Q. demonstrative pronouns grammar.
Like most languages, Quenya had demonstrative elements that could be used to indicate near (“this”) or far (“that”) objects. Tolkien experimented with a variety of forms for the demonstratives throughout his writings, and his use of demonstratives was not entirely consistent. Nevertheless, some broad themes run throughout his changing conceptions.
In most of his writings from the 1910s through the 60s, the primary basis for the demonstratives were the primitive roots √SI “this, here, now” (VT43/24; Ety/SI; GL/68) and √TA “that, there, then” (PE17/93; Ety/TA), though in Tolkien’s earliest writings √TA seems to mean “this” (QL/87). Two more roots tied to demonstratives were √YA and √EN, the former for demonstratives “pointing back” (PE17/66; Ety/YA; QL/105) and the latter for demonstratives “pointing forward or beyond” (Ety/EN; VT41/16). In Tolkien’s later conception of Quenya, the root √YA lost most of its demonstrative function, coming to be used primarily for relative pronouns:
ya-, used in Quenya as stem of relatives (being originally a demonstrative referring back to something behind, or previous in time) (PE17/93).
Its counterpart for the future was √EN: Q. en “then soon” (PE22/131) or “in that future case” (PE22/120; PE23/109). In Tolkien’s later writings √EN became entangled with another (Quenya-only?) sense “again”, as seen in the prefix en- “re-” used for repetition: enquanta- “refill”, enquet- “repeat, say again”, entul- “return, come again”. Its future-facing function still appeared in Tolkien’s later writing, however:
In Quenya the adverbial phrases did not harden into inflexional forms, but in older Quenya the aorist could be used with similar adverbs (en, enya) in a future sense: as AQ en i matinye “I shall eat then, soon” (Common Eldarin: Verb Structure, 1950s, PE22/131).
en- “again” as [in] enquantuva is prob[ably] [?] “further, beyond” in respect of time influenced by [?] only in Q. enta, only with verbs. [?root] ēn (rough and hard-to-read 1968 notes associated with √HENET “middle”, VT41/16 note #5).
The last of these notes seems to indicate that the Q. sense en- “again” was originally based on its older sense “further, beyond”, which was still seen in adverbs like enta, unglossed in the 1968 note but perhaps with a meaning similar to ᴹQ. enta “that yonder, then (fut.)” from the 1930s. On this basis, many Neo-Quenya writers use a three-fold system of demonstratives:
Such three-way demonstrative distinctions are common in many languages, such as Latin, Spanish and Japanese. In older English “yonder” was originally a third demonstrative for more distant objects: “Go see yonder woman”.
In addition to √SI, √TA, √YA, √EN, Tolkien sometimes also gave √SA as a root for demonstratives, with Q. sa “that” often used as an alternative to Q. ta (PE14/54; PE16/96; PE22/119; MS). For example, tanome “there” (VT49/11) also appeared as sanome (PE17/71). Elsewhere Tolkien said ✶sa was the basis for the inanimate 3rd person singular pronoun (VT49/37, 52). However, in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948, Tolkien said sa was used to refer to things previously discussed in addition its use for the 3rd person “it” (PE23/96-98).
Tolkien sometimes also gave ✶ta as the basis for the plural inanimate pronoun (VT49/52). Tolkien may have thought the roots for “that” were entangled with these 3rd person pronouns. In partially published notes on demonstratives Tolkien said:
the abstract pron[ominal] forms sā̆, tā̆ were quite separate ... from the personal/actual se/te. sa went with si and ni = this by me, of my [?concern]; ta went with other persons = that by you or them ... the pronoun for “the thing” impersonal was sa ... se was only used personally = “he/she/it”, actual not abstract (VT49/37).
This quote hints that the demonstrative function of sa, ta was related to their use as 3rd person inanimate/impersonal pronouns, but here Tolkien implies sa meant “this” rather than “that”, which is representative of Tolkien’s inconsistencies with the sa-demonstratives. For the most part ta was used quite regularly for “that” outside of Tolkien’s very earliest writings. For this reason I’d recommend using only demonstrative ta in Neo-Quenya writing (“that over there”), reserving sa for pronominal “it” and anaphoric “that” (“that thing previously mentioned”). In Sindarin sen/san are the best known words for “this/that” in Sindarin, so the semantic developments of primitive ✶sa in that branch of the Elvish languages seems to have been different.
From these roots, Tolkien derived quite a large number of demonstratives for different contexts. The basic demonstrative adjectives are, as given above, sina “this”, tana “that” and enta “that (yonder)”. It is a common practice in Neo-Quenya writing to use these forms for independent demonstrative pronouns as well: merin tana “I want that”. The similar anaphoric adjective sana “that very thing (already referred to)” could be used both adjectivally and pronominally in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/104).
There is, however, at least one example of the bare stem ta being used pronominally (A karne ta yalle B “A did that as / like B”, PE17/74) and at least one example of bare stem si being used adjectivally: (umbe nin i hríve nauva urra (si loa) “I have a feeling that winter will be bad (this year)”, PE22/168), so perhaps simple si/ta can be used as adjectives and pronouns as well. Personally, I would use sina/tana as the adjective forms and si/ta as the independent demonstrative pronoun.
There is a larger set of derived demonstratives, many of which appeared in partially published Demonstrative Notes (DN) from 1968 (VT49/11, 18) and more appearing in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/96-112). For a discussion of the possible combinations for these derived demonstratives, see the entry on Quenya correlatives.
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon (QL) of the 1910s, there were several early demonstrative roots that seem to be precursors to the above, but the senses do not correspond neatly:
Thus the only major primitive demonstrative element absent from QL is ✶si, but it appears not long after, in a phrase written in the following year: ᴱQ. sī qente Feanor n·istalēra, unglossed but probably “*now said Feanor the wise” (PE15/32). In the Gnomish Lexicon we also see the demonstrative root ᴱ√si(n)- “this here by me” (GL/68).
Tolkien documented a three-way demonstrative system in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s:
The demonstratives are three, corresponding to the three persons: (1) “this”, (2) “that by you”, (3) “that (there)”. Stems: qi (si-, ni-); tye- (ke); sa (ta) (PE14/54).There was also a “general purpose” demonstrative en used in combination with all of these to make them more emphatic:
There is also a general demonstrative deictic particle or stem en- frequently used to emphasize the above stems, as: enqi-, enke, enta (PE14/55).
In this document, Tolkien provided fairly complete paradigm of demonstratives for time, place, adjectives, pronouns, and so forth. Although Tolkien listed quite a few different demonstrative stems in EQG, the three demonstrative adjectives were qinda, tyenda, sanda, and other demonstratives were similarly formed. Thus it seems the primary Quenya demonstrative stems at this conceptual stage were qi- (near), tye- (far) and sa- (remote), though remnants of the other stems can be seen in the “emphatic demonstratives” enqi, enke, enta.
The five basis demonstrative roots appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s are:
The last of these only has derivatives for masculine, feminine and neuter pronouns, primarily ᴹ✶so, se, sa based on the Noldorin forms, though Tolkien also gave ᴹ✶su, si as ancient masculine/feminine variants. There is no apparent relationship between ᴹ√S- and demonstrative ᴹ√SI or ᴹ√TA in The Etymologies, but this 1930s etymological entry could be a precursor to later ideas entangling 3rd person pronouns with demonstratives.
In Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948, Tolkien had a five-fold system of demonstratives (PE23/96-99):
Tolkien also mentioned that ᴹ√EN which could be used to refer to the future (PE23/97), as opposed ᴹ√TA and ᴹ√YA which referred to the past (near and remote, respectively). Further more Tolkien said en could be combined with ta and ya to make them even more remote: enta “away over there” and enya “far away over there (out of sight)” (PE23/97). The DRC system had two further anaphoric pronominal roots √SA and √I, both used for relative pronouns as well.
There are no signs of demonstrative ᴹ√TI outside DRC, but hints of ᴹ√KHI reappeared in notes from 1969, in primitive ✶khĭn- that was the basis for Q. hí “here” and S. hí “now” (VT49/34). √SI and √TA retained their demonstrative meaning in Tolkien’s later writings, but √YA was mainly used as a relative pronoun, and √EN became entangled with the sense “again”, as noted above.
Neo-Quenya: As outlined above, I would advocate using derivatives of √SI and √TA as the near and far demonstratives in Quenya. I would also use ᴹQ. enta for a third remote demonstrative. I would limited sa “demonstratives” in Neo-Quenya to their anaphoric function (referring to things previously mentioned in the discourse), but would assume its function differed in the Sindarin branch where sa became the basis for the remote demonstrative san “that”.
See the entry on Quenya correlatives for more suggested demonstrative forms.
Element In