thought, notion, idea
Quenya
tenna
until, up to, as far as
tenna
noun. thought
tenna
noun. letter (epistola)
Changes
tenna→ tenna “a letter, sign” ✧ PE19/086Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶teknā > tenna [teknā] > [tegnā] > [teŋnā] > [teŋna] > [tenna] ✧ PE19/086 Variations
- tenna ✧ PE19/086 (tenna); PE19/086 (
tenna)
tenna
noun. thought, notion, idea
Derivations
- √TEÑ “indicate, signify, show, represent, betoken, mark, to point at, indicate, signify, show, represent, betoken, mark, to point at; [ᴱ√] know, understand” ✧ PE19/097
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √TEÑ > tenna [teŋna] > [tenna] ✧ PE19/097 Variations
- tenna ✧ PE19/097
tenna
preposition. until, up to, as far as, to the point, to reach
Cognates
- ᴺS. naden “until, up to, as far as”
Derivations
- √TEN “direction; point (toward); end (in sense of point aimed at)” ✧ PE17/187; VT49/23; VT49/24; VT49/24
Element in
- Q. et sillumello ter yénion yéni tenn’ ambarmetta “*from this hour, through years of years until the ending of the world” ✧ VT44/36
- Q. sinomë maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta “In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world” ✧ LotR/0967; PE17/103; PE17/105; PE22/147
- Q. sustanë Manwëo súlë ten i indo Sindicollo ar he lastanë ar carnes “*the spirit of Manwe blew unto the heart of Thingol and he listened and did it” ✧ NM/239
- Q. tennoio “forever, forever[more]” ✧ UT/317
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √TEN > tenna [tenna] ✧ PE17/187 √ten- > tenna [tenna] ✧ VT49/23 √ten > tenna [tenna] ✧ VT49/24 √ten > tenna [tenna] ✧ VT49/24 Variations
- tenna ✧ PE17/103; PE17/103; PE17/187; UT/317; VT44/35 (
tenna); VT49/23 (tenna); VT49/24; VT49/24- Tenna ✧ PE17/105
mennai
until
mennai prep. "until" (VT14:5; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather tenna)
enne
noun. thought, purpose
tennoio
for ever
tennoio adv. "for ever" (CO); see tenna
leuta
noun. finger
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶lepta > leꝑta > leu̯ta [lepta] > [leɸta] > [leuta] ✧ PE19/084 Variations
- leu̯ta ✧ PE19/084
leper
finger
leper (pl. leperi given) noun "finger" (VT44:16, VT47:10, 14, 24, VT48:5; an older source gives the word for "finger" as lepsë, q.v.)
leper
noun. finger
The Quenya word for “finger” appearing in various notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from 1968, derived from the root √LEP “pick up” (VT47/10; VT48/5).
Conceptual Development: The Quenya “finger” words went through quite a few conceptual changes, but they were always based on the root √LEP. The earliest of these was ᴱQ. let (lept-) “finger” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LEPE with plural form lepsi (QL/53). In Qenya word lists of the 1920s, however, this became ᴱQ. lepta “finger”, still with the plural lepsi (PE15/72; PE16/137).
The form was ᴹQ. let (leps-) in the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s (PE21/19, 26), expanded to ᴹQ. lepse “finger” in The Etymologies written around 1937, based on the root ᴹ√LEPET of the same meaning (Ety/LEPET). This form demonstrated the 1930s sound change whereby pt became ps (PE19/44 note #44). Tolkien revised this sound change so that the result remained pt (PE19/44), and in 1940s drafts to The Lord of the Rings Tolkien used the word ᴹQ. rakkalepta “✱claw-fingered” in Treebeard’s description of orcs (SD/68), though in the published version this word only appeared in English.
In the Outline of Phonology from the 1950s (OP1) Tolkien considered restoring the sound change pt > ps (PE19/84 note #75), and Q. lepsë appeared in notes from the late 1950s or early 60s on the tree name S. lebethron, so named because “its leaves (like chestnut) [were] shaped like a fingered hand” (PE17/89). However, he again abandoned this, clarifying that the actual result of [[q|[pt] was a spirantal [ɸt]]] (spelled pt to represent the bilabial pronunciation), and that in Tarquesta pronunciation (Exhilic Quenya of the first age) the [ɸ] vocalized to [u̯] so that ✶lepta > leꝑta > Q. leu̯ta “finger” (PE19/84). Q. lepta appeared in several words in the 1960s: Q. leptafinya “clever-fingered” (PE17/17) and Q. Tyelpelepta “✱silver-fingered” (VT47/27).
In drafts of the 1968 notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals, lepta reappeared as an independent word, but with the gloss “thumb” (VT47/27). In the final versions of these notes, however, Tolkien used leper for “finger”, as noted above.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use leper for “finger”, but would retain lepta as an adjective meaning “fingered”, especially in compounds like [ᴹQ.] raccalepta “claw-fingered”.
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Eldarinwë Leperi ar Notessi “Elvish Fingers and Numerals” ✧ VT47/04
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶leper- > leper [leper] ✧ VT47/10 ✶leper- > leper [leper] ✧ VT47/24 ✶leper > leper [leper] ✧ VT48/05
lepsë
finger
lepsë noun "finger" (LEP/LEPET; see leper). According to VT45:27, Tolkien derived lepsë from primitive ¤lepti; if so, lepsë should have the stem-form *lepsi-. However, Tolkien struck out the ancestral form lepti, so we cannot be sure whether this idea was maintained or not. In later sources, the word for "finger" appears as leper.
sanwë
thought, an act of thinking
sanwë noun "thought, an act of thinking" (VT39:23, 30; VT41:5, 13, PE17:183)
tenca
noun. letter (epistola)
Cognates
- ᴺS. tain “letter, epistle, missive”
Derivations
tenna prep. "until, up to, as far as" (CO), "unto" (VT44:35-36), "to the point", "right up to a point" (of time/place), "until", "to the object, up to, to (reach), as far as" (VT49:22, 23, 24, PE17:187), elided tenn' in the phrase tenn' Ambar-metta "unto the ending of the world" in EO, because the next word begins in a similar vowel; cf. tennoio "for ever" (tenna + oio, q.v.) The unelided form appears in PE17:105: Tenna Ambar-metta.