Quenya/Instrumental

Usage

The instrumental corresponds to the preposition "with":

1~VaD4$ 1RaGm$5 técantë tecilden "they are writing with a pen"

But not all uses of the preposition "with" correspond to an instrumental, only when the underlying meaning is "with the help of" or "by means of" this case is used.

For example the sentence:

aR5"$5Ì$1 `C8 `Vm# cennenyet as elda "I saw them with an elf"

In this sentence we mean that they were together with an elf, not that I was using an elf to see them better.

Sometimes the instrumental corresponds to the English preposition "through":

j#,G j#4#6 `B 8~M7T5$5 lassi lantar i súrinen "leaves fall through the wind"

In the passive voice (see Syntaxis) the instrumental is also used for the agent and in English the agent is expressed by the preposition "by".

Except for the instrumental the preposition "with" can be translated into Quenya in several ways: Ownership: `C6nE = `C6nR arwa/arwë with a genitive:

5.DaY `C6nE 9C6t^ nauco arwa harmo "a dwarf with a treasure"

"together with": `C8 as (used with a singular)/ hÎY yo (used with plural, dual):

t#1T5 `C8 `C1E7T5Ì# matin as atarinya "I eat with my father"

t#1T5 hÎY 5%m^5Ì#6 matin yo nildonyar "I eat with my friends"

Also in this meaning the prefix ~N\ ó- is used with personal pronouns:

j$2$5 ~NiR `B `N81Y5"# lenden ósë i ostonna "I went with her to town"

The complete list is:

~N5% óni "with me"

~Nj$ ólë "with you"

~Nt$ ómë "with us"

~N1R ótë "with them"

~N1E \ ~N1 óta/ót "with it"

~NiR \ ~NiD ósë/ósa "with him/her / it"

Formation

Singular

The basic ending is \5$5 -nen. So after vowels this case is equal to the dative with an extra \`V5 -en

1~C7T tári "queen" → 1~C7T5$5 tárinen

yR2$ vendë "girl" → yR2$5$5 vendenen

When a noun ends on \6 -r or \5 -n, we add \5$5 -nen:

`C1R6 atar "father" → `C1E65$5 atarnen

`Vj$5 elen "star" → `Vj$5"$5 elennen

or has a stem-form on \t -m, \6 -r or \5 -n:

1Ej#5 talan "floor" → 1Ej#t5$5 talamnen (stem-form 1Ej#t\ talam-)

`Nj^8 olos "dream" → `Nj^65$5 olornen (stem-form `Nj^6\ olor-)

The instrumental of contracted stems doesn't use the stem-form but the nominative singular:

1Y7Y5 toron "brother" → 1Y7Y5"$5 toronnen (stem-form torn-)

When a noun or its stem-form ends on \q -p, \a -c or \1 -t, we apply nasal inversion (see Quenya/Past Tense):

`VaR1 ecet "short sword" → `VaR4$5 ecenten

eGj%1 filit "little bird" → eGj%f$5 filincen (stem-form eGj%a\ filic-)

When a noun ends in \j -l, -"den" is attached to make the ending m$5 -lden:

t#aGj macil "sword" → t#aGm$5 macilden

Other nouns ending on a consonant have `V5$5 -enen as ending:

`C6zGj%8 arquilis "desert" → `C6zGj%iR5$5 arquilisenen

5~B8 nís "woman" → 5~B,R5$5 nissenen (stem-form 5%,\ niss-)

Plural

In the plural we always add \`V5 -en to the dative:

t#aGj macil "sword" → t#aGj%5 macilin → t#aGj%5$5 macilinen

`Vm# elda "elf" → `VmlD5 eldain → `VmlD5$5 eldainen

(note: this ending forms a diphthong when the noun ends in \`C -a, \`N -o or \`M -u)

The exceptions are regular once you know the dative:

j#,R lassë "leaf" → j#,~B5 lassín → j#,~B5$5 lassínen

t^65%`V mornië "darkness" → t^65~B5 mornín → t^65~B5$5 mornínen

1~C7T tári "queen" → 1~C7~B5 tárín → 1~C7~B5$5 tárínen

j~Nt$ lómë "night" → j~Nt~B5 lómín → j~Nt~B5$5 lómínen

Dual

In the dual we also add \`V5 -en to the dative:

`Cm& aldu "a pair of trees" → `Cm&5 aldun → `Cm&5$5 aldunen (nom.sing.: `Cm# alda)

aG7ÎD1 ciryat "a pair of ships" → aG7ÎD4 ciryant → aG7ÎD4$5 ciryanten (nom.sing.: aG7ÎD cirya)

`C7E5$1 aranet "a pair of kings" → `C7E5$4 aranent → `C7E5$4$5 aranenten (nom.sing.: `C7E5 aran)

Partitive Plural

When the nominative partitive plural ends in \j°% -lli, the instrumental ends in \j°%5$5 -llinen:

1Y7Y5 toron "brother" → 1Y7Yj°% torolli → 1Y7Yj°%5$5 torollinen

t#aGj macil "sword" → t#aGj°% macilli → t#aGj°%5$5 macillinen

When the nominative partitive plural only has a single j l before the final `B i then the instrumental ends in j~B5$5 -línen:

aG7ÎD cirya "ship" → aG7ÎDj% ciryali → aG7ÎDj~B5$5 ciryalínen

iD7E1 sarat "sign" → iD7E1Rj% sarateli → iD7E1Rj~B5$5 saratelínen

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