12.92 Like, Similar
- ᴹQ. hap- pref. “the same, together, alike, closely associated, [of time] approach closely”
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A prefix meaning “the same, together, alike, closely associated” and of time “approach closely”, appearing in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/100). It was distinct from ᴹQ. on- which indicated the exact same or identical thing. For example, a group of people currently standing in (about) the same place would be ᴹQ. hapas(se), but two people standing in precisely the same spot at two different points in time would be ᴹQ. onas(se) [which for purposes of Neo-Quenya I would revise to ᴺQ. imas(se)].
- ᴹQ. hapa(na) adj. “the same, together, alike, closely associated, [of time] approach closely”
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A correlative pronoun appearing as {hama >>} hapa(na) or hapanan “the same sort of thing” in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/104 and note #56). It also functioned as adjective: {hama or hamana >>} hapa or hapana with the gloss {“of very similar sort, associated” >>} “of the same sort, associated, related” (PE23/106 and note #69).
- Q. ovéa adj. “(con)similar, alike”
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An adjective meaning “(con)similar, alike” in notes from around 1957 based on vëa “seeming, apparent”, with variant forms vávea and ovéa (PE17/189). I think it likely that the accents here mark stress rather than length, and ovea has an abnormal stress pattern with the stress on the 2nd syllable despite being short. The variant forms of the prefix o- “together” would be the result of the varying stress.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had a similar word ᴱQ. sovea “alike” using the earlier prefix ᴱQ. so- “together” (QL/85). In this period ᴱQ. vea meant “similar, like” (QL/101).
Neo-Quenya: Boris Shapiro proposed óvea “alike” as neologism in Parma Penyanë Quettaron (PPQ) from the early 2000s, several years before the publication of Tolkien’s use of the word.
- Q. ve prep. “as, like, similar, after the manner [of]; ⚠️[ᴹQ.] with”
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This was the Quenya preposition for “as, like” for much of Tolkien’s life. Its first appearance was all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱQ. ve “as, like” appeared under the early root ᴱ√VĪ “as” (QL/101), though in that document there was another preposition ᴱQ. se or sen “as, like, in manner of” under the root ᴱ√SĒ (QL/82). The preposition ᴱQ. ve was used for “like” in the Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 (MC/213), but in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 was translated as “with” (PE22/119).
In the 1950s and 60s, ve appeared often with the translation “like” or “as”, most notably in the Namárië poem from The Lord of the Rings (LotR/377), the 1960s version of the Markirya poem (MC/222), and the Ambidexters Sentence from 1969 (VT49/6-8). In this period ve was given several different derivations, from ✶wē in 1957 (VT49/10), ✶bē in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (VT49/32), and ✶vai in notes from 1968 (VT49/32).
- ᴱQ. veasta n. “comparison, ⚠️resemblance”
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A word appearing as ᴱQ. veasta or víkele in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “resemblance, comparison”, noun forms of ᴱQ. vea “similar, like” and ᴱQ. vīke “as” respectively (QL/101).
Neo-Quenya: The word vëa survives in Tolkien’s later writings, albiet with a different meaning (“seeming, apparent”). As such, I would retain ᴺQ. vëasta, but only for the meaning “comparison”. For “️resemblance” I would instead use ᴺQ. ovëassë.
- Q. véla adj. “*alike, having a likeness or similarity”
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An untranslated word in the phrase mahtanë yúyo má véla associated with the Ambidexters Sentence from the late 1960s (VT49/6). Patrick Wynne suggested this phrase means “*used both hands alike”, and that véla means “*alike, having a likeness or similarity” as an adjective form of vē̆ “as, like” (VT49/10).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had several similar forms: ᴱQ. víka “like” under the early root ᴱ√VĪ [VI’I] “as” (QL/101), as well as more emphatic ᴱQ. avíka “very much alike” and ᴱQ. inqavíka “exactly alike, identical” (QL/30, 42).
- Q. yosanwë n. “congruence”
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A word for “congruence” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as a plural variant of more commonly used osanwe “thinking together” = “communicating in thought without words or other signs” (PE22/158). Yosanwe is a combination of yo- “together (pl.)” and sanwë “thought”. Based on these definitions, I belief yosanwe means “congruence” in the sense of harmony or conformity of thoughts among multiple people, possibly with an aspect of mental communication when used in reference to Elves.
- S. be prep. “as, like; ⚠️in”
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A preposition appearing in the King’s Letter, glossed “in”. Carl Hostetter’s suggested it is connected to the root √MI/IMI “in” via the strengthened form MBI that appears in Q. imbë¹ “between” (VT31/19-20). David Salo instead proposed that it may be a cognate of Q. ve¹ “as, like” derived from primitive ✶bē, suffixed with a form of the definite article -n and having the sense “as in the [Shire-reckoning]” (SG/226). This second option seems more likely to me; the primitive form ✶bē was not published when Carl Hostetter made his analysis.
Conceptual Development: There are some words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s that have similar form and the mean “in”; see G. ba “in” for discussion (GL/21). The Gnomish Lexicon also had G. fel “like (as av.); as, like”, apparently meaning it was both an adverb and a preposition (GL/34). It might have been related to the early root ᴱ√VĪ “as” that was the basis for ᴱQ. ve “as, like” (QL/101), though why the Gnomish form has a voiceless spirant f rather than voiced v is unclear.
The Nebrachar poem from around 1930 has ᴱN. a “like” in the phrase dir avosaith a gwaew hinar “like a wind, dark through gloomy places” (MC/217).