So far, when we have been
discussing adding endings to nouns, we have been looking at "regular"
nouns – nouns that strictly follow the patterns. Many nouns
do in fact follow the patterns exactly as we have been describing.
Another large group of nouns almost follow the pattern –
with an important exception. For these nouns, the endings are
added to something that is not quite the plain dictionary word.
This "something" is called the "stem" for the
word.
but
húni hounds
húnwa belonging
to a hound
húnenen because
of a hound
These three words (and all other words
pertaining to hounds) are formed as if the word for “hound” were
hún, instead of huan.
cas head
but
cari heads
carinya my
head
caressë on
a head
carinyassë on
my head
Again, these words are formed as if
the word for “head” were car,
instead of cas.
In a dictionary, these "irregular"
nouns would be listed like this:
hound:
huan
(stem hún-)
head:
cas
(stem car-)
or just
hound:
huan
(hún-)
head:
cas
(car-)
If the word is
used alone, use the “ordinary”, dictionary form.
If any ending
are to be added, use the stem, and add the endings to the stem.
Tolkien,
who always loved the history of his languages, suggests that in
ancient proto-Quenya the normal, “dictionary” form of the word
matched what is now the “stem.” Over time, the
“dictionary” form changed, while the form used in combinations
did not. So you could make a case that the “stem” is the
“real” form of the word, and it is the “dictionary” form that
is anomalous.
<<<«¤»>>>
A few nouns have slightly irregular
plurals. Those are also noted in the dictionary.
arm:
ranco (stem rancu-, plural ranqui)
or
arm:
ranco (rancu-, pl. ranqui)
Giving us:
ranco arm
rancunya my
arm
rancussë on
an arm
ranqui arms
Would
the "plural" form of a word like ranco also show up
in other plural endings? My guess is yes, but I don't know of
any concrete examples to prove that. Tolkien did not leave
explicit instructions.
ranquissen (as
opposed to rancussen) on
arms
ranquiltar (as
opposed to rancultar) their
arms
ranquiltaressë
(as opposed to rancultaressë) on
their arms
ranquinen
(as opposed to rancunen) accomplished
by arms
This
remains unproven, and I would be interested in any examples or
comments Tolkien left on the topic.
<<<«¤»>>>
Examples of Nouns with Stems
baby, child not yet fully grown: vinë (stem
vini-)
wind: súrë (stem
súri-)
“Ai!
laurië lantar lassi súrinen!”
“Ah! like gold fall the leaves on the wind!
(Galadriel's Song,
Fellowship of the Ring)
Now
we see the real reason “because of wind” is súrinen (instead
of súrenen). Wind (súrë) has a stem súri-.
nose: nengwë (stem
nengwi-)
arm: ranco (stem
rancu-, plural
ranqui)
leg: telco (stem
telcu-, plural
telqui)
fox: rusco (stem
ruscu-, plural
rusqui)
snake: ango (stem
angu-, plural angwi)
goblin, orc: urco (stem
urcu-, plural urqui)
woman: nís (stem
niss-)
steep-sided island: tol (stem
toll-)
hound, hunting dog:
huan (stem hún-)
head: cas (stem
car-)
eye: hen (stem
hend-)
girl, maiden: ven (stem
vend-)
great gate: andon (stem
andond-)
palace: túrion (stem
túriond-)
arrow: pilin (stem
pilind-)
mountain: oron (stem
oront-)
Some
Quenya analysts speculate that már
(home) has
the stem márd-.
Others speculate that már
(home) is
regular, and that the words containing the element mard-
are a different word – easy to confuse with it -- mardë
(hall).
Practice – Your Turn
Highlight the shaded boxes to see the answers.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│
useful vocabulary
│
│ my
-(i)nya
│
│ their
-(e)lta
│
│
│
│ genitive
("of", originating from):
│
│ singular
-o; plural -on
│
│ locative
(on, in):
│
│ singular
-(e)ssë; plural -(i)ssë │
│ ablative
(away from):
│
│ singular
-(e)llo; plural -(i)llon │
│ allative
(toward, into):
│
│ singular
(e)nna; plural -(i)nnar │
│ instrumental
(because of, by action of): │
│ singular
-(e)nen; plural -(i)nen │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
babies
vinir The
stem is “vini.”
To form the plural of a noun ending in -i,
add -r.
their babies
viniltar Not
vineltar. “Vini”
ends in a vowel, so add -lta
(their) and -r (plural).
five babies
vinir lempë
my
nose nengwinya
snakes
angwi
away from a
snake angullo
orcs
urqui
away from an
orc urcullo
Extra
Material for the Geeks:
away
from snakes
angwillon (At least I
think that is the answer.)
away
from orcs
urquillon (At least I
think so.)
my
hounds húninyar
away from
hounds húnillon
my
eye
hendinya
eyes
hendi
away
from eyes hendillon
into an eye
hendenna
in a palace
túriondessë
in palaces
túriondissen
originating from an
island tollo
toward an
island tollenna
on an island
tollessë
away from an
island tollello
away from
islands tollillon
by the action of an
arrow pilindenen
by the action of
arrows pilindinen
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