tië

noun. path, road, way, line, path, road, way, line, [ᴹQ.] course, direction, [ᴱQ.] route

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.

tië

path, course, line, direction, way

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")

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)

te

pronoun. them, they

tier

preposition. *so

nut-

tie

nut- vb. "tie" (1st pers. aorist nutin "I tie") (NUT)

lia-

twine

lia- vb. "twine" (LT1:271)

-a

it is said

-r nominative plural ending regularly used on nouns ending in -a, -i, -ië, -o, -u, e.g. Ainur, Valar, tier. Occasionally it is added also to nouns ending in -ë (that normally take the ending -I in the pl.). This seems to regularly happen in the case of nouns in -lë (see #fintalë, mallë, tyellë), sometimes also otherwise (see Ingwë, wendë, essë #1). This plural ending was ("it is said") first used by the Noldor (PM:402).

-lya

thy, your

-lya 2nd person sg. formal/polite pronominal suffix "thy, your" (VT49:16, 38, 48). In tielyanna "upon your path" (UT:22 cf. 51), caritalya(s) "your doing (it)" (VT41:17), esselya "thy name" (VT43:14), onnalya "your child" (VT49:41, 42), parma-restalyanna *"upon your book-fair" (VT49:38), and, in Tolkien's Quenya Lord's Prayer, in the various translations of "thy kingdom": aranielya in the final version, earlier turinastalya, túrinastalya, turindielya, túrindielya (VT43:15). Also in indómelya (changed from mendelya) "thy will" (VT43:15-16)

-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.

ten

to them, for them

ten (1) pron. in dative "to them, for them" (VT49:14), also tien, téna. See te.

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)

-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

-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).

-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".

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)_

laituvalmet

them

-t (2) "them", pronominal ending; seen in the word laituvalmet "we shall bless them" (lait-uva-lme-t "bless-shall-we-them"). According to PE17:110, this -t covers both sg. and dual. Also independent word te pl. and tú dual (possibly *tu when unstressed).

lango

passage

lango (2) noun "passage", especially across or over an obstacle, also "neck" (PE17:92)

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.

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).

nem-

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-

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?)

téna

to them

téna (2) dative pron. "to them", changed to ten in the source (VT49:14)

tér

preposition. *so

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.