9.96 Easy Q. ancárima adj. “easy, (lit.) very doable” A word for “easy” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, a combination of the intensive prefix an- and the adjective cárima “doable”, so more literally “very doable” (PE22/155). Q. as(a)- [þ] pref. “easily” A prefix meaning “easy” appearing
Select Elvish Words 9.95: Can, May
9.95 Can, May Q. ec- v. “to have a chance of; may, can” An impersonal verb meaning “may, can”, or more specifically “have chance, opportunity or permission”, appearing in notes from 1967 based on the root √ek “it is open” (VT49/20). As suggested by Patrick Wynne, this verb is likely
Select Elvish Words 9.92-9.943: Become, Need, Must, Suitable
9.92 Become Q. ola- v. “to become; [ᴹQ.] to grow (up)” An a-verb ola- appeared with the gloss “grow” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 (PE22/113, 125), replacing ᴹQ. ala- of the same meaning (PE22/113 note #80). In the same document Tolkien coined a distinct basic verb ᴹQ.
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).
Select Elvish Words 9.90: Thing
9.90 Thing Q. engwë n. “thing [that exists]” A word for “thing” in notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, related to the verb ëa “exists” and contrasted with tengwë “sign”. It thus seems to more exactly mean “a thing that actually exists in the world”, as
How to List the Children of Master Samwise Properly
The King’s Letter from the omitted epilogue to The Lord of the Rings, written in the early 1950s, is one of the most significant Sindarin texts, and a long-known one. There are four versions of the letter, which were published at various times in Sauron Defeated (1992), Vinyar Tengwar 29
Revisiting Old Ideas about Word Order in Sindarin Sentences
When it comes to Sindarin syntax, very little is stated in Tolkien’s writings about sentence-wide structure. Tolkien went into depth on the structures of noun phrases, on the mutations that mark phrases, and so on. But sentence syntax? That’s always been a bit of a mystery. We’ve always known that
Select Elvish Words 9.87: Painting, Picture
9.87 Painting, Picture Q. emma n. “picture, *image” A word appearing in notes from 1967 as an element in indemma “mind-picture” and quantemma “facsimile, a complete detailed visual reproduction (by any means) of a visible thing” (PE17/174, 179), probably meaning “picture, *image” (the latter gloss suggested by Tamas Ferencz). It
Select Elvish Words 9.82-9.83: Sculptor, Statue
9.82 Sculptor Q. ondomaitar n. “sculptor in stone” A noun for a “sculptor in stone” in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957, a combination of ondo “stone” and maitar “artist” (PE17/163). Q. ontamo n. “mason ⚠️(sculptor)” A word a “mason (sculptor)” in notes from the late 1960s, a combination of ondo
Select Elvish Words 9.81: to Carve
9.81 to Carve ᴱQ. nyas n. “scratch, score, line, mark” A noun appearing as ᴱQ. nyas “scratch, score, line, mark” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with a stem form of nyast-, derived from the early root ᴱ√NYASA (QL/68). Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. nyas “scratch, score, line, mark”