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Quenya/Verbs

< Quenya

Neo-Quenya has 3 types of verbs. In the word list they can be recognized by the final letter of the stem:

  • Primitive verbs, ending on a consonant
  • A-verbs
  • U-verbs

Some special verbs can be found on a separate page.

A Quenya verb has 5 tenses:

  • Present
  • Aorist
  • Past
  • Perfect
  • Future

The verbal forms (infinitive, participle, gerund) and the imperative are each discussed in a separate article.

Endings

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Quenya verb conjugation is rather special because it can have subject and object endings,

e.g. 9.D1E5Ì$j hautanyel can be decomposed as follows:
  • 9.D1E\5Ì$\j hauta-nyë-l.


The verb is 9.D1E\ hauta- "stop", the first ending \5Ì$ -nyë is a subject ending and means "I", the second ending \j -l is an object ending and means "you". So the translation is "I stop you".

In the form 9.D1Ej´$5 hautalyen object and subject are reversed, so it means "you stop me".


When only one ending is present it is always a subject ending:

  • 9.D1E5= 9.D1E5Ì$ hautan, hautanyë both mean "I stop"
  • 9.D1Ej= 9.D1Ej´$ hautal, hautalyë both mean "you stop"


So let's have a look at the different endings:

  • 1st person singular: \5 -n or \5Ì$ -nyë (both can be used as a subject ending, only \5 -n as an object ending)
  • 2nd person singular and plural: \j -l or \j´$ -lyë (both can be used as a subject ending, only \j -l as an object ending)
  • 3rd person plural: \1 -t or \4$ -ntë (\4$ -ntë is always used as a subject ending, and \1 -t always as an object ending):
  • 9.D1E4$ hautantë "they stop"
  • 9.D1E4$5 hautanten "they stop me"
  • 9.D1E5Ì$1 hautanyet "I stop them", etc.


The other 2 persons are more complicated: The 1st person plural has 3 different subject endings and no object endings. So when an object is in the 1st person plural it is always a separate pronoun (see Pronouns). The 3 subject endings are:

\jt$ -lmë: this is called the 'exclusive we', because it is used when the listener is not included in the group that is meant by "we":
  • 9.D1Ejt$ hautalmë means "we stop [but not you]"


\jyR -lvë: this is called the 'inclusive we', because it is used when the listener is also included in the group that is meant by "we":
  • 9.D1EjyR hautalvë means "we stop [including you]"


\t"$ -mmë: this is used when "we" contains exactly 2 people, so it is usually translated as "both of us":
  • 9.D1Et"$ hautammë "the two of us stop"


The 3rd person singular also has more than one ending:

\8 -s: this ending is used as an object ending or as a subject ending when no object ending is present:
  • 9.D1E5Ì$8 hautanyes "I stop him/her/it"
  • 9.D1E8 hautas "he/she/it stops"
\,F -sse: this ending is used as a subject ending when an object ending is present, though also by itself:
  • 9.D1E,Fj hautassel "he/she/it stops you"


In the past an ending \7ÎR -rye was theorized based on the possessive \7ÎD -rya; however this has not yet been attested, and we instead find \,F -sse as well as inanimate \,D -ssa.


However, this is not all: there are also non-pronominal endings that are used when the subject is something other than a pronoun. In this case there can be no object ending, the object is thus always represented by a separate word or pronoun.

The singular non-pronominal form does not have an ending: `B `C7E5 9.D1E i aran hauta "the king stops"
The plural non-pronominal ending is \6 -r: `B `Vm#6 9.D1E6 i eldar hautar "the elves stop"


The plural non-pronominal ending is also used when the subject is in the dual or partitive plural:

  • `B `Vm& 9.D1E6 i eldu hautar "both elves stop"
  • `B `Vm#j% 9.D1E6 eldali hautar "some elves stop"


In the third person singular there exist two alternative endings for \,F\ -sse- that can express gender, though these seem to be limited to Qenya of the 1940s and earlier: 7Y -ro- for a male subject and 7R -re- for a female subject:

  • 1T7T7Y1 tirirot "he sees them"
  • 1T7T7R1 tiriret "she sees them"


It is interesting to note that in sentences where a free pronoun is present, which serves to emphasise the subject of the sentence, the presence of the free pronoun may allow a verb to stand without the corresponding ending:

9.D1Ej´$ hautalyë "you (singular) will stop (it)"
`Vj´$ 9.D1E elyë hauta "even you (singular) will stop (it)" (without the expected ending -lyë "you")

More about this can be found on the page about personal pronouns.

Aorist Tense

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The easiest tense is the Aorist as it is formed by the verbal stem from the dictionary and the endings we discussed before. So in fact all forms above are Aorists. It is used as an alternative present tense (see below), and so it isn't a past tense as its Greek namesake.

The formation of this tense can be seen in the next table. Only the non-pronominal forms are included as the others can be constructed by replacing the -r of the plural non-pronominal form with the right pronominal ending.

Note that the forms without an ending have a vowel change in the Primitive verbs and the U-stems.

Primitive A-stems U-stems
Meaning Find Stop Snow
Stem 9B6\
hir-		 9.D1E\
hauta-		 5%aU\
nicu-
Singular 9B7R
hirë		 9.D1E
hauta		 5%zF
niquë
Plural 9B7T6
hirir		 9.D1E6
hautar		 5%zT6
niquir

Note that some verbs have a long vowel in the stem so their Aorists also contain a long vowel:

  • a~M5#\ cúna- "bow" → aorist: a~M5# cúna
  • 8~MhÎE\ súya- "breathe" → aorist: 8~MhÎE súya
  • t~N1E\ móta- "labour" → aorist: t~N1E móta

Present Tense

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This tense is also called the Continuative tense. The usage and its contrast with the Aorist Tense are explained below.

The major principle behind this tense is the central vowel-lengthening. The central vowel is the vowel in the final syllable of a primitive verb, or the vowel in the last syllable but one in an A-stem or U-stem verb. Of course this lengthening can only happen if the syllable isn't long by itself.

Following syllables are already long and cannot be lengthened:

  • a syllable with a diphthong, e.g. 9.D1E\ hauta- "stop"
  • a syllable with a long vowel, e.g. 8~MhÎE\ súya- "breathe"
  • a syllable in which the vowel is followed by more than one consonant, e.g. 9C65#\ harna- "wound"

Furthermore, the primitive and U-stems get an extra \`C -a at the end of the stem and the final -a of the A-stems changes into \`V`C -ëa. So this gives:

With vowel lengthening:

Primitive A-stems U-stems
Meaning Find Dig Spread
Stem 9B6\
hir-		 aDyE\
cava-		 qEj&\
palu-
Singular 9~B7E
híra		 a~CyR`C
cávëa		 q~Cj&`C
pálua
Plural 9~B7E6
hírar		 a~CyR`C6
cávëar		 q~Cj&`C6
páluar


Without vowel lengthening:

A-stems U-stems
Meaning Breathe Grumble
Stem 8~MhÎE\
súya-		 5&7;U\
nurru-
Singular 8~MhÎR`C
súyëa		 5&7;U`C
nurrua
Plural 8~MhÎR`C6
súyëar		 5&7;U`C6
nurruar


Another way of conjugating the present tense affecting certain verbs (coexistent with -ëa) lengthens the form before the derivative suffix:

  • Present: t~C5#1E mánata "bless" from Aorist: t#4# manta "to bless".


Usage of Aorist and Present tenses

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Most of the time both tenses can be used interchangeably. But there are a few cases in which one of them is clearly preferred:

The Present tense indicates duration, while the Aorist indicates a law or custom, independent from the time it occurs:
  • `B t~Ct# t~C1E iDjzF i máma máta salquë "the sheep is eating grass" (Present: Happening now)
  • `B t~Ct# t~C1R iDjzF i máma matë salquë "the sheep eats grass" (Aorist: The sheep eats grass in general, no time indicated on action)


The Aorist can be used to indicate an action in which the moment on which the action is performed is irrelevant:

  • `Vj$5 iGj$ elen silë "there shines a star"
  • j#j# lala "someone laughs"


The Aorist can indicate sudden change while the Present tense indicates that a condition is true for a certain length of time:

  • `B 5~V6 1~C7E i nér tára "the man is standing" (he stood there and he is still standing)
  • `B 5~V6 1E7R i nér tarë "the man stands" (he was sitting down and gets up)


The Aorist can also be used to denote a custom or something recurring:

  • `B `Nd1E6 8~MaE 8~B i ohtar súca sí "the soldier is drinking now" or:
`B `Nd1E6 hÍ~Mj# 8~B i ohtar yúla sí "the soldier is drinking now"


  • `B `Nd1E6 iUaR `Bj´# .D7R i ohtar sucë ilya aurë "the soldier drinks each day" or,
`B `Nd1E6 hÍUj$ `Bj´# .D7R i ohtar yulë ilya aurë "the soldier drinks each day"

Future Tense

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Neo-Quenya has only one future tense, so it is used to indicate both near and distant future:

  • aF5&yE8 `BiGj cenuvas Isil "he shall see the moon/he is going to see the moon"


This tense can be recognized by the ending \`MyE -uva. The Primitive verbs simply add it, with the A-verbs it replaces the final -a, and with the U-verbs the final -u changes -uva into \~MyE -úva:

Primitive A-stems U-stems
Meaning Find Stop Wash
Stem 9B6\
hir-		 9.D1E\
hauta-		 `Cj°&\
allu-
Singular 9B7UyE
hiruva		 9.D1UyE
hautuva		 `Cj°~MyE
allúva
Plural 9B7UyE6
hiruvar		 9.D1UyE6
hautuvar		 `Cj°~MyE6
allúvar


The verb zD1\ quat- "fill" is irregular as its Future Tense is zD4&yE \ zD4&yE6 quantuva / quantuvar.

Past Tense

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The past tense has many irregularities, so a separate article is dedicated to it.

It is used to denote a past action that still continues or that has finished without consequences. So it can be translated by either a Simple Past or a Present Perfect:

  • e.D1E5$ `CzD `B .D7R fautanë aqua i aurë "it snowed/it was snowing/it has snowed the whole day"

Perfect Tense

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The Perfect Tense is used to express an action that has finished but still has some consequences, so it can be used for the English Present Perfect and Past Perfect:

  • `Ct~C1T`V5 amátien "I have eaten" (and I am still not hungry)
  • 5~N `Va~V5%`V5Ì$8= `H`C4$8 nó ecénienyes, oantes "after I had seen him, he went away"

The conjugation of verbs in this tense can be found on a separate page: Perfect Tense.

Negation of verbs

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Neo-Quenya has two ways to negate a sentence:

  • when the sentence contains a verb without object ending or a modal verb with an infinitive, the verb `M`C\ ua- "not to be" is preferred
  • in all other cases we use the particle j~C lá

(Note: lá is also used with the comparison of adjectives).

Conjugation of ua-

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To negate a verb we use the corresponding conjugated form of `M`C ua- followed by the infinitive of the original verb:

Tense Quenya English Quenya English
Aorist aD7T5
carin		 "I make" `M`C5 aD7R
uan carë		 "I do not make"
Present a~C7D5
cáran		 "I am making" `M`C5 a~C7D
uan cára		 "I am not making"
Past aD65$5
carnen		 "I made" `M`C5 aD65$
uan carnë		 "I did not make"
Future aD7UyE5
caruvan		 "I shall make" `M`C5 aD7UyE
uan caruva		 "I shall not make"
Perfect `Ca~C7T`V5
acáriën		 "I have made" `M`C5 `Ca~C7T`V
uan acárië		 "I have not made"

Although the 1st person singular pronoun `M`C5 uan is the most attested form used, it has been said that the other pronoun endings were regular.

Notice that the pronoun ending has shifted onto the verb `M`C ua- "to not be", away from aD6\ car- "to make". It must also be noted that `M`C ua- is left in the aorist tense and aD6\ car- is conjugated.


This is normally how sentences are constructed for negation, but in archaic or verse Quenya, `M`C ua- can be conjugated instead, with the following verb left in the aorist tense, as demonstrated by these following examples:

~M5$\ úne- : Past Tense

  • Normal / Prose: `M`C5 t#4$ t~Ct#j´# uan mantë mámalya "I did not eat your sheep"
  • Archaic / Verse: ~M5$5 t#1R t~Ct#j´# únen matë mámalya "I did not eat your sheep"


lU`V\ uië- : Perfect Tense

  • Normal / Prose: `M`C5 `M1~MyT`V 7Y`Cj´#6 uan utúvië roalyar "I have not found your dogs"
  • Archaic / Verse: lU`V5 1UyR 7Y`Cj´#6 uien tuvë roalyar "I have not found your dogs"


~MyE\ úva- : Future Tense

  • Normal / Prose: `M`C5 `Cq'UyE t#j1E5Ì# uan appuva maltanya "I will not touch my gold"
  • Archaic / Verse: ~MyE5 `Cq'R t#j1E5Ì# úvan appë maltanya "I will not touch my gold"


With a modal verb, the negation is expressed by two consecutive infinitives:

  • `B 9~B5% qYj%6 aDqR i híni polir capë "the children can jump"
  • `B 9~B5% `M`C6 qYj$ aDqR i híni uar polë capë "the children cannot jump"


The verb `M`C ua- is also used to negate a sentence that uses 5~C ná:

  • `B `C7E5 5~C 1.D7E i aran ná taura "the king is mighty"
  • `B `C7E5 `M`C 1.D7E i aran ua taura "the king is not mighty"


Or alternately with the ~M\ ú- prefix onto the adjective:

  • `B `C7E5 ~M1.D7E i aran útaura "the king is not mighty"


When a verb has an object ending (and thus also a subject ending) we never use `M`C ua- because it normally doesn't get object endings.
In this case the verb form is unchanged but preceded by the particle j~C lá:

  • 9B65$5Ì$8 hirnenyes "I found it"
  • j~C 9B65$5Ì$8 lá hirnenyes "I didn't find it"


The verb `V`C ëa is also always negated by using j~C lá:

  • `V`C 7Y`C5 `B aY`C,F ëa roan i coassë "There is a dog in the house"
  • j~C `V`C 7Y`C5 `B aY`C,F lá ëa roan i coassë "there is no dog in the house"


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