-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_)
Quenya
me
we, us
me
pronoun. us (exclusive)
Derivations
Element in
- Q. a Aina Fairë, Eru órava (o)messë “God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/15
- Q. a Aina Maria arca atarmë “Holy Mary, pray for us” ✧ VT44/18
- Q. a Aina Neldië Eru Er órava (o)messë “Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/15
- Q. a Eruion Mardorunando, Eru órava (o)messë “God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/15
- Q. a Hrísto órava ómessë “Christ, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/15
- Q. á hyamë rámen úcarindor “pray for us sinners” ✧ VT43/33; VT43/33
- Q. álamë tulya úsahtienna “[and] lead us not into temptation” ✧ VT43/22; VT43/22; VT43/22
- Q. ámen anta síra ilaurëa massamma “give us this day our daily bread” ✧ VT43/18; VT43/18
- Q. ar ámen apsenë úcaremmar “and forgive us our trespasses” ✧ VT43/19; VT43/19
- Q. Atar meneldëa Eru órava (o)messë “God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/15
- Q. Heru órava omessë “Lord, have mercy on us” ✧ VT44/15
- Q. i falmalinnar imbë met “on the foaming waves between us” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
- Q. i falmalinnar imbë met “upon the (many) foaming waves between us (two)” ✧ RGEO/59
- Q. imbë met “between you and me” ✧ VT47/11
- Q. immë “ourselves (exclusive)”
- Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23; VT43/23; VT43/23
- Q. menya “*our (exclusive), our (exclusive); [ᴺQ.] ours”
- Q. ono alyë eterúna me illumë ilya raxellor “but deliver us always from all dangers” ✧ VT44/09
- Q. sí man i yulmar men enquantuva? “*who now shall refill the cups for us?” ✧ Minor-Doc/2013-05-13
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶mē̆ > me [me] ✧ PE17/130 ✶me > mé [mē] ✧ VT49/50 Variations
- mé ✧ VT49/51
-lmë
we
-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).
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".
-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-.
-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).
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
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.