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Chapter 11 - The Future and Aorist Tenses

These are short lessons based off the Quenya Elvish (LotR) course on Ardalambion.com. Rather than 40 pages a chapter, I got them down to 4. I don't have all lessons like this yet. All material belongs to Tolkien and was compiled by that site.

Chapter 11 - The Future and Aorist Tenses

Chapter 11 - The Future and Aorist Tenses
The Future and Aorist Tenses English has no real future tense, just as German has no real past tense, relying instead on words like “shall” and “will in English and “haben/have” in German Elvish future tense, like English past tense involves changing the verb itself with the suffix ‘–uva’[/ulist] 
Rules:
o       a-stem verbs lose ending ‘a’ when ‘-uva’is added (‘au’ is illegal!)
o       Ifthe a is the only vowel in the verbal stem, it doesn’t get cut out
o       ná – “is” = f.t. nauva “will be” – not nuva
o       Theold version of future tense – anta = antáva ??
o       Quantuva from quat?? KWATA<quanta?  Pat<Panta“open”
o       Pa.t with nasal invixions = f.t. with nasal infixions??
o       Pluralsare still formed with –r at the end
o       Eleni Siluvar (stars will shine)
 
Practice:
Hir- “find” = f.t.Hiruva “will find”
Cen- “see” = f.tCenuva “will see”
Tulta- “summon” = f.t. Tultuva “will summon”
Ora- “urge” = f.t.Oruva “will urge”
Hlar-“hear” = f.t. Hlaruva “willhear”
Anta- “give” = f.t.Antuva
Man tárë antávanin Ilúvatar,Ilúvatar, enyárë tar i tyel írëAnarinya queluva?=
What will Iluvatar, O Iluvatar give me in the day beyond the end, when my sunshall fail?
 
Elvish also has an aorist tense that covers our use of words like “comes” vs p.t “is coming,” where English labels both as the present tense. The aorist tense is used for ongoing actions or general truths. “Atani firir” =  “[mortal] Men die” – it could mean that a certain group of Men are presently dying or the undeniable truth of their mortality. From Greek past tense of something that “was being done” over a period of time- not just a momentary action, and for general truths like “sheep eat grass”[/ulist] 
Rules:
If the a-stem verb is singular, and no endings are going to be added to it, the verb remains unchanged (tha a.t. of auta (singularly) = auta For primary verbs, the ending ‘-i-’ is added, but it changed to ‘-e’ if no ending is to be added. Mat = “to eat” Mate =sing. “eats” Matir = pl. “eat” [/ulist] A-stems do not drop their a when endings are added, they are still obviously not present tense, after all. Lanta= “to fall” Lanta = sing. “falls” Lantar = pl. “fall” [/ulist] [/ulist][/ulist] 
Practice:
Polin quetë= “I can speak”
i carir quettar ómanien = “those who make words with their voices”
sindanóriellocaita mornië = “outof a grey country darkness lies
laurië lantar lassi = “golden fallthe leaves”
auta i lómë! “the night passes”
mámar matir salquë (singular“sheep” = máma, “grass” = salquë).
i máma matë salquë = “the sheep eats grass”
 
Vocabularyenquë"six"
ilya,noun/adjective "all, every" ("every"before a singular noun, e.g. ilya Elda "every Elf", but ilyaoccurring by itself would rather mean "all"). Note that before aplural noun, this word also signifies "all" and is inflected forplural as a common adjective, hence becoming ilyëfor older ilyai (cf. ilyëtier "all paths" in Namárië and ilyë mahalmar"all thrones" in Cirion's Oath)
rimba,adjective "numerous", here used for "many" (presumably becoming rimbëwhen used in conjunction with plural nouns, if it is inflected like any otheradjective – hence e.g. rimbë rávi "many lions")
Atan "Man" (not "sentient male", which is nér, but Mortal Man as opposed to Immortal Elf, orDwarf.)
ohtar"warrior"
(ráv-) "lion"
Ambar "the world"(Does not require the article i; it is capitalized and treated as a proper name)
hrávë"flesh"
macil"sword"
fir-, verb "die,expire"
tur-, verb "govern, control, wield"
or, preposition "over,above"
 
Exercises 1. Translate into English:
A. Rimbë Naucor haryar harmar.
B. Anar ortuva ar iaiwi linduvar.
C. Enquë neri tiruvari ando.
D. IlyaAtan firuva.
E. IlyëAtani firir.
F. Saila nér cenda rimbëparmar.
G. Ilya elen silë or Ambar.
H. I Eldamapa i Nauco.
 
2. Translate into Quenya:
I. Every Elf and every Man.
J. The Elf will find the Dwarf.
K. The horse jumps over the Dwarf.
L. The king controls many warriors and will control(/rule) all the world.
M.  The kingand the queen will read the book.
N. The warrior wields a sword.
O. All lions eat flesh.
P. Six lions are eating flesh.
 
 
 
 
Answers:[/b]
 
1.
A. Many Dwarves possesstreasures.
B. The sun will rise andthe birds will sing.
C. Six men will watch(/guard) the gate.
D. Every Man (= non-Elfhuman) will die.
E. All Men die.
F. A wise man reads manybooks.
G. Every star shines abovethe world.
H. TheElf seizes the Dwarf.
 
In A, B, E, F, and G, the aorist tenseis used to describe various "general truths" that are more or lesstimeless. In H, the aorist is used to describe a momentary,duration-less action.
 
2.
I.Ilya Elda ar ilya Atan.
J.I Elda hiruva i Nauco.
K. I rocco capë or iNauco.
L. I aran turë rimbëohtari ar turuva ilya Ambar.
M.  I aran ar i táricenduvar i parma.
N. I ohtar turë macil.
O. Ilyërávi matir hrávë.
P. Enquërávi mátar hrávë.
 
In K, the aoristdescribes a momentary, duration-less action. In L and N, theaorist (turë) describes a generalcharacteristic or "habit" of an individual: the king (always)controls many warriors, the warrior (generally,habitually) wields a sword. In O, the aorist describes a "generaltruth" about lions, contrasting with  the present (continuative) tense in P(mátar = "are eating"), describingthe ongoing activity of some particular lions instead.
 

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