Quenya 

nan-

backwards

nan- (prefix) "backwards" (NDAN) or "back", as in nanwen- "return" (go/come back, PE17:166), cf. also nanquernë *"turned back", the pl. form of nanquerna _(VT49:17-18). _Apparently assimilated nal- in nalláma "echo" (if this represents nan-láma "back-sound", sound coming back).

nan-

prefix. back (again), back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards

Changes

  • nan-nan- “back or again” ✧ PE17/166

Cognates

  • S. dan “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166

Derivations

  • ndan- “back-” ✧ PE17/166
    • (N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166
  • (N)DAN “back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” ✧ PE17/166

Element in

  • ᴺQ. nanhanquet- “to answer back”
  • ᴺQ. nanquet- “to answer”
  • ᴺQ. nallamya- “to echo, sound back, reverberate”
  • ᴺQ. nampaitya- “to pay back”
  • ᴺQ. nananta- “to give back, *return [something]”
  • ᴺQ. nancal- “to reflect, (lit.) shine back”
  • ᴺQ. nancam- “to receive back”
  • Q. nancar- “to undo, to undo, *destroy” ✧ PE17/166
  • ᴺQ. nancarpa- “to talk back”
  • ᴺQ. nangwesa “answer”
  • ᴺQ. nanhalya- “to unveil, reveal”
  • ᴺQ. nanhat- “to cast back, reflect”
  • ᴺQ. nannem- “to disappear”
  • ᴺQ. nanquer- “to turn back, turn around”
  • Q. nanquer- “*to turn back”
  • ᴺQ. nanquet- “to talk back, speak against”
  • ᴺQ. nantar- “to stand back”
  • Q. nanwen- “to return, go/come back” ✧ PE17/166; PE17/166
  • ᴺQ. nanwenta- “to send back”
  • ᴺQ. nanwera “ransom”
  • ᴺQ. nanwerë “ransom”
  • Q. nattir- “to look back” ✧ PE17/166 (nattire)

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
nana-/ndan- > nan-[ndan-] > [nan-]✧ PE17/166
NDĀ̆ > nan-[ndan-] > [nan-]✧ PE17/166

Variations

  • nat ✧ PE17/166 (nat)

nan

but

nan conj. "but" (FS); the Etymologies also gives , nán (NDAN), but these words may be confused with forms of the verb "to be", so nan should perhaps be preferred, unless for "but" one uses the wholly distinct word mal. In Tolkien's later Quenya, it may be that he introduced new words for "but" to free up nan for another meaning (perhaps the adverb "back", compare the prefix nan-).

nanwen-

return

nanwen- vb. "return" (go/come back) (PE17:166). The etymological form nan-men- indicates that the second element is #men- "go", changed to -wen- following nan- "back"; hence the perfect should perhaps be *naneménië.

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.

but, on the contrary, on the other hand

(2), also nán, conj. "but, on the contrary, on the other hand" (NDAN; the form nan, q.v., is probably to be preferred to avoid confusion with "is", *nán "I am").

anat

but

anat conj. "but" (VT43:23; possibly an ephemeral form)

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.

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-.

nalláma

echo

nalláma, nallama noun "echo" (LAM). The initial element may be nan- "back", hence "back-sound", sound that comes back (cf. láma).

apa

but

apa (3) conj. "but": melinyes apa la hé "I love him but not him" (another) (VT49:15)

apa

conjunction. but

Element in

Variations

  • apa ✧ VT49/15

mal

but

mal conj. "but" (VT43:23)

mal

conjunction. but

Element in

  • Q. násië “but deliver us from evil: Amen” ✧ VT43/23

but

(2) conj. "but" (VT41:13)

conjunction. but

ono

but

ono conj. "but" (VT43:23, VT44:5/9)

ono

conjunction. but

Changes

  • anatone “*but” ✧ VT43/23

Element in

Variations

  • ✧ VT41/13
  • anat ✧ VT43/23 (anat)
  • one ✧ VT43/23
Quenya [VT41/13; VT43/23; VT44/09] Group: Eldamo. Published by

onë

but

onë conj. "but" (VT43:23)

onë

conjunction. but

entulessë

return

entulessë noun "return" (UT:171)

entulessë

proper name. Return

The name of the Númerórean ship that was the first to return to Middle-earth, six centuries after Númenor was settled (UT/171). It is the noun entulessë “return” used as a name.

Elements

WordGloss
entulessë“return”
Quenya [UT/171; UTI/Entulessë] Group: Eldamo. Published by

entulessë

noun. return

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
entul-“to come again, *return”
-ssë“abstract noun”

Variations

  • Entulessë ✧ UT/171