Select Elvish Words 9.91: Be

9.91 Be

Q. ëa- v. “to be, exist, [ᴹQ.] have being, be found extant in the real world”

One of two Quenya verbs for “to be”, along with ná-. The verb ëa- is derived from the root √EÑ (PE22/147; VT49/28) and so has an unusual past form enge (VT49/29; PE22/147). Strictly speaking, this verb is used only in statements asserting the actual existence of a thing within the world, so “to exist” is a better translation than “to be”:

Verb nā- is used to assert qualities etc. of separate things in the Universe, verb eŋa (ëa) to assert their actual real existence extra-mentally (PE22/166 note #113).

As such, the verb ëa- is generally not followed by another assertion:

Stem of verb “exist” (have being in primary world of history) was √EŊE, distinct from √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. eŋe is not followed by any adj. or noun but only by a[n] adverb (or negated adverb) mainly[?] of time (PE22/147).

Thus one might say Aracorno enge “Aragorn existed” or Aracorno enge andanéya “Aragorn existed long ago”, but to say “Aragorn was tall” or “Aragorn was a Man” you would need to use the verb ná-: Aracorno náne halla, Aracorno náne Atan. See the entry on the copula for a further discussion of how “to be” statements are expressed in Quenya.

Conceptual Development: The verb ᴱQ. ná- “be” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/64), but Tolkien often had a second “be” verb, sometimes coexisting with ná and sometimes replacing it. The earliest of these alternate “be” verbs was ᴱQ. ō- “am” under the early root ᴱ√Ō “be, exist” (QL/69), a document that also contained ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, the main “to be” verb was ᴱQ. e- (PE14/57).

By the time of The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. ná- “be” was restored (Ety/NĀ²), but Tolkien mentioned another root ᴹ√YĒ for “to be” (EtyAC/YĒ), which in the 1930s was the basis for the so-called “stative suffix” ᴹQ. -ie seen in Fíriel’s Song from this period (LR/72). By the 1940s, ᴹQ. ye- seems to have become the ordinary verb for “to be”, most notably in the original layer of composition for the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 (PE22/123 note #130).

In QVS Tolkien revised the verb for “to be” to ëa-, derived from a root ᴹ√Ē or more properly eʒe or eñe (PE22/122). In the revisions to QVS, ëa was used for all “to be” statements, both for existence and for equating to adjectives or other nouns, such as in parka ëa nyé “I am thirsty” (PE22/122). But Tolkien eventually restored ná- “be” again, perhaps in the Namárië poem (LotR/378) where namárië “farewell” = na + márië “be well” (PE17/59, 162).

Tolkien retained ëa-, most notably as the basis for the name of the universe Eä “the World That Is” (S/20; Let/286; MR/39; NM/231). It is not clear when Tolkien decided that ëa- was used for statements of existence only. Its root √EÑ was still glossed “be” in the Outline of Phonology (OP1) from the early 1950s (PE19/96), and its past form enge was used for “was” in the Alcar i Ataren prayer from later in the 1950s (VT43/36). However, its limitation to existence only was well established by the late 1960s, as described above (PE22/147; VT49/28).

ᴹQ. easte n. “being, essence”

A word appearing as ᴹQ. easte “being, essence” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, a combination of ᴹQ. ea- “to be” and the “general action verbal suffix” ᴹQ. -ste (PE22/123). It replaced ᴹQ. yeste “being, existence” which was derived from the (rejected) verb ᴹQ. ye- “be” (PE22/123 note #130).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, Tolkien used ᴱQ. nasta for “existence, being, creature” under the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64).

Neo-Quenya: In notes from the early 1950s the verbal suffix became -sta (PE22/137), so I would update this noun to ᴺQ. ëasta “existence, being”, using the gloss “existence” instead of “essense” because by the late 1960s, the verb ëa- was used only for statements about the existence of a thing in the real world. For “essense” I would use the later noun nassë “nature, true-being” (PE17/174-175).

ᴹQ. ére n. “existing”

A word appearing as ᴹQ. ére “existing” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, the gerund of ᴹQ. ea- “be, exist” (PE22/123) using the specialized gerundal suffix ᴹQ. -re used in that document for verbs ending in vowels (PE22/116).

Neo-Quenya: Tolkien seems to have abandoned -re as gerundal suffix in his later writings, so I would use ᴺQ. éyë “existing” instead, based on the (archaic) perfect form éye of similar formation (VT49/29).

Q. ná- v. “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.

Q. nassë n. “nature, true-being, *essence; ⚠️person, individual; material”

This word had various uses in Tolkien’s later writings. In notes from around 1959 it was glossed “material” = the substance of which all things are composed (NM/249-250), but later Tolkien used the term erma for “matter” (MR/338, 349). In notes probably from the 1960s, Tolkien use nasse to mean “nature” or “true-being” (PE17/174-175), and in notes from the late 1960s he used it to mean “a person, an individual” (VT49/30).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use nasse for “nature, true-being, *essence”.

S. dha v. “there is”

A word appearing in the phrase inn đa v’im “(lit.) a mind (inn) there is in me = I have a good mind (to do so)” from Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/165). This phrase was first written as inn no v’im with {no >>} đa (PE22/165 note #108). This alteration suggests that đa is a heavily eroded/mutated form of na- “to be”, perhaps particular to this idiomatic phrase. As a counter-argument, đa is being used here in an existential statement “there is = *exists”, and these same 1969 notes state that:

Stem of verb “exist” (have being in primary world of history) was √EŊE, distinct from √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).

This means that (in Quenya at least) NA was not used for existential statements. This opens up the possibility that đa is a mutated form of *da- “exists” from an otherwise unattested root *√DA, the Sindarin equivalent of √EÑ.

Neo-Sindarin: Given the speculative nature of this verb, I cannot currently recommend its use in Neo-Sindarin. It is, however, our only known means of making existential statements in that language.

S. na- v. “to be”

A verb for “to be” based on the root √NĀ of the same meaning. This verb is barely attested in the Sindarin language, and the general consensus is that [for purpose of Neo-Sindarin at least] Sindarin omits the verb “to be” in most phrases, such as in naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for saving us” (LotR/299) or *i adan orchal “the man [is] tall”; see the entry on the copula for further discussion.

The clearest attestation of the verb na- is its imperative form no “be!” in the phrase no aer i eneth lín “hallowed be thy name, (lit.) *be holy the name your”, from the Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s (VT44/21). This imperative form was preceded by some hard-to-read deleted forms, perhaps {dôd >> dád >> hae >>} no (VT44/22). The d-forms might be eroded/mutated variants of na-. Compare đa in the phrase inn đa v’im “a mind there is in me = I have a good mind (to do so)” in notes from the late 1960s (PE22/165), where đa could be another eroded form of na-. This phrase was first written as inn no v’im (PE22/165 note #108); see the entry for đa for further discussion.

Another clear attestation of na “be” is an apparent future form natho in the untranslated phrase Sí il chem {na} en i naugrim en ir Ellath {natho} thor den ammen in the so-called “Túrin Wrapper” from the late 1950s (VT50/5). This future[?] form natho was deleted and replaced by thor, and a deleted {na} also appears earlier in the phrase, possibly a false start. Carl Hostetter suggested this phrase might mean something like “*now all (?hands) of the Dwarves and Elves will be (?against) us” (VT50/22-25). If so, it seems the future of na- “be” was constructed from the bare future suffix (a)tha-, manifesting as tho “*will be”.

Neo-Sindarin: As noted above, for purposes of Neo-Sindarin the general consensus is that this verb is barely used, and is omitted from most “to be” phrases as in the example i adan orchal given above. The verb’s one widely accepted use is as an imperative, such as in no mae “be well”. Based the Túrin Wrapper, I posit that tho can also be used for a future form “will be”, as in i adan tho orchal “the man will be tall”. I likewise posit a (purely hypothetical) past form [ᴺS.] nî “was”, based on the primitive past-tense element ✶-nē with long [ē] becoming [ī], as in i adan nî orchal “the man was tall”. Neither tho or nî are widely accepted Neo-Sindarin, however.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had the verb G. na- “is” (GL/58), clearly based the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64). This irregular Gnomish verb had some inflected forms: plural nain, participle ol· and past form {ni >>} thi, the last of these being another inspiration for Neo-Sindarin nî “was”.

G. nast v. “being (used for both a creature and the state of existence)”

A noun appearing as G. nast in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “1) being, abstract; 2) being, creature” (GL/59), a noun form of G. na- “is” (GL/58) based the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” (QL/64).

Neo-Sindarin: Since √NĀ “be” survived in Tolkien’s later writings, I would retain the noun ᴺS. nast “being”, used for both “a creature” and “the state of existence”.

S. tho- v. “*will be”

A possible future form “*will be” appearing in the so-called “Túrin Wrapper” from the late 1950s for the verb na- “is”; see that entry for discussion.

Conceptual Development: There was a similar verb ᴱN. tha- “to make, cause to be” in Early Noldorin Word-lists derived from primitive ᴱ✶s’ta- (PE13/153). The later verb[?] tho- “will be” could be related, but was more likely inspired by the Sindarin future suffix -ath, which was based on primitive ✶thā “then, next” in notes from the late 1940s and early 1950s (PE22/97, 131). In Sindarin phonetic development, *thā would become tho in an unstressed position; compare imperative no “be!” (VT44/24) clearly derived from primitive ✶nā.