Elvish Pronouns
Common Eldarin Pronominal Elements
and Their Development in the Elvish Languages
by Ryszard Derdzinski
As Helge Kåre Fauskanger writes in his Primitive Elvish - where it all began (see here) our knowledge of the primitive pronominal system is far from complete. We know also very little about the pronouns in the three main Elvish languages of the J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. The main task of this essay is to reconstruct the primitive pronominal system and its derivatives in Quenya, Sindarin and Telerin, in their conceptual phase from the post-LotR period (see below). My goal is also to stimulate another Tolkienian linguists to discussion.
Elvish pronouns and pronominal suffixes occur in every stage of the external language development of later Quenya, Telerin and Sindarin (external development means here the process of the language creation and evolution in the mind of its creator - Professor Tolkien). I don't want to analyze here the pronominal elements and forms occurring in Qenyaqetsa (or Qenya Lexicon), early pronominal chart in the Marquette University collection (see Elfling Digest nr 34, 14 May 2000) and the pronouns occurring in the pre-LotR writings. These forms have been shown in the table below. I am going to take into account only the pronominal forms occurring in the post-LotR Tolkien's essays and writings. But I describe the pronominal system from the period before its great change by Tolkien of 1965 (in the Revised Edition of the LotR; cf. VT #43, p. 6). This system is compatible with the LotR First Edition, an essay Quendi and Eldar, the Christian prayers by J.R.R. Tolkien (VT #43) and the so called New Tengwar Inscription (VT #21). After 1965 the pronominal forms were restructured. This resulted in the shift of -lm- to -lv- as the marker of the 1 p. inclusive and the ending -mm- became dual (cf. VT #42, p. 34 and VT#43, p.6) believing that after the publication of The Lord of the Rings they composed a more or less compact system.
Common Eldarin | Quenya | Sindarin | Telerin
Thanks to the research of Mr David Salo we can enumerate the following Common Eldarin pronominal morphemes [all the Common Eldarin forms reconstructed by the Tolkienian scholars are expressively asterisked]:
|
stem |
alternant |
meaning
|
|
NI- |
*NWI- |
1st singular |
|
*ME- |
1st plural exclusive [we, but not you] |
|
|
*WE- |
*ÑWE- |
1st plural inclusive [we, me and you] |
|
DE- |
LE- |
2nd singular & plural |
Demonstrative stems
|
stem |
meaning
|
|
|
*SE- |
3rd personal [refers only to persons and animates] (VT 43:21) |
|
|
*SA- |
3rd impersonal [refers only to 'abstracts' or to things (such as inanimates) not by the Eldar regarded as persons] (VT 43:21) |
|
| *TE- | 3rd personal
see above |
|
| *TA- |
3rd impersonal see above |
The pronoun takes the place of the noun and performs its functions. Below I present my reconstruction of the Common Eldarin pronominal system.
| sinâ 'this' | tanâ 'that' | entâ 'that yonder' |
II. Personal pronouns
The comparative analysis of the attested Quenya, Telerin and Sindarin pronouns indicates that the primitive Common Eldarin pronominal system consisted of the forms built of the mentioned above morphemes. The singular Common Eldarin pronouns could be as follows:
Nominative
|
sg. |
disjunctive II |
conjunctive |
agglutinated I |
agglutinated II |
|
|
1st |
injê |
inî |
nî njê |
-njé |
-ni |
|
2nd |
eljê |
elê |
lê ljê |
-ljê |
-le |
|
edjê |
edê |
dê djê |
-djê |
-de |
The 3rd person singular had no gender distinction (unlike the pronouns of the pre-LotR period). The division is only between animate and inanimate. Both are based on the demonstrative stem SE-, SA-:
|
sg. |
disjunctive I |
disjunctive II |
conjunctive |
agglutinated I |
agglutinated II |
| 3rd personal | esjê | esê | sê sjê | -sjê | -se |
| 3rd impersonal | esâ | sâ | -sa |
The plural Common Eldarin pronouns were built of the stems ME-, WE- and DE- (LE-) + plural marker -L-
|
pl. |
disjunctive I |
disjunctive II |
conjunctive |
agglutinated I |
agglutinated II |
|
1st exclusive |
elmê |
emê |
mê lmê |
-lmê |
-me |
|
1st inclusive |
elwê |
ewê |
wê lwê |
-lwê |
-we |
|
2nd |
ellê |
elê |
lê |
-llê |
-le |
The 3rd person plural had no gender distinction (as the singular above) and was based on the demonstrative stem TE-, TA- and the plural element -M-:
|
pl. |
disjunctive I |
disjunctive II |
conjunctive |
agglutinated I |
agglutinated II |
| 3rd personal | emtê | etê | tê | -mtê | -te |
| 3rd impersonal | etâ | tâ | -ta |
Dative (+ other cases)
Dative and other pronominal forms are formed of pronominal conjunctive form + case ending:
|
sg. |
conjunctive |
|
1st |
nî-na |
|
2nd |
lê-na |
|
dê-na |
|
| 3rd personal | sê-na |
| 3rd impersonal | sâ-na |
|
pl. |
conjunctive |
|
1st exclusive |
mê-na |
|
1st inclusive |
wê-na |
|
2nd |
lê-na |
| 3rd personal | tê-na |
| 3rd impersonal | tâ-na |
III. Possessive pronouns
They are called also the genitive pronouns:
One possessor:
|
type I |
type II |
suffixed type II* |
|
|
1st |
nin(a)jâ |
injâ and njâ |
-njâ |
|
2nd |
den(a)jâ len(a)jâ |
edjâ eljâ and djâ ljâ |
-djâ -ljâ |
| 3rd | sen(a)jâ | esjâ and sjâ | -sjâ |
More possessors:
|
type I |
type II |
suffixed type II* |
|
|
1st exclusive |
men(a)jâ |
elmâ and lmâ |
-lmâ |
|
1st inclusive |
wen(a)jâ |
elwâ and lwâ |
-lwâ |
|
2nd |
den(a)jâ len(a)jâ |
eddâ ellâ and ddâ llâ |
-ddâ -llâ |
| 3rd | ten(a)jâ | emtâ and mtâ | -mtâ |
* Suffixed type II didn't occur in Telerin. It might have been post-CE innovation which occurred separately in Sindarin and Quenya. If so, there was no such 'suffixed type' in Common Eldarin
IV. Interrogative pronouns
The comparative analysis of the J.R.R. Tolkien's corpus indicates that the interrogative pronouns were based on the neuter personal pronoun stem MA- (cf. VT 43:23) used as interrogative particle 'who, what?'. It is possible aslo that the Elves added the primitive case suffixes in the Common Eldarin period:
|
ma man |
-Ø |
'who?' 'what?' |
| mada | -da | 'to whom?' 'to where?' |
| mase | -se | 'in whom?' 'in where?' (also 'when', 'where') |
| malo | -lo | 'from whom?' 'from where?' |
| manen | -nen | 'how?' |
| mava | -va | 'whose?' |
V. Relative pronouns
This relates two clauses by representing or substituting in the second clause a person or thing mentioned in the first clause. In Common Eldarin this role is played by the stem I- 'that' with its derivatives: i and ja (which adopts the primitive case suffixes)
|
ja |
-Ø |
'which' |
| jada | -da | 'to which' |
| jase | -se | 'in which' |
| jalo | -lo | 'from which' |
| janen | -nen | 'by which' 'with which' |
| java | -va | 'of which' |
Quenya, the speech of the Elves of Eldamar and of the Noldor Exiles in Middle-earth, is a logical and elaborate language. The loremasters like Rúmil and Fëanor devised its restrictive phonology, giving the language a clearly defined style and flavour (see Helge K. Fauskanger's Quenya - the Ancient Tongue). These were the Noldor lingusits who devised also the original pronominal system of Quenya.
I. Demonstrative pronouns
The demostrative Quenya pronouns are derived directly from their Common Eldarin ancestors:
| CE sinâ > sina 'this' (UT 305) |
| CE tanâ > tana 'that' (MR 385, LR 389) |
| CE entâ > enta 'that yonder' (LR 356) |
II. Personal pronouns
The evidence of the Quenya personal pronouns shows an elaborate system of the plural forms not found in the other Elvish languages (i.e. forms like *-lwë and *-lmë). I call these forms 'medial' (and 'medio-dual') because they unite the first and second person. The Common Eldarin pronouns called by me Disjunctive I had probably disappeared in Quenya. The Quenya pronouns are probably as follows:
Nominative
|
sg. |
disjunctive I |
conjunctive |
agglutinated I |
agglutinated I |
|
1st |
injê > Q inyë |
nî > Q ni |
-njê > Q -nyë |
-ni > Q -n |
|
2nd |
eljê > Q elyë |
lê > Q le |
-ljê > Q -lyë |
-le > Q -l |
| 3rd pers. | esjê > Q *eryë | sê > Q *se | -sjê > Q *-ryë | -se > Q -s |
| 3rd impers. | sâ > Q sa | -sa > Q -s |
|
pl. |
disjunctive I |
conjunctive |
agglutinated I |
agglutinated I |
|
1st excl. |
elmê > Q elmë |
mê > Q me |
-lmê > Q -lmë |
-me > Q ? |
|
1st incl. |
elwê > Q *elwë |
wê > Q *we |
-lwê > Q -lwë |
-we > Q ? |
|
2nd |
ellê > Q ellë |
lê > Q le |
-llê > Q -llë |
-le > Q -l |
| 3rd pers. | emtê > Q *entë | tê > Q te | -mtê > Q -ntë | -te > Q -t |
| 3rd impers. | tâ > Q ta | -ta > Q -t |
Dative (+ other cases)
Inflected pronominal forms are direct descendants of the Common Eldarin forms:
| sg. | conjunctive |
| 1st | nî-na > Q nin |
| 2nd | lê-na > Q *len |
| 3rd pers. | sê-na > Q *sen |
|
3rd impers. |
sâ-na > Q *san |
|
pl. |
conjunctive |
| 1st excl. | mê-na > Q men |
| 1st incl. | wê-na > Q *wen |
| 2nd | lê-na > Q *len |
| 3rd pers. | tê-na > Q *ten |
| 3rd impers. | tâ-na > Q *tan |
III. Possessive pronouns
One possessor:
|
< type II |
< suffixed type I |
|
|
1st |
injâ > Q inya |
-njâ > Q -nya |
|
2nd resp. |
eljâ > Q *elya |
-ljâ > Q -lya |
| 3rd | esjâ > Q *erya | -sjâ > Q -rya |
More possessors:
|
< type II |
< suffixed type I |
|
|
1st excl. |
elmâ > Q *elma |
-mmâ > Q -lma |
|
1st incl. |
elwâ > Q *elwa |
-mmâ > Q -lwa |
|
2nd |
ellâ > Q ella |
-llâ > Q -lla |
| 3rd | emtâ > Q *enta | -mtâ > Q -nta |
IV. Interrogative pronouns
|
man > Q man |
'who?' 'what?' |
| mada > Q *manna | 'to whom?' 'to what?' |
| mase > Q *massë | 'in whom?' 'in what?' |
| malo > Q *mallo | 'from whom?' 'from what?' |
| manen > Q manen | 'how?' |
| mava > Q *mava | 'whose?' |
V. Relative pronouns
In Quenya
|
ja > Q ya |
'who' 'what' 'which' |
| jada > Q *yanna | 'to whom' 'to which' |
| jase > Q yassë | 'in whom' 'in which' |
| jalo > Q *yallo | 'from whom' 'from which' |
| janen > Q *yanen | 'how' |
| java > Q *yava | 'whose' |