Q(u)enya adjective agreement Page 1 of 14

Agreement of adjectives in Quenya

Abbrevations

Etym: The Etymologies (The Lost Road, p.339 ff.)

Let: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
LR: The Lost Road
LT: Book of the Lost Tales
MC: The Monsters and the Critics
MR: Morgoth's Ring
PM: Peoples of Middle-earth
Rgeo: The Road Goes Ever On
Silm: The Silmarillion (the index)
WJ: War of the Jewels

EQG: Early Qenya Grammar (PE14:35-86)

GL: Gnomish Lexcion (PE11)
PE: Parma Eldalamberon
QL: Qenya Lexicon (PE12)
VT: Vinyar Tengwar

E: Earendel (poem)
N: Nieninqe
OM: Oilima Markirya

Who shall say whether the free adjective has created images
bizarre and beautiful, or the adjective been freed by strange and
beautiful pictures in the mind?
(J.R.R. Tolkien ~ A Secret Vice, last sentence)

Introduction

Whenever nouns are qualified by adjectives the link between them can be established by making the
adjective agree in case, number, or gender. In various languages the treatment is different - there may
be no agreement at all, agreement in all three instances or just in some combinations of them.

There is no grammatical gender in Tolkien's Q(u)enya apart from some personalized forms in the
early sources, so we are limited to case and number. The adjective can be in preceding or trailing
position and agree in case, number, both, or none; so that with a case-inflected plural noun there are 8
theoretical possibilities of how the adjective can behave. For a case-inflected singular noun or for a
not inflected plural noun there are 4. It will not surprise a scholar of Tolkien's works that there is at
least one example for almost every possible pattern; but some patterns are more usual than others and
some are only used in verse.

Thus the aim of this article is to examine Q(u)enya adjectives through their external development
regarding plural and case agreement with the nouns they qualify.

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I. Earliest Qenya sources

The poem Narqelion was one of the earliest, if not the earliest Qenya text written. It is untranslated,
but a tentative translation and analysis with the help of the QL was attempted in VT40:8-32. So all
references to adjectives and the nouns they qualify are bound to the right interpretation. I give here
just the proposed translation, see VT40 for more detail.
Other examples can be found on the world ship map in LT1:84-85.

preceding adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

ōmi karmar *'all deeds' (PE15:32,33) < ōmi pl. 'all' (cf. ompi '[plur. adj. with pl.] all,
every' (QL:70)), karma 'shape, fashion - act, deed' (QL:45) + pl. -r

trailing adjective (plural noun), no plural agreement

lasser pínea *'small leaves' (VT40:8,13-14) < lasser, pl. of lasse (e) 'leaf' (QL:51), pīnea
'small' (QL:73)

rotser simpetalla pinqe *'pipes whistling thin' (VT40:8,24)< rotse 'pipe (tube)' (QL:80),
#simpeta 'pipe' + present participle -lla (cf. SIPI 'whistle, pipe' (QL:84)), pinqe (i) 'slender,
thin' (QL:73)
[Here, pinqe may be employed as an adverb qualifying the process of piping, but it might also
be a poetical word order for *'thin pipes whistling'. If so, there is no agreement of pinqe with pl.
rotser.]

trailing adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

ve sangar voro úmeai *'like throngs ever large' (VT40:8,15-16) < ve 'as, like' (QL:101) sanga
'throng, light mass, crowd' (QL:81), voro 'ever, always' (QL:102), ūmea 'large' (QL:97)
 sangar úmeai again in line 17

kuluvai ya karnevalinar *'golden and orange-red [ones]' < kuluva 'of gold' (QL:49), ya(n)
'and' (QL:104), {karnewalin} 'russet, orange-red' (QL:48), cf. 'walin(a) 'brown' (QL:103).
[Here, kuluva and #karnevalina are both pluralized and refer either to the following sinqi
'jewels' or to earlier lassi 'leaves'.]

sangar [...] oïkta rámavoite malinai *'thongs [...] of birds, having yellow wings' (VT40:8,16)
< oi 'bird, hen' (QL:69) + -kta, rāmavoite 'having wings' (QL:78), malinai, pl. of malina
'yellow' (QL:58)
 sangar [...] oïkta rámavoite karneambarai *'thongs of birds, having wings, red-
breasted' < karneamabar 'readbreast, robin adj. or noun', -a adj. (QL:48)
[This line was first written exactly like the earlier one, oïkta rámavoite malinai. Both
phrases seem to be a group of three adjectives with only the last one agreeing in number
with sangar.]

natsi nostalen máre *'things/beings good by nature' (PE15:32) < nat (tt) 'thing' (QL:64) + pl. -i
with -tt- > -ts-, nostalen māra 'good by nature' (GL:10), here pl. máre

i hondor nērinwe *'the hearts of men' (PE15:32,36) < hondo 'heart' (QL:40) + pl. -r; #nērinwa
*'mannish' (cf. ner 'man, husband', nerea 'manly, stout, brave' (QL:65)), pl. *-ai > -e

Tolli Kimpelear *'Twilit Isles'? < pl. Tolli of Tol (ll) 'an island, any rise standing alone in the
water, plain of grass etc.' (QL:94); #kimpelea is of unclear origin, perhaps connected to PELE-
(1) 'fence in' (QL:73) because the isles are bounding and protecting Valinor?

I Tolli Kuruvar 'The Magic Isles' < kuru 'magic, wizardry (of the good magic)' (QL:49),
kuruvar, pl. of #kuruva *'magical' (QL:49))

I Nori Landar *'The Great Lands' < cf. nōre 'native land, nation, family - country' (QL:66) +

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landar, pl. of landa 'broad, wide' (QL:51)

Neni Erùmear 'Outermost Waters' < nen 'river, water' (QL:65), erūmear, pl. of erūmea 'outer,
outermost' (QL:36)
[The accent in Erùmear is perhaps an ill-formed or misread macron.]

It appears that at this time is usual in Qenya to postpone adjectives. They usually agree in number
(there is no attestation with cases), but at least one example lacks agreement (lasser pínea), so that it
seems optional - at least in verse. The more complicated formation of several adjectives with only the
last one inflected probably plays a special role and another such example will occur later (part VII.).

In Narqelion the usual plural marker is -i for adjectives ending in -a, although -r appears in
karnevalinar. This might be explained by its use as a noun, *'orange-red ones' or by poetical
alteration in the phrase kuluvai ya karnevalinar (rather than repetitional *kuluvai ya karnevalinai).
However, the adjectives that are part of geographical terms from LT all add -r.

II. Early Qenya Grammar

The Early Qenya Grammar was written by Tolkien around 1923 and consists out of a manuscript
version and a typescript version - a partially expanded fair copy of the former. Some valuable
explanations regarding the agreement of adjectives are given here.

At first, an important thing to consider is the 'loose compound', a free and living function and written
with a 'raised stop', but often as full compound in poetry (PE14:45). Loose compounds differ from
usual compounds in the way that they are not lexicographical, the respective parts are more distinct
and usually retain their own accentuation. Thus ohta 'war' and karo 'deed' form óhta·kàro 'warlike
deed, hostile unfriendly act'; maptale 'seizure' and lehesta 'riding, raid' form máptale·lehésta 'a
raid' (the acute accent apparently indicates the primary stress and the grave the secondary). Although
not said by Tolkien, 'a war deed' and 'a seizure raid' would probably be the loose compound
equivalents in English.

But important in our context is that adjectives may precede in just the same way and are then
uninflected, for example anda·ráma 'long arm(ed)' - as it can be seen form the translation, the result
may be used either as a noun or as a new adjective. The plural would presumably be *anda·rámar
'long-arms'.
Furthermore Tolkien distinguishes the four cases (nominative, accusative, genitive and dative) from
the five adverbial suffixes: inessive -sse, ablative -llo, allative -nta/-tta, partitive -ĭnen and manner -
ndon. The adverbial suffixes (1) cannot all be formed from every noun and adjective and (2) they are
never added except in verse to an adjective in agreement with its noun: where a qualified noun
receives one of these endings the adjective usually precedes uninflected (unless for plural) and may be
written as a loose compound (PE14:46).
The example given is tára·kasse 'on the high head', where the adjective tára 'high' precedes and is not
inflected.

The typescript version gives further expansions to this idea, noting that the Qenya adj. may either
precede or follow the qualified noun; in the former case it forms virtually a loose compound with the
noun, but is written separate (PE14:76), so anda ráma '(a) long wing'. The wording in the manuscript
precedes uninflected (unless for plural) is changed to precedes uninflected (except rarely for plural)
(PE14:78).

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So the possibilities in the plural are tára·kasisse(n) or rarely tare kasissen (sic). According to the
explanation, agreement would be poetical: *†tárasse kasse or *†tárassen kasissen.
Agreement would be usual for the four 'ordinary' cases (as compared to the adverbial suffixes) and
indeed we find: ni·hepsine [...] i·mailinen losselin 'I myself bound [...] the beautiful
flowers' (PE14:56) where both #mailina 'beautiful' and #losse 'flower' are put into the accusative
plural.

III. Qenya poems of the 20s

The three Qenya poems Oilima Markirya, Nieninqe and Earendel are presented in PE16 and MC with
all draft forms. This is where the main bulk of the material concerning the morphology of adjectives is
found. Conventions from PE16 will be used for the denotation of the versions. The last texts from the
50s or later are discussed further below.

III.1. Case-inflected

preceding adjective (singular noun), no case agreement

OM1a,b,c: lúne veasse *'in the blue sea' < lúne 'blue' (QL:57, PE16:75), vea 'sea' (PE16:138) +
inessive -sse

OM1a,b,c: tanda kiryaiko *'with that ship' < tanda *'that' (cf. TA in QL:87; PE14:54), kirya'
ship' (PE15:77) + comitative sg. -iko

OM1c: móre veasse *'in the dark sea' < móre *'dark' (cf. MORO in QL:62)

OM1: pinilya wilwarindon 'small like a butterfly' < pinilya 'small' (cf. PINI (QL:73)),
'wilwarin 'butterfly' (QL:104) + similative -ndon

OM2a: oilima óresse 'in the last morning' < oilima 'last, ultimate' (PE16:75), óre 'the dawn,
Sunrise, East' (LT1:264) + inessive -sse

OM2a: valka wilwarindon 'vague as a butterfly' < valka 'vague' of unclear origin, perhaps the
same or similar to walda 'excited, wild', also walka (PE17:154)

OM2: oilima ailinello *'from the last shore' < oilima 'last, ultimate' (PE16:75), cf. aile, ailin
'beach' (PE16:75) + ablative -llo

OM2: ringa ambar 'in her cold bosom' < ringa 'damp, cold, chilly' (QL.80), *amba 'breast' +
dative -r [QL:30 actually gives Ambar (-r or -s) 'breast']

OM2: lúnelinqe vear *'in the blue-flowing sea' < lúnelinqe 'blue-flowing' (PE16:75), vea 'sea'
+ dative -r

OM2: silda-ránar 'in the moon gleaming' < silda 'gleaming' (cf. SILI (QL:83)), rána
'moon' (Silm:ran-) + dative -r

preceding adjective (singular noun), case agreement

-not attested-

preceding adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, no plural agreement

OM1d,e,f: laiq' ondoisen < 'on the green rocks' < laiqa 'green' (QL:52), ondo 'stone' (PE15:77,
PE16:138) + archaic/poetic inessive pl. -isen (PE16:115)

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 OM1: laiqa'ondoisen
 OM2: laiqa ondolissen

preceding adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, plural agreement

see III.3.

preceding adjective (plural noun), case agreement, plural agreement

-not attested-

preceding adjective (plural noun), case agreement, no plural agreement

-not attested-

trailing adjective (singular noun), no case agreement

OM1,OM1d,e,f,: veasse lúnelinqe *'in the blue-flowing sea' < lúnelinqe 'blue-
flowing' (PE16:75)
 OM1g: laivarisse luunelinkve *'in the blue-flowing ocean' < laivar 'ocean' (PE16:77)
 OM2a: vear lúnelinqe < vea 'sea' + dative -r

OM2: óresse oilima 'in the last morning' < óre 'the dawn, Sunrise, East' (LT1:264) + inessive -
sse, oilima 'last, ultimate' (PE16:75)

trailing adjective (singular noun), case agreement

OM1a: kiryinqen tinweninqen *'a star-white boat' < #kir(y)inqe *'little ship' from kirya
'ship' (PE15:77), tinwe 'star' (QL:92), ninqe 'white' (QL:66); both with nominative -n [This is a
tentative interpretation, another one would be kir- 'sail' + inf. -inqe (PE14:28), so *'to sail
white-star', see PE16:57]

OM1d,e: ailisse oilimasse, ailinisse oilimasse *'on the last shore' < aile, ailin 'beach' (PE16:75)

OM1d,e: oilimisse alkarasse *'in the bright ending' < #oilin (m-) *'ending' + inessive -isse
(PE16:113), alkara adj. 'bright' (PE16:75) + inessive -sse

OM1d: alkarisse oilimasse *'on the last morning' < alkar 'shining, light of day' (PE16:75) +
inessive -isse or -asse, oilima 'last, ultimate' (PE16:75)

OM1e: alkarisse panyarasse/wanyarasse *'in the light of the setting sun' or *'in the fading
daylight' < #panyara *'setting' (cf. PANA 'arrange' (QL:72)) or #wanyara *'disappearing,
fading' (cf. VAHA (QL:99), AVA 'go away, depart, leave' (QL:33))

OM1g addition: tauren lintyulussean *'forest having many poplars' < taure 'forest' (PE16:75),
lintyulussea 'having many poplars' (QL:53) + nominative -n

OM1g addition: tauren linqarassean *'forest, where many watch' < linqarassea perhaps
related to QARA- 'care for, guard, watch (over)' (QL:76) + nominative -n

trailing adjective (plural noun), case agreement, plural agreement

OM1d: ondon móren >> ondoin mórin >> ondoin morin 'the dark rocks' < ondo
'stone' (PE15:77, PE16:138) + archaic/poetic nom. pl. -in (PE16:115); more *'dark' (cf. MORO
in QL:62) > nom. pl. morin
 OM1e,f,g: öndöin moorin, ondoin {mórin}, ondoin moorin

OM1b,c: ondoisen andalissen *'on the long rocks' < ondo 'stone' (PE15:77, PE16:138) +
archaic/poetic inessive pl. -isen (PE16:115), anda 'long' (PE15:74) + inessive pl. -li-ssen

OM1,OM1f: ailissen oilimaisen *'on the last shores' - see above
 OM1g: ailinissen oilimaisen

OM1g addition (PE16:80): ornin lassevarnen *'brown-leaved trees' < orne 'tree' (PE16:139),

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lasse (e) 'leaf' (QL:51), varne 'brown' (Etym:BÁRAN-) + nominative -n

OM1g addition (PE16:80): tavárin lilyen *'many wood-fays' < tavāri 'fay of the
woods' (PE14:10), #lilya perhaps *'many' (cf LĪ (QL:53)) + nom. pl. -in (PE16:115)

E1a: wingildin silqelosseën 'foam maidens with flower white hair' < wingild- 'foam
maiden' (PE16:100) (cf. 'wingild- 'nymph' (QL:104)) + nom. pl. -in + #silqelossea *'white-
haired' (cf. silqe (e) 'a tress of hair' (QL:83), losselie 'white people' in Nieniqe), archaic/poetic
nom. pl. silqelosseën with *-eain > -eën
 E1b: vingildin silkvelosseën

N1b variant: wingildin wilwarindeën 'the foam-fairies like the butterflies' < wilwarindea 'like
a wilwarin or butterfly' (cf. 'wilwarin 'butterfly' (QL:104)), nom. pl. *-eain > eën

E1a: tyulmin aiqalin 'the masts tall' < #tyulm- 'mast' (cf. tyulma 'mast' (QL:50)), nom. pl.
tyulmin + aiqa 'steep' (QL:29) + nom. pl. -li-n
 E1b: tyulmin aikvalin

trailing adjective (plural noun), case agreement, no plural agreement

-not attested-

trailing adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, plural agreement

OM1d: {ondoisen laiqe} 'on the green rocks' < ondo 'stone' (PE15:77, PE16:138) +
archaic/poetic inessive pl. -isen (PE16:115), laiqa 'green' (QL:52), pl. laiqe

OM2: tollalinta ruste 'upon crumbling hills' < tolla 'hill top' (PE16:75) + allative pl. -li-nta,
rusta 'crumbling' (cf. rusta kirya 'broken ship'), pl. ruste

OM2: assari silde 'on bones gleaming' perhaps < as- (ass-) 'bone' (QL:33) + dative pl. -ri, silda
'gleaming' (cf. SILI (QL:83), silda-ránar in OM2), pl. silde

trailing adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, no plural agreement

-not attested-

III.2. Not case-inflected

Now follow some examples without an explicit case ending. As the underlying Qenya grammar is
changing, OM1g still shows inflected nominative, but no explicit accusative. In OM2 and OM2a the
nominative flexion also disappears. For these examples we cannot say anything about case agreement,
of course:

preceding adjective, plural agreement

OM2: níve qímari 'pale phantoms' < *níva 'pale' of uncertain origin, pl. níve + #qímar
'phantom', pl. qímari perhaps from *QIM- related to QIV-, QIPI- *'awake' (QL:29)

E1a: laiqali linqi falmari 'green wet waves' < laiqa 'green' (QL:52) + pl. -li, #linqe 'wet', pl.
linqi (cf. linqea 'watery', liqin(a) 'wet' (QL:54)), falmar 'a wave as it breaks' (QL:37) + pl. -i
 E1b: laikvali linkvi falmari

OM1g: moori raukvi *'dark storms' < móre *'dark' (cf. MORO in QL:62), pl. móri; rauko
'ravening, rushing' (PE16:77), pl. raukvi

preceding adjective, no plural agreement

-not attested-

trailing adjective, plural agreement

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N1a,b: wingildi wilwarindear as above, with pl. -r

N1a,b: táli paptalasselindear 'with feet whose music is that of falling leaves' < tāl
'foot' (PE14:76), pl. táli, paptalasselindea < papt- 'small leaf' (QL:72) , lasse (e) 'leaf' (QL:51),
#lindea 'musical' (cf. lindelea 'melodious' (QL:54)) + pl. -r

trailing adjective, no plural agreement

OM2: ondoli losse 'white rocks' < losse 'white' (cf. losselie 'white people' in Nieniqe)
 OM2a: ondoli ninqe < ninqe (i) 'white' (QL:66)

III.3. Additional nominative

A special kind of pattern is when adjectives agree with case-inflected nouns in number, but are
themselves put into the nominative. The adjective may either precede or follow.

OM1g: laikven ondolissen < *'on the green rocks' < laiqa 'green' (QL:52), nom. pl. *-ain > -
en; ondo 'stone' (PE15:77, PE16:138) + inessive pl. -li-ssen

OM1,OM1f,g: alkarissen oilimain *'in the shinings [that are] last' < alkar 'shining, light of
day' (PE16:75) + inessive pl. -issen, oilima 'last, ultimate' (PE16:75) + archaic/poetic nom. pl. -
in

OM1,OM1f: ailinisse alkarain *'on shores [that are] bright' < aile, ailin 'beach' (PE16:75) +
inessive -isse, alkara 'brilliant' (QL:30), 'bright' (PE16:75) + archaic/poetic nom. pl. -in
 OM1g: ailinissen alkarain
[In ailinisse the plural marker -n is missing; the suffix -isse forms the inessive/locative
singular of consonantal nouns as pilin > pilindisse (PE16:113), but ailinisse is perhaps
poetically interpreted as plural with pl. -i.]

The nominative might be explained as a construction with a relative sentence: *'on the rocks that are
green [ones]'.

III.3. Discussion

Since we are once again dealing with poetry here, several patterns must be archaic or poetic. Although
there are examples for most of the possible structures, some quantification can still be made.

For preceding adjectives it seems usual not to agree in case or number, for singular and plural nouns
alike. The only example with agreement is laikven ondolissen, hence probably poetical - and this
goes together with EQG. But if the noun is not case-inflected there are some examples with agreement
(even manifold as in laiqali linqi falmari), but no example without agreement.
Trailing adjectives always agree in plural, there are no examples without. But there are about as many
samples with case agreement as without it - perhaps one of the two patterns is also poetical.

The plural markers employed are -i (including -e < -ai (PE14:45)), -r and -li. PE14:46 explains for
forms like anda 'long', pl. ande (rather than *andali) that the differentiation of the endings has come
about through tending to avoid the longer endings and their jingling repetition - but the -li of vocalic
plurals is originally secondary [...]. Another reason for the alternation may be their fitting into the
metre, as in ondoisen andalissen. No pl. -r is found in the Oilima Markirya versions, probably
because of its coalescence with the dative ending.

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The conception from EQG that adjectives always agree in the four cases (as compared to the adverbial
suffixes) does not seem to find its application. We find for instance lúnelinqe vear and other similar
samples with dative -r.

IV. Quenya of the 30s and 40s

This timespan includes mainly the samples given in the The Lost Road and one example from the draft
to The Lord of the Rings.

preceding adjective (plural noun), no plural agreement

ilya maller 'all roads' (LR:47, SD:310) < ilya 'all, the whole' (Etym:IL-), malle 'street,
road' (Etym:MBAL-) + pl. -r

preceding adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, no plural agreement

Kuivië, kuivië! laurea'esselínen >> ankalim'esselínen *'Vivat, vivat! By (many) glorious

names' (SD:47) < kuivië glossed 'awakening' (Etym:KUY-), 'life' (VT42:8) is here perhaps a
literal translation of hail = 'health, prosperity, good luck' or something like vivat 'live (long)!',
laurea 'golden, like gold' (Rgeo:66) - perhaps poetically for 'glorious', esse 'name' (VT43:14,
PM:339) + part. pl. instrumental -lí-nen
Unfortunately, the changed variant shows elision of the final vowel, so that we do not get to
know whether sg. ankalima 'exceedingly bright' (Let:211) or pl. *ankalime was intended.

V. Quenya of The Lord of the Rings

It is probably better to regard The Lord of the Rings separately. As the first piece of work released for
the public and containing substantial Quenya material it surely had a lot of influence on the following
development of Elvish. Although Tolkien always kept experimenting, it is good to keep in mind
which patterns were 'fixed' in the LotR. A comparison with the non-poetical word order of Namárië
given in The Road Goes Ever On (1966) is also noteworthy. (See here for an analysis.)

preceding adjective (singular noun), no case agreement

yuldar lisse-miruvóreva 'draughts of the sweet mead'

i·aire táríva or tário 'of the holy queen' (prose, PE17:76)

preceding adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

laurië lassi 'leaves like gold'

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lintë yuldar 'swift draughts' (same in Rgeo)

ilyë tier 'all paths' (same in Rgeo)

nu luini tellumar 'under blue domes' (Rgeo)

trailing adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

lassi laurië 'leaves like gold' (Rgeo)

tellumar nu luini 'under blue domes'

Note that at some time Tolkien interprets laurië as the adverb 'goldenly' (homophone to the noun
'goldenness') formed with the adverbial suffix -ie as in norne lintie 'he ran quickly' (PE17:58,61).
This is not the sole explanation, however - The Road Goes Ever On cites the adj. laurëa (pl. laurië)
'golden'.

Note also Tolkien's later explanation for lisse-miruvóreva:

The prefixing of an uninflected adjective to a noun as in lisse-miruvóre to make a loose compound is
normal in Quenya. So, as in English, is the prefixing of an uninflected noun to make a loose genitival
or adjectival compound: so tári-líre "queen-song". But the piling up in this line, aire-tári=lírinen and
the word order are in poetical style (PE17:67; a similar, but shorter account in PE17:76).
We can see that the concept of loose compounds (both 'adjective + noun' and 'noun + noun') itself
remained and in lisse-miruvóre only the noun is declined.
However, there is no attestation of 'adjective + pluralized and case-inflected noun' in Namárie.

VI. Quenya of the 50s

This time includes the drafts for the translations of Catholic prayers (VT43-44), the essay Quendi &
Eldar (1959-60) and the Nieninqe version N2 from 1955 (PE16:96). There are actually not many
examples with case-inflected nouns, but some with plural inflection:

preceding adjective (plural noun), no plural agreement

menya lucandor 'our sinners' (At.I, VT43:8) < me-nya 'our', #lucando 'sinner' (probably <
*ULUK- 'evil'), + pl. -r
 menya lucindor 'our sinners' (At.IIa, IIb; VT43:9,10)

musse teñgwi 'soft elements' (VT39:17) < musse 'soft' + teñgwe 'sign', pl. teñgwi [vowels and
sonants/semivowels]

lehta teñgwi 'free, released elements' (ibid.) < lehta 'released' ('loose, slacken' in Etym:LEK-)
[vowels]

sarda teñgwi 'hard sounds' (ibid.) < sarda 'stony, hard' (cf. Etym:SAR-) [consonants without
sonants/semivowels]

tapta teñgwi 'impeded elements' (ibid.) < tapta 'impeded' (cf. Etym:TAP- 'stop') [consonants]

preceding adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

menye rohtar 'our sinners' (At.III; VT43:11)

hlonaiti tengwi 'phonetic signs' (VT39:4) < hlonaite 'phonetic'

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quante tengwi 'full signs' (VT39:5) < quanta 'full' (Etym:KWAT-) [unit consonant + vowel]

rakine tengwi 'stripped/deprived signs' (VT39:6) < #rakina 'tripped, deprived', cf. rákina
'broken' in MC:223 [consonant with the following vowel lost]

penye tengwi 'lacking/inadequate signs' (VT39:6,8) < penya 'lacking' (cf. PEN- 'the lacking,
the poor' WJ:408) [vowel with the preceding consonant lost]

trailing adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

N2: wingildi wilwarindie 'foam-faires like the butterflies' (PE16:96) - see above

N2: táli lantalasselingie 'feet whose music is that of falling leaves' < lantalasselingea 'with a
musical sound of falling leaves'

preceding adjective (singular noun), case agreement

Amille Eruva lisseo 'Mother of divine grace' (VT44:12,18) < amille 'mother' (cf. amil
(Etym:AM(1)-)), Eruva 'divine' < Eru 'the One' + -va, lisse 'grace, sweetness' + gen. -o
[But Eruva can also be interpreted as the possessive inflection of Eru - then we would be only
dealing with double inflection 'mother of the grace of God']

menya rohtaliello (<< menya ruhtaliello) 'our sinners' (At.IV, VT43:11), lit. 'our sinner-
people', so #rohta *'sin, tresspass' + lie 'people' (Etym:LI-) + ablative -llo

preceding adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, no plural agreement

ilya raxellor 'from all dangers' (VT44:5) < ilya 'all, the whole' (Etym:IL-), raxe 'danger' +
ablative pl. -llo-r

Aran linta ciryalion *'king of swift ships' (PE17:147) < aran 'king' (ibid.,WJ:369) + linta
'swift' (Rgeo:66), cirya 'ship' + part.pl. genitive -li-o-n
[Also variant with the possessive case and a full compound: Aran lintaciryalíva]

The linguistic terms musse/lehta/sarda/tapta teñgwi are from the note to Quendi & Eldar called
Noldorin words for Language. The forms given in Quendi & Eldar Appendix D contain singular
adjectives: hlonaiti/quante/rakine/penye tengwi. We seem to meet two different conceptions here -
one following ilya maller, the other ilye tier. It is not clear, however, if the two may coexist. Perhaps
they could; and an uninflected form results from a treatment as a loose compound where
musse·teñgwe etc. are regarded as single morphological units. The other treatment would be that of a
'qualifier' + 'noun'.

VI. Quenya of the 60s

This part includes examples from several late essays and the last two Markirya versions (MC:221-
223), the later one will be designated OM3 by convention.

preceding adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, no plural agreement

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OM3: atalantëa mindonnar 'upon fallen towers' < atalantëa 'ruinous, downfallen', mindon
'tower' (Etym:MINI-) + allative pl. -nna-r

{ve quenderinwa koainen} 'as with bodies of Elvish-kind' (PE17:174) < ve 'as, like' (Rgeo:66)
+ #quenderinwa *'of the Quendi' (cf. sindarinwa 'Grey-elven' (LotR App.E)), pl.
quenderinwe; koa 'house' (MR:250, PE17:199) + instrumental pl. -i-nen

preceding adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, plural agreement

OM3: {atalantië mindoninnar} 'upon fallen towers' < mindon 'tower' (Etym:MINI-) + allative
pl. -i-nna-r

ve quenderinwe koaron 'after the manner of bodies of Elvish-kind' (PE17:174) < koa
'house' (MR:250, PE17:199) + genitive pl. -r-on

preceding adjective (singular noun), no case agreement

métima hrestallo *'from the last beach' < métima 'last', hresta 'beach' + ablative -llo

ringa súmaryasse 'in her cold bosom' < ringa 'cold'; súma 'hollow cavity, bosom', locative
súma-rya-sse 'bosom-her-in'

OM3 (first version): métima amaurëasse 'in the last morning' < métima 'ultimate, final',
amaurëa '† dawn, early day' + locative -sse
 OM3: métim' auresse < aure 'sunlight, day' (Silm.index)

trailing adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, plural agreement

rámainen elvië 'on wings like stars' < ráma 'wing' + instrumental pl. ráma-inen; elvëa
'starlike', pl. elvië

ondolissë mornë 'on the black rocks' < ondo 'stone' + part.pl. locative -li-ssë; morna 'black', pl.
mornë

trailing adjective (plural noun), no case agreement, no plural agreement

-not attested-

Without case inflection:

preceding adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

OM3 (first version): ninqi ondor 'white rocks' < ninqe 'white' (Etym:NIK-W), pl. ninqi
 OM3: ninqi carcar < karka 'tooth' (Etym:KARAK-) + pl. -r

Eldarinwe Leperi are Notessi 'The Elvish Fingers and Numerals' (VT48:4) < #eldarinwa
'Elvish', pl. eldarinwe; leper 'finger' (VT47:10) + pl. -i; are 'and' (cf. √asa 'beside' (VT47:31));
#notessi pl. 'numerals' < nóte 'number' (Etym:NOT-), essi 'names' (PM:339)

ve quenderinwe koar 'like Elvish bodies' (PE17:175)

Kenime Kantar 'Visible Shapes' (PE17:175) < #kenima 'visible' (cf. ken- 'see, behold' in
OM3), pl. kenime, kanta 'shape' (cf. Etym:KAT-) + pl. -r

preceding adjective (plural noun), no plural agreement

OM3 (first version): i néka fairi 'the pale phantoms' - cf. singular néka 'vague, faint, dim to see'
above

trailing adjective (plural noun), plural agreement

OM3: i fairi néke 'the pale phantoms' < faire 'phantom, disembodied spirit', pl. fairi; néka

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'vague, faint, dim to see', pl. néke

OM3: maiwi yaimië 'like gulls wailing' < maiwe 'gull' (Etym:MIW-), pl. maiwi; yaimëa
'wailing' (adj.), pl. yaimië

OM3: ve tauri lillassië *'like many-leaved forests' < taure 'great wood, forest' (Etym:TÁWAR-
), pl. tauri; lillassëa 'having many leaves', pl. lillassië

trailing adjective (plural noun), no plural agreement

-not attested-

VII. Summary and final discussion

VII.1. Attributive usage in the late years

Which patterns were dominant in the last decades? At first one has to state that there is not a single
example of case agreement, not even in the poems - so it does not seem to be usual, at best poetical.
Let us consider plural agreement. For adjectives preceding a case-inflected plural noun we find five
examples without agreement:

laurea'esselínen *'by (many) shining names' (SD:47)

ilya raxellor 'from all dangers' (VT44:5)

atalantëa mindonnar 'upon fallen towers' (OM3)

Aran linta ciryalion *'king of swift ships' (PE17:147)

{ve quenderinwa koainen} 'as with bodies of Elvish-kind' (PE17:174)

And only two examples with plural agreement:

{atalantië mindoninnar} 'upon fallen towers' (OM3)

ve quenderinwe koaron 'after the manner of bodies of Elvish-kind' (PE17:174)

Among these, atalantië >> atalantëa was a change from the second pattern to the first and
quenderinwa >> quenderinwe went just the opposite way. This distribution goes well with the
explanation of the EQG: where a qualified noun receives one of these endings [-sse, -llo etc.] (a
somewhat archaic mode) the adjective usually precedes uninflected (except rarely for plural) and is
virtually a loose compound (PE14:78).

On the other hand, for nouns that are not inflected in case, plural agreement seems to be more usual:

menye rohtar 'our sinners' (At.III; VT43:11)

laurië lassi 'leaves like gold'

lintë yuldar 'swift draughts' (same in Rgeo)

ilyë tier 'all paths' (same in Rgeo)

luini tellumar 'blue domes' (Rgeo)

hlonaiti/quante/rakine/penye tengwi 'phonetic/full/stripped/lacking signs' (VT39:5-6)

ninqi ondor/carcar 'white rocks' (OM3)

Eldarinwe Leperi are Notessi 'The Elvish Fingers and Numerals' (VT48:4)

quenderinwe koar 'Elvish bodies' (PE17:175)

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Kenime Kantar 'Visible Shapes' (PE17:175)

But also here, lack of agreement is found at various external stages:

ilya maller 'all roads' (LR:47, SD:310)

menya lucandor 'our sinners' (At.I,II)

musse/lehta/sarda/tapta teñgwi 'soft/free/hard/empeded elements' (VT39:17)

i néka fairi 'the pale phantoms' (OM3 first version)

For trailing adjectives there is only one pattern - as far as the samples go, they always agree in plural.
Probably it needs the convention of an immediately preceding adjective (be it a loose compound or
not) to drop inflection and still keep the meaning unambiguous.

VII.2. Predicative usage

Let us finally take a look at predicative adjectives. There are not many examples and they are many
years apart, but also here we can find samples for both possible patterns:

piliningwe súyer nalla qanta *'the airs being full with feathers' < pilin 'feather' (QL:54),
possibly pl. pilini + -ngwe 'with', súyer, pl. of súye 'airs, breezes, winds' (QL:86), nalla
*'being', qanta 'full' (QL:78)

ondoin morin ninqe 'the dark rocks [were] white' (PE16:64) < ondo 'stone' + archaic/poetic
nom. pl. -in, ninqe 'white', more *'dark' + pl. -n

i-Eldar "ataformaite" 'Elves were ambidextrous' (AS1, VT49:6-8) < ataformaite
'ambidextrous' (< at(a) 'double, bi-, di-' (VT42:26) + forma 'right hand' (VT47:6) + adj. -ite)

naltur [...] ulqe nūsimar *'they are noticeable as evil' (PE15:32,33) < naltur *'they are' (cf.
NĀ 'be, exist' (QL.64)); ulqa 'bad, evil' (PE15:70), pl. -e; #nūsima *'noticeable' (cf. nuste
'sense of smell', Goldogrin nus- 'take notice, perceive' (GL:61)) + pl. -r

nalto ūsiēre (PE15:32,37) *'they are having escaped' < nalto *'they are', #ūsiēra 'having
escaped' (cf. usin 'he escapes' (QL:98), past tense *ūsie + adj. -ra), pl. -e

nalto fustūme *'they can be detected' (PE15:32,39) < nalto *'they are', #fustūma
*'noticeable' (cf. fausta- 'to get smell of' (QL:37)), pl. -e

táli paptalasselindeën 'the music of their feet was like falling leaves' (N1b variant, PE16:93)

ilya sī maller raikar lit. 'all now roads bent' (LR:47, SD:310) < sí 'now' (Etym:SI-), raika
'crooked, bent, wrong' (Etym:RÁYAK-)

toi írimar *'which are beautiful' (LR:72) < toi 'they', írima 'beautiful' (cf. ĪR- 'desireable,
beautiful' (VT45:18)), pl. -r

Eldar ataformaiti 'Elves were ambidextrous' (AS4-6, VT49:6-8)

An emendation goes here ataformaite >> ataformaiti, from the first pattern into the second.

Note that the verb 'to be' is usually omitted, even in the past tense.
The example táli paptalasselindeën is a curious one. If interpreted correctly, this literally means
*'[their] feet [were] leaf-music-like', i.e. the actual subject táli does not receive a nominative suffix,
but the predicative adjective does. The same variant reading shows nominative n·oromandin and
wingildin wilwarindeën. Compare the pattern given in III.3.

In raikar, írimar the plural marker -r is used, at that time it is typically a plural marker for nouns and
adjectives pluralized this way are used substantively like vanima 'fair' (Etym:BAN-), pl. vanimar
'beautiful ones' (LotRVI, ch.6; Let:230), linda 'fair, beautiful (of sound)' (Etym:LIND-, VT45:27), pl.
Lindar 'the fair' as a tribe name (LR:168). So maller raikar may literally mean *'the roads are bent
ones' and toi írimar *'they are beautiful ones'. But ataformaiti is ordinarily pluralized by -i.

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Finally, a rather special example is found in LR:72:

Toi aina, mána, meldielto 'They are holy, blessed, and beloved' < toi 'they', aina
'holy' (Etym:AYAN-), mána 'blessed' (cf. Etym:MAN-), melda 'beloved, dear' (Etym:MEL-),
compound tense meld-ie-lto 'beloved-are-they'

At this stage the verb 'to be' is expressed by a suffix (or compound tense) -ie. Note that the three
adjectives are all in the singular, though 'they' would require plural. This plurality only seems to be
expressed by the final -ie-lto 'they are' with the pronoun repeated again. Compare a similar
construction with presumably attributive adjectives in oïkta rámavoite malinai or oïkta rámavoite
karneambarai in Narqelion, but on the other hand plural agreement laiqali linqi falmari in
Earendel.

I would like to thank Thorsten Renk for his critical remarks on the first version of the article.

Roman Rausch (Aran) aranwe@mail.ru

Oct. 8th 2006

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