car-

verb. to do, make, to do, make, [ᴹQ.] build

Car- is the Quenya verb for “do, make”, derived from the root √KAR of the same meaning, and was very well established in Tolkien’s mind. ᴱQ. karin “I do, make” dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), and appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writings thereafter. Tolkien frequently used car- in examples of conjugating basic verbs, so the inflections of car- are pretty representative of Tolkien’s evolving notations of the Quenya verb system.

The English verb “do” has many specialized functions, such as in the formation of questions like “do you want to go?”. Quenya car- does not share many of those functions. Quenya car- serves as a “generic action” verb, in some sense acting like verbal pronoun, which can be substituted for a more specific verb. For example, in phrases like A carnë ta yallë B (carnë) “A did that as / like B (did)” (PE17/74) or ecuva nin carë sa nöa “I may do that tomorrow” (VT49/20), the verb car- is a placeholder for the specific action done, in the same way that ta and sa is a pronominal placeholder for the action as a noun.

The English verb “do” often requires a generic object like “it”, but that is not the case for Quenya car-: consider English “don’t do it” [with object] vs. Quenya áva carë [without object] (WJ/371) or the Quenya phrase á carë ancárië “try harder” (PE17/94), more literally “✱do [it] with more doing”. When car- has a specific direct object, it generally has the sense “make” or “build”, as in ma caruvalwë ohta “shall we make war” (PE22/161) or i carir quettar ómainen “those who form [make] words with voices” (WJ/391).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had ᴹQ. karin “I make, build” under the root ᴹ√KAR {“make, do” >>} “make, build, construct” (Ety/KAR), and in this period kar- was more often glossed “make” rather than “do”, such as in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948. It could be that in the 1930s and 40s this verb was more limited in sense than it was earlier and later.

car-

make, do, build, form

car- (1) vb. "make, do, build, form" (1st pers. aorist carin "I make, build"; the aorist is listed with all pronominal endings in VT49:16, also in pl. and dual forms carir, carit). Regarding the form carize- (PE17:128), see -s #1. Pa.t. carnë (KAR, PE17:74, 144). The infinitival aorist stem carë ("k") (by Patrick Wynne called a "general aorist infinitive" in VT49:34) occurs in ecë nin carë sa "I can do it" (VT49:34), also in áva carë "don't do it" (WJ:371) and uin carë (PE17:68); in the last example Tolkien calls carë an example of the "simplest aorist infinitive", the same source referring to carië as the "general infinitive" of the same verb. Pl. aorist carir "form" in the phrase i carir quettar ("k") "those who form words" (WJ:391, cf. VT49:16), continuative cára, future caruva (PE17:144), carita ("k"), infinitive/gerund "to do" or "doing" (VT42:33), with suffixes caritas "to do it" or "doing it", caritalya(s) "your doing (it)" in VT41:13,17, VT42:33. Past participle #carna, q.v.; VT43:15 also gives the long form carina ("k"), read perhaps *cárina. (Carima as a passive participle may be a mistake, VT43:15.) PE17:68 refers to a "simple past passive participle" of the form carinwa ("kari-nwa"). "Rare" past participle active (?) cárienwa* ("k") "having done" (PE17:68), unless this is also a kind of passive participle (the wording of the source is unclear). Some alternative forms in Fíriel's Song: past tense cárë ("káre") "made"; this may still be an alternative to the better-attested form carnë (LR:362) even in LotR-style Quenya. Cf. ohtacárë "war-made", made war (see #ohtacar-). Also cárië with various suffixes: cárier ("kárier") is translated "they made"; in LotR-style Quenya this could be seen as an augmentless perfect, hence "they have made", "they" being simply the plural ending -r. The literal meaning of cárielto* ("k") must also be "they made" (cf. -lto). Derived adjectives urcárima and urcarnë "hard to make / do", urucarin "made with difficulty" (PE17:154), saucarya "evil-doing" (PE17:68).

car-

verb. do, make

car-

with

#car- (2) prep. "with" (carelyë "with thee"), prepositional element (evidently an ephemeral form abandoned by Tolkien) (VT43:29)

cár

head

cár (cas-) ("k")noun "head" (KAS).The given stem-form appears doubtful within the phonological framework of LotR-style Quenya. Probably we should read cas with stem car- (PE14:69 indeed reads "kas head, pl. kari", and VT49:17 quotes the sg. "kas" from a post-LotR source). Compare other forms found in late sources: hlas "ear" with stem hlar- (PE17:62) and olos "dream", pl. olori (UT:396). In Tolkiens early "Qenya", post-vocalic -s became -r at the end of words but was preserved when another vowel followed. His later scheme either lets -r appear in both positions, or reverses the scenario altogether (hence olos, olor-). It would seem that the forms cár, cas- were distractedly carried over into the Etymologies from the Qenya Lexicon (kar, kas-, QL:45) even though they presuppose an earlier version of the phonology. An apparent variant form in late material, cára from earlier cáza ("k"), however fits the later phonology since intervocalic s would become z > r (PE17:188).

ohtacar-

káre

#ohtacar- stem of the past tense ohtacárë (-"káre")vb. "war-made", made war (+ allative = make war upon) (LR:47, SD:246; ohtacárië in LR:56). The past tense could probably also be *ohtacarnë with the better-attested pa.t. of car- "make".

úcar-

to sin, trespass; to do wrong

#úcar- vb. "to sin, trespass; to do wrong" (pl. aorist úcarer in VT43:12, we would rather expect úcarir, a form seemingly indicated by an emendation in one variant of the text in question, VT43:21). The verb is car- "do" with the prefix ú-, here suggesting something morally bad ("do wrong") rather than simple negation.

cas

noun. head, head, [ᴱQ.] top, summit

This is the Quenya word for “head”, with a stem form of car- because medial s generally became z and then r, but the s was preserved when final. This word can refer to the head of people and animals, as well as the metaphorical “head” (or top) of other things, in much the same way that Q. tál “foot” can refer to their base.

Conceptual Development: This word was established very early in Tolkien’s writing, being derived from the root ᴱ√KASA “head” all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), but its exact form varied as Tolkien changed his mind on the phonetic development of s in Quenya. Its form in the Qenya Lexicon was in fact ᴱQ. kar (kas-), since in Early Qenya period medial s survived and it was final s that became r (PE12/26). This kar (kas-) was the usual word for head in the 1910s and 20s, but in the typescript version of the Early Qenya Grammar Tolkien instead revised it to ᴱQ. kas (kast-) “head” (PE14/72 and note #5).

In noun declensions from the late 1920s and early 1930s, Tolkien instead had cas (car-), reflecting a conceptual shift in the phonologic development of s (PE13/112-113; PE21/22). However, for reasons unclear, the form ᴹQ. kár (kas-) was restored in The Etymologies written around 1937 under the root ᴹ√KAS “head” (Ety/KEM), despite s > z > r being the normal medial phonetic development in this period (PE19/33). This abnormal form slipped into The Lord of the Rings itself as part of the name Q. Eldacar “Elfhelm” (LotR/1038).

Tolkien generally used the form cas for “head” in his later writings (PE19/103; PE23/49; VT49/17), but in his notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien was forced to contrive another explanation for Eldacar:

> What is -kar in names. How could it stand for helm? E.g. as stem ✱kāsā (√KAS, head) would give kāra, but in compound forms -kāsă > -kas. Would not an ă be lost before voicing of s or at least before z > r (PE17/114).

In this note Tolkien considered having Q. carma “helm” < kas-mā, but discarded the idea since he felt karma “tool or weapon” < KAR “do, make” + mā was the more likely meaning. He then said “Eldă|kāzā in compounds to -kār(ă) > -kar” despite its phonological implausibility, and indeed kāza/kára appeared in a discussion of helms within 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD: PE17/188).

In Tolkien’s earlier writings the word kas was also frequently translated “top”, such as the glosses “head, top” in Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/79), “top, summit” in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s (PE15/78), and the early-1930s allative form kasta “up (to the top)” (PE21/22).

Neo-Quenya: I would assume this second meaning “top” survived in Tolkien’s later conception of the language, analogous to English “head of the stairs”. Unlike English, I would not assume cas could be used for “front”, as in “head of the line”.

-da

draught, the amount drunk

-da suffix used to derive nouns denoting the result of an action, like yulda "draught, the amount drunk" (the stem YUL is here given the meaning "drink"). (PE17:68) Cf. also carda "deed" (q.v.) vs. the verb car- "do".

-ina

general 'passive' participle

-ina ending for what Tolkien called "general 'passive' participle" (VT43:15); compare nótina "counted", rácina "broken", hastaina "marred" (q.v.). The stem-vowel is usually lengthened when the ending is added to the stem of a primary verb (as in the two first examples above), though the lengthening fails to occur (or is not denoted) in carina as the passive participle of car- "make, do" (VT43:15).

-ië

general infinitive

-ië (1) infinitive (or gerundial) ending, "general infinitive" (PE17:68), attested in carië (see car-), enyalië, q.v. (CO)

-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)

aira

red, copper-coloured, ruddy

aira (1) adj. "red, copper-coloured, ruddy" (GAY)

as

with

as prep. "with" (together with), also attested with a pronominal suffix: aselyë "with thee" (VT47:31, VT43:29). The conjunction ar "and" may also appear in assimilated form as before s; see ar #1.

as

with

o (2) prep. "with" (MC:216; this is "Qenya"; WJ:367 states that no independent preposition o was used in Quenya. Writers may rather use as.) See ó- below.

as

preposition. with

car(am)aite

adjective. able to make,handy,craftsmanlike,skilled

carna

built, made

carna passive participle *"built, made" in Vincarna "newly-made" (MR:408), also struck-out alacarna "well-done, well-made" (PE17:172). Carna would seem to be the passive participle of car-, though a longer form carina (read *cárina?) is also attested (VT43:15).

carne (carni-)

adjective. red

carnë

red

carnë adj. "red", "scarlet, red" (SA:caran, PE17:154, MC:214, KARÁN - spelt with a k in the two latter sources), not to be confused with the past tense of car- "do, make". Stem carni- as in Carnimírië, Carnistir.

cas

head

cas ("k")"head" (VT49:17), cf. also deleted [cas] ("k")noun "top, summit" (VT45:19). This noun should evidently have the stem-form car-. See cár.

cára

noun. head

indo

house

indo (2) noun "house" (LT2:343), probably obsoleted by #1 above (in Tolkiens later Quenya, the word for "house" appears as coa).

lé

with

lé (2) prep. "with" (PE17:95)

lé

preposition. with

The preposition lé “with” was mentioned in a (rejected) etymology of S. di “with” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/94), from the phrase le nallon sí di’nguruthos (LotR/729), usually translated “here overwhelmed in dread of Death, I cry”. In this note, Tolkien eventually decided that S. (n)di actually meant “beneath”, and its Quenya equivalent was Q. nî.

Conceptual Development: Prepositional ᴹQ. le also appeared in the Lament of Atalante from the 1940s, in the phrase ᴹQ. Númeheruvi arda sakkante lenéme Ilúvatáren “the Lords of the West broke the world by [or with] leave of Ilúvatar” (SD/246, 310). Here “with” seems to be used in the instrumental sense “by means of”. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. le “with (accompaniment)” under the early root ᴱ√LĒ (QL/52). Le was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the equivalent of G. li “with (of accompaniment only)”, but also used to mean “and” between nouns GL/54().

Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. lé for purposes of Neo-Quenya as a rarely-used instrumental preposition meaning “with, by (means of)”, reconceived as a derivative of √LEÑ “✱way, method, manner” (PE17/74).

nasar

red

nasar adj. "red" (in Vanyarin Quenya only). Adopted and adapted from Valarin. (WJ:399)

os

house, cottage

os (ost-) noun "house, cottage" (LT2:336; hardly valid in LotR-style Quenya writers may use coa or már)

suhto

draught

suhto noun "draught" (SUK)

yulda

draught, something drunk, a drink, the amount drunk

yulda noun "draught, something drunk, a drink, the amount drunk", pl. yuldar (Nam, PE17:63, 68, RGEO:66). See -da regarding etymology.

ó

with, accompanying