Quenya 

vanë

fair

vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)

vanë

adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely

vanië

beauty

vanië noun "beauty" (PE17:56), apparently formed from vanya #1. Synonym vanessë.

vanië

noun. beauty

Quenya [PE17/056; PE17/057] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vanessë

beauty

vanessë noun "beauty" (LT1:272, PE17:56). Also vanië.

vanessë

noun. beauty

auta-

verb. to go (away), depart, leave; to pass away, disappear, be lost, to go (away), depart, leave; [variant: vanya-] to pass away, disappear, be lost

A rather irregular verb whose base meaning is “go (away), depart, leave” and by extension with the senses “pass away, disappear, be lost”, derived from the invertible root √WĀ/AWA “away” (PE17/63; WJ/366). Its most notable use is in the Namárië poem where it appeared in its plural perfect form avánier “have passed” (LotR/377). The related adjective vanwa “lost, departed, vanished” appeared in the same poem. Tolkien’s desire to retain the forms avánie and vanwa likely influenced his investigation of this verb; its conceptual development is quite complex (see below).

The irregularity of this verb is due to some of its tenses being based on √AW, and others on √. Starting in the late 1950s he usually represent the base verb stem as auta- (PE17/63; PE22/164; WJ/366), such as in auta i lómë “the night is passing” from The Silmarillion (S/190). The stem form auta- was based on √AW + , similar to other verbs whose roots ended in y/w which usually required a formative suffix like ✶-tă (PE22/156). Such “half-strong” verbs normally had past forms with nasal-infixion before the formative suffix, in this case with primitive ✶áwa-n-tē becoming modern öante because ancient awa become öa in Quenya’s phonetic history (WJ/366-367). Tolkien posited similar perfect forms öantie or öávie (WJ/366; PE17/148; PE22/164).

In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, Tolkien said that:

> In the more purely physical sense “went away (to another place)” the regular forms (for a -ta verb of this class) öante, öantie were used (WJ/366).

However, in this document (and others) he described another past form váne from primitive ✶wāne, derived from √ rather than √AW (PE17/63; WJ/366). From this ancient past form the perfect avánie was derived, with Tolkien saying “the forms of past and perfect became progressively more closely associated in Quenya” (WJ/366). This variant of the past and perfect was associated with the adjective (originally a perfective adjective) vanwa “gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past and over”, and from it got the meaning: “✱passed away, went away (to never return)”. It was in this sense the perfect form avánier was used in the Namárië poem.

Conceptual Development: This verb has numerous precursors in Tolkien’s earlier writings, since the original root ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” dates back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/33). This root had a verb form ᴱQ. avin “he departs” with past form ambe (QL/33). The early root also had an inversion ᴱ√VAHA, from which an alternate past form “went” was derived (QL/99). Thus the notion that the past and present forms of this verb were from inversions of the root was quite an old idea in Tolkien’s mind.

The English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s had a verb form ᴱQ. vana- “pass, depart, vanish, go away” (PE15/76). This became ᴹQ. vanya- “go, depart, disappear” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” (Ety/WAN). This verb reappeared in the “Merin Sentence” from the mid-to-late 1950s: merin sa haryalyë alassë nó vanyalyë Ambarello “I hope that you have happiness before you pass from the world” (MS). It is thus likely the base verb was vanya- when Tolkien first composed the Namárië poem, and in the 1st edition of The Lord of the Rings the perfect form was vánier without the leading a (RC/341).

The verb form ᴹQ. auta- with the sense “to go away” first appeared in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s, where it was a variant of ᴹQ. apsa- < ᴹ✶abtā- of the same meaning, a back-formation from the past form avante < ✱aba-n-tē, all based on the root ᴹ√ABA/BA “away, go away” (PE19/45). However, sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s, Tolkien revised the meaning of ᴹ√AB to “refuse, deny, say no” (Ety/AB). In the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, Tolkien had a similar verbal paradigm with Q. apta < ✶ab-ta vs. Q. auta as back-formation from past avante, but in that document the past was glossed “refused, denied, said nay” (PE19/90).

The derivations of auta- “go away, depart” from the root √WĀ/AWA began to appear in documents from the late 1950s and early 1960s such as Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS: PE17/63), Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN: PE17/148), and Quendi and Eldar (Q&E: WJ/365-366). He seem to stick with this paradigm going forward, but continue to experiment with various forms for different verb tenses. For example, in couple places Tolkien gave anwe as another (archaic) past along with oante (WJ/366; PE17/148). In another place he consider a variant verb ava- “depart, go away, disappear, be lost” with present avea, future auva, past vāne, and perfect avānie (PE17/63).

Neo-Quenya: It is pretty clear Tolkien intended the aorist form of this verb to be auta. In NGS Tolkien gave a future form autuva (PE17/63) and in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 a present form autya (PE22/164). LVS had a number of -ya or -ia present tenses for various ta-formative verbs, but also said something like “make Q. ea as present tense invaded other forms” in a difficult-to-read note. I take that to mean that the -ya/-ia presents regularized to -ea across many verb classes, so I would use the present tense form ✱autea “is departing” instead and assume that †autya is archaic; see the discussion of the Quenya present tense for more details.

This verb had two past paradigms: öante “went away (to another place)” vs. váne “✱pass away, went away (to never return)”, along with associated perfects öantie vs. avánie, with the last meaning “have passed away” (RGEO/58). In the aorist, present and future tenses this distinction is frequently less relevant, because the “to never return” qualifier is necessarily unknown. Where it is relevant, however, I would use a variant stem form vanya- “to pass away, disappear, be lost”, a back-formation derived from the alternate perfect avánie, inspired by the verb form in The Etymologies and the Merin Sentence (see above).

Quenya [LotR/0377; PE17/063; PE17/148; PE17/162; PE22/164; RC/341; RGEO/58; S/190; WJ/166; WJ/366] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ima

fair

-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)

alima

fair, good

alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)

alya

fair, good

alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)

ava-

verb. to depart, go away, disappear, be lost

linda

fair, beautiful

linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.

vanya

fair

vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.

Sindarin 

Vanedhel

noun. 'elven fair'

prop. n. 'elven fair', a title of Arwen. Q. Vanimelda, Eldavanima. >> Eldhelvein, Elrenniel, Wanedhel

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:56] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

vanedhel

adjective. elven fair

Wanedhel

noun. 'elven fair'

prop. n. 'elven fair', a title of Arwen. Q. Vanimelda, Eldavanima. >> Eldhelvein, Elrenniel, Vanedhel

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:56] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

wanedhel

adjective. elven fair

Sindarin [PE17/057] Group: Eldamo. Published by

banath

noun. beauty

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

bain

fair

_ adj. _fair, good, blessed, wholesome, favourable, without evil/bad element, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bân

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:150] < BAN beauty, with implication that it is due to _lack of fault_ or _blemish_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

bân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, good, wholesome, favourable, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bain

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:150] < BAN beauty, with implication that it is due to _lack of fault_ or _blemish_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

edhelvein

adjective. elven fair

Sindarin [PE17/056] Group: Eldamo. Published by

fael

adjective. fair minded, just, generous

Sindarin [PM/352] Etym. "having a good fëa". Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwain

adjective. fair

adj. fair. . This gloss was rejected.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:140] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwana

noun/adjective. fair

gwân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, pale.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:165] < _gwan_ < GWAN pale, fair. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

lind

adjective. fair

men-

verb. to go

The basic Sindarin verb for “go”, derived from the root √MEN (PE17/143). Its archaic past form emēnē was discussed in notes from around 1965 (PE17/93); its modern past would be ✱evín. It also appeared in its gerund form in the sentence niðin mened “I have a mind to go, I intend to go” in notes from 1969 (PE22/165).

Sindarin [PE17/093; PE22/165] Group: Eldamo. Published by

bain

fair

bain (beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

bain

fair

(beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

beinas

noun. beauty

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Primitive elvish

bani

adjective. fair

Primitive elvish [PE17/057] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wanyā

adjective. fair

Primitive elvish [WJ/380; WJ/383] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Adûnaic

yad-

verb. to go

A verb appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth in the form ayadda “(it) went” (SD/247, VT24/12). Its initial element is the 3rd persons neuter plural suffix a- “it”. This leaves the basic verb form yadda, which is the past tense according to the theories used here.

Conceptual Development: It appeared in the form yadda in the first draft version of the Lament, and this form was also briefly considered as a replacement for unakkha “he-came” in the first sentence of the Lament (SD/312).

Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/312; VT24/12] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Telerin 

auta-

verb. to go, depart, pass away


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Quenya

vane

adjective. fair, lovely

Early Quenya [LT1A/Vána; QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vanesse

noun. beauty

Early Quenya [LT1A/Vána; QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vanest(e)a

adjective. beauteous

Early Quenya [QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vanéni

noun. beauty

Early Quenya [QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hanstovánen

place name. Hanstovánen

A name of the beaching place of the ship Mornie, first appearing as (rejected) Mornielta and Vane Hansto (LT1/170). The meaning of this name is unclear.

Early Quenya [LT1/170; LT1I/Hanstovánen] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ere-

verb. to go

A deleted verb in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s with present form ere “goes” and past tense erne “went”, perhaps based on the early root ᴱ√ERE [EÐE] “out” as suggested by the editors (PE16/133).

Early Quenya [PE16/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tie-

verb. to go

A deleted verb in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, probably related to ᴱQ. tie “path” and the early root ᴱ√TEHE as suggested by the editors (PE16/133).

Early Quenya [PE16/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

vana

root. *beauty

Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Vána; QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

gwandreth

noun. beauty

Gnomish [GG/11; GL/44] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwanwen

noun. beauty

gwanweth

noun. beauty

Qenya 

vanima

adjective. fair

Middle Primitive Elvish

ban

root. *beauty

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/BAN; Ety/GŪ; Ety/GWEN; Ety/UGU; EtyAC/BAN²] Group: Eldamo. Published by