nat noun "thing" (NĀ2); compare únat. VT49:30 lists "năta, nat", but it is unclear whether năta is here a Quenya word or an etymological form underlying Quenya nat.
Quenya
engwë
thing
engwë
noun. thing
Derivations
- √EÑ “be, exist”
Variations
- engwe ✧ VT39/07
nat
thing
nat
noun. thing
A Quenya noun for “thing” derived from the root √NĀ “be, exist” (VT49/30, Ety/NĀ²), so perhaps prehistorically simply “a thing that exists”. Its plural form nati is indirectly attested in the plural únati of its (strong) negation únat “a thing impossible to be or to be done” (VT39/26).
Conceptual Development: This word is well established in Tolkien’s writings, appearing all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s (QL/64). In its earliest iteration, its stem form was natt- and its plural was natsi, where [[eq|[ti] became [tsi]]] as was the usual pattern in Early Qenya. The word reappear in texts and notes from the 1920s (PE14/43, 72; PE15/32, 68, 78). In one early dictionary entry glossed more generally as “affair, matter, thing”, but this entry was deleted (PE15/68); in other early writings the word for “affair” was given as ᴱQ. natto (QL/64). The word reappeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s with a simplified stem form nat- given its Noldorin equivalent N. nad (Ety/NĀ²). The word appeared again in the late 1960s in notes associated with Q. ná- “to be”, where it was given the primitive form ✶năta (VT49/30).
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶năta > nat [nata] > [nat] ✧ VT49/30
ma
something, a thing
ma, (1) neuter personal pronoun "something, a thing" (VT42:34). It may occur (with the meaning "thing") in the ejaculation yé mána (ma) = "what a blessing" or "what a good thing!"" (VT49:41) (2) Ma has also been theorized to be a particle used to turn declarative statements into yes/no questions.
ma
something, a thing
-ndil
friend
-ndil (also -dil) ending occurring in many names, like Amandil, Eärendil; it implies devotion or disinterested love and may be translated "friend" (SA:(noun)dil); this ending is "describing the attitude of one to a person, thing, course or occupation to which one is devoted for its own sake" (Letters:386). Compare -ndur. It is unclear whether the names derived with the ending -ndil are necessarily masculine, though we have no certain example of a woman's name in -ndil; the name Vardilmë (q.v.) may suggest that the corresponding feminine ending is -(n)dilmë.
-ndur
friend
-ndur (also -dur), ending in some names, like Eärendur; as noted by Christopher Tolkien in the Silmarillion Appendix it has much the same meaning as -ndil "friend"; yet -ndur properly means "servant of" (SA:(noun)dil), "as one serves a legitimate master: cf. Q. arandil king's friend, royalist, beside arandur 'king's servant, minister'. But these often coincide: e.g. Sam's relation to Frodo can be viewed either as in status -ndur, in spirit -ndil." (Letters:286)
-ser
friend
-ser noun "friend" (SER)
cundu
prince
†cundu ("k")noun "prince" (KUNDŪ; the "†_" indicating that this word is poetic or archaic was omitted in the Etymologies as printed in LR; see VT45:24)._ Cf. condo.
heldo
friend
[heldo, also helmo, fem. heldë, noun "friend" (VT46:3)]
meldë
friend
#meldë noun "friend", feminine (meldenya "my friend" in the Elaine inscription [VT49:40], Tolkien referring to Elaine Griffiths). Compare meldo.
málo
noun. friend
friend, comrade
málo
friend
málo noun "friend" (MEL, VT49:22)
nildo
friend
nildo noun "friend" (apparently masc.; contrast nildë) (NIL/NDIL)
nildë
friend
nildë noun "friend" (fem.) (NIL/NDIL)
nilmo
friend
nilmo noun "friend" (apparently masc.) (NIL/NDIL)
sermo
friend
sermo noun "friend" (evidently masc., since sermë is stated to be fem.) (SER)
sermë
friend
sermë noun "friend" (fem.) (SER)
seron
friend
seron noun "friend" (SER)
sondo
friend
[sondo noun "friend" (VT46:15)]
meldo
friend, lover
meldo noun "friend, lover". _(VT45:34, quoting a deleted entry in the Etymologies, but cf. the pl. #_meldor in Eldameldor "Elf-lovers", WJ:412) **Meldonya *"my friend" (VT49:38, 40). It may be that meldo is the distinctly masculine form, corresponding to feminine #meldë** (q.v.)
condo
prince, leader; lord
condo ("k")noun "prince, leader; lord" (PE17:113,117); possibly replaces cundu, q.v.
natto
noun. affair, *matter, thing
Elements
Word Gloss nat “thing”
macca
noun. article (for exchange), ware, thing
Cognates
- N. bach “article (for exchange), ware, thing”
Derivations
- ᴹ√MBAKH “exchange”
engwë noun "thing" (VT39:7, VT49:28). Extrapolation may also point to *engwë as an emphatic dual inclusive pronoun "we" (thou and I), corresponding to the ending -ngwë.