12.221 Together
- Q. o- pref. “together”
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A prefix meaning “together” derived from primitive √WO (WJ/367). The modern Quenya form of the prefix is the result of the sound change whereby “unstressed wo was often reduced to o with loss of w” (PE19/106). Note that “when stressed the [primitive] sequence wo was usually changed > wa”, so in theory Quenya might have a variant prefix *va- “together” that was the result of an ancient stressed prefix, much like Sindarin go- vs. gwa-. However, there is no sign of such a prefix va- in Quenya. Instead, the short o- became ó- in those rare cases where it was stressed (WJ/367).
In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 Tolkien said that o- was “used in words describing the meeting, junction, or union of two things or persons, or of two groups thought of as units”, as opposed to yo- used for three or more things (WJ/361, 367). In examples elsewhere, though, o- “together” seems to have a more general meaning in words like olass(i)ë “foliage, collection of leaves” or ombari “company, dwellers together” (NM/117). I would therefore assume yo- is only used when plurality was emphasized, and o- “together” was the default choice otherwise.
Conceptual Development: The earliest precursor to this suffix appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱQ. ma- “together” derived from primitive ᴱ✶ŋu̯a (GL/40). This was part of a paradigm in which G. go- was the result of unstressed ᴱ✶ŋu̯a, and gwa- was the normal phonological result. There was also an apparently related suffix ᴱQ. -ngwe in the Narqelion poem in phrases like ómalingwe lir’ amaldar = “*(together) with voices singing gently”, which could also be derived from primitive ᴱ✶ŋu̯a. The Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s had ᴱQ. va- as the equivalent of ᴱN. go- “together”, probably reflecting a change to primitive *wa- (PE13/162).
The Etymologies of the 1930s had both ᴹQ. ō̆- and N. go- “together” derived from the root ᴹ√WŌ̆ (Ety/WŌ). In this new paradigm, N. gwa- was the result of stressed primitive wó-. In Quenya primitive wō and unstressed wŏ blended to produce o- “together”, which could be either short o or long ó. In the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) of the 1940s, Tolkien seems to hint that stressed (g)wo- > wá- in Quenya as well (PE19/53). But as noted above there are no examples of prefixal wa-/va- “together” in actual Quenya words from Tolkien’s later writings.
- Q. ó prep. “with”
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The preposition ó “with” appeared in draft versions of the Aia María prayer from the 1950s, in the phrase i Héru olesse “the Lord is with thee” (VT43/27), along with a chart for this preposition having pronominal suffixes (VT43/29). Prepositional ó is clearly related to the prefix o- “together”. In the third version of the prayer, it was revised to carelye (VT43/27), apparently a variant of the preposition ca as suggested by Wynne, Smith, and Hostetter (VT43/29). In the fourth and final version of the prayer it became aselye (VT43/28), using an otherwise unattested preposition possibly related to √AS “beside”.
The preposition ó “with” itself reappeared in a phrase from 1969: vá meninye {yó >>} ó le “I won’t come with you” (PE22/162). Based on the revision of {yó >>} ó and the meaning of the related prefixes, it is likely that ó more specifically means “with (one other individual)” as opposed to yó(m) for “with (a group)”. However, I think ó could be used in most cases, and yó(m) is only used when accompanying a group is being emphasized.
Neo-Quenya: It seems likely that ó specifically means “[together] with”, and other senses of “with” would use other prepositions such as lé “with, by (means of)” or the instrumental suffix -nen.
- Q. uo adv. “together”
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The adverb uo “together” appeared as a derivative of ✶ówō in a rejected page of notes on the etymology about the prefix o- of the same meaning, probably from around 1959 (PE17/191).
Neo-Quenya: Though the page is rejected, the etymology of ᴺQ. uo “together” remains plausible, so I would retain this adverb for purposes of Neo-Quenya.
- Q. yo- pref. “together (of three or more things)”
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A prefix appearing as an element in yomenië “meeting, gathering (of three or more coming from different directions)” in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/407). It is clearly based on primitive ✶jō(m) “together” as the plural equivalent of ✶wō (WJ/361), and thus likely means “together (of three or more things)”.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. so- “together, grouped” under the early root ᴱ√SŌ, a prefixal equivalent of ᴱQ. le “with (accompaniment)” (QL/85). Given the gloss “grouped”, I think so- also applied to multiple items grouped together.
- Q. yó(m) n. “[together] with”
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A preposition appearing as yó(m) “with” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) written in 1969 (PE22/168). Earlier in the same set of documents, it appeared in a sentence vá meninye {yó >>} ó le “I won’t come with you” (PE22/162), but there it was replaced by ó. These were probably based on primitive forms ✶jō(m) “together (plural)” and ✶wō “together (two things)” from the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/361). If so, Tolkien may have revised {yó >>} ó in the sentence above because “you and I” is a pair rather than a group.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume yó meant “[together] with” when applied to groups of things, as opposed to ó for two things together, though I would also assume ó was the default and yó was only used when plurality needed to be emphasized.
- S. go- pref. “together, co-, com-”
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The Sindarin suffix go- “together” was established early in Tolkien’s life. It was derived from √WO and had a variant gwa- depending on ancient patterns of stress, since ancient wo > wa > gwa when stressed but when unstressed wo > gwo > go (WJ/367-368). The go-variant is the normal form, and gwa- survived only in a few two-syllable words such as gwanon “twin = *together-born”.
Conceptual Development: The go-/gwa- variation dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, but in that document the primitive form was ᴱ✶ŋu̯a which become go- when unstressed (GL/40). The derivation of N. go- from ᴹ√WŌ was introduced in The Etymologies of the 1930s which when stressed produced gwa-, but this gwa-variant was already limited to old formations in the 1930s (Ety/WŌ).
- S. godrebh adv. “abreast; *together-through”
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The word N. godrebh appeared in a phrase on a draft of Thrór’s Map written in 1936 (TAI/92). The English translation of the phrase implies the meaning of the word is “abreast” but the corresponding Old English translation has “samod þurgh”, which in modern English means “together through”. This make it likely that this word this word is a combination of N. go- “go” and a variant of N. trî “through” < trē (Ety/TER, WŌ). It is probably derived from primitive *wotrĕm- and *wotrĕb-, though I think the latter is more likely. The ancient suffix -b or -m is probably an adverbial suffix.
Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers update this form to ᴺS. godref to be more consistent with normal Sindarin spellings, as suggested in Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD).