yassë

in which

#yassë (1) relative pronoun in locative "in which", pl. yassen referring back to a plural noun (relative pronoun ya + locative ending) (Nam, RGEO:66)

yassë

once upon a time

yassë (2) adv. "once upon a time" (YA); writers may rather use yalúmessë or yáressë of similar meaning to avoid confusion with # 1 above.

yassë

conjunction. where [relative], in which place

yassen tintilar i eleni

in which twinkle the stars

The 6th phrase of the prose Namárië, essentially unaltered from its poetic form:

> yassen tintilar i eleni (“in which twinkle the stars”)

It seems that Tolkien left this phrase in the “poetic” word order despite its inclusion in the “prose” version of the poem. In normal Quenya word order, the subject precedes the verb:

> yassen tintilar i eleni »»» ✱yassen i eleni tintilar (“in which the stars twinkle”)

This (hypothetical) word order is consistent with the English translation of the poetic version: “wherein the stars tremble”.

Alternately, this example may indicate that even in ordinary Quenya speech, the subject could be displayed to after the verb in a subordinate clause. It seems unlikely this was a universal rule, since there are attested examples where this did not happen:

• yá hríve menë, ringa ná “when winter comes, it is cold” (VT49/24)

• náner ataformaitë ve fírimor quetir “✱they were ambidextrous as mortals say”

yassen tintilar i eleni

wherein the stars tremble

Last part of the sixth line @@@

yáressë

once upon a time

yáressë noun in locative "once upon a time" (locative form of yárë) (YA)

ya

pronoun. which, that (relative pronoun)

The basic relative pronoun in Quenya, mostly used in inflected forms, such as: yassen tintilar i eleni “wherein the stars tremble” (LotR/377). See the entry on relative pronouns for further discusion.

Conceptual Development: The use of ᴱQ. ya as a relative pronoun dates back to the Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s (PE14/54), but for a period in the 1930s and 40s ᴹQ. ya was used more as a remote demonstrative (Ety/YA; PE23/96-98). See the entry on correlatives for more on this usage as of 1948.

-ssë

at

-ssë (1) locative ending (compare the preposition se, sé "at", q.v.); in Lóriendessë, lúmessë, máriessë, yalúmessë (q.v. for reference); pl. -ssen in yassen, lúmissen, mahalmassen, símaryassen, tarmenissen, q.v. Pronouns take the simple ending -ssë, even if the pronoun is plural by its meaning (messë "on us", VT44:12). The part. pl. (-lissë or -lissen) and dual (-tsë) locative endings are known from the Plotz letter only.

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").

se

at, in

se (2), also long sé, preposition "at, in" (VT43:30; compare the "locative prefix" se- possibly occurring in an early "Qenya" text, VT27:25)

yalúmessë

once upon a time

yalúmessë noun in locative "once upon a time" (locative form of yalúmë) (YA)

-zê

preposition. at

A prepositional suffix translated “at” (SD/429), but not appearing in any example sentences. It is perhaps a later repurposing of the draft-dative case suffix -s, since the other draft-cases became prepositional suffixes in later versions of the Adûnaic grammar: draft genitive -ō versus later preposition -ô “from”, draft instrumental -ma versus later preposition -mâ “with”.

ya

pronoun. relative pronoun

na

preposition. at

prep. at (a point of time or place). Ai na vedui Dúnadan. Mae g'ovannen. 'Ah! At last, Dúnadan ! Well met !'.

na

at

na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”

na

at

(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”