Primitive elvish
en
root. again, once more, go on doing; further, beyond, again, once more, go on doing; further, beyond; [ᴹ√] yonder, over there
Derivatives
- ✶en “next, further, again, next, further, again; [ᴹ✶] yonder”
- Q. en “then soon, (then) soon, [ᴹQ.] in that (future) case; there, yonder; look yon(der); far away; that, [ᴱQ.] that by you; thereupon”
- Q. en- “re-, again” ✧ VT41/16
- Q. en(a) “still” ✧ PE17/167
- ᴺS. en “then, [G.] that past, that by you, that already mentioned (by you)”
- S. ennas “there”
- S. eno “*still”
Element in
Variations
- en- ✧ VT41/16 (
en-)- en ✧ VT41/16
- ēn ✧ VT41/16
en
adverb. next, further, again, next, further, again; [ᴹ✶] yonder
Changes
en→ en “yonder” ✧ PE21/70Derivations
- √EN “again, once more, go on doing; further, beyond, again, once more, go on doing; further, beyond; [ᴹ√] yonder, over there”
Derivatives
- Q. en “then soon, (then) soon, [ᴹQ.] in that (future) case; there, yonder; look yon(der); far away; that, [ᴱQ.] that by you; thereupon”
oio
adverb. ever
Derivations
- √OY “ever, continual, unceasing”
Derivatives
- S. ui “ever” ✧ Let/278
san-
noun. that
Derivatives
- S. san “that” ✧ PE17/042
en
root. name
Derivatives
This root had a variety of senses in Tolkien’s writings, which may or may not be related. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹ√EN was glossed “yonder, over there” with the adverbial form ᴹQ. en “there, look yon (yonder)” (Ety/EN) and in this sense it was probably a later iteration of the early demonstrative root ᴱ√E “that by you”. This 1930s version of the root seems to be a “remote demonstrative” as opposed to ᴹ√TA “that” which seems to be a more ordinary demonstrative.
In verbal notes from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Q. en was connected to the future (PE22/120, 131), and in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s, Tolkien revised the gloss of primitive ✶en from “yonder” to “next, further, again” (PE21/70, note #4). In later notes Tolkien primarily emphasized the sense “again” with the glosses like “go on doing” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/167), and the glosses “again, once more” in a couple of different documents written in 1968 (VT47/15; VT48/25), though in one of these it was given the form √HEN “again”, probably a transient idea (VT41/16). This new meaning for √EN reflects the use of the prefix Q. en- for repetition, such as in enquantuva “shall refill” in the Q. Namárië poem (LotR/377).
It is not clear whether √EN retained the sense “yonder” in Tolkien’s later conception of it. In the aforementioned note where it was glossed “go on doing”, one of its derivatives was Q. en(a) “still” as in Q. quetir en “they still say” (PE17/167), referring to the past rather than the future. On the other hand, in rough notes written around 1968, Tolkien said “en- ‘again’ as [in] enquantuva is prob[ably] [?] ‘further, beyond’ [?in respect of time influenced by ? only in] Q. enta, only with verbs. [?root] ēn” (VT41/16). The words in brackets were added by Carl Hostetter as editorial additions or to indicate unclear text in the original, but the relatively clear glosses “further, beyond” show that at least in that moment, something like the 1930s meaning “yonder” of this root may have remained valid.