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).
Quenya
ilquen
everybody
ilquen
pronoun. everybody, everybody, *everyone
Cognates
- T. ilpen “everybody” ✧ WJ/375
quén
one, (some)body, person, individual, man or woman
aiqua
steep
aiqua("q")adj. "steep" (AYAK). Not to be confused with the pronoun *aiqua "if anything, whatever" that post-Tolkien writers have extrapolated from aiquen (q.v.) on the basis of such pairs as ilquen vs. ilqua (q.v.)
il-
verb. no, *un-
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.
min
cardinal. one
min numeral "one", also minë (VT45:34, VT48:6)
min
cardinal. one, one, [ᴱQ.] one (in a series), the first
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
minë
cardinal. one
minë numeral "one", also min (MINI, VT45:34)
er
one, alone
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".)
la
no, not
la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)
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.
a
cardinal. one
erëa
cardinal. one
erëa adj.? "one" or *"single", apparently an adjectival form (see er) (VT44:17)
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.
mir
cardinal. one
mir (2) cardinal "one" (LT1:260; in LotR-style Quenya rather minë)
oronta
steep
oronta adj. "steep" (LT1:256)
mo
one, someone, anyone
mo, indefinite pronoun "one, someone, anyone" (VT42:34, VT49:19, 20, 26)
ilquen noun "everybody" (WJ:372)