58
• sī́ ✧ RGEO/58
• Sī ✧ RGEO/58; RGEO/59; RGEO/59
• si ✧ VT43/34

sina

this

sina demonstrative "this" (following its noun in our sole example: vanda sina "this oath"). (CO, VT49:18; in the latter source, sina _is called an adjective). _This word would, like Sindarin hen, be derived from primitive ¤sĭnā (VT49:34). Cf. sin #1.

sina

adjective. this

Derivations

• ✶sĭnā “this” ✧ VT49/18

Element in

• Q. sinar “today, today, [ᴹQ.] this morning”
• Q. vanda sina termaruva Elenna·nóreo alcar enyalien “This oath shall stand in memory of the glory of the Land of the Star” ✧ UT/305

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶sĭnā > sina	[sinā] > [sina]	✧ VT49/18

sír

adverb. now

sís

here

sís adv. "here" (VT49:18, 23), also sissë

sís

adverb. here

Element in

• Q. mennen sís “I arrive[d] here” ✧ VT49/23 (tennen sís)
• Q. sir(a) “hither” ✧ VT49/33

Variations

• sissë ✧ VT49/18
• si ✧ VT49/33

sissë

here

sissë adv. "here" (VT49:18), also sís

sissë

adverb. here

hí

here

hí adv. "here" (VT49:34)

hí

adverb. here

Derivations

• ✶khĭn- “*here, now” ✧ VT49/34

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶khĭn- > hí	[kʰī] > [xī] > [hī]	✧ VT49/34

tai

they, them

tai (2) pron. "they, them", 3rd person pl., used with reference to inanimates rather than persons or living things (VT49:32, see ta #3 above). Perhaps to avoid the clash with tai "that which", the pronoun tai "they, them" was altered to te in at least one manuscript (VT49:33), so that it would merge with the pronoun used of living beings and the distinction between animate and inanimate would be abandoned (see te).

toi

they

toi pron. "they" (FS; replaced by te in LotR-style Quenya?)

ista

verb. know

ista-

know

ista- (2) vb. "know", pa.t. sintë (IS, LT2:339, VT48:25). This past tense Tolkien called "certainly irregular" (VT48:25, where an alternative pa.t. isintë is also mentioned, but sintë is said to be the older form; compare editorial notes in VT48:32. Ista- is also used for "can" in the sense of "know how to", as in istan quetë "I can speak (because I have learned (a) language)" (VT41:6) Passive participle sinwa "known, certain, ascertained" (VT49:68)

-lto

they

-lto, "Qenya" pronominal ending "they"; see -ltë

-ltë

they

-ltë, 3rd person pl. pronominal suffix, "they" (VT49:51; cariltë "they do", VT49:16, 17). It alternates with -ntë in Tolkiens manuscripts (VT49:17, 57). In his early material, the ending also appears as -lto, occurring in Fíriel's Song (meldielto "they are beloved" and cárielto "they made"), also in LT1:114: tulielto "they have come" (cf. VT49:57). Compare -lta, -ltya as the ending for "their".

-ltë

suffix. they

Derivations

• ✶te “they” ✧ VT49/50

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶te/se > -lte	[-lte]	✧ VT49/50

Variations

• -lte ✧ PE17/075; PE17/190; VT49/16; VT49/17 (-lte); VT49/51

-ntë

they

-ntë "they", pronomimal ending, inflexion of 3rd person plural when no subject is previously mentioned (CO; see also VT49:49). This ending competes with -ltë (q.v.) in Tolkiens conception (VT49:57; for "they do", both carintë and cariltë are attested, VT49:16 vs. 17). The corresponding pronominal possessive suffix appears as -ntya or -nta in various sources.

-ntë

suffix. they

Variations

• -nte ✧ PE17/057; PE17/190; UT/317; VT49/17

-ttë

they

-ttë (1) "they", dual 3rd person pronominal ending ("the two of them") (VT49:51), replacing (also within the legendarium) the older ending -stë (which was later used for the second person only). This older ending -stë corresponds to a possessive ending -sta "their" (VT49:16), but this was presumably likewise altered to *-tta as the new ending for dual "their" = "of the two of them".

ta

they, them

ta (3) pron. "they, them", an "impersonal" 3rd person pl. stem, referring "only to 'abstracts' or to things (such as inanimates) not by the Eldar regarded as persons" (VT43:20, cf. ta as an inanimate Common Eldarin plural pronoun, VT49:52). Compare te, q.v. The word ta occurring in some versions of Tolkien's Quenya Lord's Prayer may exemplify this use of ta as an "impersonal" plural pronoun: emmë avatyarir ta** "we forgive them" (VT43:8, 9; this refers to trespasses, not the trespassers). However, since Tolkien also wanted ta to mean "that" (see #1 above), he may seem to be somewhat dissatisfied with ta "they, them", introducing variant forms like tai (VT49:32) to free up ta as a sg. pronoun. In one document, tai was in turn altered to te (VT49:33), which could suggest that the distinction between animate and inanimate "they, them" was abandoned and the form te (q.v.) could be used for both. In some documents, Tolkien seems to use tar as the plural form (VT49:56 mentions this as an uncertain reading in a source where the word was struck out; compare ótar under ó**-).

te

they, them

te pron. "they, them", 3rd person pl. (VT49:51, LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308). The pronoun te represents an original stem-form (VT49:50). Dative ten, téna or tien "for them, to them" (q.v.) Stressed té (VT49:51). Ótë "with them", q.v. VT43:20 connects te "them" with a discussion of Common Eldarin pronominal stems (ca. 1940s), where te is the "personal" 3rd person pl. stem, referring to persons rather than abstracts or inanimates (which are denoted by ta instead; see, however, the entry ta #3 regarding the problems with this form, and the hints that te may possibly be used with reference to inanimates as well)). Also consider the reflexive pronoun intë "themselves", the final element of which is apparently this pronoun te; see also tú for the dual form.

tú

they, them

tú pron. "they, them", 3rd person dual ("the two of them"), both "personal and neuter" (the pronoun can be used of persons and things alike). (VT49:51) Tolkien also considered tet for the same meaning, listing it alongside tú in one source (VT49:56), but this form was apparently abandoned.