The Other Noun Plurals

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Remember, a long time ago, we said that Quenya has a lot more different kinds of plural, compared to English?

English has only “singular” (one) and “plural” (more than one) forms.

Quenya has

     “singular” (one),

     basic plural (“all the ~”, “~ in general”),

     partitive plural (“some ~”, “a group of ~”),

     “the (subgroup of) ~ previously mentioned”,

     and dual (“a pair of ~”).

So far, we have seen the “singular” and the “basic plural.”   Now it is time to catch up on the other forms.

 

Basic Plural:

The basic plural (“all the ~”, “~ in general”) is formed by adding either -r or -i. 
   -r after vowel except -ë
   -r after -ië
   -i replaces -ë 
   -i after consonant

        rocco (horse)          roccor (horses)

        nórië (country)      nóriër (countries) 

        lingwë (fish)          lingwi (fishes) 

        Adan (Human)      Adani (Humans)

Partitive Plural: 

The partitive plural refers to "some" or "a group of".   Use partitive plural the first time you introduce a group.   ("I see some horses over there.") 

   -li after vowel

   -eli after consonant 

        roccoli        a group of horses

        nóriëli         a group of countries 

        lingweli      a group of fishes 

        Adaneli       a group of Humans

If the noun has a case ending, add -(e)li- to form the partive plural, and then add the plural case ending after that.

        roccolin               for a group of horses 

        nóriëlissen          in a group of countries 

        lingwelinnar      toward a group of fishes 

        Adanelínen         caused by a group of Humans

Subgroup Previously Mentioned: 

Use partitive plural the first time you introduce a group; use this "subgroup" form thereafter to refer to that group.   ("Those horses {that I am talking about} are white.")

The "subgroup" plural is exactly the same as the basic plural, with i ("the") before the word. 

        i roccor       the group of horses previously mentioned

        i nóriër        the group of countries previously mentioned 

        i lingwi       the group of fishes previously mentioned 

        i Adani        the group of Humans previously mentioned

Practice – Your Turn

Highlight the shaded boxes to see the answers.

 the first mention, and subsequent mentions of a group of:

                                              first (partitive)   subsequent

Casar (Dwarf)              Casareli              i Casari

Elda (Elf)                       Eldali                  i Eldar

lassë (leaf)                     lasseli                  i lassi

orva (apple)                  orvali                  i orvar

úvanimo (monster)     úvanimoli          i úvanimor

makil (sword)               makileli              i makili

hatal (spear)                 hataleli               i hatali

Extra Material for the Geeks:

Tolkien was not always consistent.  Sometimes even he used the "basic" plural ("all the ~", "~ in general") when one of the other plural forms would have been more accurate.

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