Chapter 14 - The Perfect Tense

Perfect tense. Pronominal endings -n(yë), -l(yë), -s.
 
Perfect tense:
 
             In English, this is made by adding ‘have’ to thebeginning of a verb phrase, then usually altering the second verb. Beganbecomes ‘have begun.’ The perfect tense thus describes an action thatitself is past, but by using the perfect tense one emphasizes that this pastaction is somehow still directly relevant for the present moment: "Peter hasleft [and he is still gone]", "the guests have eaten [andthey are hopefully still satiated as we speak]"
 
How to form it in Quenya:
 
            Add the stem vowel to the beginning of theword, then extend the stem vowel to be long / accented, then add ‘ië’ to the end. The prefix seen in the perfect tense isusually referred to as the augment. It may also be noted that theprocess of "copying" or "repeating" a part of a word, likethe prefixing of stem-vowels seen here, is by a linguistic term called reduplication.So to use as many fancy words as possible, one feature of the Quenya perfect tense is that it includes a reduplicatedstem-vowel that is prefixed as an augment.
 
            Tul ‘to come’ becomes utúlië‘have come’
            Et EärelloEndorenna utúlien = "Outof the Great Sea to Middle-earth I havecome             Aragorn finds thesapling of the White Tree: Utúvienyes! "I have found it!"(tuvu)
 
·       In A-stem verbs, the final ‘a’ drops out in favor of the ‘ië’—
      lala-"laugh" and mapa- "seize"are alálië "has laughed", amápië "has seized"
·       Verbs with long stem vowels keep their long vowels, but the augmentstays short.
            móta- "toil" may have the perfect tense omótië "has toiled"
·       Verbs with consonant clusters after the stem vowel do not receive longvowels.
            Harna “to wound” would be aharnië,not ahárnië
·       -ya endings drop out in favor of ‘ië’
            vanya “to go/depart” becomes avánië or irregular vániëor auta
·       Diphthongs are not extended
            taita-"prolong" or roita-"pursue" would probably be ataitië, oroitië
·       Plurals formed in ‘-r’ : Eldar utúlier (Elves have come)
·       Verbs beginning in vowels:
o      Put augment after prefix: enyal = enayalië (remember)
o      Anta = a’antië (give)
o      Ora = orórië (urge)
o      Onot = onótië (count up)
 
Practice:
 
A: mat-"eat" vs. amátië "haseaten"
E: cen- "see" vs. ecénië "has seen"
I: tir-"watch" vs. itírië "haswatched"
O: not- "reckon" vs. onótië"has reckoned"
U: tur-"govern" vs. utúrië "hasgoverned"
 
·       hanya- "understand", perfect ahánië "has understood"
·       hilya- "follow", perfect ihílië "has followed"
·       telya- "finish", perfect etélië "has finished"
·       tulya- "lead", perfect utúlië"has led"
 
Context:utúlië would be the perfect not only of tulya- "lead", but also of tul- "come". Same with the perfect ahárië: this form would mean "haspossessed" if it is formed from harya,but "has sat, has been sitting" if it is the perfect of har
 
PRONOUNS
English:
 
¤ FIRSTPERSON (referring to oneself or one's own group): Singular I, asobject me, of ownership my and mine; plural we, asobject us, of ownership our and ours.
 
¤ SECOND PERSON (directly addressing another person or anothergroup): Singular and plural both you, which is also the object form; ofownership your and yours. Archaic English also has distinct singularpronouns: Thou, as object thee, of ownership thy and thine.
 
¤ THIRDPERSON (referring to another person or group): Singular he, she,or it depending on the gender and/or nature of what is being referredto; as object him, her, or it (the latter being the sameas the subject form), of ownership his, her (the latter happensto coincide with the object form, but there is also hers) and its.In the plural we have they, as object them, of ownership theirand theirs.
 
In Quenya:
·       First person:  add ‘-n’ or ‘-nyë’ to the end of a verb
·       Second person:  add ‘-l’ or ‘lyë’ to the end of a verb
o      ‘-llë’ is the plural you (German Ihr)
·        When using a subject and anobject, the object comes second.
o      “I have you.” = “Haryanyel(yë).”
·       -Third Person: add ‘-s’ add to verb end as asubject or object.
 
Practice:
 
carin "I make, build"                 lirin"I sing/chant"                  nutin "Itie"
nyarin "I tell"                            rerin"I sow"                         serin "I rest"
sucin "I drink"                          tamin"I tap"                         tucin "I draw"
tulin "I come"                           turin "I wield"                        tyavin"I taste"
vilin "I fly"                                umin "I do not"                      polin"I can"
 
 
VOCABULARY
 
otso "seven"
seldo "boy" (actually Tolkien didn't provide an explicit gloss, but the word iscited in a context where he is discussing Quenyawords for "child", and seldo seemsto be a masculine form. See the entry SEL-D- in the Etymologies.)
mól "thrall, slave"
an "for" (or "since, because",introducing a sentence giving a reason, as in "I rely on him, forhe has often been of help to me".)
tul- verb "come"
lanta- verb "fall"
nurta- verb "hide" (cf.the Nurtalë Valinórevaor "Hiding of Valinor" referred to in the Silmarillion)
lerya- verb "release, (set)free, let go"
metya- verb "end" ="put an end to"
roita- verb "pursue"
laita- verb "bless,praise"
imbë preposition"between"
 
 
EXERCISES
 
A. I nér ihírië i harma.
B. I ráviamátier i hrávë.
C. I aranutultië i tári.
D. I nissiecendier i parma.
E. I úmëatári amápië i otso Naucor.
F. Etécielyëotso parmar.
G. Equétien.
H. Ecénielyes.
 
2.Translate into Quenya:
 
I. The man has come.
J. The seven Dwarves have eaten.
K. The boys have seen a lionbetween the trees.
L. The six Elves have pursuedthe seven Dwarves.
M. The Dwarf has hidden atreasure.
N. I have praised the king, forthe king has released all thralls.
O. You have fallen, and I haveseen it.
P. I have put an end to it [/Ihave ended it].
 
 
 
Answers:[/b]
 
1.
A. The manhas found the treasure.
B. Thelions have eaten the flesh.
C. Theking has summoned the queen.
D. Thewomen have read the book.
E. Theevil queen has seized the seven Dwarves.
F. Youhave written seven books.
G. I havespoken.
H. Youhave seen it.
 
2.
I. I nér utúlië.
J. I otso Naucor amátier.
K. I seldor ecénier rá imbë ialdar.
L. I enquë Eldar oroitieri otso Naucor.
M. I Nauco unurtië harma.
N. Alaitien [or, alaitienyë] i aran, an iaran elérië ilyë móli.
O. Alantiel [or, alantielyë],ar ecénienyes.
P. Emétienyes.
 

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