il- (prefix) "no, *un-" (LA); cf. ilfirin "immortal" (vs. firin "dead"). This prefix "denotes the opposite, the reversal, i.e. more than the mere negation" (VT42:32). But il- can also mean "all, every"; see ilaurëa, ilqua, ilquen.
Quenya
il-
prefix. every, *all
il-
verb. no, *un-
-ndil
friend
-ndil (also -dil) ending occurring in many names, like Amandil, Eärendil; it implies devotion or disinterested love and may be translated "friend" (SA:(noun)dil); this ending is "describing the attitude of one to a person, thing, course or occupation to which one is devoted for its own sake" (Letters:386). Compare -ndur. It is unclear whether the names derived with the ending -ndil are necessarily masculine, though we have no certain example of a woman's name in -ndil; the name Vardilmë (q.v.) may suggest that the corresponding feminine ending is -(n)dilmë.
-ndur
friend
-ndur (also -dur), ending in some names, like Eärendur; as noted by Christopher Tolkien in the Silmarillion Appendix it has much the same meaning as -ndil "friend"; yet -ndur properly means "servant of" (SA:(noun)dil), "as one serves a legitimate master: cf. Q. arandil king's friend, royalist, beside arandur 'king's servant, minister'. But these often coincide: e.g. Sam's relation to Frodo can be viewed either as in status -ndur, in spirit -ndil." (Letters:286)
ilya
all
ilya adj. and noun "all" (LR:47, 56; SD:310), "all, the whole" (IL); "each, every, all of a particular group of things" (VT39:20); ilyë before a plural noun, "all" being inflected like an adjective (Nam, RGEO:67): ilyë tier "all paths" (Namárië, VT39:20), ilyë mahalmar "all thrones" (CO), ilya raxellor "from all dangers" (VT44:9; we might expect *ilyë raxellor here), ilyárëa (older ilyázëa) "daily, of every day" (evidently ilya "every" + árë, ázë "day" + -a adjectival ending) (VT43:18). Tolkien apparently abandoned ilyárëa in favour of ilaurëa, q.v.
nildo
friend
nildo noun "friend" (apparently masc.; contrast nildë) (NIL/NDIL)
nildë
friend
nildë noun "friend" (fem.) (NIL/NDIL)
nilmo
friend
nilmo noun "friend" (apparently masc.) (NIL/NDIL)
-ldë
suffix. feminine agent
-llë
suffix. feminine agent
Some feminine agental suffixes were mentioned in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s: -lle, -lde, and -nde, the first of which was an element in the name Tintallë (PE17/69). In NGS Tolkien said -lle was used less frequently as an agental suffix because -lle was also the 2nd person plural subject suffix “you (pl.)”. In fact, in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WP2) from this same period Tolkien considered changing Varda’s sobriquet to Tintalde (PE17/69).
However, in the late 1960s Tolkien decided the 2nd person plural suffix was actually -lde (VT49/16, 51), so presumably -lde would then be the less common agental suffix and -lle more common. Tolkien was considering -lde for 2nd plural as early as 1959, and in the 1959 page which specified -lde for 2nd plural, Tolkien also designated -lle for a feminine agent, the equivalent of masculine -ndo (PE17/190).
As for -nde, it was most notable as an element in Serindë “Broideress, Needlewoman” (S/63; MR/257; PM/333).
-ndë
suffix. feminine agent
-ser
friend
-ser noun "friend" (SER)
am(il)ye
noun. *mummy
cendë
point
cendë noun "point" (PE16:96)
cendë
noun. point
A word for “point” in the glossary for the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem, an element in pirucendëa “on the point of her toes” (PE16/96).
Conceptual Development: The word pirucendëa is a reinterpretation of the word ᴱQ. pirukendea “tripping lightly, whirling lightly” = “pirouetting” from the version of Nieninqe from around 1930 (MC/215; QL/74). The derivation of 1950s cende “point” isn’t clear since in Tolkien’s later writings the root √KEN means “see”, but it might be a later iteration of the word ᴱQ. kent “a sharp point” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√KENYE “prick” (QL/46).
heldo
friend
[heldo, also helmo, fem. heldë, noun "friend" (VT46:3)]
hína
child
hína noun "child", also hina used in the vocative to a (young) child (also hinya "my child", for hinanya) (WJ:403). Pl. híni (surprisingly not **hínar) in Híni Ilúvataro "Children of Ilúvatar" (Silmarillion Index); dative hínin in VT44:35. In compounds -hin pl. -híni (as in Eruhíni, "Children of Eru", SA:híni). According to one source, the word is hín(i) and solely plural (PE17:157), but this is obviously contradicted by some of the sources quoted above.
hína
noun. child
A word for “child” derived from the root √KHIN (PE17/157; WJ/403), most notably an element in Eruhíni “Children of God”, a term for Elves and Men as the children of Eru. This word illustrates that hína has an abnormal plural form: híni rather than the expected ✱✱hínar. A variant hina with a short i was “only used in the vocative addressing a (young) child, especially in hinya (< hinanya) ‘my child’ (WJ/403)”.
Conceptual Development: The term Êruhîn “Children of God” first appeared as an Adûnaic word in the 1940s (SD/247-8, 358), later adapted as Quenya Eruhíni and Sindarin Eruchîn, which seems to be the source of Q. hína and S. hên “child”. At one point Tolkien coined masculine and feminine variants Q. hindo and Q. hindë, but they were deleted (PE17/157). Tolkien often used an alternate Quenya form sén (MR/423; UT/274; RGEO/66), perhaps out of a desire to have a Sindarin form Eruhîn that was closer to the original Adûnaic form. This variant continued to appear as late as 1969, where sén was written below Eruhíni as a variant form in Late Notes on Verbs (LVS: PE22/158).
ilaurëa
daily
ilaurëa adj. "daily", "of every day" (il- "every" + aurë "day" + -a adjectival ending) (VT43:18).
illi
all
illi noun "all" (as independent noun, apparently treated as a plural form). Imb' illi "among all" (VT47:30)
illi
pronoun. all
ilyë
adjective. all
la
no, not
la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)
lá
no, not
lá (1) adv. "no, not" (LA, VT45:25) According to VT42:33, lá is the stressed form, alternating with la when the negation is unstressed. In another conceptual phase of Tolkien's, lá had the opposite meaning "yes" (VT42:32-33), but this idea is contradicted by both earlier and later material: usually lá is conceived as a negation. The negation can receive tense markers and be used as a negative verb "when [another] verb is not expressed" (VT49:13), apparently where the phrase "is not" is followed by a noun or an adjective as a predicate, or where some verb is understood, as in English "I do not" (i.e. "I do not do whatever the context indicates"). With pronominal endings la- in the aorist, e.g. lanyë "I do not, am not" (etc.) (Tolkien abandoned the form lamin.) Exemplified in the sentence melin sé apa lanyë hé *"I love him but I do not [love] him" (another person) (VT49:15). Present tense laia, past lánë, perfect alaië, future lauva.
lá
adverb. no, not
mamil
noun. *mummy
An affectionate address from 4-year old Ancalimë to her mother Erendis (UT/191). It appears nowhere else, and I recommend using Q. amya instead for as an affectionate word for “mother”.
matl
food
matl noun "food"; read *matil in LotR-style Quenya (in which language final syllabic -l becomes -il) (QL:59); however, the word matso from a later source may be preferred.
matso
food
matso noun "food" (PE16:141)
matta
noun. food
matta
noun. food
A noun for “food” from the Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) of the early 1950s, derived from primitive ✶matnā, originally an ancient adjective meaning “eaten” (PE22/136).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “food” was ᴱQ. matl under the early root ᴱ√MATA (QL/59). This became ᴱQ. {masta} >> matso in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/141). In EVS2 the word was originally manna “food”, but this was struck through and replaced by matta (PE22/136 note #36), which likely reflects Tolkien’s shift in the phonetic developments of primitive tn, so that tn became tt rather than nn as it did in Tolkien’s earlier writings (PE19/85 and note #79).
Neo-Quenya: I find the phonetic developments associated with the above sound change to be problematic for various reasons. Therefore, I prefer to assume the primitive form of this word was an ancient noun: ✱mattā.
meldo
friend, lover
meldo noun "friend, lover". _(VT45:34, quoting a deleted entry in the Etymologies, but cf. the pl. #_meldor in Eldameldor "Elf-lovers", WJ:412) **Meldonya *"my friend" (VT49:38, 40). It may be that meldo is the distinctly masculine form, corresponding to feminine #meldë** (q.v.)
meldë
friend
#meldë noun "friend", feminine (meldenya "my friend" in the Elaine inscription [VT49:40], Tolkien referring to Elaine Griffiths). Compare meldo.
mentë
point, end
mentë noun "point, end" (MET)
málo
noun. friend
friend, comrade
málo
friend
málo noun "friend" (MEL, VT49:22)
nanda-
verb. to harp
nanda- ("ñ")vb. "to harp" (ÑGAN/ÑGÁNAD)
ná-
verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist
The basic Quenya verb for “to be”, based on the root √NĀ (PE17/93). It was typically used as the copula equating a noun to another noun or an adjective:
> √NA joining adjs./nouns/pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have a certain quality, or to be the same as another (PE22/147).
In many circumstances this verb was optional:
> As a copula “be, is” is not usually expressed in Quenya where the meaning is clear: sc. in such expressions as “A is good” where the adjective (contrary to the usual order in Quenya of a qualifying adjective) follows: the normal Quenya for this is A mára (PE17/93).
For further discussion see the entry on the Quenya copula.
Conceptual Development: This verb dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was given as the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This verb and its root appeared regularly throughout Tolkien’s writings thereafter, but at times Tolkien considered alternative verbs for “to be”; see the entry ëa- for further discussion.
onna
noun. child, child, *offspring; [ᴹQ.] creature
A word for “child” appearing in various late notes and phrases (NM/31; PM/391; VT49/42), derived from the root √NŌ/ONO “beget, be born” and once appearing in a variant form onwe (PE17/170). Giving its derivation, its actual meaning may be closer to “✱offspring”, as first suggested to me by Tamas Ferencz.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. onna was instead glossed “creature”, though it was still derived from the root ᴹ√ONO “beget” (Ety/ONO).
onwë
child
onwë noun "child" (PE17:170)
onwë
noun. child
selda
child
selda adj.?noun? (meaning not clear, related to seldë "child" (meaning changed by Tolkien from "daughter") and seldo "boy". Thus selda may be an adjective "childlike", since -a is a frequent adjectival ending. Alternatively, as suggested in VT46:13, selda may be a neuter noun "child", corresponding to masc. seldo "boy" and fem. seldë "girl" (before Tolkien changed the meaning of the latter to "child"). (SEL-D, cf. VT46:22-23)
seldo
child
seldo noun (meaning not quite clear, likely the masculine form of seldë "child", hence *"boy") (SEL-D, VT46:13, 22-23)
seldë
child
seldë noun "child" (meaning changed by Tolkien from "daughter"; in his later texts the Quenya word for "child" is rather hína, and the final status of seldë is uncertain. See also tindómerel.) (SEL-D, VT46:13, 22-23) In one late source, Tolkien reverts to the meaning "daughter", but this may have been replaced by anel, q.v.
sermo
friend
sermo noun "friend" (evidently masc., since sermë is stated to be fem.) (SER)
sermë
friend
sermë noun "friend" (fem.) (SER)
seron
friend
seron noun "friend" (SER)
sondo
friend
[sondo noun "friend" (VT46:15)]
sén
noun. child
tant(il)a
noun. harp
tilma
noun. point
ui
no
ui interjection "no" (originally an endingless negative verb in the 3rd person aorist: "it is not [so]"; see #u-). Apparently this is the word for "no" used to deny that something is true (compare vá, which is rather used to reject orders, or to issue negative orders). (VT49:28) Compare uito.
alaica
adjective. blunt
hessa
adjective. withered, dead
A prefixal form of √IL “all”, appearing as an element in words like ilquen “everybody” (WJ/372), illumë “always” (VT44/9), and ilaurëa “daily = (lit.) ✱of every day” (VT43/18).
Conceptual Development: In Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948, the prefix ᴹQ. il(u)- meant “all the, the whole, entire” (PE23/101), while ᴹQ. qa(qe)- meant “all, each, every”. However, in Tolkien’s later writings √KWA was glossed “whole, complete, all”, so it seems the meanings of the roots were reversed (VT47/7, 17).