Select Elvish Words: 12.43 Near

12.43 Near

Q. ar- pref. “by-, beside, near, [just] outside”

This prefix appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the prefixal form of the preposition ᴹQ. ara under the root ᴹ√AR² “beside, outside”, most notably as an element in ᴹQ. Arvalin “Outside Valinor” (Ety/AR²). In this entry Tolkien said that “in Q this is purely local in sense”, which seems to mean ar- means “outside” only in the limited sense “*outside but nearby”. See also the later name Araman “Outside Aman”, where the prefix also seems to mean “*just outside” (SA/ar).

This prefix reappeared in Notes on Names (NN) written in 1957, where it was derived from √ÑAR {“near, by, beside” >>} “by” (PE17/169). The prefix was mentioned again in notes from around 1964 where Tolkien said it was “equivalent more or less to English ‘by-’, as in Arvernien ‘(the land) beside the Verna’ (PE17/71)”. It appeared once more in notes from the late 1960s on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, where Tolkien indicated it could be an element in Arnen “beside the water”, but said that “ar- in this sense is Quenya, not Sindarin” (VT42/17).

Conceptual Development: A prefixal form ari- of the adverb ᴱQ. are “beside, along” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ƷARA “spread, extend sideways” (QL/32).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think the primary meaning of this prefix is “beside, by, near”, but it can also mean “outside” in the limited sense “just outside, outside but near”.

Q. ar(a) prep. “beside, next [to], *by; ⚠️out, [ᴹQ.] outside”

A word that, as a preposition, generally means “beside, next [to]” (PE17/71; VT49/25), which became the basis for the conjunction ar “and” (see that entry for discussion).

Conceptual Development: The preposition ar(a) had a long history in Tolkien’s writings. ᴱQ. ar (as-) “to, against, next, on (wall)” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ASA (QL/33). The Etymologies of the 1930s has ᴹQ. ara under the root ᴹ√AR² “beside, outside” (Ety/AR²). This ara at first had the glosses “without, outside, beside”, and then “without” and “out” were struck through, with a hard-to-read modification written above “out”, perhaps “hard by” according to the editors, so that the final gloss might have been “hard by side, beside” (EtyAC/AR²).

The preposition ar “beside, next” appeared in notes from 1957 as a derivative of √ADA “beside, alongside, by”, where Tolkien said ar “and” was a related adverb (PE17/145). The preposition ar appeared in the first version of the Löa Yucainen from 1958 in the phrase Yénion yukainen nunn’ ar anduine lútie “Years ten and ten have down the Long River floated”, but its exact function is unclear (CPT/1296).

In notes on comparison from around 1964, Tolkien used ar as an alternative to epë “before” in comparative phrases. For example A anamelda na ep’ ilya “A is [dearer] than all others” could also be written A anamelda na ar ilyan (PE17/57); this could be “A is very-bright beside all”, or it could be a variant of superlative ar(i)-. In the same set of notes Tolkien described √ADA as the basis for ar “and”, saying:

This was in origin a preposition from the √ADA meaning “alongside, by the side of”. In Quenya the simple form ad(ă), ad had ceased to be used as a preposition with this full (physical) sense, except as a prefix (equivalent more or less to English “by-”), as in Arvernien “(the land) beside the Verna” (PE17/71).

Despite the claim that it has “ceased to be used as a preposition”, ara appeared in notes associated with the Ambidexters Sentence from 1969, again derived from ✶ad(a) “beside(s)” (VT49/25). It was part of a prepositional paradigm giving its combination with various pronouns, including arni “*beside me” and arse “*beside him”. In a note from 1968, arse appeared in the sentence: (qui)quie menin coaryanna / arse “whenever I arrive at his house/come to/get to, he is out” (VT49/23). This sense “out” might be connected to its gloss “outside” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, or it might be in a privative sense “*without him” as suggested by Patrick Wynne (VT49/35-36 note #34).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume ar(a) as a preposition means “beside, *by”, as opposed to conjunctional ar “and”, for example: i atan ar i elda tarne ar i nauco “the man and the elf stood beside the dwarf”. Where the two uses are ambiguous, the longer form ara “beside” can be used. I would not use ara for “outside” except in the limited sense “just outside = next to”; see the prefix ar- for more discussion.

ᴱQ. are adv. “beside, along, *near”

The adverb ᴱQ. are “beside, along” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ƷARA “spread, extend sideways” (QL/32).

Neo-Quenya: Since the preposition ar(a) “beside” appeared in Tolkien’s later writings, I think ᴺQ. arë “beside, along, *near” can be retained as an adverbial form of that preposition.

S. ar- pref. “[N.] outside; [S.] without; ⚠️by, beside, [G.] along with, compared with”

A prefix mostly used in the privative sense “without”, for example arnoediad “unnumbered” = “without reckoning” as in Nirnaeth Arnoediad “[Battle of] Tears Unnumbered” (S/192; SA/ar).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. ar- “beside, along with; compared with” related to G. ar “and” (GL/20). Early Noldorin word-lists had the (initially unrelated) privative prefixes ᴱN. {um- >>} ur-, or- or yr- “without, -less” where the variant or- occurred before words with a in their first syllable and yr- before words with i in their first syllable via a-affection and i-affection respectively (PE13/155-156). The prefix or- appeared in contemporaneous Nirnaith Ornoth “Unnumbered Tears” (LB/59), a precursor to Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

These two senses were blended in The Etymologies of the 1930s, which had N. ar- “without” under the root ᴹ√AR² “beside, outside”, saying:

In N ar- developed a privative sense (as English “without”), probably by blending with [primitive] al [“not”], which is only preserved in Alchoron = Q Ilkorin [LA]. Thus arnediad “without reckoning” = “numberless” (Ety/AR²).

In the 1930s the word for “and” was still N. ar, and this continued into the 1950s where Tolkien had ar- derived from √ÑAR {“by, beside, near” >>} “by” in Notes on Names (NN) from the 1957 (PE17/169). However, Tolkien used S. a “and” in The Lord of the Rings and by the 1960s it was derived from either √AD(A) or √AS “beside”, neither of which could produce prefix ar-. In notes from the late 1960s on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, Tolkien said of Arnen “beside the water” that “ar- in this sense is Quenya, not Sindarin” (VT42/17).

Neo-Sindarin: So far as we know, Tolkien never replace privative ar- in arnoediad “without reckoning”, but I believe this sense could still be derived from the revised sense of the root √AR “beyond, further than” from 1959 (PE17/147). I would therefore assume Sindarin ar- means “outside” or “without” both in a locational and privative sense, but does not mean “beside”.

G. edhos prep. “just without, close by”

A word in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “just without, close by” based on G. edh “outside, near borders of, near, hard by, beside”, most notable as an element in the name G. Edhofon (GL/33).

Neo-Sindarin: Since S. ed “out” appears in Tolkien’s later writings, this word might be salvaged as ᴺS. edos “just without, close by”.

S. nef prep. “hither, on this (the speaker’s) side of; †beyond [loose translation]; *near”

A word appearing in the phrase nef aear, sí nef aearon “here … beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea” (LotR/238), as well as an element in the name Nevrast “Hither Shore” (S/119; WJ/197) as opposed to Haerast “Far Shore” (PE17/27). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien clarified that the actual meaning of nef was “on this (the speaker’s) side” and that it was derived from {✶nibā >>} ✶nebā based on {√NIB >>} √NEB “turn towards (speaker)” (PE17/27). In The Road Goes Ever On (RGEO) from 1967 he again said the literal translation of nef was “on this side of” (RGEO/64). Thus “beyond” is loose translations and “hither” is used in its archaic English meaning “situated on this side” rather than “**to here”.

Conceptual Development: The Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s had ᴱN. neb “near” (PE13/164).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume nef is a preposition and prefix meaning is “on this side of”, but as an adverb can be used in the sense “near” especially in opposition to something else that is “far” (and on the opposite side).

ᴱN. neibio adv. “nearly, almost”

An adverb appearing as ᴱN. neibio “nearly, almost” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s based on ᴱN. neb “near” (PE13/164).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would update this word to ᴺS. nevui “nearly”, a neologism coined by Hialmr Holm appearing in VinQuettaParma Wiki (VQP) based on nef “on this side of” = “*near”.