#er- "remain", verb (LT1:269; given in the form erin and glossed "remains"; erin would have to mean "I remain" in Tolkien's later Quenya, if this word is to be adapted. However, the later synonym lemya- may be preferred.)
Quenya
er
one, alone
er
adverb/adjective. one, alone, one, alone; [ᴱQ.] only, a single
er-
remain
erëa
cardinal. one
erëa adj.? "one" or *"single", apparently an adjectival form (see er) (VT44:17)
erinqua
single, alone
erinqua adj. "single, alone" (VT42:10)
erya
single, sole
erya adj. "single, sole" (ERE)
a aina neldië eru er órava (o)messë
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us
The ninth line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the vocative a “O” followed by aina Neldië = “holy Trinity”. The fourth word Eru is Tolkien’s usual Quenya name for God. The fifth word is er “one”, emphasizing the one-ness of the Trinity. The phrase órava (o)messe “have mercy on us” was abbreviated o.o. in the original, but presumably was the same as in earlier lines of the prayer; see the entry for the first line for discussion.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> a Aina Neldië Eru Er órava (o)me-sse = “✱o Holy Trinity, God one have-mercy us-on”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote an adjectival form Erea before changing it to Er as a way of emphasizing the one-ness of the Trinity (VT44/17).
nertë
cardinal. nine
nertë cardinal "nine" (NÉTER, VT42:26, VT48:6); nertëa ordinal "ninth" (VT42:25)
nertë
cardinal. nine
mer-
verb. wish (for), want
Ellairë
summer
Ellairë alternative name of June (PM:135); evidently incorporating lairë "summer"; the el- part is probably an assimilated form of er-, an element meaning one or first, June being the first summer month.
sanomë
adverb. there
A word for “there” appearing in notes from mid-1960s in the phrase sanome tarne Olórin, Aracorno, Eomer, Imrahil “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil” (PE17/71). A similar form ᴹQ. sanome(s) appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from the late 1940s, where it was based on ᴹ√NOM “spot, place” (PE23/112).
The word can be contrasted with tanome “there” in different notes from the late 1960s (VT49/11, 19), and also in DRC from the 1940s. DRC made the distinction between these two words clear, in that tanome was “demonstrative there” pointing to a place not previously mentioned, while sanome was “anaphoric there” referring back to a place mentioned before. So “go there” would be á mene tanome, but “I went to the city and found Aragorn there” would be mennen i ostonna ar hirnen Aracorno sanome.
Lokyt originally suggested this distinction to me in a Discord conversation from 2022, and was eventually proven right by the publication of DRC in 2024.
tassë
adverb. there
The words tās and tasse “there” appeared in a list of demonstratives from 1968 (VT49/11), combinations of ta “that” and the locative suffix -ssë. Short form tas appeared in the phrase tas kennen nótime eldali “I saw a few elves there” in notes from 1969 (PE22/155). Similarly formed ᴹQ. tasse “there” appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948, also with a short variant tas (PE23/97, 111).
en
there, look! yon (yonder)
en (1) interjection "there, look! yon (yonder)" (EN, VT45:12)
lairë
summer
lairë (1) noun "summer" (Letters:283, VT45:26), in the calendar of Imladris a precisely defined period of 72 days, but also used without any exact definition (Appendix D). Oiolairë "Eversummer", name of a tree (UT:167), see also Coron Oiolairë. Lairelossë noun *"Summer-snow", name of a tree (UT:167), perhaps with white flowers.
quén
one, (some)body, person, individual, man or woman
quén (quen-, as in pl. queni; as final element in compounds -quen) noun "one, (some)body, person, individual, man or woman", pl. queni = "persons", "(some) people", "they" with the most general meaning (as in "they [= people in general] say that..."). The element is combined with noun and adjective stems in old compounds to denote habitual occupations or functions, or to describe those having some notable (permanent) quality; examples include roquen, ciryaquen, arquen, q.v. Also in aiquen "whoever", ilquen "everybody" (WJ:361 cf. 360, 372).
sanomë
there
sanomë adv. "there" (PE17:71). Cf. sinomë, tanomë.
ta
there
ta (5) adv. "there" (VT49:33; this may be an Elvish root or "element" rather than a Quenya word; see tanomë; see however also tar, tara, tanna under ta #1).
tassë
there
tassë adv. "there" (VT49:11), short form tás. These seem to be properly locative forms of ta "that, it", hence "in that [place]". Compare allative tanna "thither" and ablative talo "thence".
tás
there
tás adv. "there" (VT49:11); also tassë, q.v.
yára
ancient, belonging to or descending from former times
yára adj. "ancient, belonging to or descending from former times" (YA); evidently it can also simply mean "old", since Tolkien used the intensive/superlative form #anyára to describe Elaine Griffiths as his "oldest" or "very old" friend in a book dedication (see an-).
lairë
noun. summer
min
cardinal. one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first
laire
noun. summer
tasse
there
tás
adverb. there
calima
bright
calima adj. "bright" (VT42:32); cf. ancalima; in PE17:56, arcalima appears as another superlative "brightest" (see ar- #2).
huë
cardinal. nine
huë "Qenya" cardinal "nine" (in Tolkiens later Quenya nertë) (VT49:54)
latin
open, free, cleared (of land)
latin, latina adj. "open, free, cleared (of land)" (LAT). According to VT41:5, the adjective latina "is used rather of freedom of movement, of things not encumbered with obstacles".
min
cardinal. one
min numeral "one", also minë (VT45:34, VT48:6)
minë
cardinal. one
minë numeral "one", also min (MINI, VT45:34)
mir
cardinal. one
mir (2) cardinal "one" (LT1:260; in LotR-style Quenya rather minë)
olma
cardinal. nine
olma cardinal "nine" (LT1:258; in Tolkien's later Quenya nertë)
rië
adverb. only
rëa
adjective. single
a
cardinal. one
lemya-
verb. remain, tarry
lemya- vb. "remain, tarry" (VT45:27)
lenu-
verb. stretch
lenu- vb. "stretch" (LT2:341)
láta
open
láta adj. "open" (VT39:23), "open, not closed" (PE17:159, VT41:5)
mo
one, someone, anyone
mo, indefinite pronoun "one, someone, anyone" (VT42:34, VT49:19, 20, 26)
panta
open
panta adj. "open" (PAT)
rea
adjective. single
rie
adverb. only
tehta
mark, sign
tehta noun "mark, sign" (TEK, VT39:17, Appendix E), especially diacritics denoting vowels in Fëanorian writing (pl. tehtar is attested); these diacritics are explicitly called ómatehtar "vowel-marks", q.v.
er cardinal "one, alone" (ERE, VT48:6, VT49:54), in an early source also adv. "only, but, still" (LT1:269); Eru er "one God" (VT44:17; er was here emended by Tolkien from erëa, which seems to be an adjectival form *"one, single".)