ve

as, like

ve (1) prep. "as, like" (Nam, RGEO:66, Markirya, MC:213, 214, VT27:20, 27, VT49:22); in Narqelion ve may mean either "in" or "as". Ve fírimor quetir *"as mortals say" (VT49:10), ve senwa (or senya) "as usual" (VT49:10). Followed by genitive, ve apparently expresses "after the manner of": ve quenderinwë coaron ("k") "after the manner of bodies of Elven-kind" (PE17:174). Tolkien variously derived Quenya ve from older wē, bē or vai(VT49:10, 32, PE17:189)

-vë

as, like

-vë, (3) apparently an ending used to derive adverbs from adjectives (see andavë under anda and oiavë under oia). May be related to the preposition ve "as, like".

sívë

as

sívë (1) prep. "as", apparently ve of similar meaning with the prefix sí- "this, here, now"; sívë therefore makes a comparison with something close, whereas tambë (q.v.) refers to something remote. Sívë...tambë "as...so" (VT43:17). Elided sív' in VT43:12, since the next word begins in the vowel e-.

ier

as

ier prep. "as" (VT43:16, probably rejected in favour of sívë, q.v.). In an abandoned version of the Quenya Lord's Prayer, Tolkien used ier...ter for "as...so" (VT43:17).

ya

as

ya (2) or yan, prep. "as" (VT43:16, probably abandoned in favour of sívë)

ye

as

[ye (3), also yé, prep. "as" (VT43:16, struck out; in the text in question Tolkien finally settled on sívë, q.v.)]

be

as

(like, according to). Followed by lenition? With article ben (followed by "mixed mutation" according to David Salo’s reconstruction)

mi

preposition. *in

Changes

• mi → vi “*in” ✧ VT50/18

Cognates

• Q. mi “in, in, [ᴹQ.] within”

Derivations

• ✶mī “in, within”
  • √MI/IMI “in, within, [ᴹ√] inside” ✧ PE17/092; VT47/30

Element in

• S. ae Adar nín i vi Menel “our Father who [art] in Heaven” ✧ VT44/22
• S. ar in Ellath epholar eno vi Eressai “*and the Elves (?remember) still in Eressëa” ✧ VT50/19
• S. bo Ceven sui vi Menel “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT44/27
• S. i glinn hen agorer Edain mi Velerian, ach hí in Ellath îr ed epholar “*this song Men made in Beleriand, but now the Elves alone (?remember) it” ✧ VT50/18
• S. inn dha v’im “I have a good mind (to do so), (lit.) there is an ‘inn’ in me” ✧ PE22/165
• ᴺS. mivan “where, (lit.) in/at what”
• S. os i Veleglinn i edain agorer vi Veleriann “*from the Great Song that men made in Beleriand” ✧ VT50/18; VT50/18

Variations

• vi ✧ VT50/18; VT50/19

sui

conjunction. as, like

sui

as

1) prep. “like, as”) sui (VT44:23), 2) (prep.) be (like, according to). Followed by lenition? With article ben (followed by "mixed mutation" according to David Salos reconstruction)

sui

as

(VT44:23)

bē

preposition. as, like

Tolkien used the word Q. ve for “as, like” in Quenya for much of his life, but its etymological origins varied. In the the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien had two distinct roots for “similarity”: unglossed ᴱ√SĒ with variant ᴱ√SENE⁽²⁾ and derivatives like ᴱQ. se “as, like, in manner of” and ᴱQ. (a)sesta- “to liken, compare” (QL/82), and also ᴱ√VĪ “as” with variant ᴱ√VI‘I and derivatives like ᴱQ. ve “as, like”, ᴱQ. vealta- “to resemble”, and ᴱQ. vīkana- “compare” (QL/101). The semantic distinction between the two roots isn’t clear, and in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon there was a third set of forms beginning with fel- such as G. fel “as, like”, G. feleg “equal”, and G. feltha- “resemble, seem like” (GL/34).

In later notes Tolkien proposed a variety of primitive origins for Q. ve “as, like”: ✶wē (we’e) in 1957 Quenya Notes (VT49/10; PE17/189), ✶bē from notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (VT49/32 note #10), and ✶vai as a relative of suffixal -va in notes from 1968 (VT49/32 note #10). As there are not any definite Sindarin cognates for Q. ve in Tolkien’s published writings, it is hard to know which of these is more likely.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would go with primitive ✶bē as the most widely excepted option, producing S. ✱be “as, like”.

Derivatives

• Q. ve “as, like, similar, after the manner [of], as, like, similar, after the manner [of]; [ᴹQ.] with” ✧ VT49/10; VT49/32; VT49/32
• ᴺQ. véta- “to compare, liken”
• S. be “in; ?as, like, as, like; in”
• ᴺS. bída- “to compare, liken”
• ᴺS. bîl “likeness, similarity”

Variations

• wē ✧ VT49/10
• vai ✧ VT49/32

ne

root. *in