10.21: to Rise ᴹQ. ef- v. “to emerge (especially from water)” A verb appearing in its present tense form épha in a rejected page of verbal roots from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) written in 1948 (PE22/127). It was based on the root ᴹ√EPH “emerge (especially from water, opp[osite] of
Select Elvish Words
Studies on selected elvish words to sort out their semantics.
Select Elvish Words 10.14: to Wind, Wrap
10.14 to Wind, Wrap Q. lapa- v. “to wrap, swathe, wind” A verb appearing as ᴱQ. lapa- “wrap, swathe, wind” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LAPA “enfold” (QL/51). Neo-Quenya: The root √LAP reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings with similar glosses “fold, bend” (VT47/35), so
Select Elvish Words 10.13 to Turn Around
10.13 to Turn Around Q. nuquerna adj. “reversed, inverted, *(lit.) under-turned” A word meaning “reversed” (LotR/1123) or “inverted” (PE22/49) in the names of the tengwars árë nuquerna and silmë nuquerna. It appears to be a combination of nu “under” and an adjectival form querna of the verb quer- “turn”, so
Select Elvish Words 10.11-10.12: to Move, Turn
10.11 to Move ᴱQ. lev- v. “to move” An intransitive verb appearing as ᴱQ. lev- “(intr.) move” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, versus transitive ᴱQ. lehta- “[cause to] move” (PE16/132). The editors suggested it was likely related to the early roots ᴱ√ELE “drive, push, thrust” and ᴱ√LEHE “come,
Select Elvish Words 9.98: to Try
9.98 to Try Q. nev- v. “to try, *seek opportunity, experiment” A verb for “to try” based on the root √NDEB in notes from the 1960s (PE17/167). As suggested by Christopher Gilson, this appears to be a draft of Tolkien’s attempt to define the phrase “try harder” in Quenya. Of
Select Elvish Words 9.97: Difficult
9.97 Difficult ᴱQ. auqa adj. “awkward, clumsy ⚠️(of things), difficult” A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s appearing as ᴱQ. auqa “awkward, clumsy (of things); awkward, difficult”, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. auk “a fool, clumsy fellow” (QL/33). Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. auqua for purposes of Neo-Quenya,
Select Elvish Words 9.96: Easy
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).