ni

me

ni (1) 1st person sg. pron. "I" (according to PE17:68 also "me" as object), with long vowel (ní) when stressed (VT49:51), cf. ní nauva next to nauvan for "I will be" (VT49:19), the former wording emphasizing the pronoun. The pronoun ni represents the original stem-form (VT49:50). Dative nin "for me, to me" (Arct, Nam, RGEO:67, VT41:11/15). Compare the reflexive pronoun imni, imnë "myself" and the emphatic pronoun inyë, q.v. The ancient element ni is said to have implied, originally, "this by me, of my [?concern]" (VT49:37)

ni

pronoun. me, I

nin

to me, for me

nin pron. "to me, for me", dative of ni (FS, Nam). Sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? "Now who will refill the cup for me?" (Nam), nás mara nin *"it is good to me" = "I like it" (VT49:30), ecë nin carë sa* "it-is-open for me to do it" = "I can do it" (VT49:34). See also ninya**.

nissë

woman

nissë noun "woman" (NDIS-SĒ/SĀ, NI1, NIS, VT47:33); see nís. Note: nissë could apparently also mean "in me", the locative form of the 1st person pronoun ni, q.v.

ní

woman, female

†ní (2) noun "woman, female" (NI1, INI (NĒR ) ). Not to be confused with ní as a stressed form of the pronoun ni "I".

nissë

noun. woman

inimeitë

female

inimeitë adj.? ?"female" (INI)

hyalli(ni)

a different number

imalli(ni)

of the same number

húni

noun. bitch, *female dog

-n(yë)

suffix. I

-n

suffix. I

-nna

to

-n (1) dative ending, originating as a reduced form of -nă "to", related to the allative ending -nna (VT49:14). Attested in nin, men, ten, enyalien, Erun, airefëan, tárin, yondon (q.v.) and also added to the English name Elaine (Elainen) in a book dedication to Elaine Griffiths (VT49:40). The longer dative ending -na is also attested in connection with some pronouns, such as sena, téna, véna (q.v.), also in the noun mariéna from márië "goodness" (PE17:59). Pl. -in (as in hínin, see hína), partitive pl. -lin, dual -nt (Plotz). The preposition ana (#1) is said to be used "when purely dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that it can replace the dative ending, e.g. *ana Eru instead of Erun for "to God". In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the ending -n (or -en) expressed genitive rather than dative, but he later decided that the genitive ending was to be -o (cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren becoming Yénië Valinórëo, MR:200).

nís

woman

nís (niss-, as in pl. nissi) noun "woman" _(MR:213. The Etymologies gives _nis (or nissë), pl. nissi: see the stems NDIS-SĒ/SĀ, NI1, NIS (NĒR), VT46:4; compare VT47:33. In Tolkien's Quenya rendering of Hail Mary, the plural nísi occurs instead of nissi; this form is curious, since nísi would be expected to turn into *nízi, *_níri** (VT43:31). VT47:33 suggests that Tolkien at one point considered _niþ- as the older form of the stem, which etymology would solve this problem (since s from older þ does not become z > r). Even so, the MR forms, nís with stem niss-, may be preferred. - Compare †ní, #nína, nisto, Lindissë.

mat-

verb. to eat

The verb for “to eat” derived from the root √MAT of the same meaning (VT39/7).

Conceptual Development: This verb and root are quite well established, dating all the way back to ᴱQ. mat- and ᴱ√MATA of the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/59) and appearing as ᴹQ. mat- and ᴹ√MAT in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MAT), as well as numerous other places albeit with occasional variants like mata- (PE12/26). This verb was one Tolkien often used in examples of verb conjugations and as such its inflected forms changed considerably over time, but that is more a topic of the evolution of the Quenya verb system itself.

ná-

verb. to be, to be, [ᴱQ.] exist

The basic Quenya verb for “to be”, based on the root √NĀ (PE17/93). It was typically used as the copula equating a noun to another noun or an adjective:

> √NA joining adjs./nouns/pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have a certain quality, or to be the same as another (PE22/147).

In many circumstances this verb was optional:

> As a copula “be, is” is not usually expressed in Quenya where the meaning is clear: sc. in such expressions as “A is good” where the adjective (contrary to the usual order in Quenya of a qualifying adjective) follows: the normal Quenya for this is A mára (PE17/93).

For further discussion see the entry on the Quenya copula.

Conceptual Development: This verb dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it was given as the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This verb and its root appeared regularly throughout Tolkien’s writings thereafter, but at times Tolkien considered alternative verbs for “to be”; see the entry ëa- for further discussion.

an

for

an (1) _conj. and prep. _"for" (Nam, RGEO:66), an cé mo quernë… "for if one turned…" (VT49:8), also used adverbially in the formula an + a noun to express "one more" (of the thing concerned: an quetta "a word more", PE17:91). The an of the phrase es sorni heruion an! "the Eagles of the Lords are at hand" (SD:290) however seems to denote motion towards (the speaker): the Eagles are coming. Etym has an, ana "to, towards" (NĀ1). The phrase an i falmalī _(PE17:127) is not clearly translated but seems to be a paraphrase of the word falmalinnar "upon the foaming waves" (Nam)_, suggesting that an can be used as a paraphrase of the allative ending (and if falmalī is seen as a Book Quenya accusative form because of the long final vowel, this is evidence that an governs the accusative case). In the "Arctic" sentence, an is translated "until". Regarding an as used in Namárië, various sources indicate that it means an "moreover, further(more), to proceed" (VT49:18-19) or ("properly") "further, plus, in addition" (PE17:69, 90). According to one late source (ca. 1966 or later), an "is very frequently used after a full stop, when an account or description is confirmed after a pause. So in Galadriels Elvish lament […]: An sí Tintallë, etc. [= For now the Kindler, etc…] This is translated by me for, side an is (as here) often in fact used when the additional matter provides an explanation of or reason for what has already been said". Related is the use of an + noun to express "one more"; here an is presumably accented, something the word would not normally be when used as a conjunction or preposition.

ana

to

ana (1) prep. "to" (VT49:35), "as preposition _ana _is used when purely _dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that the preposition ana can be used instead of the dative ending -n (#1, q.v.) Also as prefix: ana- "to, towards" (NĀ1); an (q.v.) is used with this meaning in one source (PE17:127)_

inya

female

inya (1) adj. "female" (INI)

lómëar

child of gloom

lómëar noun "child of gloom" (pl. evidently Lómëarni) (LT1:255, 259)

na

to, towards

na (2) prep. "to, towards", possibly obsoleted by #1 above; for clarity writers may use the synonym ana instead (NĀ1). Originally, Tolkien glossed na as "at, by, near"; the new meaning entered together with the synonyms an, ana (VT45:36).

nína

woman

#nína (gen.pl. nínaron attested) noun "woman" (VT43:31; this word, as well as some other experimental forms listed in the same source, seem ephemeral: several sources agree that the Quenya word for "woman" is nís, nis [q.v.])

sív’ emmë apsenet tien i úcarir emmen

as we forgive those who trespass against us

The eighth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word sív’ is an elided form of sívë “as”. It is followed by the emphatic second person plural subject pronoun emmë “us” and apsenet “forgive [them]”, the aorist form of the verb apsen- “forgive” with a plural direct object suffix -t. The fourth word tien “those” is a dative (indirect object) form of tie, apparently a variant of the third person plural pronoun te.

The second half of this phrase is the subordinate clause i úcarir emmen “who trespass against us”, composed of i “who”, úcarir “trespass” (aorist plural of úcar- “to do wrong, to sin”) and emmen “against us” (dative of emmë). The last of these is unusual in that it has an emphatic pronoun used as an object rather than the subject.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> sív(e) emmë apsene-t tie-n i úcari-r emme-n = “✱as we forgive-them those-for who trespass-(plural) us-against”

Taken together, the first half of the phrase has a subject (emmë), verb (apsene), a direct object suffix (-t) and an indirect object (tien). The sense of the phrase is probably something like “✱as we forgive them [the trespasses] for those [the trespassers] who trespass against us”.

Conceptual Development: Earlier versions of the prayer (I-IV) used a different verb avatyar- for “forgive”, as well as different prepositions for “so”: ier (I-IIa) and yan (III-IV). They also lacked any Quenya equivalent of “those who” (tien i in versions V-VI). The literal meaning of this phrase in versions I-IV of the prayer seems to be “✱as we forgive our trespassers”.

Tolkien considered a variety of ways to express “trespassers”. In version I-III, he used a (?verbal) element meaning “trespass” with the agental suffix -ndo: lucando (I), lucindo (IIa-IIb) and rocindë (III), all meaning “trespasser” and all in the plural. In version IV, he used rohtalië “trespass-people”, a compound of the noun rohta “trespass” and lië “people”.

These he combined with either the independent pronoun menya “our” (I-IIb, IV) or the possessive suffix -mma “our” (I deletion, III). Finally, he used an ablative element meaning “from”, either the preposition va (I-IIb) or the ablative suffix -llo (I deletion, III-IV). There was a similar construction for the verb avatyar- in line 6.

In version V of the prayer, Tolkien corrected úcarer to úcarir. This second form is more consistent with the rules Tolkien followed elsewhere in forming the aorist tense of a (basic) verb: it ends in an -e if unsuffixed but has an -i- between it and any suffix (-r in this case). However, Tolkien still used the form úcarer in version IV of the prayer, for reasons unknown.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |ier|yan|sív’| |emme| |{avatyarirat >>}|avatyarir ta|avatyarilta|apsenet| | |tien i| |{lucandollommar >>}|va menya lucandor|va menya lucindor|rocindillomman|menya rohtaliello|úcarer emmen|

For better consistency with Tolkien’s other writings, I have used the more typical aorist form úcarir for the entry of this phrase. As Helge Fauskanger points out (LP-AM), there is a similar issue with apsenet, which might be expected to be ✱✱apsenit, though in this case the variation may be due to the fact that object suffixes are appended directly to the verb instead of to a subject suffix.

Lindissë

woman

Lindissë fem.name, perhaps lin- (root of words having to do with song/music) + (n)dissë "woman" (see nís). (UT:210)

-a

suffix. adjectival suffix

This suffix is frequently used to create the adjective form of a noun, especially in the form -ëa for nouns ending in -ë. This function dates back to CE. ✶-ā.

sina

this

A word for “this” appearing in Cirion’s Oath (UT/305). It also appeared in a list of demonstratives from 1968 as an adjectival form of si “this” (VT49/18), and appeared again in notes on the Common Eldarin Article (CEA) from 1969 (PE23/135). Similarly formed ᴹQ. sina appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/104-105) where it could also be used both adjectivally (“this”) and substantively (“this fact”).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. táma for “this” rather than “that” (QL/87); compare ᴱQ. ena “that by you” (QL/34). The Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s had {qinta >>} ᴱQ. qinda “this” (PE14/55), but a sentence in contemporaneous Qenya Word-lists seems to have sinda for “this” (PE16/146).

-nna

to, at, upon

-nna "to, at, upon", allative ending, originating from -na "to" with fortified n, VT49:14. Attested in cilyanna, coraryanna, Endorenna, Elendilenna, númenórenna, parma-restalyanna, rénna, senna, tielyanna, q.v. If a noun ends in -n already, the ending -nna merges with it, as in Amanna, formenna, Elenna, númenna, rómenna as the allative forms of Aman, formen, elen, númen, rómen (q.v.). Plural -nnar in mannar, valannar, q.v.

car-

verb. do, make

cé tulis, ní nauva tanomë

*if he/she comes, I will be there

cé tulis, tanomë nauvan

*if he/she comes, I will be there

inyë

i, too

inyë emphatic independent 1st person sg. pronoun, "I" with emphasis, translated "I, too" in LR:61 (and, according to one reading of Tolkiens manuscript, in VT49:49).

manyel

female

[manyel noun "female" (PE17:190)]

sina

this

sina demonstrative "this" (following its noun in our sole example: vanda sina "this oath"). (CO, VT49:18; in the latter source, sina _is called an adjective). _This word would, like Sindarin hen, be derived from primitive ¤sĭnā (VT49:34). Cf. sin #1.

ten

for

ten (2) conj. "for", in Fíriel's Song; apparently replaced by an in LotR-style Quenya.

wenci

woman, maiden

wenci ("k") noun, apparently a diminutive form of the stem wēn- "woman, maiden". It is possible that this is meant to be Common Eldarin rather than Quenya; if so the Quenya form would be *wencë (compare nercë "little man") (VT48:18)