[ye (3), also yé, prep. "as" (VT43:16, struck out; in the text in question Tolkien finally settled on sívë, q.v.)]
Quenya
ye
is
ye
as
ye
who
ye (1) singular personal relative pronoun "who", maybe also object "whom" (plural form i). Compare the impersonal form ya. Also attested in the genitive and the ablative cases: yëo and yello, both translated "from whom" (though the former would also mean *"whose, of whom"). (VT47:21)
ye
pronoun. who
Derivations
- √YA “*there, over there; (of time) back, ago, [ᴹ√] there, over there; (of time) back, ago”
Element in
- Q. yello camnelyes “from whom you received him” ✧ VT47/21
- Q. yenna leltanelyes “to whom you sent him” ✧ VT47/21
-ye
suffix. and (pairs)
Element in
- Q. imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië “between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon” ✧ VT47/11
yen
daughter
yen, yendë noun "daughter" (YŌ/YON). This word replaced another form, but this form may have been restored; see yeldë. In VT45:16, yendë is said to refer to a female "agent", a word changed by Tolkien from yendi, but Tolkien deleted all of this.
yé
lo!
yé (1) interjection "lo!" (VT47:31), also occurring in Aragorn's exclamation when he found the sapling of the White Tree. (Compare yéta-.) Also in the ejaculation yé mána (ma) = "what a blessing" or "what a good thing!" (VT49:41). The more literal meaning would seem to be *"behold the blessing!"
yé
yé
[yé (3) = ye #3, q.v.]
yé
interjection. lo!, what a ..., what is more
Element in
- Q. yé mána (ma) “what a blessing, what a good thing!” ✧ PE17/162
Variations
- Yé ✧ LotR/0971
- yē ✧ PE17/110; VT47/31
- yea ✧ VT47/31
yëo
from whom
yëo relative pronoun in genitive "from whom" (could also mean *"of whom"); see ye # 1.
úyë
is
úyë vb., a form occurring in Fíriel's Song (cf. VT46:22), apparently ye "is" with the negative prefix ú-, hence "is not" (úyë sérë indo-ninya símen, translated "my hearth resteth not here", literally evidently *"[there] is not rest [for] my heart here")
selyë
daughter
[selyë noun "daughter", used in children's play for "fourth finger" or "fourth toe" _(VT47:10, 15, VT48:4) _It is unclear whether it was the word selyë "daughter" itself that was rejected, or just its use as a play-name of a digit. Compare yeldë, yendë.]
yeldë
daughter
yeldë noun "daughter" (YEL) This word was struck out in Etym, but it may have been restored together with the ending -iel, q.v.
yeldë
noun. daughter
A less common Quenya word for “daughter”, an analog of Q. yondo “son”.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had ᴹQ. yelde “daughter” under the root ᴹ√YEL of the same meaning, but the meaning of the root was first changed to “friend”, and then the root was then deleted (Ety/YEL). Meanwhile, under the root ᴹ√YŌ or YON, Tolkien introduced a feminine variant ᴹQ. yende “daughter” along with (suffixal?) yen, derived from primitive ᴹ√yēn or yend (Ety/YŌ). Previously this yende/yendi form was a feminine agent, but Tolkien rejected that meaning (EtyAC/ƷAN).
In between yelde >> yende for “daughter” in The Etymologies, Tolkien considered using the form ᴹQ. selde, and in later writings this seems to be his preferred Quenya word for “daughter”. However, yeldë “daughter” was mentioned again briefly in rough notes from around 1959 (PE17/190), and -iel remained Tolkien’s preferred suffix for “daughter of”.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I recommend seldë as the more common word for “daughter”, but assume yeldë also exists as variant due to the influence of yondo “son”; see the entries on seldë and the root √YE(L) for further discussion.
Derivations
- √YE(L) “daughter” ✧ PE17/190
Variations
- yelde ✧ PE17/190
yello
from whom
yello (1) relative pronoun in ablative: "from whom"; see ye #1.
yéva
will be
yéva vb. "will be" (also "there will be"), apparently the future tense of ye (#2). Once translated "is" (írë ilqua yéva nótina, "when all is counted"), but this event belongs to the future; hence literally *"when all will be counted" (FS; VT46:22). In Tolkien's later Quenya, yéva was apparently replaced by nauva.
le
pronoun. you (plural)
Derivations
- ✶de “you (pl.)” ✧ VT49/51
Element in
- ᴺQ. lenya “yours (plural)”
- Q. mélima yondion, lenna antanyes mélio cenwa “*dear [one] of sons I give it to be read with love” ✧ Minor-Doc/1955-CT
- Q. vá meninyë ó le “I won’t come with you” ✧ PE22/162
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶de > lé [dē] > [lē] > [le] ✧ VT49/51 Variations
- lé ✧ VT49/51
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)
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)
ya
as
ya (2) or yan, prep. "as" (VT43:16, probably abandoned in favour of sívë)
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").
-ië
suffix. is
-ië (3) "is", -ier "are", stative verb suffix occurring in Fíriel's Song: númessier "they are in the west", meldielto "they are...beloved", talantië "he is fallen", márië "it is good" (< *númessë "in the west", melda "beloved", *talanta "fallen"); future tense -iéva in hostainiéva "will be gathered" (< *hostaina "gathered"). Compare ye "is", yéva "will be", verbs that also occur in Fíriel's Song. This suffix is probably not valid in LotR-style Quenya: -ië is an infinitival or gerundial ending in CO, for ye "is" Namárië has ná, and the phrase "lost is" is vanwa ná, not *vanwië.
-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".
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).
ier
preposition. *as
Element in
- Q. cemendë tambe Erumandë “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT43/16; VT43/16; VT43/16
- Q. sív’ emmë apsenet tien i úcarir emmen “as we forgive those who trespass against us” ✧ VT43/20
Variations
- ye ✧ VT43/16 (
ye)- yé ✧ VT43/16 (
yé)
men
who
men (3) pron. "who", evidently a misreading or miswriting for man (MC:221, in Markirya)
yan
for/to which
yan relative pronoun in dative "for/to which" or "for/to whom" (PE16:90, 92, 96). Used for "to whom" in the poem Nieninque; according to the system described elsewhere, which distinguishes personal ye "who" from impersonal ya "which", "to whom" would be *yen instead. A wholly distinct ya(n) seems to appear as an ephemeral word for "as" in one version of the Quenya Lord's Prayer; see ya #2 (VT43:16, VT49:18)
yan
adverb/conjunction. *as
@@@ possibly modal adverb
Element in
- Q. cemendë tambe Erumandë “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT43/16; VT43/16
- Q. sív’ emmë apsenet tien i úcarir emmen “as we forgive those who trespass against us” ✧ VT43/20
Variations
- ya(n) ✧ VT43/16
- ya ✧ VT43/16
-iel
daughter
-iel patronymic/matronymic ending -"daughter" (YEL, VT46:22-23) In the Etymologies, Tolkien struck out this ending and the corresponding independent word yeldë "daughter", changing them to -ien, yendë. However, the ending -iel later turns up in later forms: Uinéniel "Daughter of Uinen" in UT:182 and Elerondiel "daughter of Elrond" (Elerondo) in PE17:56. Hence it would seem that Tolkien changed his mind again and restored this ending, and perhaps the noun yeldë along with it. The form Elerondiel (from Elerondo) demonstrates that a final vowel is omitted before -iel.
-ien
daughter
-ien fem. ending in certain names like Yávien, Silmarien (q.v.) At one point -ien implied "daughter", see -iel above.
-ldë
suffix. you (plural)
Derivations
- ✶de “you (pl.)” ✧ VT49/51
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶de > -lde [-lde] > [-lðe] > [-lde] ✧ VT49/51 Variations
- -lde ✧ PE17/057; PE17/190; VT49/16; VT49/51
-llë
suffix. you (plural)
Variations
- -lle ✧ PE17/057; PE17/069; PE17/075; PE17/075; VT49/48
-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.
anel
daughter
anel noun "daughter" (PE17:170), possibly intended by Tolkien as a replacement for seldë (q.v.). Compare anon.
anel
noun. daughter
A transient word for “daughter” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, written of above the more common sel-de (PE17/170).
euva
will be, will exist
euva vb. "will be, will exist"; see ëa
ná-
verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist
Changes
nā→ nāner ✧ VT49/09nār→ năr ✧ VT49/30Cognates
Derivations
- √NĀ “be (the same as another), exist” ✧ PE17/093
Element in
- Q. á hyamë rámen úcarindor “pray for us sinners” ✧ VT43/34
- Q. aistana elyë imíca nísi “blessed art thou amongst women” ✧ VT43/30; VT43/30
- Q. alasaila ná lá carë tai mo nave mára “it is unwise not to do what one judges good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun “glory [be] to God in the highest” ✧ VT44/34; VT44/34
- Q. A (ná) calima lá B “A is brighter than B; (lit.) A is bright beyond B” ✧ PE17/090; PE17/090
- Q. A anamelda na ar ilyan “A is dearest of all” ✧ PE17/057
- Q. A anamelda na epë B “A is dear before B” ✧ PE17/057
- Q. A anamelda na ep’ ilya “A is dearest of all” ✧ PE17/057
- Q.
A arimelda na epe B“A is (very much) [dearer] than B” ✧ PE17/057 (A arimelda na epe B)- Q. A arimelda na ilyaron “A is dearest of all” ✧ PE17/057
- Q. á na márië “be well” ✧ PE17/162
- Q. aranielya na tuluva “thy kingdom come” ✧ VT43/14; VT43/14
- Q. Átaremma i ëa han Eä “our Father who art in Heaven” ✧ VT43/13
- Q. cemendë tambe Erumandë “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT43/16
- Q. cé tulis, ní nauva tanomë “*if he/she comes, I will be there” ✧ VT49/19
- Q. cé tulis, tanomë nauvan “*if he/she comes, I will be there” ✧ VT49/19
- Q. eldar ataformaiti “the Elves were ambidexters” ✧ VT49/09; VT49/09; VT49/09; VT49/09
- Q. essë úpa nas “he is dumb” ✧ PE17/126
- Q. i Héru aselyë “the Lord is with thee” ✧ VT43/30
- Q. lá carita i hamil mára alasaila ná “not to do (in this case) what you judge good (would be) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. lá caritas alasaila cé nauva “not doing this may be/prove unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34
- Q. lá caritas, navin, alasaila ná “not doing this would be (I think) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23
- Q. mára ná “it is good” ✧ PE17/093
- Q. ná “yes, it is so, it is a fact”
- Q. na airë esselya “hallowed be thy name” ✧ VT43/14
- Q. na carë indómelya “thy will be done” ✧ VT43/15
- Q. nai “maybe; be it that, may it be that; perhaps, it may be, there is a chance or possibility, maybe; be it that, may it be that; perhaps, it may be, there is a chance or possibility; [ᴱQ.] remoter possibility” ✧ RGEO/60; VT49/28
- Q. naitë “true” ✧ VT49/28
- ᴺQ. nalumë “sometime(s)”
- Q. namárië “farewell, (lit.) be well, let it be well (to you)” ✧ PE17/058; PE17/059; PE17/059; PE17/074
- Q. námo “person, somebody (unnamed)”
- Q. náner ataformaitë ve fírimor quetir “*were ambidextrous as mortals say” ✧ VT49/10
- ᴺQ. nanomë “someplace, somewhere”
- Q. nanwa “existing, actual (true), existing, actual (true), *real; [️ᴱQ.] being” ✧ VT49/30
- Q. nár (naitië) “they are (indeed = truly)” ✧ PE22/166
- Q. násië “*amen, (lit.) may it be so”
- Q. násan “*amen, (lit.) may it be so”
- Q. nás mára nin “I like it” ✧ VT49/30
- Q. nassë “nature, true-being, *essence; person, individual” ✧ VT49/30
- Q. návë “being”
- Q. nésë nórima rocco “he was a horse strong/swift at running” ✧ VT49/29
- Q. quí(ta) la tuldes, nánë márië (nin) “[if he had not come], it was well to me (I was glad)” ✧ PE22/158
- Q. roccor i Erulingaron márë nár (ma naitë)? “the horses of the Rohirrim are good (are they not, lit. is it true)” ✧ PE22/166
- Q. savin Elessar ar i nánë aran Ondórëo “I believe that E[lessar] really existed and that he was a King of Gondor” ✧ PE22/158; VT49/27
- Q. sínen i·anda nyarnë metta ar taina andaurenya na quanta “*with this the long tale ends and my extended long day is complete” ✧ Minor-Doc/1955-CT
- Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost, lost to those from the east is Valimar!” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost is, [to one] from the East lost, Valimar!” ✧ RGEO/59
- Q. umbë nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)” ✧ PE22/168
- Q. yá hríve menë, ringa ná “when winter comes/arrives/is with us, it is cold” ✧ VT49/23 (
yá hríve tene, ringa ná)- ᴺQ. yonávë “company, *companionship, camaraderie”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √NĀ > ná [nā] ✧ PE17/093 Variations
- ná ✧ LotR/0377; PE17/090; PE17/093; PE22/154; PE22/167; VT42/33; VT49/09; VT49/23
- na ✧ Minor-Doc/1955-CT; PE17/057; PE17/074; PE17/074; PE17/090; PE17/162; VT43/13; VT43/30
- nā ✧ PE17/058; RGEO/59; VT49/09 (
nā); VT49/28; VT49/30- nā- ✧ PE22/166; VT49/27; VT49/28 (nā-)
- nā̀ ✧ RGEO/58
- Nā ✧ RGEO/60
- nā̆ ✧ VT49/30
- nār ✧ VT49/30 (
nār)
seldë
noun. daughter, daughter; [ᴹQ.] child [f.], *girl
This seems to be the word that Tolkien favored for “daughter” in his later writings (PE17/170; VT47/10; PE19/73), though it had competition from other forms like Q. yeldë.
Conceptual Development: The earliest word resembling this form was ᴱQ. sui “daughter” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√SUẈU (QL/87), a word also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/87). This became ᴱQ. silde “daughter” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/135).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien experimented with several different forms. He had ᴹQ. yelde “daughter” under the root ᴹ√YEL, but this entry was deleted (Ety/YEL). Tolkien also had a root ᴹ√SEL(D) “daughter” with a derivative ᴹQ. selde, but the meaning of this root was changed to “child”, and masculine and neuter forms ᴹQ. seldo and ᴹQ. selda were added to the entry (Ety/SEL-D). Finally, under the entry for ᴹ√YŌ or YON “son”, Tolkien added a primitive feminine variant ᴹ✶yēn or yend “daughter”, producing ᴹQ. yende and (suffixal?) yen (Ety/YŌ).
These vacillations continued in later writings, where at one point Tolkien wrote “Q[uenya] Wanted: Son, Daughter” (PE17/170). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 Tolkien wrote Q. sel-de for “daughter”, but above it he wrote a variant form anel. In rough notes from around 1959 Tolkien explored a large number of masculine and feminine suffixes, and on the page he had yeldë “daughter”, though at the end of the sentence he wrote “also yen” (PE17/190). In notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, Tolkien wrote selyë as a diminutive/affectionate word for “daughter”, with seltil as a play name for the fourth finger representing a daughter (VT47/10, 27).
Also of note is Tolkien’s Quenya name for S. Tinúviel “Daughter of Twilight”, which he generally represented as something like Q. Tindómerel < ✶Tindōmiselde. Tolkien was fairly consistent in this Quenya form starting in the 1930s (Ety/SEL-D; PE19/33), with examples in the 1950s (PE19/73) and 1960s (VT47/37) as well. Indeed, in a couple cases he used this name to illustrate how medial s generally became z and eventually r in Quenya (PE19/33, 73), so it seems that for this name Tolkien consistently imagined the primitive form for “daughter” as ✶selde.
Neo-Quenya: I’d assume selde is the main word for “daughter” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, but I’d assume a variant form yeldë, especially since -iel was the most common suffix for “daughter of”. This variant probably arose very early under the influence of √YON “son”.
Cognates
- S. sell “*daughter, daughter; [N.] †girl, maid”
Derivations
Element in
- Q.
Elerondorel“*Daughter of Elrond”- Q. selyë “daughter (diminutive)”
- Q. Tindómerel “Daughter of Twilight”
Variations
- sel-de ✧ PE17/170
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-.
sívë
preposition. *as
Element in
- Q. cemendë tambe Erumandë “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” ✧ VT43/17
- Q. sív’ emmë apsenet tien i úcarir emmen “as we forgive those who trespass against us” ✧ VT43/20
Elements
Word Gloss sí “now” ve “as, like, similar, after the manner [of], as, like, similar, after the manner [of]; [ᴹQ.] with” Variations
- sívë ✧ VT43/17
nauva
will be
nauva vb. "will be" (VT42:34); nauvan "I will be" (VT49:19); see ná #1
i eru i or ilyë mahalmar ëa
(the one/they) who; (that) which
i (2) relative pronoun "(the one/they) who; (that) which" (both article and relative pronoun in CO: i Eru i or ilyë mahalmar ëa: the One who is above all thrones", i hárar "(they) who are sitting"); cf. also the phrase i hamil mára "(that) which you deem good" (VT42:33). Notice that before a verb, i means "the one who", or, in the case of a plural verb, "those who"; e.g. i carir quettar ómainen "those who form words with voices" (WJ:391). According to VT47:21, i as a relative pronoun is the personal plural form (corresponding to the personal sg. ye and the impersonal sg. ya). This agrees with the example i carir..., but as is evident from the other examples listed above, Tolkien in certain texts also used i as a singular relative pronoun, both personal (Eru i...) and impersonal (i hamil). In the sense of a plural personal relative pronoun, i is also attested in the genitive (ion) and ablative (illon) cases, demonstrating that unlike the indeclinable article i, the relative pronoun i can receive case endings. Both are translated "from whom": ion / illon camnelyes "from whom you received it" (referring to several persons) (VT47:21).
u-
not do, not be
#u- vb. "not do, not be" (1st pers. aorist uin "I do not, am not"), pa.t. úmë (UGU/UMU). A late (ca. 1968) source gives the forms uin, uin(yë) "I am not", uil(yë) "you are not", uis "it is not", uilmë "we are not", uir "are not" and endingless ui *"is not" (VT49:29, 36); these forms were however struck out. The example uin carë "I dont" (PE17:68) combines this negative verb with a following verb in the "simplest aorist infinitive". Compare ua in another late source. See also ui, which (despite its use as an interjection "no") seems to be the endingless 3rd person aorist.
ua-
not do, not be
ua- negative verb "not do, not be". If a verb is to be negated, ua (coming before the verb) receives any pronominal endings (and presumably also any endings for plurality or duality, -r or -t), whereas the uninflected tense-stem of the verb follows: With the ending -n for "I", one can thus have constructions like uan carë "I do not" (aorist), uan carnë "I did not" (past), uan cára "I am not doing" (present), uan caruva "I shall not do" (future). The verb ua- can itself be fully conjugated: #ua aorist (or present?), únë (past), úva "(future), #uië (perfect) (the aorist and perfect are attested only with the ending -n "I"). In "archaic Quenya" these tense-forms could be combined with an uninflected aorist stem, e.g. future *úvan carë = later Quenya uan caruva, "I shall not do". In later Quenya, only the forms ua (present or aorist) and "occasionally" the past tense form #únë were used in normal prose (únen* "I did not, was not"). (PE17:144; compare FS for úva** as a future-tense negative verb "will not")
illon
from whom
illon pl. relative pron. in ablative: "from whom", pl. (VT47:11). See i #2 (relative pronoun).
ion
from whom, *of whom
ion pl. relative pron. in genitive "from whom, *of whom", pl. (VT47:21). See i #2 (relative pronoun).
man
who
man pron. "who" (Nam, RGEO:67, FS, LR:59, Markirya, MC:213, 214); cf. PM:357 note 18, where a reference is made to the Eldarin interrogative element ma, man). However, man is translated "what" in LR:59: man-ië? "what is it?" (LR:59; the stative-verb suffix -ië_ is hardly valid in LotR-style Quenya) _Either Tolkien later adjusted the meaning of the word, or man covers both "who" and "what". Cf. also mana, manen.
man
pronoun. who, who; [ᴹQ.] what
Element in
- Q. man cenuva fána cirya? “Who shall see a white ship?” ✧ MC/221
- Q. man cenuva lumbor ahosta? “Who shall see the clouds gather?” ✧ MC/222; MC/222
- Q. man cenuva métim’ andúnë? “Who shall see the last evening?” ✧ MC/222; MC/222
- Q. man hlaruva rávëa súrë? “Who shall hear the wind roaring?” ✧ MC/222
- Q. man tiruva fána cirya? “Who shall heed a white ship?” ✧ MC/222
- Q. man tiruva rácina cirya? “Who shall heed a broken ship?” ✧ MC/222
- ᴺQ. manwa “whose”
- Q. sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “who now shall refill the cup for me?” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “now who the cup for me will refill?” ✧ RGEO/59
- Q. sí man i yulmar men enquantuva? “*who now shall refill the cups for us?” ✧ Minor-Doc/2013-05-13
- Q. sí man i yulmar n(g)wen enquantuva “*who now will refill the cups for us (dual)” ✧ VT21/06
Elements
Word Gloss ma “interrogative particle” Variations
- Men ✧ MC/221
- Man ✧ MC/222; MC/222; MC/222; MC/222; MC/222
- man- ✧ PE17/068
- mán ✧ RGEO/58
ná
is
ná (1) vb. "is" (am). (Nam, RGEO:67). This is the copula used to join adjectives, nouns or pronouns "in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have certain quality, or to be the same as another" (VT49:28). Also in impersonal constructions: ringa ná "it is cold" (VT49:23). The copula may however be omitted "where the meaning is clear" without it (VT49:9). Ná is also used as an interjection "yes" or "it is so" (VT49:28). Short na in airë [] na, "[] is holy" (VT43:14; some subject can evidently be inserted in the place of [].) Short na also functions as imperative: alcar mi tarmenel na Erun "glory in high heaven be to God" (VT44:32/34), also na airë "be holy" (VT43:14); also cf. nai "be it that" (see nai #1). The imperative participle á may be prefixed (á na, PE17:58). However, VT49:28 cites ná as the imperative form. Pl. nar or nár "are" (PE15:36, VT49:27, 9, 30); dual nát (VT49:30). With pronominal endings: nányë/nanyë "I am", nalyë or natyë "you (sg.) are" (polite and familiar, respectively), nás "it is", násë "(s)he is", nalmë "we are" (VT49:27, 30). Some forms listed in VT49:27 are perhaps to be taken as representing the aorist: nain, naityë, nailyë (1st person sg, and 2nd person familiar/polite, respectively); does a following na represent the aorist with no pronominal ending? However, the forms nanyë, nalyë, ná, nassë, nalme, nar (changed from nár) are elsewhere said to be "aorist", without the extra vowel i (e.g. nalyë rather than nailyë); also notice that *"(s)he is" is here nassë rather than násë (VT49:30).Pa.t. nánë or né "was", pl. náner/nér and dual nét "were" (VT49:6, 9, 10, 27, 28, 30, 36). According to VT49:31, né "was" cannot receive pronominal endings (though nésë "he was" is attested elsewhere, VT49:28-29), and such endings are rather added to the form ane-, e.g. anen "I was", anel "you were", anes "(s)he/it was" (VT49:28-29). Future tense nauva "will be" (VT42:34, VT49:19, 27; another version however gives the future tense as uva, VT49:30). Nauva with a pronominal ending occurs in tanomë nauvan "I will be there" (VT49:19), this example indicating that forms of the verb ná may also be used to indicate position. Perfect anaië "has been" (VT49:27, first written as anáyë). Infinitive (or gerund) návë "being", PE17:68. See also nai #1.
ye (2) copula "is" (FS, VT46:22); both earlier and later sources rather point to ná (q.v.) as the copula "is", so ye may have been an experiment Tolkien later abandoned. Future tense yéva, q.v.