Quenya 

esse

noun. name

Quenya [PE 22:124] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

essë

name

essë (1) noun "name", also later name of Tengwa #31, originally (MET) called árë (ázë). (Appendix E). With a pronominal ending esselya "thy name" (VT43:14). Pl. #essi in PM:339 and MR:470, gen.pl. #esseron "of names" in the compound Nómesseron (q.v.); we would rather have expected *ession, given the nom.pl. essi; perhaps #esser is a valid alternative plural form. Essecarmë noun "name-making" (MR:214, 470), Eldarin ceremony where the father announces the name of his child. Essecenta *("k") noun "Name-essay" (see centa) (MR:415); Essecilmë noun "name-choosing", an Eldarin ceremony where a child named him- or herself according to personal lámatyávë (q.v.) (MR:214, 471). The meaning Tolkien originally assigned to the word essë** in the Etymologies was "place" rather than "name" (VT45:12).

essë

noun. name

Cognates

  • ᴺS. ess “name”

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ES “indicate, name”

Element in

Variations

  • esse ✧ LotR/1123
  • essë ✧ MR/470
  • Esse ✧ WJ/359
Quenya [LotR/1123; MR/216; MR/470; PM/339; UT/266; UTI/epessë; VT42/17; VT43/14; WJ/359] Group: Eldamo. Published by

essë

he

essë (2) pron? "he" (and also "she, it"?), possible emphatic 3rd sg. emphatic pronoun, attested in the sentence essë úpa nas "he is dumb" (PE17:126)

essë

beginning

essë (3) noun "beginning" (ESE/ESET). This entry was marked by a query in Etym, and a word in the appendices to LotR suggests that it was emended to *YESE/YESET; we may therefore read *yessë for essë. (See esta #2.) However, for the purposes of writing the form yesta "beginning" from PE17:120 may be preferred.

essë

pronoun. he, *she, it (emphatic)

epessë

after-name

epessë noun "after-name", nickname, mostly given as a title of admiration or honour (PM:339, UT:266, VT49:12). Cf. essë "name" and epë above.

epessë

noun. after-name

Elements

WordGloss
epë“after (of time), following; before (in all relations but time)”
essë“name”
Quenya [PM/339; UT/266; UTI/epessë] Group: Eldamo. Published by

issë

pronoun. he, *she, it (emphatic)

Element in

Variations

  • esse ✧ PE17/126
  • isse ✧ PE22/162
Quenya [PE17/126; PE22/162] Group: Eldamo. Published by

se

he, she, it

se (1) pron. "he, she, it" also object "him, her, it", 3rd person sg. Used "of living things including plants" (VT49:37; the corresponding inaimate pronoun is sa). The pronoun comes directly from se as the original stem-form (VT49:50). Stressed form , VT49:51, attested in object position in melin sé "I love him" (VT49:21). Ósë "with him/her", VT43:29; see ó-. Long dative/allative sena "[to/for] him" or "at him", VT49:14, allative senna "to him/her" (VT49:45, 46). Compare the reflexive pronoun insë *"himself, herself".

tasse

there

Quenya [PE 22:124] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

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".

tassë

adverb. there

Element in

Variations

  • tas ✧ PE22/155
  • tās ✧ VT49/11
  • tasse ✧ VT49/11
Quenya [PE22/155; VT49/11] Group: Eldamo. Published by

day

noun "day" (of the sun), a full 24-hour cycle (Appendix D) composed of aurë (day, daylight) and lómë "night" (VT49:45). Short - in compounds like Ringarë (q.v.). Allative rénna (VT49:45).

Nómesseron

of place-names

Nómesseron pl. noun in genitive: a compound "of place-names", apparently an inflected compound consisting of #nómë "place" + a genitive plural #esseron "of names" (VT42:17; we might have expected *ession, since essi rather than ?esser as the nominative plural of essë "name" is attested both in PM:339 and MR:470)

emel

mother

emel noun "mother"; also amal (VT48:22, 49:22); the form amil (emil) seems more usual.

esta

first

esta (2) adj. "first" (ESE/ESET); this entry was marked with a query. The word Yestarë (q.v.) "Beginning-day" in LotR suggests that Tolkien decided to change the stem in question to _YESE/YESET_. We could then read *yesta for esta (but later this became a noun "beginning" rather than an adj. "first", PE17:120) and also prefix a y to the other words derived from ESE/ESET (essë* > yessë, essëa > yessëa). Estanossë noun "the firstborn", read likewise Yestanossë** (*Yestanessi?) but in a later text, Tolkien used Minnónar (q.v.) for "the Firstborn" as a name of the Elves, and this form may be preferred. _(In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word _Estanossë is cited as "Estanesse", but according to VT45:12, the second-to-last vowel is actually o in Tolkien's manuscript.)

esta-

verb. name

Quenya [PE 22:124] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

sanomë

there

sanomë adv. "there" (PE17:71). Cf. sinomë, tanomë.

sanomë

adverb. there

setta

first

[setta, setya adj. "first" (possibly also "primary", but Tolkien's gloss was not certainly legible) (VT46:13)]

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).

tás

there

tás adv. "there" (VT49:11); also tassë, q.v.

tás

adverb. there

yesta

beginning

yesta (2) noun "beginning" (PE17:120). Also attested in the compound yestarë (see below), but cf. esta #2.

yesta

noun. beginning, beginning, *start

@@@ gloss “start” suggested by Robert Reynolds

Derivations

Element in

  • Q. Yestarë “first day of the year” ✧ PE17/120

-ro

he

-ro pronominal ending "he", in antaváro, q.v. In Tolkiens later Quenya, the ending -s covers both "he", "she" and "it".

Ae

day

Ae (Quenya?) noun "day" (LEP/LEPEN/LEPEK - ae was written over ar [# 2] in the names of the Valinorean week, but ar was not struck out.)

en

there, look! yon (yonder)

en (1) interjection "there, look! yon (yonder)" (EN, VT45:12)

-a

it is said

-r nominative plural ending regularly used on nouns ending in -a, -i, -, -o, -u, e.g. Ainur, Valar, tier. Occasionally it is added also to nouns ending in -ë (that normally take the ending -I in the pl.). This seems to regularly happen in the case of nouns in - (see #fintalë, mallë, tyellë), sometimes also otherwise (see Ingwë, wendë, essë #1). This plural ending was ("it is said") first used by the Noldor (PM:402).

-on

name

-on gen.pl. ending (3O), in aldaron, aranion, elenion, Eldaron, #esseron, Ingweron, Istarion, Númevalion, Quendion, Silmarillion, Sindaron, tasarion (see Nan-Tasarion), Valion, wenderon, yénion. Normally the ending -on is added to the nominative plural, whether it ends in -i or -r, but some nouns in -ë that would have nominative plurals in -i seem to prefer the ending -ron in the genitive (hence #esseron as the gen. pl. of essë "name", though the nominative pl. is attested as essi and we might have expected the gen. pl. *ession; similarly wenderon, Ingweron).

ammë

mother

ammë noun "mother" (AM1)

emil

mother

emil noun "mother", emilinya "my mother" (also reduced to emya) the terms a child would use in addressing his or her mother (VT47:26). Emil would seem to be a variant of amil. Also compare emel.

emil

noun. mother

enna

first

[enna adj. "first" (VT45:12)]

sanda

name

[sanda, sandë] (þ) (2) noun "name" (VT46:16)

sanya

name

[sanya] (þ) (2) noun ?"name" (reading of gloss uncertain, VT46:16)

árë

day

árë noun "day" (PM:127) or "sunlight" (SA:arien). Stem ári- _(PE17:126, where the word is further defined as "warmth, especially of the sun, sunlight"). Also name of tengwa #31; cf. also ar # 2. Originally pronounced ázë; when /z/ merged with /r/, the letter became superfluous and was given the new value ss, hence it was re-named essë (Appendix E)_. Also árë nuquerna *"árë reversed", name of tengwa #32, similar to normal árë but turned upside down (Appendix E). See also ilyázëa, ilyárëa under ilya. In the Etymologies, this word has a short initial vowel: arë pl. ari (AR1)

inga

first

inga (2) adj. "first" (ING)

minya

first

minya adj. "first" (MINI) (cf. Minyatur, Minyon); "eminent, prominent" (VT42:24, 25). Minyar "Firsts", the original name of the Vanyar (or rather the direct Quenya descendant of the original Primitive Quendian name) (WJ:380)

nómë

place

#nómë noun "place", isolated from Nómesseron, q.v. Cf. also sinomë.

nómë

noun. place

Derivations

  • NOM “place”

Element in

  • ᴺQ. ainomë “anyplace, anywhere”
  • ᴺQ. ilinomë “everywhere”
  • ᴺQ. istanómë “school, academy”
  • ᴺQ. mancanómë “market, market-place”
  • ᴺQ. minomë “instead, in place of, in exchange of”
  • ᴺQ. nanomë “someplace, somewhere”
  • ᴺQ. nómëa “local”
  • ᴺQ. nómessëa “local”
  • Q. nómessë “place-name” ✧ VT42/17
  • ᴺQ. -non “-place, -spot (forms place-names, area nouns)”
  • Q. Quentalë Ardanómion “*History of the Places of Arda” ✧ WJ/206
  • Q. sinomë “here, (lit.) in this place”
  • Q. tanomë “there, (lit.) in the place (referred to)”

Variations

  • Nóme ✧ VT42/17 (Nóme)
Quenya [VT42/17; WJ/206] Group: Eldamo. Published by

amal

mother

amal noun "mother"; also emel (VT48:22, 49:22); the form amil (emil) seems more usual.

amil

mother

amil noun "mother" (AM1), also emil (q.v.) Longer variant amillë (VT44:18-19), compounded Eruamillë "Mother of God" in Tolkien's translation of the Hail Mary (VT43:32). If amil is a shortened form of amillë, it should probably have the stem-form amill-. Also compare amilyë, amya, emya. Compounded amil- in amilessë noun "mothername" (cf. essë "name"), name given to a child by its mother, sometimes with prophetic implications (amilessi tercenyë "mother-names of insight"). (MR:217).

amil(lë)

noun. mother

Tolkien used a number of similar forms for “mother” for most of his life. The earliest of these are ᴱQ. amis (amits-) “mother” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s along with variants ᴱQ. ambi, âmi, amaimi under the root ᴱ√AMA (QL/30). An additional variant ammi appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/30). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱQ. ambe or mambe “mother” (PE16/135). This became ᴹQ. amil “mother” in The Etymologies under the root ᴹ√AM “mother” (Ety/AM¹).

This 1930s form amil appears to have survived for some time. It appeared in a longer form Amille in Quenya Prayers of the 1950s (VT43/26; VT44/12, 18), and as an element in the term amilessi “mother-names” in a late essay on Elvish naming (MR/217). In the initial drafts of Elvish Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s Tolkien used the form amilye or amye as an affectionate word for “mother”, and amaltil as the finger name for the second finger (VT47/26-27 note #34 and #35).

However, in those documents Tolkien seems to have revised the root for “mother” from √AM to √EM and the affectionate forms from amye to emya or emme (VT47/10; VT48/6, 19). The revised word for “mother” appears to be emil based on the 1st person possessive form emil(inya) (VT47/26).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer to retain the root √AM for “mother”, since that is what Tolkien used for 50 years, and ignore the very late change to √EM. As such, I would recommend amil(le) for “mother” and affectionate forms amme “mommy” and amya. However, if you prefer to use Tolkien’s “final” forms, then emil(le), emme and emya seem to be what Tolkien adopted in the late 1960s.

Cognates

  • S. emel “mother”

Derivations

  • amal “mother”
    • AM “mother” ✧ VT48/19; VT48/19

Element in

Variations

  • Amille ✧ VT44/18
Quenya [VT44/18; VT47/26] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ontari

mother

ontari noun "mother" or etymologically "begetter, parent" (fem.); clashing with the plural ontari "parents", this was apparently an emphemeral form (see ontarë, ontaril, ontarië for other feminine forms of "begetter, parent") (VT44:7)

ontaril

mother

ontaril noun "mother", female *"begetter" (cf. onta-). Variant of ontarë. (VT43:32)

mamil

mother, mummy

mamil noun *"mother, mummy" (UT:191)

ala

day

[ala (7) noun "day", also alan "daytime". The forms allen, alanen listed after these words could be inflected forms of them, genitive "of daytime", constracted (allen = al'nen) and uncontracted. However, Tolkien struck out all of this (VT45:13).]

ar

day

ar (2) noun "day" (PE17:148), apparently short for árë, occurring in the names of the Valinorean week listed below. Tolkien indicated that ar in these names could also be arë when the following element begins in a consonant (VT45:27). Usually the word for "day" in LotR-style Quenya is rather aurë (or ), q.v.

yessë

noun. beginning

Derivations

Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

yestië

noun. beginning

Elements

WordGloss
yesta-“to begin, to begin, *start”
Quenya Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by