sa pron. "it", 3rd person sg, corresponding to the ending -s (VT49:30). Used of inanimate things or abstracts (VT49:37; plants are considered animate; see se). For sa as object, cf. the sentence ecë nin carë sa "I can do it" (VT49:34). Stressed sá (VT49:51). Ósa "with it" (VT43:36). Also compare the reflexive pronoun insa "itself", q.v. In one text, sa is also defined as "that" (VT49:18); apparently Tolkien also at one point considered giving sa a plural significance, so that it meant *"they, them" of inanimate things, the counterpart of "personal" té (VT49:51).
Quenya
sa
that [anaphoric]
sa
it
sa
it (inanimate)
@@@
in Qenya living things as trees etc. are never regarded as neuter (PE14/44)
Note that most vegetable objects (esp. trees) are rarely classed as neuter or “inanimate” in Qenya - while all things may in nonce-use be personified (PE14/73)
But it is noteworthy that the pronouns or verbal forms used with reference to them were never the equivalent of ‘he’ or ‘she’ (PE21/86)
sa
conjunction. that
sa
pronoun. it
sa
pronoun. them, they (inanimate)
sa-rincë
hook
sa-rincë ("k"), apparently the name of the "hook" that may be attached to a tengwa letter to indicate a following s (VT46:11). If so, sa may be a name of S (as a sound).
savin elessar ar <u>i</u> nánë aran ondórëo
that
i (3) conj. "that". Savin Elessar ar i nánë aran Ondórëo "I believe that Elessar really existed and that [he] was a king of Gondor" (VT49:27), savin…i E[lesarno] quetië naitë *"I believe that Elessars speaking [is] true" (VT49:28) Also cf. nai, nái "be it that" (see nai #1), which may seem to incorporate this conjunction.
sá
fire
sá noun "fire" (LT1:265; "Qenya" spelling sâ. Rather nárë in LotR-style Quenya.)
sana
that
merin sa haryalyë alassë nó vanyalyë ambarello
I hope that you have happiness before you pass from the world
This sentence appeared in a letter from Tolkien to a girl (woman?) named Dorothy. This sentence was first described publicly by Michael Dawson in 1999 on the Tolkien mailing list. The date of the original letter is unknown, since it was only described indirectly in another letter from Dorothy to Dawson’s (deceased) mother, dated 1968 (see Tolklang/34.99), but it seems likely that it was written after The Lord of the Rings was published. In the literature, this phrase is usually referred to as the “Merin Sentence”.
The sentence was first analyzed by Helge Fauskanger (Tolklang/35.02) and Ales Bican posted a short description of the sentence on the Elfling website. Based on its use of vanya-, Helge Fauskanger suggested the sentence was probably written before the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, since in that essay the base verb form auta- (WJ/366, Tolklang/35.02). When first published, there was some question on the validity of the sentence, but later independent confirmation of the existence of the Quenya word nó “before” supports its authenticity (as discussed by Bill Welden, VT49/32 note #12).
In the original description of the phrase, the first word is given as meriu, but there is a general concensus is that this is probably a misreading of merin “I hope”, the aorist 1st-singular form of the verb mer- “to hope”. The second word sa “that” is used here as a relative pronoun. The third word haryalye “you have” is the aorist 2nd-singular-polite form of the verb harya- “to have”.
The fourth word is alassë “happiness” followed by nó “before”. The sixth word vanyalye “you pass” is the aorist 2nd-singular-polite form of the verb vanya- which appeared in The Etymologies (Ety/WAN); in late writings this verb is usually given as auta- “to pass away”. The last word Ambarello “from the world” is the ablative form of the noun Ambar “World”.
ecuva nin carë sa nöa
I ‘may’ do that tomorrow, I have a chance of doing that [tomorrow]
ecë nin care sa
I can do that
-s(sa)
suffix. 3rd person singular neuter
tultauvas sa nin
he will send it to me
tana
that
tana (1) demonstrative "that" (said to be "anaphoric") (TA). According to VT49:11, tana is the adjective corresponding to ta, "that" as a pronoun.
tana
that
A word for “that” appearing in a list of demonstratives from 1968, an adjectival form of ta “that” (VT49/11). This adjective also appeared in notes on the Common Eldarin Article (CEA) from 1969 (PE23/135). Similarly formed ᴹQ. tana appeared in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/85, 104-105) where it could also be used both adjectivally (“that”) and substantively (“that fact”). ᴹQ. tana “that” also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s but in that document Tolkien said it was “anaphoric” (Ety/TA), as opposed to later when Q. sana was used for anaphoric that (PE16/97; PE23/104).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. táma was “this” rather than “that” (QL/87). The Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s had ᴱQ. {santa >>} sanda “that” (PE14/55), but drafts of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 seem to have tanda for “that” (PE16/56-57, 60).
tai
pronoun. them, they (inanimate)
ampa
hook
ampa noun "hook", also name of tengwa #14 (GAP, Appendix E, VT47:20)
ampa
noun. hook, hook, [ᴹQ.] crook
A noun for a “hook” and name of tengwa #14 [r] in The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1123). It is derived from primitive ✶gapna based on the root √GAP “bend (tr.)” (VT47/20). The Etymologies of the 1930s also had ᴹQ. ampa “hook” under the root ᴹ√GAP (Ety/GAP). This word was already the name of tengwa #14 in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 40s, where it was glossed “crook” (PE22/22, 50).
i
pronoun. that
i, antevokaliskt in
conjunction. that
ne
that
ne (2) conj. "that" (as in "I know that you are here") (PE14:54), evidently replaced by i in Tolkiens later Quenya (see i #3).
rince
noun. hook
ruinë
fire, a blaze
ruinë noun "a fire, a blaze" (PE17:183). Compare nárë.
ta
that, it
ta (1) pron. "that, it" (TA); compare antaróta** "he gave it" (FS); see anta-. The forms tar/tara/tanna "thither", talo/tó "thence" and tás/tassë* "there" are originally inflected forms of this pronoun: "to that", "from that" and "in that" (place), respectively. Compare "there" as one gloss of ta (see #4).
tanya
that
tanya demonstrative "that" (MC:215; this is "Qenya", perhaps corresponding to later tana)
uru
fire
uru noun "fire" (LT1:271)
yana
that
yana demonstrative "that" (the former) (YA)
úr
fire
úr noun "fire" (UR)This stem was struck out in Etym, but a word that must be derived from it occurs in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it. Early "Qenya" also has Ûr, noun "the Sun" (also Úri, Úrinci ("k"), Urwen) (LT1:271). Cf. Úri.
lëa
noun. green sward, glade
In Tolkien’s later writings, the word sa is typically used as a neuter pronoun “it”, but occasionally it is used instead as a demonstrative pronoun or subordinating conjunction “that”, in phrases like ecë nin care sa “I can do that” (VT49/20) or merin sa haryalyë alassë nó vanyalyë Ambarello “I hope that you have happiness before you pass from the world” (Merin Sentence). As a subordinating conjunction, I would limit its use to clauses describing facts serving as the object of the main clause: “I know that..., I say that..., I hope that...”.
As a demonstrative pronoun I would use sa to mean “that (previously mentioned)” as opposed to ta “that (over there, not previously mentioned)”. The latter use extends to correlative combinations, such as sanomë “that place (previously mentioned)” vs. tanomë “that place (over there)”. There may be occasional confusion with sa “it”, but in most cases the meaning will be the same: cenin sa “I see it” vs. “I see that (previously mentioned)”.
See the entries on relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and correlatives for further discussion.