ména

region

ména noun "region" (MEN). Not to be confused with the present/continuative tense of #men- "go".

ménë

on us

ménë pronoun in locative? "on us" (SD:310; compare me "us") The form is somewhat obscure.

men-

verb. to go, proceed, move (generally); to come, arrive, to go, proceed, move (in some direction); to come [when moving to a destination], arrive [+ locative]

The basic Quenya word for “go”, appearing with this meaning in notes from the late 1950s where it was connected to omentië “meeting” (PE17/13). It appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writing thereafter. In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien specified that its root √MEN meant “go, move, proceed in any direction (irrespective of speaker’s position, or assumed point of thought)” (PE17/165), and in notes associated with the Ósanwe-kenta essay from this same period Tolkien said the root meant “move, proceed (in a direction intended by a person)” (VT41/6). As such, a more accurate translation would be “move (in a direction)”, somewhat more general than English “go”, which often (but not always) has the implication “move (away)”.

Indeed, Tolkien sometimes translated this verb as “come” (PE22/162) or “arrive” (VT49/24). In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, when discussing the phrases vá ménanyë “I am not coming” and vá meninyë ó le “I won’t come with you”, Tolkien said:

> E[nglish] says “come” in such cases where there is a question of accompanying others. Q. uses “go” [men-] of movement to or towards any point other than the “here” of the speaker, actual or reported within a narrative (PE22/162).

In notes from around 1968 Tolkien had {√ten >>} √men in various expressions for “arrive”, saying “chiefly in past {tenne >>} menne ‘arrived, reached’, which is usually used with locative not allative: {tennen >>} mennen sís ‘I arrive[d] here’ (VT49/23-24)”. I would interpret this to mean men- + locative (“go at”) could have the sense “arrive”, but (a) this notion could be remnants of the rejected root √TEN and (b) the examples in this note used “arrive” regardless of whether or not the locative was present.

In any case, it seems Q. men- could be translated by a variety of English verbs (“move, go, come, arrive”) depending on the relative positions of the speaker, the mover, and the destination.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√MEN was unglossed but does not seem to be verbal in sense, since in that document there was no verb form and ᴹQ. men was translated “place, spot” (Ety/MEN). In Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from the late 1940s, Tolkien first glossed ᴹ√MEN as “place, spot”, but that instance of the root was revised to ᴹ√NOM (PE23/112 and note #12). In the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, the root did have a verbal sense, and Tolkien originally used the verb ᴹQ. men- in the sense “mean, intend, wish”, but then transferred the senses “mean, intend” to ᴹQ. tel- and the sense “wish” to ᴹQ. mer- (PE22/99 note #1, 118 note #106 and #107). In QVS Tolkien first gave the root ᴹ√MEN the translation “aim at, intend, purpose”, indicating that with the allative it meant “make for, proceed towards”, but in red ink he revised the root’s gloss to “go, proceed” (PE22/103 and note #24).

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Tolkien vacillated on the meaning of the root √MEN switching between “place”, “intend” and “go”, but starting in 1959 he mostly used the verb men- in the sense “go, move (in a direction)”, as described above.

In earlier writings, Tolkien used a variety of different Qenya words for “go”. In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, he had ᴱQ. inta- as the cognate of G. intha “go (indefinite), fare, proceed” (GL/51). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s he had ᴱQ. ere “goes” and ᴱQ. tie- “go”, but both were rejected without replacement (PE16/133)

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use men- only in the sense “move (in a direction)”, mostly translatable “go” or “come” depending on context. In combination with the locative I would translate men- as “arrive” as in mennen Tirionessë “I arrived at Tirion, (lit.) I went at Tirion”, but I would use anya- as the more usual verb for “reach, arrive at”. I have seen some Neo-Quenya writers use men- for the more general sense “move (not necessarily in some direction)”, as in ᴺQ. menemma “motion picture”. However, I think it is better to have a separate verb for this, so I use [ᴱQ.] lev- “move (intr.)” for this purposes: ᴺQ. levemma “motion picture”.

me

we, us

me (1) 1st person pl. exclusive pronoun "we, us" (VT49:51; VT43:23, VT44:9). This pronoun preserves the original stem-form (VT49:50). Stressed mé (VT49:51). Cf. also mel-lumna "us-is-heavy", sc. *"is heavy for us" (LR:47, mel- is evidently an assimilated form of men "for us", dative of me; the form men is attested by itself, VT43:21). For me as object, cf. álamë** "do not [do something to] us", negative imperative particle with object pronoun suffixed (VT43:19: álamë tulya, "do not lead us"), ámen** "do [something for] us", imperative particle with dative pronoun suffixed (ámen apsenë "forgive us", VT43:12, 18). Dual exclusive met "we/us (two)" (Nam, VT49:51), "you and me" (VT47:11; the latter translation would make met an inclusive pronoun, though it is elsewhere suggested that it is rather exclusive: "him/her and me", corresponding to wet [q.v.] as the true inclusive dual form). Rá men or rámen "for us/on our behalf", see rá. Locative messë "on us", VT44:12 (also with prefix o, ó- ?"with" in the same source). See also ménë, ómë.

men-

go

#men- (4) vb. "go" (VT47:11, cf. VT42:30, VT49:23), attested in the aorist (menë) in the sentence imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië "between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon". In the verb nanwen- "return" (or go/come back), -men- is changed to -wen- following nan- "back" (etymological form cited as nan-men-, PE17:166). In examples from VT49:23, 24, Tolkien used men- in the sense of "go as far as": 1st person sg. aorist menin (menin coaryanna "I arrive at [or come/get to] his house"), endingless aorist menë, present tense ména- "is on point of arrival, is just coming to an end", past tense mennë "arrived, reached", in this tense usually with locative rather than allative (mennen sís "I arrive[d] here"), perfect eménië "has just arrived", future menuva "will arrive". All of these examples were first written with the verb as ten- rather than men-, Tolkien then emending the initial consonant.

mén

noun. beak, nose

emmë

we

emmë (2) pron. "we", emphatic pronoun; dative emmen (VT43:12, 20). In the source this pronoun is intended as the 1st person plural exclusive; later Tolkien changed the corresponding pronominal ending from -mmë to -lmë, and the plural emphatic pronoun would likewise change from emmë to *elmë. Since the ending -mmë was redefined as a dualexclusive pronoun, the form emmë may still be valid as such, as a dual emphatic pronoun "we" = "(s)he and I".

-lmë

we

-lmë 1st person pl. pronominal ending: "we" (VT49:38; 51 carilmë *"we do", VT49:16). It was originally intended to be inclusive "we" (VT49:48), including the person(s) spoken to, but by 1965 Tolkien made this the ending for exclusive "we" instead (cf. the changed definition of the corresponding possessive ending -lma, see above). _(VT49:38) Exemplified in laituvalmet "we shall bless them" (lait-uva-lme-t "bless-shall-we-them") (the meaning apparently changed from inclusive to exclusive "we", VT49:55), see also nalmë under ná# 1. (LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308_)

-lwë

we

-lwë, later -lvë, pronominal ending "we" (VT49:51), 1st person pl. inclusive ending, occurring in the verbs carilwë "we do" (VT49:16) and navilwë (see #nav-). The ending became -lvë in later, Exilic Quenya (VT49:51). See -lv-.

-mmë

we

-mmë "we", 1st person dual exclusive pronominal ending: "I and one other" (compare the inclusive dual form -ngwë or -nquë). First written -immë in one source (VT49:57). Carimmë, "the two of us do" (VT49:16, cf. VT43:6). At an earlier conceptual stage, the ending was already exclusive, but plural rather than dual: vammë "we won't" (WJ:371), firuvammë "we will die" (VT43:34), etemmë ?"out of us" (VT43:36); see also VT49:48, 49, 55. Also compare the corresponding emphatic pronoun emmë (q.v.). The ending -lmë replaced -mmë in its former (plural exclusive) sense. In some early material, -mmë was apparently used as an ending for plural inclusive "we" (VT49:55).

-ngwë

we

-ngwë "we", 1st person dual inclusive pronominal ending: "thou and I" (compare the exclusive dual form -mmë). Caringwë, "the two of us do" (VT49:16). One source lists the ending as "-inke > -inque" instead (VT49:51, 53, 57; "inke" was apparently Old Quenya). In an earlier pronoun table reproduced in VT49:48, the ending -ngwë is listed as an alternative to -lmë, which Tolkien at the time used as the plural inclusive ending (a later revision made it plural exclusive).

Yón

region, any (fairly extensive) region between obstacles such as rivers or mountains

yón (2), variant of yondë, q.v. Defined as "a region, any (fairly extensive) region _between obstacles such as rivers or mountains" (PE17:43)_

lelya-

go, proceed (in any direction), travel

lelya- (1) vb. "go, proceed (in any direction), travel", pa.t. lendë / elendë (WJ:363, VT14:5, PE17:139) At one point Tolkien assigned a more specific meaning to the underlying root LED: "go away from the speaker or the point in mind, depart" (PE17:52), which would make lelya- a near synonym of auta-. The same source denies that the derivatives of _LED _were used simply for "go, move, travel", but elsewhere Tolkien assigns precisely that meaning to lelya-.

lenna-

go

lenna- vb. "go", pa.t. lendë "went" (LED; cf. lelya-). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word lenna- wrongly appears as **linna-; see VT45:27.

vanya-

go, depart, disappear

vanya- (2) vb. "go, depart, disappear", pa.t. vannë (WAN). The verb auta- may have replaced this word in Tolkien's later conception.

ve

we

ve (2) pron. "we", 1st person pl. inclusive (corresponding to exclusive me), derived from an original stem-form we (VT49:50, PE17:130). Variant vi, q.v. Stressed wé, later vé (VT49:51). Dative (*wéna >) véna, VT49:14. Dual wet*, later vet "the two of us" (inclusive; cf. exclusive met) (VT49:51). Also compare the dative form ngwin or ngwen (q.v.), but this would apparently be wen > ven** according to Tolkiens later ideas.

vi

we

vi pron. "we", 1st person inclusive (PE17:130), variant of ve #2.

we

we

we, wé, see ve #2

yón

noun. region