lé

noun. way, method, manner

A noun appearing in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s based on the root √LEÑ having to do with behavior (PE17/74). As an example of its use, Tolkien gave the sentence “that is not A’s way”.

lé

preposition. with

The preposition lé “with” was mentioned in a (rejected) etymology of S. di “with” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/94), from the phrase le nallon sí di’nguruthos (LotR/729), usually translated “here overwhelmed in dread of Death, I cry”. In this note, Tolkien eventually decided that S. (n)di actually meant “beneath”, and its Quenya equivalent was Q. nî.

Conceptual Development: Prepositional ᴹQ. le also appeared in the Lament of Atalante from the 1940s, in the phrase ᴹQ. Númeheruvi arda sakkante lenéme Ilúvatáren “the Lords of the West broke the world by [or with] leave of Ilúvatar” (SD/246, 310). Here “with” seems to be used in the instrumental sense “by means of”. The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. le “with (accompaniment)” under the early root ᴱ√LĒ (QL/52). Le was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the equivalent of G. li “with (of accompaniment only)”, but also used to mean “and” between nouns GL/54().

Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. lé for purposes of Neo-Quenya as a rarely-used instrumental preposition meaning “with, by (means of)”, reconceived as a derivative of √LEÑ “✱way, method, manner” (PE17/74).

le

you

le, pronominal element "you", (originally) the "reverential 2nd person sing" (RGEO:73, VT49:56). However, singular le was apparently altered to lye (q.v.), and le took on a plural significance (le for pl. "you" is apparently derived from de, the ancient 2nd person pl. stem, VT49:50-51). Stressed lé (VT49:51), dual let "the two of you" (ibid.). At certain points in Tolkiens conception, le was still sg. "thou" rather than pl. "you". It is attested as an ending in the imperative form antalë "give thou" (VT43:17); see anta-. The form ólë in VT43:29 apparently means *"with thee"; according to Tolkiens later system, it would rather mean "with you" (pl.) Compare aselyë "with thee" (sg.) in a later source (see as).

lé

way

lé (1) noun "way" = "method, manner" ("as in that is not As way"). Not to be confused with lé as a stressed form of le = plural "you"; Tolkien was himself dissatisfied with this clash (PE17:74).

lé

with

lé (2) prep. "with" (PE17:95)

le

pronoun. you (plural)

lé

preposition. with, [ᴹQ.] by (means of), [ᴱQ.] with (accompaniment)

men

noun. way, way, *direction; [ᴹQ.] place, spot [only in compounds]

A noun or word element, most notably appearing in the four cardinal directions formen, hyarmen, númen, and rómen, which Christopher Tolkien translated as “way” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/men). This is consistent with the later meaning of its root: √MEN “go, move, proceed”, and in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien had a primitive form ✶mēn- “a way, a going, a mov[ement]” (PE17/165) which might be the source of Christopher Tolkien’s translation of Q. men.

Conceptual Development: The situation in Tolkien’s earlier writings was different. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. men was translated “place, spot” under the root ᴹ√MEN (Ety/MEN). In this document, it seems the literally meaning of direction words were “✱north-place”, “✱south-place”, etc., as opposed to later “✱north-direction, ✱south-direction”. This can be seen in other words Tolkien used in this period, such as ᴹQ. Ilmen “Place of Light” (SM/241).

This ambiguity continued into Tolkien’s later writings, as can be seen in a 1965 letter to Dick Plotz, where Tolkien translated númen “the direction or region of the sunset” (Let/361). Another example is menel “firmament, high heaven, the region of the stars”, which Tolkien said was “a Q. invention from men (direction, region) + el (the basis of many stars)” in The Road Goes Ever On as published in 1967 (RGEO/65). There are other Quenya words where men refers to a location rather than a direction: ruimen “fireplace, hearth” (PE17/183) and turmen “realm” = “✱mastered-region” (PE17/28), both from the mid-1960s.

However, some words are hard to explain as locations, such as alamen “a good omen on departure”, also from DLN of 1959 (PE17/162). Tolkien used men as an element in the terms coimen “life-year” and olmen “growth-year” in notes from around 1959, which are probably best explained as a “way” or “process” of life or growth (NM/84-85). However the stems of these words ended in mend-, so their element men may be different from what is seen in formen, etc. As another wrinkle, Tolkien regularly used nómë to mean “place” in his later writings, as in sinomë “in this place [= here]” (LotR/967) and tanomë “in that place [= there]” (VT49/11).

It is hard to determine how much of this variation is due to conceptual vacillation on Tolkien’s part. My best guess of the timelime is that:

• In the 1930s men meant “place, spot”, and the root ᴹ√MEN was not verbal (Ety/MEN).

• In the 1940s Tolkien decided that √MEN was verbal, meaning {“intend” >>} “go” (PE22/103).

• By the 1950s Tolkien reformulated men to mean “way, a going” in keeping with the new meaning of the root (PE17/165). In this period Tolkien also introduced nómë “place”.

• By the 1960s Tolkien partially reversed himself, deciding men could mean either “way, direction” and “place, region”, but without abandoning nómë.

Neo-Quenya: The word men is somewhat contentious in Neo-Quenya. The word men is a very popular element for “place” in many neologisms (especially older ones), such as ᴺQ. natsemen “website = ✱web-spot”, ᴺQ. tirmen “theater = ✱watch-place” and ᴺQ. mótamen “office = ✱work-place”. However, others feel that this sense has been entirely replaced by nómë, so that men in such compounds should be replaced by a suffix ᴺQ. -non (-nom-).

Given this ambiguity, I would use men only for “way, ✱direction” as a standalone word, and would instead use nómë = “place”. However, given Tolkien’s vacillations as described above, I would allow the use of men as “place, spot, region” in compounds [perhaps originally conceived of as a destination], though I think ᴺQ. -non “-place” is also fine.

-lyë

you, thou

-l or -lyë (VT49:48, 51), pronominal endings for 2nd person sg. polite/formal "you, thou": caril or carilyë *"you do" (VT49:16), hamil "you judge" (VT42:33), anel "you were" (see ná #1); see -lyë for further examples. These endings may also be added to pronouns (etel/etelyë or mil, milyë; see et, mi). In one source, -l is rather used as a reduced affix denoting plural "you"; see heca! (WJ:364)

-tyë

you

-t (3) reduced pronominal affix of the 2. person, "you" (sg.), the long form being -tyë (both endings are listed in VT49:48). See heca regarding the example hecat (WJ:364). However, in a later source, Tolkien denies that -tyë has any short form (VT49:51, 57). The status of the ending -t is therefore doubtful.

alyë

you

alyë imperative particle with ending -lyë "you"; see a #3.

car-

with

#car- (2) prep. "with" (carelyë "with thee"), prepositional element (evidently an ephemeral form abandoned by Tolkien) (VT43:29)

tye

you, thou, thee

tye pron. "you, thou, thee", 2nd person intimate/familar (LR:61, 70, Arct, VT49:36, 55), corresponding to formal/polite lye. According to VT49:51, tye was used as an endearment especially between lovers, and (grand)parents and children also used it to address one another ("to use the adult lye was more stern"). Tyenya "my tye", used = "dear kinsman" (VT49:51). The pronoun tye is derived from kie, sc. an original stem ki with an added -e(VT49:50). Stressed tyé; dual tyet "the two of you" (VT49:51 another note reproduced on the same page however states that tye has no dual form, and VT49:52 likewise states that the 2nd person familiar "never deleloped" dual or plural forms). Compare the reflexive pronoun intyë "yourself". Possibly related to the pronominal stem KE (2nd person sg.), if tye represents earlier *kye.

-ldë

you

-ldë (1) pronominal suffix "you", 2nd person pl. (VT49:51; carildë *"you do", VT49:16). This ending Tolkien revised from -llë in earlier sources (VT49:48, cf. PE17:69).

-llë

you

-llë (2) abandoned pronominal ending "you", 2nd person pl. (VT49:48); Tolkien later revised this ending to -ldë.

vand-

way, path

vand- noun "way, path" (LT1:264; a final vowel would seem to be required, but in Tolkien's later Quenya, the words tië or mallë are to be preferred)

-ldë

suffix. you (plural)

-llë

suffix. you (plural)

as

preposition. with

-llo

you

[-llo (2) "you", dual; abandoned pronominal ending. Also written -illo. (VT49:49)]

-ndë

you

[#-ndë (2) pronominal suffix for dual "you", as in carindë *"you (two) do". Tolkien changed the ending to -stë (VT49:33)]

-ntyë

you

[-ntyë "you", abandonded pronominal ending for 2nd person pl. familiar (VT49:49)]

-stë

you

-stë "you", 2nd person dual pronominal ending (VT49:51, 53), e.g. caristë "the two of you do" (VT49:16). Tolkien first wrote carindë, but changed the ending (VT49:33). The ending -stë is derived from earlier -dde (VT49:46, 51). An archaic ending of similar form could also be the third person dual, "the two of them" (but see -ttë #1).

-tyë

you, thou

-tyë pronominal ending "you, thou" (VT49:48, 51), 2nd person familiar/intimate: carityë *"you do" (VT49:16; the corresponding formal/polite ending is -l, -lyë, cf. PE17:135 where Tolkien states that hiruvalyë "thou shalt find" from Namárië would be hiruvatyë if the polite pronoun were replaced by the familiar one). Compare the independent pronoun tye. In VT49:51, Tolkien denies that the ending -tyë has any short form (see, however, -t # 3). Cf. natyë "you are"; see ná #1. Compare tye, -tya.

as

with

as prep. "with" (together with), also attested with a pronominal suffix: aselyë "with thee" (VT47:31, VT43:29). The conjunction ar "and" may also appear in assimilated form as before s; see ar #1.

as

with

o (2) prep. "with" (MC:216; this is "Qenya"; WJ:367 states that no independent preposition o was used in Quenya. Writers may rather use as.) See ó- below.

ilcë

you

ilcë ("k") (2) *"you", emphatic pronoun of the 2nd person pl. familiar, apparently a form abandoned by Tolkien. An alternative form incë was also listed; a query appears between the forms (VT49:48).

incë

you

incë ("k") *"you", emphatic pronoun for 2nd person pl. familiar, apparently a form abandoned by Tolkien. It is listed as an alternative to ilcë in the source, a query appearing between the forms (VT49:48, 49). The word could also be read as intë (VT49:49)

men

way

men (2) noun "way" (SA) or "place, spot" (MEN)

ó

with, accompanying