Quenya 

-ya

elvish

-ya (5) adjectival ending, as in the word Quenya "Elvish" itself; when added to a verbal stem it may derive a kind of short active participle, as in melumatya "honey-eating" (mat- "eat"), saucarya "evil-doing" (car- "do"). (PE17:68)

-ya

his

-ya (4) pronominal suffix "his" (and probably also "her, its"), said to be used in "colloquial Quenya" (which had redefined the "correct" ending for this meaning, -rya, to mean "their" because it was associated with the plural ending -r). Hence e.g. cambeya ("k") "his hand", yulmaya "his cup" (VT49:17) instead of formally "correct" forms in -rya. The ending -ya was actually ancient, primitive ¤- being used for "all numbers" in the 3rd person, predating elaborated forms like -rya. It is said that -ya "remained in Quenya" in the case of "old nouns with consonantal stems", Tolkien listing tál "foot", cas "head", nér "man", sír "river" and macil "sword" as examples. He refers to "the continued existence of such forms as talya his foot", that could apparently be used even in "correct" Quenya (VT49:17). In PE17:130, the forms talya "his foot" and macilya ("k") "his (or their) sword" are mentioned.

-ya

dad

-ya (3) suffix of endearment, attested in Anardilya as an intimate form of the name Anardil (UT:174, 418), possibly also occurring in atya "dad", emya "mum" (q.v.) The forms ataryo "daddy" and amilyë "mummy" (q.v.) may contain gender-specific variants -yo masc. and - fem.

-ya

suffix. verbal suffix

Element in

  • Q. amya- “[unglossed]”
  • Q. cesya- “to cause interest, interest (oneself), (lit.) to cause one to enquire”
  • Q. comya- “to collect”
  • Q. lerya- “to release, set free, let go”
  • Q. tulya-to lead, to lead; [ᴱQ.] to bring, send”

-ya

suffix. adjective suffix

Derivations

  • -yā “present participle” ✧ PE17/068

Element in

  • Q. Aldúya “*Tuesday, Day of the Two Trees”
  • Q. Amanyar “Those of Aman”
  • Q. Anarya “Sunday, (lit.) Sun-day”
  • Q. apacenya “of foresight”
  • Q. attalya “biped, *(lit.) two-footed”
  • ᴺQ. cantalya “four-legged, quadruped, (lit.) four-footed”
  • Q. -carya “doing” ✧ PE17/068
  • Q. Eärenya “Sea-day, *Thursday”
  • Q. elenya “adjective referring to the stars, *of the stars, stellar”
  • Q. entya “central, middle”
  • Q. firya “mortal; human, [ᴹQ.] human; [Q.] mortal”
  • Q. Isilya “*Monday, Moon-day”
  • Q. -matya “-eating” ✧ PE17/068
  • Q. Menelya “*Wednesday, Heavens-day”
  • Q. minya “first; eminent, prominent”
  • Q. Narya “(Ring) of Fire”
  • Q. Nenya “(Ring) of Water”
  • ᴺQ. ruimenya “fireside, by the fire”
  • Q. tatya “second”
  • Q. tercenya “of insight”
  • Q. Valanya “*Friday, Vala-day”
  • Q. Vilya “(Ring) of Air”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
-ı̯ā > -ya[-jā] > [-ja]✧ PE17/068

Variations

  • -ya ✧ PE17/068 (-ya)

-ya

suffix. suffix of endearment

Variations

  • -ya ✧ UT/174

-ya

suffix. his, her, its (colloquial)

Derivations

  • -ya “adjectival suffix” ✧ VT49/17
  • Q. -rya “his, her, its” ✧ VT49/17
    • -syā “his, her, its” ✧ PE17/076; PE17/130; PE19/102; VT49/17

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
-jā > -ya[-jā] > [-ja]✧ VT49/17

Variations

  • -ya ✧ PE17/130; PE17/130; VT49/16; VT49/17; VT49/17
Quenya [PE17/130; VT49/16; VT49/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-nya

my

-nya pronominal suffix, 1st person sg. possessive, "my" (VT49:16, 38, 48), e.g. tatanya "my daddy" (UT:191, VT48:17), meldonya "my [male] friend" (VT49:38), meldenya "my [female] friend" (Elaine inscription), omentienya "my meeting" (PE17:68), tyenya "my tye" (tye being an intimate form of "you"), used = "dear kinsman" (VT49:51, 56). This ending seems to prefer i as its connecting vowel where one is needed, cf. Anarinya "my sun" in LR:72, so also in hildinyar "my heirs". It was previously theorized by some that a final -ë would also be changed to -i- before -nya, but the example órenya "my heart [órë]" indicates that this is not the case (VT41:11).

-nya

suffix. my

Element in

  • Q. amya “mummy, (orig.) my mother”
  • Q. atya “daddy, (my) father”
  • Q. onya “my child”
Quenya [PE17/057; PE17/067; PE17/132; PE17/190; VT49/16; VT49/38; VT49/48] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-rya

his, her

-rya 3rd person sg. pronominal ending "his, her" and probably "its" (VT49:16, 38, 48, Nam, RGEO:67), attested in coivierya *"his/her life", máryat "her hands", ómaryo "of her voice" (genitive of *ómarya "her voice"), súmaryassë "in her bosom" (locative of súmarya "her bosom"); for the meaning "his" cf. coarya "his house" (WJ:369). The ending is descended from primitive ¤-sjā via -zya (VT49:17) and therefore connects with the 3rd person ending -s "he, she, it". In colloquial Quenya the ending -rya could be used for "their" rather than "his/her", because it was felt to be related to the plural ending -r,e.g. símaryassen "in their [not his/her] imaginations" (VT49:16, 17). See -ya #4.

-zya

his, her, its

-zya, archaic form of the pronominal ending -rya "his, her, its", q.v. (VT49:17)

-a

suffix. adjectival suffix

This suffix is frequently used to create the adjective form of a noun, especially in the form -ëa for nouns ending in . This function dates back to CE. ✶.

Derivations

  • “adjectival”

Element in

  • Q. airëa “holy (applied to persons)” ✧ PE17/149
  • ᴺQ. aitalëa “reverent, worshipful, religious”
  • Q. Aldëa “*Tuesday, Tree-day (Númenórean)”
  • Q. amaurëa “dawn, early day, morning” ✧ MC/223
  • Q. andúna “western”
  • ᴺQ. aurëa “sunny, sunlit; *daytime”
  • Q. endëa “middle”
  • Q. eressëa “lonely” ✧ LotR/1116
  • Q. fínëa “dexterous”
  • Q. ilaurëa “*daily”
  • Q. ilyarëa “*daily”
  • Q. ilucara “omnificent” ✧ VT39/20
  • Q. laurëa “golden (of hue)”
  • Q. lillassëa “having many leaves”
  • Q. lilótëa “having many flowers”
  • Q. lómëa “shadowed, gloomy, shadowed, gloomy, *dusk-like”
  • Q. mírëa “jewelled, jewelled, *gemmed”
  • Q. nieninquëa “like a snowdrop” ✧ PE16/096
  • Q. nöa “former; yesterday; tomorrow, yesterday; former, *previous; tomorrow”
  • ᴺQ. nornolassëa “having oak-leaves”
  • Q. núla “dark, occult, mysterious”
  • Q. oialëa “eternal”
  • Q. rávëa “roaring”
  • Q. taurëa “forested”
  • Q. túrëa “mighty, masterful, mighty, masterful, *having political power” ✧ PE17/115
  • Q. úfanwëa “not veiled, unveiled”
  • Q. úpahtëa “speechless”
  • Q. vëa “seeming, apparent, seeming, apparent; [ᴱQ.] similar, like”
  • Q. yaimëa “wailing”
Quenya [LotR/1116; MC/223; PE16/096; PE17/115; PE17/149; VT39/20] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ntya

their

-ntya, possessive 3rd person pl. pronominal ending: "their" (VT49:17), corresponding to -ntë as the ending for "they". Besides -ntya the form -nta is also attested, but the latter clashes with the ending for dual allative. (Other variants of Quenya uses -lta for "their", corresponding to -ltë as the ending for "they".) According to VT49:17, the ending -ntya appears as -intya following a consonant (other sources point to -e- rather than -i- as the connecting vowel in such cases).

-lma

our

-lma pronominal ending "our", 1st person pl. exclusive (VT49:16), also attested (with the genitive ending -o that displaces final -a) in the word omentielmo "of our meeting" (nominative omentielma, PE17:58). Tolkien emended omentielmo to omentielvo in the Second Edition of LotR, reflecting a revision of the Quenya pronominal system (cf. VT49:38, 49, Letters:447). The cluster -lm- in the endings for inclusive "we/our" was altered to -lv- (VT43:14). In the revised system, -lma should apparently signify exclusive "our".

-lta

their

-lta (and -ltya), 3rd person pl. pronominal possessive suffix "their", alternating with -nta/-ntya in Tolkiens writings (VT49:16, 17), just as the ending -ltë "they" also has the variant -ntë. According to VT49:17, the ending -lta or -ltya will appear as -ilta, -iltya following a consonant; other sources rather point to -e- as the connecting vowel in such cases (VT49:17).

-lwa

our

-lwa, possessive pronominal ending, 1st person pl. inclusive "our" (VT49:16), later (in exilic Quenya) used in the form #-lva, genitive -lvo in omentielvo (see -lv-).

-mma

our

-mma "our", 1st person dual exlusive possessive ending: *"my and one others" (VT49:16). At an earlier conceptual phase, Tolkien apparently intended the same ending to be plural inclusive "our" (VT49:55, RS:324), cf. Mélamarimma "Our Home" (q.v.) In the latter word, Tolkien slips in i as a connecting vowel before this ending; elsewhere he used e, as in Átaremma "our Father" (see atar).

-nta

their

-nta (2) possessive 3rd person pl. pronominal ending: "their" (VT49:17). Lintienta "their speed" (PE17:58), nassentar "their true-being[s]" (PE17:175). This ending corresponds to -ntë "they" (other versions of Quenya uses -ltë for "they" and hence -lta for "their"). Also -ntya, q.v. According to VT49:17, the ending -nta appears as -inta following a consonant (other sources point to -e- rather than -i- as the connecting vowel in such cases).

-nta

suffix. their

Variations

  • -nta ✧ PE17/057; PE17/132; PE17/190
  • -ntya ✧ VT49/17 (-ntya)
  • -(i)nta/-(i)ntya ✧ VT49/17
Quenya [PE17/057; PE17/132; PE17/190; VT49/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-twa

their

-twa 2) an pronominal possessive ending mentioned in one chart of pronouns, apparently "their" referring to two persons (VT49:16); this may be an ending used in colloquial Quenya rather than formal language (it is listed together with the endings -ya "his, her" and -rya "their", that are explicitly said to belong to colloquial Quenya) (VT49:16-17)

-ngwa

our

-ngwa "our", 1st person dual inclusive possessive pronominal ending: *"thy and my", corresponding to the ending -ngwë for dual inclusive "we" (VT49:16)

menya

our

menya (pl. menyë is attested) possessive pron. "our", 1st person pl. exclusive independent possessive pronoun (VT43:19, 35). Evidently derived from the dative form men "for us" by adding the adjectival ending -ya. Compare ninya, q.v.

ninya

my

ninya _possessive pron _occurring in Fíriel's Song, evidently meaning "my"; see indo-ninya. It may be derived from the dative form nin "for me" by adding the adjectival ending -ya. Compare menya, q.v.

yelca

sword

[yelca noun ?"sword" - Tolkien's gloss is not certainly legible, and the word was struck out anyway. (VT45:11)]

-tië

suffix. verbal suffix

Changes

  • -tieı̯e ✧ PE17/013

Element in

  • Q. omentië “meeting (of pathways), (lit.) coming together of journey-path, meeting or junction of the directions of two people” ✧ PE17/013

Variations

  • -tie ✧ PE17/013
Quenya [PE17/013; PE17/058] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tál

g.sg. talen

tál (tal-, as in "g.sg. talen"; in LotR-style Quenya this is rather the dative singular) noun "foot" (TAL, VT49:17). Also tala (VT49:42). Pl. táli "feet" (PE16:96); here Tolkien did not use tal- with a short a as the stem-form. VT43:16 mentions "an unpublished declension" of this word dating from ca. 1967; here the locative is said to appear as talassë and talsë. Cf. also talya "his foot"; see -ya #4. Early "Qenya" forms:tala "foot" (LT2:347) and dual talwi "the feet" (LT2:347); tálin "feet" (MC:216); instrumental talainen, talalínen (MC:213, 216, 220; this is "Qenya")

macil

sword

macil ("k")noun "sword" (MAK, LT1:259, VT39:11, VT45:32, VT49:17); macilya "his (or their) sword" (PE17:130), see -ya #4.