Possessive
pronouns aren't actually separate words in Quenya. They are
endings tacked onto the word.
The possessive pronoun
goes directly after the noun, and before any other endings.
If
the noun ends in a consonant, you need to add a vowel between the
noun and the ending (in order to get something pronounceable).
Probably that vowel is -i- for “my” and -e-
for all the others, though Tolkien did not leave explicit
instructions, and there are only a few examples.
after after
vowel consonant
-nya -inya my
-lya -elya your
(one person, formal/polite)
-tya -etya your
(one person, informal/familiar)
-lda -elda your
(a group's)
-rya -erya his/her/its
-lta -elta their
(a group's)
parma
(book) → parmalya
(your book, sir)
Anar
(Sun) → Anarinya
(my Sun, a
word Tolkien used in a poem)
aran
(king) → aranelda
(your – a group's – king)
«‹◊›»
Combining the possessive
pronoun with a plural (“my books”) is trickier. Remember
the part about 'the possessive is added before any other ending'?
That includes plural!
First
add the possessive ending. (If an extra vowel is needed,
it will always be -i-.) Then make the whole word plural by adding -r.
after after
vowel consonant
-nyar -inyar my
-lyar -ilyar your
(one person, formal/polite)
-tyar -ityar your
(one person, informal/familiar)
-ldar -ildar your
(a group)
-ryar -iryar his/her/its
-ltar -iltar their
(a group)
hildo
(heir) → hildinyar
(my heirs) (Tolkien wrote it hildinyar,
rather than hildonyar.
Tolkien
was not always perfectly consistent.)
There
are situations where you might have even more endings added to a
word.
Tolkien
modeled Quenya after Finnish, where you can easily have half a
sentence expressed in one word.
«‹◊›»
Practice – Your Turn
Highlight
the shaded boxes
to
see the answers.
┌─────────────────┐
│useful
vocabulary│
│ celva
animal │
│ huo
dog │
│ yaxë
cow │
│ orva
apple │
│ lótë
flower │
│ aran
king │
│ már
home │
│ sicil
knife │
└─────────────────┘
my
dog huonya
my
home márinya
We
continue to assume that már
is "regular." Some analysts make the case that "my
home" would be mardinya.
your
apple (formal) orvalya
your
knife (formal) sicilelya
your
flower (familiar) lótetya
your
flowers (familiar) lótityar
your
king (familiar) aranetya
your
(a group's) animals celvalda
your
(a group's) home márelda
her
cow yaxerya
his
dog huorya
his
dogs huoryar
his
king aranerya
her
knives siciliryar
their
cow yaxelta
their
homes máriltar
«‹◊›»
Extra
Material for the Geeks:
Here
are some fun “short forms” of possessive pronouns.
-ya his/her/its
(colloquial)
Using
-ya
(instead of -rya)
for his/her/its would be common but sloppy – something you might
hear on the playground, but would get marked down for writing on your
homework. This is probably a case of consonants (especially r)
being softened when spoken.
There
are also examples of -ya meaning “my”, in informal, affectionate
forms of address.
ammë,
emmë (mother) →
emya
(mommy)
atar
(father) →
atya
(daddy)
hína
(child) →
hinya
(my child)
yondo
(son) →
yonya
(my son)
aran
(king) →
aranya
(my king)
These
forms are used only
when speaking to
the person. If you were telling someone else about “my
father” or "my son", you would use the complete form:
atarinya,
yondonya.
And,
as long as we are being friendly, here are some other c0mmon forms of
endearment:
tye
(thou) →
tyenya
(my kinsman/kinswoman)
meldo
(friend, male) →
meldonya
(my friend, male)
meldë
(friend, female) →
meldenya
(my friend, female)
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