14.47 Today
- Q. síra n. and adv. “*this day, today”
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A word for “*this day, today” appearing in the phrase ámen anta síra ilaurëa massamma “give us this day our daily bread” from later versions of the Átaremma prayer composed in the mid-1950s (VT43/12). The etymology of síra is unclear, but it likely contains sí “now” as suggested by the editors Wynne, Smith, and Hostetter (VT43/18), and is cognate to S. sír “this day” from contemporaneous Sindarin versions of the prayer (VT44/21). The existence of r in its Sindarin equivalent implies primitive *sīrā.
Conceptual Development: Early versions of the Átaremma prayer had other words for “this day”: hyáre or hyáze, and siare or siar (VT43/8-11), all of which seem to be si- “this” [sometimes > sy-] + árë “day” (VT43/18). The form hyáze [appearing in the first two drafts] implies primitive *āsē < √AS. These forms may be from a time before Tolkien decided that Q. aurë was “day” and thus were part of the conceptual framework in which [ᴹQ.] are was the usual word for “day” (Ety/AR¹).
Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 had ᴹQ. sinar “today, nowadays” and sinaryas “today, this very day” with suffix ᴹQ. -ar(yas); in this paradigm ᴹQ. ara was “day” (PE23/109). The form sinar “today” also appeared in the contemporaneous Quenya Verbal System (QVS) in the phrases: ᴹQ. sinar Orome i·tauresse faralye “today O. is hunting in the forest” (PE22/116) and ᴹQ. manna lé sinar? “whither (are) you (going) this morning?” (PE22/124). The form sinar appeared a final time in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s in the phrase ai tulinye sinar (entar) “I may come today (tomorrow)” (PE22/139), but the section where it appeared was deleted (PE22/139 note #48).
The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. íne “to-day” base on ᴱ√I that was the root of relative words (QL/41). It also had ᴱQ. tamíne “today” with the addition of ᴱQ. táma “this” (QL/87), and ᴱQ. et(t)amīne “today” with the further addition of Q. e(t)- “that by you” (QL/34).
- G. cîrin n. “present (time), modern”
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A word in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “present (place or time), modern” based on G. cî {“now” >>} “here”, but its gloss was deleted (GL/26).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would adapt this word as ᴺS. cýren “present (time), modern” as a combination of √KEW “new, fresh” with the adjective suffix -ren.
- S. sír n. “*this day, today”
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A word for “*this day, today” appearing in the phrase anno ammen sír i mbas ilaurui vín “give us this day our daily bread” from the Ae Adar Nín prayer from the mid-1950s (VT44/21, 27). It is probably cognate to síra “this day” from contemporaneous Quenya versions of the prayer (VT44/12, 18).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. ain² or aina {“now” >>} “today (GL/17), probably cognate to Q. íne “to-day” and thus based on ᴱ√I that was the root of relative words (QL/41). The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s also had more elaborate forms G. aindana or endâna with the addition of dana “day”, and even more elaborate G. aindanathon (GL/18). In the main Gnomish Lexicon the variants aindana and endâna were deleted (GL/18, 32), but ainan and aindana appeared without translation in Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying the main document (PE13/108).
The main Gnomish Lexicon also had G. {sindan >>} sinnai “today” as equivalent to ain and derived from primitive ᴱ✶sind(an)ai (GL/68).
14.48 Tomorrow
- ᴹQ. elloa n. “next year”
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A word for “next year” appearing in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 appearing in the phrase masse le enta/enar/elloa? “where (will) you be then (fut.)/tomorrow/next year?” (PE22/124). It is likely a combination of the future particle ᴹQ. en with ᴹQ. loa “year”.
- ᴹQ. enar n. “tomorrow”
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The word enar “tomorrow” appeared in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 in the phrase masse le enta/enar/elloa? “where (will) you be then (fut.)/tomorrow/next year?” (PE22/124). The contemporaneous Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 had ᴹQ. entar or entaryas “the next day” as a combination of ᴹQ. enta “then” and ᴹQ. -ar(yas) “day” (PE23/109); drafts of DRC gave entar the gloss {“tomorrow” >>} “the next day” (PE23/110 note #121). The word entar appeared a final time in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s in the phrase ai tulinye sinar (entar) “I may come today (tomorrow)” (PE22/139), but the section where it appeared was deleted (PE22/139 note #48).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had similarly formed ᴱQ. enwa “tomorrow” under the demonstrative root ᴱ√E “that (by you)” (QL/34).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer enar for “tomorrow”, since I retain en as a future particle but use ᴹQ. enta “that yonder” for a remote demonstrative of place and not time.
14.49 Yesterday
- Q. nöa n. “yesterday; former, *previous; ⚠️tomorrow”
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A word for “yesterday” in notes from the late 1960s, a reduction of noa ré “former day”, indicating noa may also be used as an adjective meaning “former, *previous” (VT49/34). In this context it is probably an adjectival form of nó “before (of time)”. In other notes from the late 1960s, nöa was used to mean “tomorrow” in the phrase Q. ekuva nin kare sa noa “I may do that tomorrow” (VT49/20).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. {nua >} nuo “tomorrow” under the early root ᴱ√NO(WO), along with variants nonna and nona (QL/66). Elsewhere in QL Tolkien had nua(n) = ᴱQ. enwa “tomorrow” (QL/34). Patrick Wynne pointed out that Tolkien vacillated on the precise meanings of “before” and “after” words throughout his life (VT49/32 note #12, VT49/34 note #23).
- ᴹQ. nóloa n. “yesteryear, *last year”
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A word for “yesteryear” from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 appearing in the phrase ᴹQ. masse i·lótin nóloa? “Where are the flowers of yesteryear?” (PE22/124). It is a combination of nó “before” and loa “year”.
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. yenya “last year” as a combination of ᴹQ. yén “year” and ᴹQ. yá “ago” (Ety/YA). In Tolkien’s later writings, yén is an “Elvish long year” of 144 years rather than a single year.
- G. gîr n. “yesterday”
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A word appearing as G. gîr “yesterday” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/38), probably cognate to ᴱQ. die “yesterday” and thus based on the early root ᴱ√DYĒ “back (before of time)” (QL/105).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would update this word to ᴺS. nuir “yesterday”, inspired by sír “this day, today” but using ᴺS. nui “before”.