-nyë

i am come

-n (2), also -nyë, pronominal ending, 1st person sg. "I" (VT49:51), as in utúlien "I am come" (EO), cainen "I lay" (VT48:12-13), carin or carinyë "I do" (VT49:16), veryanen *"I married" (VT49:45). See also VT49:48. Long form -nye- with object ending -s "it" following in utúvienyes (see tuv-). A possible attestation of -n in object position ("me") is provided by the untranslated verbal form tankassen (PE17:76), where -n may be preceded by -sse- as a longer form of the 3rd person sg. ending -s (see -s #1).

-nyë

i do

-nyë, 1st person sg. pronominal suffix "I"; also short form -n (q.v.). Carin or carinyë *"I do" (VT49:16). With object -s following in utúvienyes "I have found it" (see tuv-). It may be that Tolkien at one point considered nye (or ne, inyë) as an independent emphatic pronoun "I", but this was struck out (VT49:49).

-ne

i love

#-ne (4) "I", a 1st person pronominal suffix occurring in the word melánë "I love" (LR:61), but Tolkien later used -n or -nyë for this meaning (melin "I love", VT49:21). It may be that Tolkien at one point considered ne (or nye, inyë) as an independent emphatic pronoun "I", but this was struck out (VT49:49).

-n(yë)

suffix. I

inyë

i, too

inyë emphatic independent 1st person sg. pronoun, "I" with emphasis, translated "I, too" in LR:61 (and, according to one reading of Tolkiens manuscript, in VT49:49).

-n

suffix. I

ni

pronoun. me, I

ná-

verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist

The basic Quenya verb for “to be”, based on the root √NĀ (PE17/93). It was typically used as the copula equating a noun to another noun or an adjective:

> √NA joining adjs./nouns/pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have a certain quality, or to be the same as another (PE22/147).

In many circumstances this verb was optional:

> As a copula “be, is” is not usually expressed in Quenya where the meaning is clear: sc. in such expressions as “A is good” where the adjective (contrary to the usual order in Quenya of a qualifying adjective) follows: the normal Quenya for this is A mára (PE17/93).

For further discussion see the entry on the Quenya copula.

Conceptual Development: This verb dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was given as the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This verb and its root appeared regularly throughout Tolkien’s writings thereafter, but at times Tolkien considered alternative verbs for “to be”; see the entry ëa- for further discussion.