ya

which, what

ya (1) relative pronoun "which, what" (attested in VT43:28, 34 and in the Arctic sentence), with locative suffix in Namárië: see #yassë. According to VT47:21, ya is impersonal, "which" rather than "who(m)" (compare the personal form ye). The dative form yan (q.v.) is however used for "to whom" (rather than "to which") in one text, indicating that Tolkien did not always distinguish between personal and impersonal forms. In the phrase lúmessë ya [variant: yá**] firuvammë, "in [the] hour that we shall die", the relative pronoun is not explicitly marked for case and is evidently understood to share the case of the preceding noun (hence not lúmessë yassë**... "in [the] hour in which"...) (VT43:27-28) Presumably, ya has the plural form *yar* (e.g. i nati yar hirnen** "the things that/which I found").

ya

pronoun. which, that (relative pronoun)

Derivations

• √YA “*there, over there; (of time) back, ago, [ᴹ√] there, over there; (of time) back, ago”

Element in

• Q. yallë “as, in the same way as, like”
• ᴺQ. yallo “whence”
• ᴺQ. yanen “whereby”
• Q. yan i wilyar antar miquelis “*to whom the air gives kisses” ✧ PE16/096
• ᴺQ. yanna “whither, whereto”
• Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “wherein the stars tremble” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. yassen tintilar i eleni “in which twinkle the stars” ✧ RGEO/58
• ᴺQ. yava “whose, of which”

ya

noun. *they (neuter)

A pronominal prefix, most likely the neuter/common plural pronoun “they”. It appears in the verb yanâkhim “[they] are at hand” in the sentence narîka ’nBâri ’nAdûn yanâkhim and in the verb yakalubim “[they] lean over” in the sentence urîd yakalubim (SD/251), both sentences having plural subjects. See the entry on pronominal-prefixes for more discussion.

Variations

• ya- ✧ SD/251; SD/251

ya

root. *there, over there; (of time) back, ago, [ᴹ√] there, over there; (of time) back, ago

√YA was demonstrative and relative pronominal root with particular reference to the past for much of Tolkien’s life. Its first appearance was as ᴱ√YA “demonstrative pointing back” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱ√DYA, ᴱ√YE, ᴱ√DYE, appearing above the entry for ᴱ√DYĒ “behind, back (before of time)” (QL/105). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, ᴱQ. ya was given as an indeclinable relative pronoun (PE14/54), and it was used as such in the ᴱQ. Nieninqe poem from around 1930: ᴱQ. yar i vilya anta miqilis “to whom the air gives kisses” (MC/215).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√YA “there, over there; (of time) back, ago” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yá/N. io “ago”, ᴹQ. yana “that (the former)”, and ᴹQ. yára/N. iaur “ancient, old(en)” (Ety/YA; EtyAC/YA). Tolkien continued to use Q. yára/S. iaur “old” in later writings (RC/579; UT/384; WJ/192), but the only clear reference to the primitive form yā- in later writings (as currently published in 2021) was as the basis for extended roots √YAG “gap” and √YANA “wide” (PE17/42).

Tolkien continued to use Q. ya as a relative pronoun as well, most notably in the draft and final versions of the Q. Namárië poem (VT28/11; LotR/377), in Quenya prayers from the 1950s (VT43/27), and in the 1955 version of the Q. Nieninquë poem. Tolkien also had a personal variant of the relative pronoun: Q. ye in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/21). It is not clear whether the personal/impersonal relative pronouns ye/ya were directly derived from √YA, or if they were independent developments.

Derivatives

• Q. ya “which, that (relative pronoun)”
• Q. yá “when”
• Q. yára “old, ancient, old, ancient, [ᴹQ.] belonging to or descending from former times”
• Q. ye “who”
• S. iaur “old, old; [N.] ancient, olden”

Element in

• √YAG “gap, gap; [ᴹ√] yawn, gape” ✧ PE17/042
• √YAN “wide, extensive, large, vast, huge; extend” ✧ PE17/042

Variations

• yā- ✧ PE17/042