tië noun "path, course, line, direction, way" (TE3, VT47:11); pl. tier in Namárië(Nam, RGEO:67); tielyanna "upon your path" (UT:22 cf. 51; tie-lya-nna "path-your-upon")
Quenya
tië
noun. path, road, way, line, path, road, way, line, [ᴹQ.] course, direction, [ᴱQ.] route
tië
path, course, line, direction, way
-tië
suffix. verbal suffix
te
they, them
te pron. "they, them", 3rd person pl. (VT49:51, LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308). The pronoun te represents an original stem-form (VT49:50). Dative ten, téna or tien "for them, to them" (q.v.) Stressed té (VT49:51). Ótë "with them", q.v. VT43:20 connects te "them" with a discussion of Common Eldarin pronominal stems (ca. 1940s), where te is the "personal" 3rd person pl. stem, referring to persons rather than abstracts or inanimates (which are denoted by ta instead; see, however, the entry ta #3 regarding the problems with this form, and the hints that te may possibly be used with reference to inanimates as well)). Also consider the reflexive pronoun intë "themselves", the final element of which is apparently this pronoun te; see also tú for the dual form.
tien
for them
tien would seem to be a dative pronoun *"for them". Whether this is somehow to be derived from the pronoun te "they, them", or whether it is the dative form of an otherwise unattested 3rd person pl. pronoun *tië, remains unclear. (VT43:12, 21) Ten (q.v.) as the straightforward dative form of te is attested elsewhere.
tier
path
tier is, besides the pl. form of tië "path" above, an ephemeral word for "so", abandoned by Tolkien in favour of tambë (VT43:17)
nut-
verb. tie
nut- vb. "tie" (1st pers. aorist nutin "I tie") (NUT)
lia-
verb. twine
lia- vb. "twine" (LT1:271)
Rána
the wayward, the wanderer
Rána place-name "the Wayward, the Wanderer", a name of the moon (MR:198, MC:221, Silm); genitive Ráno in the phrase Ráno tië "the path of the Moon" (VT47:11). See also ceuran-, ránasta. According to one late source, Rána is not properly the Moon itself but is rather the "name of the spirit (Máya) that was said to abide in the Moon as its guardian" (VT42:13). The Etymologies gives Rana with a short vowel (RAN). In the pre-classical Tengwar system there presupposed, Rana was also the name of tengwa #25 (VT45:10), which letter Tolkien would later call Rómen instead.
men-
verb. 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.
mentië
passage, journey, direction of travel
mentië noun "passage, journey, direction of travel" (PE17:13); the elements are men- "go, proceed" + tië "path, road". Not to be confused with the gerund of menta- #1.
vand-
way, path
vand- noun "way, path" (LT1:264; a final vowel would seem to be required, but in Tolkien's later Quenya, the words tië or mallë are to be preferred)
imbi menel cemenyë menë ráno tië
between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon
omentië
noun. meeting (of pathways), (lit.) coming together of journey-path, meeting or junction of the directions of two people
-lto
they
-lto, "Qenya" pronominal ending "they"; see -ltë
-ltë
they
-ltë, 3rd person pl. pronominal suffix, "they" (VT49:51; cariltë "they do", VT49:16, 17). It alternates with -ntë in Tolkiens manuscripts (VT49:17, 57). In his early material, the ending also appears as -lto, occurring in Fíriel's Song (meldielto "they are beloved" and cárielto "they made"), also in LT1:114: tulielto "they have come" (cf. VT49:57). Compare -lta, -ltya as the ending for "their".
-ltë
suffix. they
-ntë
they
-ntë "they", pronomimal ending, inflexion of 3rd person plural when no subject is previously mentioned (CO; see also VT49:49). This ending competes with -ltë (q.v.) in Tolkiens conception (VT49:57; for "they do", both carintë and cariltë are attested, VT49:16 vs. 17). The corresponding pronominal possessive suffix appears as -ntya or -nta in various sources.
-ntë
suffix. they
-ttë
they
-ttë (1) "they", dual 3rd person pronominal ending ("the two of them") (VT49:51), replacing (also within the legendarium) the older ending -stë (which was later used for the second person only). This older ending -stë corresponds to a possessive ending -sta "their" (VT49:16), but this was presumably likewise altered to *-tta as the new ending for dual "their" = "of the two of them".
-ya
suffix. verbal suffix
lango
passage
lango (2) noun "passage", especially across or over an obstacle, also "neck" (PE17:92)
lelya-
verb. 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-
verb. 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.
londa
path
[londa noun "path"], changed by Tolkien to londë noun "road (in sea)" (VT45:28)
lé
way
lé (1) noun "way" = "method, manner" ("as in that is not As way"). Not to be confused with lé as a stressed form of le = plural "you"; Tolkien was himself dissatisfied with this clash (PE17:74).
men
way
men (2) noun "way" (SA) or "place, spot" (MEN)
men
noun. way, way, *direction; [ᴹQ.] place, spot [only in compounds]
A noun or word element, most notably appearing in the four cardinal directions formen, hyarmen, númen, and rómen, which Christopher Tolkien translated as “way” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/men). This is consistent with the later meaning of its root: √MEN “go, move, proceed”, and in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien had a primitive form ✶mēn- “a way, a going, a mov[ement]” (PE17/165) which might be the source of Christopher Tolkien’s translation of Q. men.
Conceptual Development: The situation in Tolkien’s earlier writings was different. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. men was translated “place, spot” under the root ᴹ√MEN (Ety/MEN). In this document, it seems the literally meaning of direction words were “✱north-place”, “✱south-place”, etc., as opposed to later “✱north-direction, ✱south-direction”. This can be seen in other words Tolkien used in this period, such as ᴹQ. Ilmen “Place of Light” (SM/241).
This ambiguity continued into Tolkien’s later writings, as can be seen in a 1965 letter to Dick Plotz, where Tolkien translated númen “the direction or region of the sunset” (Let/361). Another example is menel “firmament, high heaven, the region of the stars”, which Tolkien said was “a Q. invention from men (direction, region) + el (the basis of many stars)” in The Road Goes Ever On as published in 1967 (RGEO/65). There are other Quenya words where men refers to a location rather than a direction: ruimen “fireplace, hearth” (PE17/183) and turmen “realm” = “✱mastered-region” (PE17/28), both from the mid-1960s.
However, some words are hard to explain as locations, such as alamen “a good omen on departure”, also from DLN of 1959 (PE17/162). Tolkien used men as an element in the terms coimen “life-year” and olmen “growth-year” in notes from around 1959, which are probably best explained as a “way” or “process” of life or growth (NM/84-85). However the stems of these words ended in mend-, so their element men may be different from what is seen in formen, etc. As another wrinkle, Tolkien regularly used nómë to mean “place” in his later writings, as in sinomë “in this place [= here]” (LotR/967) and tanomë “in that place [= there]” (VT49/11).
It is hard to determine how much of this variation is due to conceptual vacillation on Tolkien’s part. My best guess of the timelime is that:
In the 1930s men meant “place, spot”, and the root ᴹ√MEN was not verbal (Ety/MEN).
In the 1940s Tolkien decided that √MEN was verbal, meaning {“intend” >>} “go” (PE22/103).
By the 1950s Tolkien reformulated men to mean “way, a going” in keeping with the new meaning of the root (PE17/165). In this period Tolkien also introduced nómë “place”.
By the 1960s Tolkien partially reversed himself, deciding men could mean either “way, direction” and “place, region”, but without abandoning nómë.
Neo-Quenya: The word men is somewhat contentious in Neo-Quenya. The word men is a very popular element for “place” in many neologisms (especially older ones), such as ᴺQ. natsemen “website = ✱web-spot”, ᴺQ. tirmen “theater = ✱watch-place” and ᴺQ. mótamen “office = ✱work-place”. However, others feel that this sense has been entirely replaced by nómë, so that men in such compounds should be replaced by a suffix ᴺQ. -non (-nom-).
Given this ambiguity, I would use men only for “way, ✱direction” as a standalone word, and would instead use nómë = “place”. However, given Tolkien’s vacillations as described above, I would allow the use of men as “place, spot, region” in compounds [perhaps originally conceived of as a destination], though I think ᴺQ. -non “-place” is also fine.
nem-
verb. sew
nem- vb. "sew" (cited in the form neme), pa.t. néme (QL:65)
raiwe
lace
[raiwe noun "lace" (VT42:12)]
raiwë
noun. lace
A word for “lace” appearing in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69 from the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace; involve in a network, enlace” (VT42/12). The glossed form raiwe “lace” was deleted, but later in the same note Tolkien gave “S. raef or raew (blend of Q. raima and raiwe) ‘net’,” and this second instance of raiwe was not deleted.
ta
they, them
ta (3) pron. "they, them", an "impersonal" 3rd person pl. stem, referring "only to 'abstracts' or to things (such as inanimates) not by the Eldar regarded as persons" (VT43:20, cf. ta as an inanimate Common Eldarin plural pronoun, VT49:52). Compare te, q.v. The word ta occurring in some versions of Tolkien's Quenya Lord's Prayer may exemplify this use of ta as an "impersonal" plural pronoun: emmë avatyarir ta** "we forgive them" (VT43:8, 9; this refers to trespasses, not the trespassers). However, since Tolkien also wanted ta to mean "that" (see #1 above), he may seem to be somewhat dissatisfied with ta "they, them", introducing variant forms like tai (VT49:32) to free up ta as a sg. pronoun. In one document, tai was in turn altered to te (VT49:33), which could suggest that the distinction between animate and inanimate "they, them" was abandoned and the form te (q.v.) could be used for both. In some documents, Tolkien seems to use tar as the plural form (VT49:56 mentions this as an uncertain reading in a source where the word was struck out; compare ótar under ó**-).
tac-
verb. fasten
tac- ("k") vb. "fasten" (the form tacë given in the Etymologies is translated "he fastens", evidently the 3rd person sg. aorist), pa.t. tancë (TAK)
tai
they, them
tai (2) pron. "they, them", 3rd person pl., used with reference to inanimates rather than persons or living things (VT49:32, see ta #3 above). Perhaps to avoid the clash with tai "that which", the pronoun tai "they, them" was altered to te in at least one manuscript (VT49:33), so that it would merge with the pronoun used of living beings and the distinction between animate and inanimate would be abandoned (see te).
toi
they
toi pron. "they" (FS; replaced by te in LotR-style Quenya?)
tú
they, them
tú pron. "they, them", 3rd person dual ("the two of them"), both "personal and neuter" (the pronoun can be used of persons and things alike). (VT49:51) Tolkien also considered tet for the same meaning, listing it alongside tú in one source (VT49:56), but this form was apparently abandoned.
vanya-
verb. 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.
This was the basic Quenya word for “path” for most of Tolkien’s life. This word dates all the way back to ᴱQ. tie “line, direction, route, road” under the early root ᴱ√TEHE “pull” (QL/90). In Early Qenya Word-lists Tolkien revised {ᴱQ. tie} “path” to kie (PE16/143), and in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, the form was tē “path” (PE21/40). These seem to have been temporary ideas since by The Etymologies of the 1930s the form was again ᴹQ. tie “path, course, line, direction, way” under the root {ᴹ√TEƷ >>} ᴹ√TEÑ “line, direction” (Ety/TEƷ).
Its most notable appearance in Tolkien’s later writings was in the Namárië poem, within the phrase ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë “and all paths are drowned deep in shadow” (LotR/377). In green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from around 1970, Tolkien derived tie from primitive ✶tegē “line, road” (PE19/71); in this document the root √TEG was glossed “line”, as opposed to √TEÑ “signify” (PE19/97).
Neo-Quenya: The word tie had many possible translations, such as “path, road” (PE17/13), “road, way” (PE17/72), or “line, direction” (Ety/TEƷ). I believe its basic meaning is “✱line of travel” (not necessarily straight), and can refer to both the path or road travelled upon as well as the way or route of the travel itself. For a simple “straight line”, I would use the related word [ᴹQ.] tea.