12.396 Behind, At the Rear
- Q. ca(ta) prep. “behind, at back of place; [ᴹQ.] after [of time]”
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A preposition appearing as ca, cata, cana “behind, at back of place” in notes from the mid-1950s (VT43/30). In notes associated with the Aia María prayer from the 1950s Tolkien wrote the forms canye, calye, ca- (VT43/29), probably related to carelye from the 2nd version of the prayer (VT43/27), though in the prayer its position implies the English meaning “with thee”.
Conceptual Development: The 1948 Quenya Verbal System had the word ᴹQ. kata as a preposition meaning “after [of time]” in the phrase ᴹQ. kanya ére kata tulma alwara “to be wise after the event is useless”, along with an adverb ᴹQ. kato “afterwards” in another variant of the phrase (PE22/124). These were probably related to Cad- in words like Noldorin N. Cadloer “July, *After-summer” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices from around this period (PM/136).
- Q. nan- pref. “back (again); [ᴹQ.] backwards”
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A prefix for “back (again)” in notes from 1959 based on the root √NDANA (PE17/166). The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. nan- “backwards” under the root ᴹ√NDAN “back” (Ety/NDAN).
- Q. nanda adj. “*back, rear”
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An untranslated word in notes from 1959 based on the root √NDAN “back” (PE17/166), perhaps an adjective meaning “*back, rear”.
- ᴱQ. pimpina adj. “trailing”
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A word appearing as ᴱQ. pimpina “trailing” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s based on ᴱQ. pint (pimp-) “tail” (QL/74).
Neo-Quenya: I retain ᴺQ. pimpë “tail” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, so I’d retain ᴺQ. pimpina “trailing” as well.
- ᴹQ. telle n. “rear”
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A word for “rear” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√TELES “hindmost, tarrier” (Ety/TELES).
- N. adel prep. “behind, in rear (of)”
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A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “behind, in rear (of)” under the root ᴹ√TELES “hindmost, tarrier” (Ety/TELES).
- S. dan [nd-] prep. “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again”
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A preposition translated as “back to, back (in return) against” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/38). In drafts of these notes it was translated “down upon, back on” (PE17/38). In notes from 1959, Tolkien gave dan as a derivative of √NDAN(A) “back (again)”, itself an enlargement of √NDĀ̆ (PE17/166). Its most notable use is in the phrase naur dan i ngaurhoth (LotR/299), which probably means “*fire [be] against the wolf-horde”.
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s the phrase was [N.] naur ad i gaurhoth (TI/187), with preposition ad perhaps related to [N.] ad- “back, again, re-” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/AT(AT)). In the Túrin Wrapper from the late 1940s or early 1950s, Tolkien had a similar word den in the phrase sí il chem en i Naugrim en ir Ellath thor {a >>} den ammen, which perhaps meant “*now all hands of the Dwarves and Elves will be against us” (VT50/5, 23), but this den could have meant something else instead. See VT50/24-25 for possible meanings suggested by Carl Hostetter. The deleted {a} in this phrase might be an incomplete ad.
A possible precursors from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s was G. abod “again; in return, in exchange, back”, originally two separate entries avod “again; in return, in exchange” and abod “back” (GL/17). G. abod was the adverbial equivalent of the prefix G. bod- “back, again” (GL/23). Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s has ᴱN. {abod >>} avod “again, back again, in return” (PE13/136-137, 160).
- G. obra adj. “close behind (of place), following, succeeding, next behind or after (time or place)”
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The adjective G. obra appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with the glosses “close behind (of place), following, succeeding, next behind or after (time or place)” based on G. ob “after, close behind (time and place)” along with an adverbial equivalent G. obron (GL/61).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would update this word to ᴺS. abor “following, succeeding, close behind (of place), next behind or after (time or place)” based on later S. ab “after”.
- N. tele n. “end, rear, hindmost part”
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A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “end, rear, hindmost part” under the root ᴹ√TELES “hindmost, tarrier” (Ety/TELES).