Quenya course revision - proofreading thread
Moderator: Moderatoren
Quenya course revision - proofreading thread
This is an (English-speaking) thread to gather the results of all volunteers participating in the proofreading of Quetin i lambe eldaiva V1.9. Please enter here any typos, comments and other errors you may spot.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Re: Quenya course revision - proofreading thread
To be found here as *.pdf.gz (for those who don't read the messages on elfling*).Thorsten wrote:Quetin i lambe eldaiva V1.9.
*Where Thorsten also writes that "Beginners are at this point asked to wait for 2-3 more months till the final release of the course is made"!
In part I of the pre-release version of 'Quetin i Lambe Eldaiva', I encountered a few typos (or at least what appeared to be typos or the like to me):
p. 21, 1.4.2 : “in addition [??]” > 'calma' (missing)
p. 26, 2.2.4: “an impertive meaning” > imperative
p.26, 2.2.3: “andunë ringa” > andúnë
p. 28, 2.3 : “andunë” > andúnë
p. 32, 3.1 : “Many lamps of silver...” > (English translation of ‘potai’ missing)
p. 47, 5.2.2 : “...facts/” > facts.
p. 47, 5.2.2 : “...umar laurië” > uar (?)
p. 49, 5.4 : “Alla N.N.! (Hail N.N.!)ná” - (??ná)
p. 60, 7.2.5 : “consonant cluster are” > consonant clusters
p. 60, 7.2.5 : “consonents” > consonants
p. 61, 7.4 : “The possibly answer” > possible
p. 65, 8.2.1 : “a bot problematic” > a bit
p. 70, 9.1 : “He will find them” > We will find them (?)
p. 70, 9.2.1 : “for darived verbs” > derived
p. 71, 9.2.3 : “Elven mahtas” > Elwen (?)
p. 72, 9.2.5 : “often the accusativ” > accusative
p. 74. 9.4 : “From the sea, go East” > from the lake (?) [=Ailillo?]
p. 76, 10,1 : “Any maybe the orcs” > And maybe
p. 85, 11.2.2 : “are denited” > denoted
p. 85, 11,2.2 ; ”can also be denited” > denoted
p. 87: The footnote seems to be incomplete.
p. 90, 12.2.4 : “One upon a time” > Once upon..
p. 92, 12.2.5 : “á lelya” > Á lelya
I am currently in the middle of part II, but I thought I might possibly post my uncompleted notes anyway so that you could check them unhurriedly.
p. 21, 1.4.2 : “in addition [??]” > 'calma' (missing)
p. 26, 2.2.4: “an impertive meaning” > imperative
p.26, 2.2.3: “andunë ringa” > andúnë
p. 28, 2.3 : “andunë” > andúnë
p. 32, 3.1 : “Many lamps of silver...” > (English translation of ‘potai’ missing)
p. 47, 5.2.2 : “...facts/” > facts.
p. 47, 5.2.2 : “...umar laurië” > uar (?)
p. 49, 5.4 : “Alla N.N.! (Hail N.N.!)ná” - (??ná)
p. 60, 7.2.5 : “consonant cluster are” > consonant clusters
p. 60, 7.2.5 : “consonents” > consonants
p. 61, 7.4 : “The possibly answer” > possible
p. 65, 8.2.1 : “a bot problematic” > a bit
p. 70, 9.1 : “He will find them” > We will find them (?)
p. 70, 9.2.1 : “for darived verbs” > derived
p. 71, 9.2.3 : “Elven mahtas” > Elwen (?)
p. 72, 9.2.5 : “often the accusativ” > accusative
p. 74. 9.4 : “From the sea, go East” > from the lake (?) [=Ailillo?]
p. 76, 10,1 : “Any maybe the orcs” > And maybe
p. 85, 11.2.2 : “are denited” > denoted
p. 85, 11,2.2 ; ”can also be denited” > denoted
p. 87: The footnote seems to be incomplete.
p. 90, 12.2.4 : “One upon a time” > Once upon..
p. 92, 12.2.5 : “á lelya” > Á lelya
I am currently in the middle of part II, but I thought I might possibly post my uncompleted notes anyway so that you could check them unhurriedly.
p.16, 21, 24
>Lelyeas nu lómini.
>lómin shadow
>na ilya lómin
Apparently an example of a noun ending in -n is desired, but lómin is Qenya with an unusual formation -in for nouns in later Quenya and there is a multitude of other words for 'shadow'.
p.17
>something happes
>>happens
>imbi between, among
Imbe before dual?
p. 24
>has somwhat more
>> somewhat
p.25
>In order to achieve a more pleasant sound (which is important in Quenya), presumably the
>formation of the dual in -u is preferred for words which have -t- or -d- in their last syllable [...]
Is there a reason to mark this paragraph grey? It's exactly what is said in the footnote Let:347.
>Presumably, it is the presence of the definite article which makes a distinction between the
>two different functions of the partitive plural: Expressions with the definite article seem to
>be translated with ’many’ and those without is as ’some’.
falmali 'many/some breakers' (PE17:62)
aldali 'some / several / a number of trees' (PE17:63)
Eldali 'some Elves, a lot of Elves' (PE17:135)
'With Eldali the definite article is seldom used' (VT49:8)
I can't see the role of the article mentioned anywhere. I think it's an obsolete, somewhat artificial distinguishing of the meanings 'some' and 'many' based on the formerly availible examples. I would say that the partitive plural can mean 'some' or 'many' according ot the context, but never 'all' or 'all that have been mentioned before'. And the article is seldom used because this plural is not definite.
p.26, 28, 35 etc.
>andune ringa (a cold evening)
>anduni
>> andúne, andúni
p.28
>rimba much
'Much' is an adverb, making it somewhat ambiguous. Why not 'frequent, numerous' as it is glossed in Etym?
p.24, 28, 32 etc.
>Noldoiva belonging to the Noldor
Maybe better attested Noldorinwa? (as Sindarinwa, Eldarinwa)
p.32
>omentieo
>>omentiéo? Maybe even omentiéno (PE17:59)? And perhaps also Hísiélo throughout the course?
It should probably be noted that the awkward stress patterns may result every time when a whole syllable is appended, not just -va (i.e. most often also -o, -nen).
>somthing is part
>>something
p.38
>Lendemme na taure ar tirnemme. Cennemme Sinda mi taure. Quentemme.
Shouldn't it be dual because Hísiel speaks of Nenwe and herself?
p.46
>Haryasse olori
Better sam- (PE17:173)?
p.47
>Sere
>> sére
>uan cáre (I am not making)
>> uan cára
p.48
>rancorya oronye (their arms arose)
Needs to be corrected dependent on how many raised arms are intended. Also, ranko has the stem ranku-.
>umea evil
>> úmea
>Mára mesta. (Good journey.)
Qenya alert - mára lende/lelie?
Also:
p.19 -lwe
p.41 -lva
I think it should be either -lwe, -lwa, gen. -lvo (because wo is not allowed); or -lv- throughout.
>Lelyeas nu lómini.
>lómin shadow
>na ilya lómin
Apparently an example of a noun ending in -n is desired, but lómin is Qenya with an unusual formation -in for nouns in later Quenya and there is a multitude of other words for 'shadow'.
p.17
>something happes
>>happens
>imbi between, among
Imbe before dual?
p. 24
>has somwhat more
>> somewhat
p.25
>In order to achieve a more pleasant sound (which is important in Quenya), presumably the
>formation of the dual in -u is preferred for words which have -t- or -d- in their last syllable [...]
Is there a reason to mark this paragraph grey? It's exactly what is said in the footnote Let:347.
>Presumably, it is the presence of the definite article which makes a distinction between the
>two different functions of the partitive plural: Expressions with the definite article seem to
>be translated with ’many’ and those without is as ’some’.
falmali 'many/some breakers' (PE17:62)
aldali 'some / several / a number of trees' (PE17:63)
Eldali 'some Elves, a lot of Elves' (PE17:135)
'With Eldali the definite article is seldom used' (VT49:8)
I can't see the role of the article mentioned anywhere. I think it's an obsolete, somewhat artificial distinguishing of the meanings 'some' and 'many' based on the formerly availible examples. I would say that the partitive plural can mean 'some' or 'many' according ot the context, but never 'all' or 'all that have been mentioned before'. And the article is seldom used because this plural is not definite.
p.26, 28, 35 etc.
>andune ringa (a cold evening)
>anduni
>> andúne, andúni
p.28
>rimba much
'Much' is an adverb, making it somewhat ambiguous. Why not 'frequent, numerous' as it is glossed in Etym?
p.24, 28, 32 etc.
>Noldoiva belonging to the Noldor
Maybe better attested Noldorinwa? (as Sindarinwa, Eldarinwa)
p.32
>omentieo
>>omentiéo? Maybe even omentiéno (PE17:59)? And perhaps also Hísiélo throughout the course?
It should probably be noted that the awkward stress patterns may result every time when a whole syllable is appended, not just -va (i.e. most often also -o, -nen).
>somthing is part
>>something
p.38
>Lendemme na taure ar tirnemme. Cennemme Sinda mi taure. Quentemme.
Shouldn't it be dual because Hísiel speaks of Nenwe and herself?
p.46
>Haryasse olori
Better sam- (PE17:173)?
p.47
>Sere
>> sére
>uan cáre (I am not making)
>> uan cára
p.48
>rancorya oronye (their arms arose)
Needs to be corrected dependent on how many raised arms are intended. Also, ranko has the stem ranku-.
>umea evil
>> úmea
>Mára mesta. (Good journey.)
Qenya alert - mára lende/lelie?
Also:
p.19 -lwe
p.41 -lva
I think it should be either -lwe, -lwa, gen. -lvo (because wo is not allowed); or -lv- throughout.
Maybe Mára mentie PE17:13 : mentie = passage, journey>Mára mesta. (Good journey.)
Qenya alert - mára lende/lelie?
p. 27 Some birds (is) flying are
p. 61 arlinwenya ? or rather arilinwenya
Since in the paragraphe before it is said that rl is problematic and ari- should be used
p. 64 Nóte orcoron avánie avánier
A number of orcs has departed have departed
I feel that in Quenya and in English the verb should be in the plural as it refers to the orcs and not to the number. At least in English it is so, e.g. The number of people that have come versus The number of people that has increased...
Fixed all of those, many thanks!p. 21, 1.4.2 : “in addition [??]” > 'calma' (missing)
p. 26, 2.2.4: “an impertive meaning” > imperative
p.26, 2.2.3: “andunë ringa” > andúnë
p. 28, 2.3 : “andunë” > andúnë
p. 32, 3.1 : “Many lamps of silver...” > (English translation of ‘potai’ missing)
p. 47, 5.2.2 : “...facts/” > facts.
p. 47, 5.2.2 : “...umar laurië” > uar (?)
p. 49, 5.4 : “Alla N.N.! (Hail N.N.!)ná” - (??ná)
p. 60, 7.2.5 : “consonant cluster are” > consonant clusters
p. 60, 7.2.5 : “consonents” > consonants
p. 61, 7.4 : “The possibly answer” > possible
p. 65, 8.2.1 : “a bot problematic” > a bit
p. 70, 9.1 : “He will find them” > We will find them (?)
p. 70, 9.2.1 : “for darived verbs” > derived
p. 72, 9.2.5 : “often the accusativ” > accusative
p. 74. 9.4 : “From the sea, go East” > from the lake (?) [=Ailillo?]
p. 76, 10,1 : “Any maybe the orcs” > And maybe
p. 85, 11.2.2 : “are denited” > denoted
p. 85, 11,2.2 ; ”can also be denited” > denoted
p. 87: The footnote seems to be incomplete.
p. 90, 12.2.4 : “One upon a time” > Once upon..
p. 92, 12.2.5 : “á lelya” > Á lelya
This ties with what Aran writes:p. 71, 9.2.3 : “Elven mahtas” > Elwen (?)
Should become -lv- throughout.p.19 -lwe
p.41 -lva
I think it should be either -lwe, -lwa, gen. -lvo (because wo is not allowed); or -lv- throughout.
Regarding part II:
p. 96, 13.1 : “Aurion neldé...” > neldë (??)
p. 97, 13.2.2 : “between the repsective” > respective
p. 97, 13.2.3 : “It is possibly that...” > possible
p. 102, 14.1 : “...approach the towers..” > the tower (sg.)
p. 105, 14.2.2 : “ Used with an adjectives, it implies...“ > with an adjective
p. 106, 14.2.4 : “witha vowel” > with a
p. 114, 15.2.9 : “Consequently, necesities...” > necessities
p. 118, 16,2.1 . “ “can neither be replaces” > replaced
p. 119, 16.2.3 : “Hísielo carië macileva” > macilwa (?)
p. 119, 16.2.3 : “The womans’ hiding... “ > The women’s..(??)
p. 140, 20.2.1 : “ninya (may)” > my
p 142, 20.3 : “word-initial NG- lead to n-...” > leads to (?)
p. 152, D 1 : “...would not compatible..” > would not be...
(Please note: I did not (yet) check the tengwar and Appendix E.)
p. 96, 13.1 : “Aurion neldé...” > neldë (??)
p. 97, 13.2.2 : “between the repsective” > respective
p. 97, 13.2.3 : “It is possibly that...” > possible
p. 102, 14.1 : “...approach the towers..” > the tower (sg.)
p. 105, 14.2.2 : “ Used with an adjectives, it implies...“ > with an adjective
p. 106, 14.2.4 : “witha vowel” > with a
p. 114, 15.2.9 : “Consequently, necesities...” > necessities
p. 118, 16,2.1 . “ “can neither be replaces” > replaced
p. 119, 16.2.3 : “Hísielo carië macileva” > macilwa (?)
p. 119, 16.2.3 : “The womans’ hiding... “ > The women’s..(??)
p. 140, 20.2.1 : “ninya (may)” > my
p 142, 20.3 : “word-initial NG- lead to n-...” > leads to (?)
p. 152, D 1 : “...would not compatible..” > would not be...
(Please note: I did not (yet) check the tengwar and Appendix E.)
I don't quite get the rational for throwing the word out.Apparently an example of a noun ending in -n is desired, but lómin is Qenya with an unusual formation -in for nouns in later Quenya and there is a multitude of other words for 'shadow'.
* for example #lómëa 'gloomy' occurs in LOTR, giving ample evidence that the root hasn't changed but is still associated with darkness, shadow and so on
* which leaves the claim that noun formation in -in is unusual in later Quenya - which I can't quite verify, e.g. arin 'morning' from AR is a rather good example having to do with light instead of darkness
So you'd eliminate the word basically on the grounds that it is attested in LT only. I admit that goes a bit far for me, and I like a Quenya where more then one way of expressing an idea exists.
This is explained later in the lesson on prepositions - no need to squeeze all information into the earliest occasion something shows upImbe before dual?
![:biggrin:](./images/smilies/icon_grin.gif)
I can't see the formerly available examples invalidated or obsoleted by PE17, and as I clearly state, I give more weight to grammar actually seen in texts than to grammar being described. In addition, I think it's quite a useful distinction.I can't see the role of the article mentioned anywhere. I think it's an obsolete, somewhat artificial distinguishing of the meanings 'some' and 'many' based on the formerly availible examples.
I think you're missing the point - this is chiefly about getting acquainted with the possessive case so early in the lessons. Of course I'd write Noldorinwa in a Neo-Quenya text of my own - but in the early lessons, I hardly write anything as I would usually write it because there's no so much grammar available and so we express things in unusual ways.Maybe better attested Noldorinwa? (as Sindarinwa, Eldarinwa)
Actually, maybe rather Hísiello if I think of it. Good point with the stress patterns though. I have to think about the -n- variants, at the moment I fear it's just too complicated.omentiéo? Maybe even omentiéno (PE17:59)? And perhaps also Hísiélo throughout the course?
It should probably be noted that the awkward stress patterns may result every time when a whole syllable is appended, not just -va (i.e. most often also -o, -nen).
Technically it would be exclusive dual 'the two of us but not you' - but since I decided to have only one dual, it's either dual here or exclusive - and I decided that the idea of exclusive is more important than the fact that there were two and not three elves - after all, a dual we 'you and me' is somewhat special, but an exclusive dual isn't actually a special situation conceptually.Shouldn't it be dual because Hísiel speaks of Nenwe and herself?
So, after some thinking I settled on exclusive 'we' here.
Why?Better sam- (PE17:173)?
Well - again - why throw out a phrase which Tolkien wrote? What's actually wrong with mesta? Does it contradict anything? Is it weird in Quenya phonology? Or is it simply attested in the wrong source?Qenya alert - mára lende/lelie?
@Órerámar:
It's actually not so in German - here singular would be used, so it's not so obvious. Tolkien-made examples like i Eldar mahtane (VT49:6) or i oromardi tanna lende (PE16:96) would indicate that when one thinks of a group, rather singular is used.I feel that in Quenya and in English the verb should be in the plural as it refers to the orcs and not to the number.
I thought the word lúva had a long ú. Has that changed by recent publications?
S. 22: "the sounds nd, mb, ng and ngw. Note that d, b, g, and gw can appear in Quenya only in these combinations" – there is also LD, RD
S. 28: Introducing anna as the letter for Y is inappropiate. Y belongs to the palatal series. According to appendix E, "the palatals were represented by a Fëanorian diacritic denoting 'following y'". Anna cannot represent the palatal sound Y by itself, because it belongs to the k-series. It is a mute letter that serves as a mere carrier.
S. 42: The sa-rince to be used for the combination X would probably be added beneath the lúva, not at the right side of the telco. There are attested samples of quessetéma tengwar with a sa-rince at the right side of the telco, but these represent English plural S. In the one attested sample of X, the sa-rince is added beneath the lúva (DTS 10).
S. 104: "In fact, Quenya is very restrictive regarding what consonant clusters are allowed in principle." – It is compared to Indoeuropean languages that usually allow for very complex consonant clusters, and especially in the case of Germanic languages. In comparison to a wider range languages, however, Quenya phonotactics are rather avarage than very restricted (see for instance in the World Atlas of Language Structures).
S. 22: "the sounds nd, mb, ng and ngw. Note that d, b, g, and gw can appear in Quenya only in these combinations" – there is also LD, RD
S. 28: Introducing anna as the letter for Y is inappropiate. Y belongs to the palatal series. According to appendix E, "the palatals were represented by a Fëanorian diacritic denoting 'following y'". Anna cannot represent the palatal sound Y by itself, because it belongs to the k-series. It is a mute letter that serves as a mere carrier.
S. 42: The sa-rince to be used for the combination X would probably be added beneath the lúva, not at the right side of the telco. There are attested samples of quessetéma tengwar with a sa-rince at the right side of the telco, but these represent English plural S. In the one attested sample of X, the sa-rince is added beneath the lúva (DTS 10).
S. 104: "In fact, Quenya is very restrictive regarding what consonant clusters are allowed in principle." – It is compared to Indoeuropean languages that usually allow for very complex consonant clusters, and especially in the case of Germanic languages. In comparison to a wider range languages, however, Quenya phonotactics are rather avarage than very restricted (see for instance in the World Atlas of Language Structures).
@Órerámar:
@Thorsten:
But this can hardly be the case since Eldali without article is translated both as 'some Elves' and 'a lot of Elves'. And which 'grammar actually seen in texts' supports the first view?
In my view every early word bears a probability with it that it has been rejected (surely I can't prove it was if that's what you want). Especially when there are lots of later alternatives I would think the probability is high and letting it in is avoidable at the same time.
p.27
>To -n, the last possible ending, the adverb ending is appended directly: melin (dear) becomes
>melinve (dearly).
Or maybe *melimbe?
Another general point - what about ar taking the form al, as before l-, s- (t-, p-, k-)? (PE17:41, also al larmar PE17:175)
lessons 6-10:
p.52
>enlelyeat
>> ellelyeat? (should probably agree with the rule on p.61)
p.52, 54, 76
>quen
>> quén
p.52, 54
>cene serce talamesse!
In LotR talan seems to be quite specifically be a wooden platform on the tress of the Galadhrim ('flet', cf. PE17:52).
p.54
>i elda ohtar i ná (the elf who is a warrior)
>> i elda i ohtar (ná)?
p.54
>lúme yasse Feanáro firne (the hour in which Feanor died)
p.62
>ar rimbe Noldor ifírier
p.77
>I eldali firner i ohtanen. (Many elves died in the war.)
Would fir- be used for the death of an elf other than Míriel?
p.55
>Aván (No.)
>>ávan
>pio (plum, cherry), piucca (berry), tyuru (cheese)
A lot of Qenya here, especially piucca can imho hardly fit into the style of later Quenya..
p.59, 61
>antale
Maybe better anna 'a thing handed, brought or sent to a person, gift' (PE17:195); antale would rather be the 'act of giving'.
>she made it. antale Hísielwa
>> capital letter
p.60
>tecieva
>> teciéva
p.61
>arlinwenya atanion (oldest among men)
>> arilinwenya?
>arya ohtaron (the best of the warriors)
According to PE17:57 i arya + genitive
>palan far, wide
'Adverb' should be probably added.
>mente end
And 'point'. Imho it rather stands for a 'sharp end, tip', like a mountain peak (N. ment is used that way in Mornvenniath).
p.62
>Ma Hísiel mahtane mai? (Did Hísiel fight well?)
>Mathanes. ([Yes], she fought well.)
>Ua mahtane. ([No], she did not fight well.)
The question here is not whether Hísiel fought or not, but rather if she did it well or not. So I think the answer should be mai/*úmai.
p.64
>Nóte orcoron
>A number of orcs
Or just orcoli?
>ava quete
>>áva
p.64
>eléliemme
p.65
>Out of the irregular perfect tenses, let us mention elelie (has gone) here.
Mhm.. Since this is from LED-, the perfect tense should maybe be *elérie and the gerund *lerie, cf. led(e)mbasse > lerembas (PE17:52).
p.64
>usúsiet
It's Qenya from US- which has been changed to UR- (and there is also the question of rhotacism). Perhaps better narta- 'kindle'?
>etéc-
No bold font.
p.65
>eceantie (has lain)
>> aceantie?
p.66
>3. Person ta (he, she, it) se (he, she), sa (it) *te (they)
>3. Person *ta (him, her, it) te (them)
>For the 3rd person plural, some vowel shifts take place since the nominative te represents
>older *tai. In essence, this leads to the fact that all case inflection endings have to be
>appended to tie- instead of te-.
Isn't that a mixing of conceptions? Sure, we have 3rd sg. inanimate ta in antaróta and Etym, pl. toi presumably from #to, leading us to suspect an inanimate pl. *tai; but after LotR the only conception I see is that sg. sa/se and pl. ta/te are differentiated according to animate/inanimate wihtout any plural suffixes. Hence also khy- > khye 'other person', khya 'other thing' (VT49:14). Already in Átaremma there is avatyarilta 'we forgive them' with pl. ta.
>Here, me stands for inclusive (and possible exclusive?) ’we’,
It's in any case exclusive (because of excl. -mme). For the inclusive form one could choose from ñwe, we|ve, ñe in a waz that wouldn't contradict the verbal suffixes.
p.67
>nyessená.
>>nyesse ná
p.68
>Márenya
>>marinya; Perhaps one could put in mélamrimma (PE17:109) into the text?, it fits quite well.
>centaro (potter),
>>centano; or acutally -tamo according to PE17:108
>ingólmo (loremaster),
>>ingolmo
p.70
>ondolisse
Either ondolissen or it should be mentioned earlier in the course that pl. suffixes may be omitted in the partitive plural.
>Ava ruce.
>>áva
p.71
>amáhtier
>>amahtier
p.73
>órana- (to have mercy)
>>órava-
>maite (mais-) skilled
Maisi in Etym, but later ataformaiti goes wihtout ti > si.
p.76, 79
>oronta
>>better later aiqua (AYAK-)?
p.77
Instrumental -ln- > -ld-, e.g. macil > macilden, Hísiel > Hísielden would be worth thinking of. Also, -rn- is permitted as well.
p.77-78
>á cene ancenie!
>anaricie
>antirie
There is also always lengthening involved: ancénie (PE17:94) etc., so it's not a gerund, but adverbial -ie.
p.78
>Nenwená
>>Nenwe ná
>táite
>>taite
p.79
>luin (blue)
>>luine
>ucla
>>ulca
Thorsten sticks to the conceptinof 'Quendi&Eldar' where (o)mentie is not from men + tie, but rather has the dual marker t in it (missing in (yo)menie).Maybe Mára mentie PE17:13 : mentie = passage, journey
@Thorsten:
Cause it's a general word 'to have', 'she possesses dreams' sounds strange.Better sam- (PE17:173)?
Why?
They're not invalidated. The greater picture is visible now. Until the last publications it was somewhat confusing that falma-li was translated 'waves-many', although the plural was not called *'multiplicative' or something, but 'partitive'. So the tentative idea was that in teh article in i falmali may give the shade of meaning 'many waves'.I can't see the formerly available examples invalidated or obsoleted by PE17, and as I clearly state, I give more weight to grammar actually seen in texts than to grammar being described. In addition, I think it's quite a useful distinction.
But this can hardly be the case since Eldali without article is translated both as 'some Elves' and 'a lot of Elves'. And which 'grammar actually seen in texts' supports the first view?
For starters - which root is it derived from?Well - again - why throw out a phrase which Tolkien wrote? What's actually wrong with mesta? Does it contradict anything? Is it weird in Quenya phonology? Or is it simply attested in the wrong source?
In my view every early word bears a probability with it that it has been rejected (surely I can't prove it was if that's what you want). Especially when there are lots of later alternatives I would think the probability is high and letting it in is avoidable at the same time.
p.27
>To -n, the last possible ending, the adverb ending is appended directly: melin (dear) becomes
>melinve (dearly).
Or maybe *melimbe?
Another general point - what about ar taking the form al, as before l-, s- (t-, p-, k-)? (PE17:41, also al larmar PE17:175)
lessons 6-10:
p.52
>enlelyeat
>> ellelyeat? (should probably agree with the rule on p.61)
p.52, 54, 76
>quen
>> quén
p.52, 54
>cene serce talamesse!
In LotR talan seems to be quite specifically be a wooden platform on the tress of the Galadhrim ('flet', cf. PE17:52).
p.54
>i elda ohtar i ná (the elf who is a warrior)
>> i elda i ohtar (ná)?
p.54
>lúme yasse Feanáro firne (the hour in which Feanor died)
p.62
>ar rimbe Noldor ifírier
p.77
>I eldali firner i ohtanen. (Many elves died in the war.)
Would fir- be used for the death of an elf other than Míriel?
p.55
>Aván (No.)
>>ávan
>pio (plum, cherry), piucca (berry), tyuru (cheese)
A lot of Qenya here, especially piucca can imho hardly fit into the style of later Quenya..
p.59, 61
>antale
Maybe better anna 'a thing handed, brought or sent to a person, gift' (PE17:195); antale would rather be the 'act of giving'.
>she made it. antale Hísielwa
>> capital letter
p.60
>tecieva
>> teciéva
p.61
>arlinwenya atanion (oldest among men)
>> arilinwenya?
>arya ohtaron (the best of the warriors)
According to PE17:57 i arya + genitive
>palan far, wide
'Adverb' should be probably added.
>mente end
And 'point'. Imho it rather stands for a 'sharp end, tip', like a mountain peak (N. ment is used that way in Mornvenniath).
p.62
>Ma Hísiel mahtane mai? (Did Hísiel fight well?)
>Mathanes. ([Yes], she fought well.)
>Ua mahtane. ([No], she did not fight well.)
The question here is not whether Hísiel fought or not, but rather if she did it well or not. So I think the answer should be mai/*úmai.
p.64
>Nóte orcoron
>A number of orcs
Or just orcoli?
>ava quete
>>áva
p.64
>eléliemme
p.65
>Out of the irregular perfect tenses, let us mention elelie (has gone) here.
Mhm.. Since this is from LED-, the perfect tense should maybe be *elérie and the gerund *lerie, cf. led(e)mbasse > lerembas (PE17:52).
p.64
>usúsiet
It's Qenya from US- which has been changed to UR- (and there is also the question of rhotacism). Perhaps better narta- 'kindle'?
>etéc-
No bold font.
p.65
>eceantie (has lain)
>> aceantie?
p.66
>3. Person ta (he, she, it) se (he, she), sa (it) *te (they)
>3. Person *ta (him, her, it) te (them)
>For the 3rd person plural, some vowel shifts take place since the nominative te represents
>older *tai. In essence, this leads to the fact that all case inflection endings have to be
>appended to tie- instead of te-.
Isn't that a mixing of conceptions? Sure, we have 3rd sg. inanimate ta in antaróta and Etym, pl. toi presumably from #to, leading us to suspect an inanimate pl. *tai; but after LotR the only conception I see is that sg. sa/se and pl. ta/te are differentiated according to animate/inanimate wihtout any plural suffixes. Hence also khy- > khye 'other person', khya 'other thing' (VT49:14). Already in Átaremma there is avatyarilta 'we forgive them' with pl. ta.
>Here, me stands for inclusive (and possible exclusive?) ’we’,
It's in any case exclusive (because of excl. -mme). For the inclusive form one could choose from ñwe, we|ve, ñe in a waz that wouldn't contradict the verbal suffixes.
p.67
>nyessená.
>>nyesse ná
p.68
>Márenya
>>marinya; Perhaps one could put in mélamrimma (PE17:109) into the text?, it fits quite well.
>centaro (potter),
>>centano; or acutally -tamo according to PE17:108
>ingólmo (loremaster),
>>ingolmo
p.70
>ondolisse
Either ondolissen or it should be mentioned earlier in the course that pl. suffixes may be omitted in the partitive plural.
>Ava ruce.
>>áva
p.71
>amáhtier
>>amahtier
p.73
>órana- (to have mercy)
>>órava-
>maite (mais-) skilled
Maisi in Etym, but later ataformaiti goes wihtout ti > si.
p.76, 79
>oronta
>>better later aiqua (AYAK-)?
p.77
Instrumental -ln- > -ld-, e.g. macil > macilden, Hísiel > Hísielden would be worth thinking of. Also, -rn- is permitted as well.
p.77-78
>á cene ancenie!
>anaricie
>antirie
There is also always lengthening involved: ancénie (PE17:94) etc., so it's not a gerund, but adverbial -ie.
p.78
>Nenwená
>>Nenwe ná
>táite
>>taite
p.79
>luin (blue)
>>luine
>ucla
>>ulca
@Aran:
First of all, thanks for the work of course.
In all the discussions, that remains unsaid too often.
First of all, thanks for the work of course.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I decided to keep lómin - throwing out Qenya is nice when it actually contradicts something later, but this doesn't seem to.p.16, 21, 24
>Lelyeas nu lómini.
>lómin shadow
>na ilya lómin
Apparently an example of a noun ending in -n is desired, but lómin is Qenya with an unusual formation -in for nouns in later Quenya and there is a multitude of other words for 'shadow'.
I changed these.p.17
>something happes
>>happens
>imbi between, among
Imbe before dual?
p. 24
>has somwhat more
>> somewhat
p.25
>In order to achieve a more pleasant sound (which is important in Quenya), presumably the
>formation of the dual in -u is preferred for words which have -t- or -d- in their last syllable [...]
Is there a reason to mark this paragraph grey? It's exactly what is said in the footnote Let:347.
p.26, 28, 35 etc.
>andune ringa (a cold evening)
>anduni
>> andúne, andúni
p.28
>rimba much
'Much' is an adverb, making it somewhat ambiguous. Why not 'frequent, numerous' as it is glossed in Etym?
I agree that Noldorinwa is probably better, but here it should not serve as vocabulary but introduce the possessive case, so I decided to keep the form.p.24, 28, 32 etc.
>Noldoiva belonging to the Noldor
Maybe better attested Noldorinwa? (as Sindarinwa, Eldarinwa)
I decided to introduce the additional -n- in genitive and dative as optional and separated out a section to explain the lengthening in general for every syllabic ending.p.32
>omentieo
>>omentiéo? Maybe even omentiéno (PE17:59)? And perhaps also Hísiélo throughout the course?
It should probably be noted that the awkward stress patterns may result every time when a whole syllable is appended, not just -va (i.e. most often also -o, -nen).
Changed it.>somthing is part
>>something
My decision is not to use dual here for aforementioned reasons.p.38
>Lendemme na taure ar tirnemme. Cennemme Sinda mi taure. Quentemme.
Shouldn't it be dual because Hísiel speaks of Nenwe and herself?
I take your point and changed it.p.46
>Haryasse olori
Better sam- (PE17:173)?
Changed those.p.47
>Sere
>> sére
>uan cáre (I am not making)
>> uan cára
Since this is too complicated an example, I used the less-problematic yulma instead.p.48
>rancorya oronye (their arms arose)
Needs to be corrected dependent on how many raised arms are intended. Also, ranko has the stem ranku-.
Changed it.>umea evil
>> úmea
I decided to keep it. The downside is that this is indeed Qenya and that the stem of the word is not clear. The upside is that it doesn't contradict any known Quenya grammar, the word is fine as far as phonology goes, and most important it is one of the few Tolkien-made phrases for greeting and farewell. So the reader has the benefit of possibly recognizing and being able to translate it when he gets the Father Christmas Letters. Since it doesn't actually enter the vocabulary, I don't see much damage done, but some advantage.>Mára mesta. (Good journey.)
@mach:
As I argued on Elfling - sometimes it's better to make a statement in an introduction that isn't strictly true, because the strictly correct statement is bound to confuse people.
No, it's a genuine mistake by myselfI thought the word lúva had a long ú. Has that changed by recent publications?
![:biggrin:](./images/smilies/icon_grin.gif)
True, I added those and a reference to the next lesson.S. 22: "the sounds nd, mb, ng and ngw. Note that d, b, g, and gw can appear in Quenya only in these combinations" – there is also LD, RD
Strictly speaking, this is true, but it is useful to think of anna representing y still. So I left things here as they were, but added an explanation in 4.4.1.S. 28: Introducing anna as the letter for Y is inappropiate. Y belongs to the palatal series. According to appendix E, "the palatals were represented by a Fëanorian diacritic denoting 'following y'". Anna cannot represent the palatal sound Y by itself, because it belongs to the k-series. It is a mute letter that serves as a mere carrier.
DTS10 is likewise an English text, no? So, while I can see your point that this may be so in Quenya, it's a bit shaky. Given the considerable amount of work to rewrite the typesetting macros, I guess I leave it as is based on this evidence.S. 42: The sa-rince to be used for the combination X would probably be added beneath the lúva, not at the right side of the telco. There are attested samples of quessetéma tengwar with a sa-rince at the right side of the telco, but these represent English plural S. In the one attested sample of X, the sa-rince is added beneath the lúva (DTS 10).
That may be true - but the vast majority of readers are not linguists and moreover will come somewhere from the Indo-European language family. So, given the most likely level of experience with languages of a reader, the sentence is true.S. 104: "In fact, Quenya is very restrictive regarding what consonant clusters are allowed in principle." – It is compared to Indoeuropean languages that usually allow for very complex consonant clusters, and especially in the case of Germanic languages. In comparison to a wider range languages, however, Quenya phonotactics are rather avarage than very restricted (see for instance in the World Atlas of Language Structures).
As I argued on Elfling - sometimes it's better to make a statement in an introduction that isn't strictly true, because the strictly correct statement is bound to confuse people.
Some more typos and other minor stuff:
p. 8 Portugese -> Portuguese
var. occ.: pronomial -> pronominal
var. occ.: Tolkiens -> Tolkien's
p. 18 It is often used similar to -> similarly
p. 18
p. 19 famililar form -> familiar forms
p. 19
p. 20
p. 24 Mithrimessë
I just wish to say that I don't feel too comfortable about this mix of Sindarin noun + Quenya ending, but I am also at a loss to provide a better alternative. I'm not sure if PE17:140 "Sindar was a Quenya translation of Mîthrim." may be interpreted in such a way as to allow a construction along the line of **"Nén Sindarwa", nor can I find any hint that such a name, or in fact any Quenya name for this lake, was at all in existence...
p. 24
p. 24
p. 27 Adverbs in Quenya work not so different from English,
-> differently
p. 8 Portugese -> Portuguese
var. occ.: pronomial -> pronominal
var. occ.: Tolkiens -> Tolkien's
p. 18 It is often used similar to -> similarly
p. 18
I find this way of expression a little bit confusing, especially for a beginner – your could maybe add something along the line of: "… verbs ending ending -a or -¨ea in the singular or –r and –t in the plural and dual respectively"These three usages of the verb in singular, plural and dual with no ending, -r and -t are called personless verb forms.
p. 19 famililar form -> familiar forms
p. 19
Does this distinction really hold? I find that e.g. in German or Russian you can have animate neuter nouns, so wouldn't a less ambiguous way of labelling be 'animate' and 'inanimate'?3. Person (animate)
3. Person (neuter)
p. 20
Maybe add "when it is present" (otherwise it cannot move anywhere...)’To be’ is often left out when it is understood, and usually moves towards the end of the sentence.
p. 24 Mithrimessë
I just wish to say that I don't feel too comfortable about this mix of Sindarin noun + Quenya ending, but I am also at a loss to provide a better alternative. I'm not sure if PE17:140 "Sindar was a Quenya translation of Mîthrim." may be interpreted in such a way as to allow a construction along the line of **"Nén Sindarwa", nor can I find any hint that such a name, or in fact any Quenya name for this lake, was at all in existence...
p. 24
maybe better "pair of arms" (to avoid confusion with homophonous 'arms' <-> 'arms')?tulcë rancu (strong arms)
p. 24
the relevant form of ná = 'to be' is dropped (not the context).If the context is sufficiently clear, it is usually dropped entirely.
p. 27 Adverbs in Quenya work not so different from English,
-> differently
Anyway, Órerámar is right in that in English it should read "a number of.... are", as it is "the orcs" (and not the number) that functions as the head of the noun phrase. Maybe you could say "a gang (or horde, team, band...) of orcs" to make this group take a singular verb?@Órerámar:It's actually not so in German - here singular would be used, so it's not so obvious. Tolkien-made examples like i Eldar mahtane (VT49:6) or i oromardi tanna lende (PE16:96) would indicate that when one thinks of a group, rather singular is used.I feel that in Quenya and in English the verb should be in the plural as it refers to the orcs and not to the number.
p. 38
-> is still
p. 38 mean time -> meantime
p. 39
p. 40
maybe add: to(wards), to avoid confusion with 'to point' = 'to sharpen'?
p. 40 beween -> between
p. 41
p. 41 optinally -> optionally
p. 42 exmaple -> example
p. 46 protect the the town -> delete 1 x 'the'
p. 46
p. 46 necesarily -> necessarily
p. 47 ’Galadriel ist not a dwarf’ -> is
p. 47 The evening is not being cold -> maybe: is not cold now?
p. 47
p. 48 a plural ’yourself’ -> yourselves
p. 48 you two watch yourself –> yourselves
p. 48 as if the -r- in the ending would be a plural marker -> was
Or maybe: "treating the -r- in the ending as a plural marker"?
p. 48 their arms arose -> rose
if the speaker still is a fighter or not
-> is still
p. 38 mean time -> meantime
p. 39
Why not 'every' as in 'every verb also has a root'?Any verb has a verbal stem
p. 40
tentanenyes (I pointed it)
maybe add: to(wards), to avoid confusion with 'to point' = 'to sharpen'?
p. 40 beween -> between
p. 41
Following the logic given earlier and the table at the head of that page, rather translate: 'thee', 'thy', 'thou'?Cenital m´ara n´a. (It is good to see you.)
Caritalyas m´ara n´a. (Your doing it is good; It is good that you do it.)
p. 41 optinally -> optionally
p. 42 exmaple -> example
p. 46 protect the the town -> delete 1 x 'the'
p. 46
Wouldn't istan quetë = "I can speak (because I have learned (a) language)" (VT41:6) be preferable here to polin quetë = “I can speak” (because mouth and tongue are free)?polin quetë i lambe eldaiva (I speak the Elvish language, i.e. I am
able to speak it any time it may be required, but I do not necesarily speak it right now).
p. 46 necesarily -> necessarily
p. 47 ’Galadriel ist not a dwarf’ -> is
p. 47 The evening is not being cold -> maybe: is not cold now?
p. 47
I wonder, can úmëa = 'evil' also be translated as 'angry'? Wouldn't rúsea = 'wrathful' or rusca, ruxa = 'wroth' (PE 17:188) fit the bill much better?Uan úmëa. (I am not being angry.)
p. 48 a plural ’yourself’ -> yourselves
p. 48 you two watch yourself –> yourselves
p. 48 as if the -r- in the ending would be a plural marker -> was
Or maybe: "treating the -r- in the ending as a plural marker"?
p. 48 their arms arose -> rose
OK, I have to revise this - it would depend on the conceptional stage. In Q&E the root is DEL-, T. delia.Mhm.. Since this is from LED-, the perfect tense should maybe be *elérie and the gerund *lerie, cf. led(e)mbasse > lerembas (PE17:52).
lessons 11-15
p.83
>This meaning is rather uncertain and it seems likely that Tolkien dismissed the notion of a causal an ’for,
>because’ in later texts
Tolkien is quite precise on this in PE17:90. Apparently it can be used as a causal 'for', although it's not the literal meaning. So he actually found a way to keep an in Namárie without any Anglicisms.
p.84
>*yo (together with)
Why the asterisk?
p.85
>Nai ni ecéniere . (Hopefully she has seen me!)
>>ecéniesse
p.86
Á atalelya! (Fall back!)
Better nanwen- (PE17:166) I think, since ata- is 'the same or other agent in repeating a previous action' (ibid.)
>I macari varuvar men sina ortaine turmainen.
>(The swordsmen will defend this place using a shield wall.)
I don't understand ortaine - 'lifted up'? A 'shield wall' would be sandastan.
>I roqueni leluvar minyar.
>>lelyuvar
>ehte, ecco or hatal (spear),
I suppose hatal is more of a javelin, just for throwing.
p.88
>Merin hire i tie valarauco.
>I wish to find the trail of the balrog.
Preciser runyar 'slots, footprints'?
p.90
>car- (to do)! acárie (has done) cárienwa (having done)
This is how I interpreted PE17:68 at first too, but on the second thought I see it differently. Kari-nwa is a past participle formed from an aorist stem, so the whole notion of the 'past' and 'passive' apparently lies in the suffix -nwa. The addition this has a past form kárienwa is probably implying that the same past participle can also be formed from an explicit past stem, although it's rare; so that the suffix -nwa is left to cover the notion of 'passive'.
Otherwise it appears totally confusing to me; -nwa would be passive (and past) in combination with an aorist stem, but active in cobination with a past stem.
Besides, I think the whole passage is a tentative explanation of vanwa (there are no other participles of this structure anywhere). Q&E doesn't mention this suffix, although it doesn't state directly how vanwa is derived, either. It does, however, mention intrusion of n from the past in avánie which makes this verb essentially irregular.
So, tentative as all of it is - maybe it shouldn't be mentioned in the course at all?
>But especially in later times, the Elves also adopted a base 10 system.
It sounds as if they first had a duodecimal system and only then developed the decimal one, which is of course the other way round.
>There are also two variant forms, lepen may also used to denote seven
seven >> five
p.92
>eldaron lepmeo.
>>lempeo
p.96
>Ninquelote
p.99
lote
>>-lóte
>Aurion neldé lendiemme
>Three days we travelled
Aurion nelde is kind of adverbial here, it's not really the accusative for the verb lelya-.
>cotumova
>hísieva
>> hísiéva, cotumóva
p.97
>The respective [passage]
We have now several examples where -s is just a short locative: sís, sisse 'here' (VT49:18), tás, tasse (VT49:11)
>One might find:
>Tira! (Look!)
>Tula! (Come!)
The paragraph is grey, but kena and tira are now actually attested (VT47:31).
p.99
>you can ask
>>You
p.102
>unduhuineva
>>unduhuinéva
p.102, 106
>Lá ea tarna tere i oronti
Cilya is specifically a pass between mountains; tarna is Qenya and clashes with later TAR- 'stand' (P17:186)
p.102
>Terlelyante
>>tellelyante
>hísienen
>>hísiénen
p.105
>Loicare n´e ohtacar nauconnar. (A mistaken deed was to make war against the dwarves.)
>>ohtacarie?
>matha toron
>>mahta
>alquetima is something which cannot be told,...
>avaquetima denotes something...
>>alquétima, avaquétima
>Final consonant -l: lf>lf, ln>ld, lr>*ll, ls>*ls
lr > ll attested in tallune 'sole of foot' < TAL- + RUN-
also possible ls > ld, as in *menelse > menelze > menelde
p.106
>Final consonant ns>ss
ns is sometimes retained: cansat, insangare
>Final consonant -r: rp>*rp, rl>*ll, rs>*rs, rv>*rv
rl > ll e.g. in Follondie, Hallondie (PE17:28)
-rp- e.g. in terpellie
-rs- e.g. in Narsil
-rv- e.g. in Narvinye
>Final consonant -s: sn>ss, sp>*sp, sm>*mm, sr>*rr, sl>*ll, sv>*rv, sf>*ff, sh>h
Actually sn > rn, sm > rm in karma 'helmet' (PM:360), verno < BES-
Don't know where sh > h is attested, but I would suspect > *sc, *rh, similar to rh > rk, rh (hist. tarkil, analog. terhat-)
>Final consonant -t: tn>nt, tl>*lt, tr>*rt, tc>*cc, tf>ff, th>*h
tc > cc in #eccoita- (VT27:10)
>Órenya lalea
>>lálea
p.107
>laiwa (sick)
Should probably be regularized to *hlaiwa, since it's from SLIW-.
p.110
>hostuvalme sanwelma
>>sanwelmar
p.111
>PPA palúla (opening),
Maybe rather *pálula?
p.113
>ore or ora
>>óra
Also, ec- (VT49:20,34) can be added to the list.
p.115
>i vilie sorono
>> syncope sorno?
>*nyaro (rat)
>>nyarro (see VT46:7)
>wilwarin (butterfly),
>>vilwarin if to agree with vende etc.