There have been a lot of discussions on what the -s case is used for.
This case was even called the Mystery Case, because its inherent function
was not known. Yet it seems that there are actually a few attested examples
of the use of this case.
the -s case per se
The -s case is best known from the so called Plotz Letter (PL). This
is a letter from 1966-7 which Tolkien sent to Dick Plotz; it contains declensions
of nouns, a paradigm of nouns cirya ("ship") and lasse ("leaf").
The Letter is divided into three sets of cases: the first bunch, labeled
(a), are obviously grammatical cases (i.e. those cases with syntactical
basis), those situated in (b) are local cases (i.e. those cases expressing
spatial relationship), and finally the third set, (c), contains only one
case, not labeled -va case. note 1 In the Letter, nearly all of the particular cases have their names given
by Tolkien except for the one ending in -s and the one ending in
-n (plus the -va case on which see note 1).
They share something in common: they are placed in set 2, the local cases, and
they are put in parentheses below other two cases of which they seem to be shorter
variants. For singular it is as follows (there is a mirror adjustment for better
clearness):
All.
ciryanna
(ciryan)
Loc.
ciryasse
(ciryas)
From published corpus we know that the -n case is dative (see
Tolkien's notes on Cirion's Oath in UT) but we do not know how to call the
-s case.
As pointed out above, the placement of both of the cases suggests
that they might be variants of the 'full' versions: -n of allative -nna
and -s of locative -sse. Indeed according to one division of cases
which combines coherency (that is spatial connexion) and orientation (direction
of movement), the allative and dative belong to the same class: negative coherency
with positive orientation (it means routing to something/one or activity for
something/one). So both cases are theoretically used for the same thing. In Quenya
however, the dative has also a syntactical role (it denotes the indirect object,
cf. Sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? in Namárie)
and the allative acts also as the directive (the case which expresses routing to
something/one).
Now according to the same devision, the locative features positive
coherency without spatial connexion, which is to say that it expresses
the state of something/one being in/on something/one (cf. for example
the title of NamárieAltariello Nainie Lóriendesse
"Galadriel's Lament in Lorien").
Similarly as the dative has a syntactic use in Quenya, the -s case
might also have some syntactic use which we, however, do not know.
note 2 Whatever, if any, its grammatical function,
the case in question would be primarly a locative case (sc. a variant of
the locative -sse). This assumption is enforced by two little known
attestations of the -s case.
Note that some some call it the short locative, this is probably the best
name we can give it for the time being.
a. calma hendas
In the article The Subscript Dot: A New Tehta Usage,
published in 25th issue of Vinyar Tengwar (VT), Arden R. Smith
mentions a phrase written in Tengwar and published in the book J.R.R. Tolkien:
Life and Legend. He transcribes the phrase as calma hendas and
translates it as "a light in the eye" (with calma being "light"
and henda being a variant of hen "eye" or perhaps the -a
fuctions just as a connecting vowel, cf. talasse being locative of
tál, VT43:16). There of course might be other intepretations
of the phrase but this one seems to be the most accurate. note 3 If we assume the reading and the translation be correct, then we have
a clear attestation of the use of the -s case. It is used as the
locative (or at least locatively, for the case may denote
possessiveness, as suggested in note 2, still
falling into the same category with the locative) and it is a short variant
thereof.
b. elli yas atintilar
The other example of the short locative is cited in the 28th issue
of VT in the article The Bodleian Declensions by Patrick Wynne,
Christopher Gilson and Carl F. Hostetter. It is a line of an early draft
of Namárie taken from 'the manuscript displayed at the J.R.R.
Tolkien Centenary Conference held at Keble College, Oxford, 17-24 August
1992' (ibid.; this version of the poem has not been yet published). It
reads: elli yas atintilar. No translation of the phrase is given but the
authors of the article concludes that it must be "wherein the stars tremble",
as it corresponds clearly to yassen tintilar i eleni from published
Namárie: the word eleni equates with elli
(i being the definite article, not found in the elli version),
tintilar with atintilar and finally yassen to yas.
It is apparent that the -s case is here used as a variant of -sse,
although there is one little difference: the relative pronoun yassen
"wherein" is in the plural form in FM agreeing in number with tellumar
"vaults" from the previous verse, whereas yas is in singular.
note 4 Compare the paradigm for plural ciryar
in PL:
All.
-annar
(-ain)
Loc.
-assen
(-ais)
Since the relavant version of Namárie has not been yet
published, we cannot be sure what the preceding verse looked like. If
yassen refers to plural tellumar, yas might have
referred to some substantive in singular, possibly telúme or
something of the kind (telúme occurs in the form telúmen
in another version of Namárie (TI:284-5), the final -n
may be a marker of dative/genitive singular, though it might also be a
plural marker). On the other hand, Tolkien could have thought of yas
(and of yasse on which see note 4) at one stage
as of not agreeing in number, which is not surprising. Note for example that
the -va mentioned above does not seem to have any plural form. Yet
Tolkien claims the contrary in WJ:407. There are some instances of adjectives
not agreeing with their governing substantives (see VT39:17).
the -s and -r case; locative and dative
The fate of final -s was not always the same in Tolkien's Quenya,
he seems to have been changing his mind to and fro. Compare these two words:
olor and olos, both meaning "dream". The former is from Etym
(it also occurs in QL), and based on other examples therefrom, it can be
postulated that final -s became -r (via -z) in Quenya
at that time. The same conclusion can be abstracted from Tolkien's notes
published in Parma Eldalamberon #12 p. 19, 20: 'It is to be noticed
that -þ- > s did not suffer medical voicing [sc. s >
z > r], as the other s'. There are (at least) two sources
of the s: one from the original s and one from the þ
(th), their development differed a little bit. While the original
s was sonorized, the þ (th) remained medially. According
to QL both were sonorized finally, the entry Tulkatho > Tulkas (LR:395
s.v. TULUK-) suggests that in the Etym era, final þ (th) did not
change after having become s. Now the word olos from Unfinished
Tales p. 4 ch. II suggests that the final position was not strong enough to
trigger voicing in Tolkien's later vision (for more on this see Helge Fauskanger's
The Evolution from Primitive Elvish to Quenya).
Given this piece of information, the case ending which we know as -s
might have sometimes undergone rhotacism and taken the form -r. There
are instances of the case ending -r that might be a rhotacized form
of the short locative -s, though sometimes it seems it may be of different
origin.
a. the en- declension
Aside from the Plotz Letter there are two different published charts showing
Q(u)enya declension system. The first one is the so called Entu, Ensi,
Enta Declension (ED), written most likely between 1924 and 1936. The forms
for dative and locative are as follows (particular cases are not named
in the manuscript but it is not very probable it would be otherwise)
note 5:
[dative]
entur
[allative]
entonta
[locative]
entosse, (-os)
entunye
We can see here again the -s form arranged as a variant of the
locative. Again, it is given in parentheses (note that the dative is not,
perhaps because the dative ending here is not etymologically related to the
allative here).
b. Oilima Markirya 1
The first version of the Markirya poem called Oilima Markirya
(OM1) as published in MC:220-1 contains a few following lines which have
something to do with the locative case:
(1)
veasse lúnelinqe
upon the blue streams of the sea
(2)
kaire laiqa'ondoisen kirya
the white ship lay upon the rock
(3)
ailissen oilimaisen
upon the last beaches
(4)
alkarissen oilimain
in the last ray of light
(5)
ailinissen alkarain
upon the shining shore
It is apparent from these lines that the suffix for the (full) locative
was -sse in singular and -ssen in plural, which agrees with PL.
The form -(i)sen in ondoisen (2) and oilimaisen (3)
seems to be an alternative locative plural suffix, presumably the plural form
of the short locative -s (not found here; or of *-se or -r).
It did not undergo rhotacism, which is interesting. Perhaps due to the analogy
or maybe because of the stress (cf. VT27:37-40). However, it cannot be said that
there was no rhotacism rule in Quenya at that time. The -re in kaire
(2) is most likely the feminine pronominal suffix, a rhotacized form of -se
(see LR:385, s.v. S-); the initial element kai- is no doubt a bare form
of the stem KAY(A) (QL:46L, LR:363), here used as a preterite. The suffix -re
refers to kirya, cf. also kirya kalliére "the ship shone" (OM1).
In light of this, it is possible that the short locative ending -s
is derived from original *-th (-þ) instead of *-s,
because medial -th (-þ) did not suffer medial voicing as
noted above; the full locative -sse may show doubling of this element.
c. Oilima Markirya 2
Another version of the Markirya poem, also called Oilima Markirya,
(OM2) as published in MC:213-4 contains these lines:
(6)
níve qímari ringa ambar
the pale phantoms in her cold bosom
(7)
lúnelinqe vear
in the flowing sea
(8)
silda-ránar
in the moon gleaming
(9)
minga-ránar
in the moon waning
(10)
lanta-ránar
in the moon falling
(11)
laiqa ondolissen
on the green rocks
(12)
píke assari silde
on bones gleaming
(13)
óresse oilima
in the last morning
From the examples óresse (13) and ondolissen (11), it is
clear that the (full) locative remained unchanged (in form, its origin may
be different, see below), sc. -sse in singular and -(i)ssen
in plural (note that laiqa'ondoisen was changed to laiqa
ondolissen).
The problem lies, however, in the ending -r (examples 6-10) or which
-ri in assari (12) may be a plural. There appeared (at least) two
interpretations: (a) it is an ending of the dative (on this see VT36:21-2) and
it is here used locatively, or (b) it is etymologically an ending of the locative
which was used as the dative in yar "to whom" (Nie; on this see VT28:19-21).
The solution may actually lie somewhere in between.
It will be useful to write out here relevant lines from the final version
of Markirya, (FM; on translation see Helge Fauskanger's analysis thereof):
(14)
ringa súmaryasse
in her cold bosom
(15)
ëar-kelumessen
in the flowing sea
(16)
isilme ilkalasse
in the moon gleaming
(17)
isilme píkalasse
in the moon waning
(18)
isilme lantalasse
in the moon falling
(19)
ondolisse morne
on the black rocks
(20)
axor ilkalannar
on bones gleaming
(21)
métim' auresse?
in the last morning?
As is apparent, the ending -r from OM2 was always replaced by
-sse in FM (compare lines 6, 8-10 with 14, 16-18), except for
ear-kelumessen where we see the plural ending -ssen (see
lines 7 and 15), which may be a mere adjustment accompanying the changes
introduced (such as different words used). Therefore it may be theorized
that the -r is a locative ending, presumptively a rhotacized form
of -s. However, if we compare lines 12 and 20, we can see that
the plural form -ri in píke assari silde was
substituted by -nnar, an allative plural ending, in axor
ilkalannar. note 6 This fact would speak for the
theory which assumes that the -r is the dative in origin, used
locatively sometimes. It could be also possible that there are two distinct
cases, short locative and dative, with the same phonetic realization, that
is to say that the short locative ending -s might have undergone rhotacism
and merged with (original?) dative ending -r. They might have differed
in plural, though: dative pl. -ri, locative pl. *-ren or
-sen (without medial voicing as in OM1) or -ssen (cf. the words
nis and nisse both meaning "woman" and both having plural
nissi, LR:377).
It is difficult to find a way out of this. For example, if we assumed that
the endings -r and -ri are endings of the locative, we would
have to answer the question what did the dative look like? The ending -n
which we know from PL might be a possibility but it was generally used for
something else in this period (for genitive in ED, but see VT36:22 on
enden, for ?subjective in BD, see VT28:13-7), yet this ending is
possible, in The Lost Road, the ending -n is used for both
genitive and dative: ilúvatáren "of-Ilúvatar",
nin "for me" (LR:47, LR:72).
The ambiguousness might be dealt with otherwise. It may that the use of the
use of -ri (12) was just Tolkien's 'mistake' or Qenya of the time
used the locative in such a case, that is to say where the dative/allative
would be expected instead. And hence the change to -nnar in FM (20)
could have been probably only a correction. If we take a look on the whole
phrase which reads: Man tiruva [...] anar púrëa
tihta / axor ilkalannar which means literally "who shall watch
a smeared sun blink[ing] towards bones gleaming?", the allative denotes
here the direction of the blinking of the sun, while the (supposed) locative in
OM2 would rather suggest that the blinking sun was situated upon the
gleaming bones.
Here something must be said on ambar (6). I have so far assumed
silently that it is *amba "bosom" and -r a dative/locative
singular ending. That there is no apparent "her" in the word (unlike in case
of súmaryasse "in her bosom": -rya) was clear enough
(though of course the morpheme denoting "her" might be present, having
fused with the morpheme with the suffix -r being its realization).
The word *amba is asterisked because it is not attested in any published
material. The word is not, however, d'accord with the Qenya Lexicon which
has Ambar "breast" (QL:30L; the note in parentheses following the
word is also interesting, it reads '-s or -r'!). Now there
are several possibilities: (a) the word *amba is a variant of
ambar and the -r is indeed an ending; (b) the word ambar
"in her bosom" exhibits contamination of the case ending -r
(dative/locative) with the word ambar "breast"; (c) the word
ambar is in nominative which may be used also as inessive.
We are told that the early Qenya and Goldogrin (sc. Gnomish) had three
noun cases: inessive or nominative, genitive, and allative or dative (GL:9).
This means that nominative was 'occasionally used by itself as a locative'
(GL:9). note 7 Since the nominative singular
stem is the bare, uninflected, form of the word,
the same holds for inessive. In his analysis of the poem Narqelion,
Christopher Gilson notes that such an inessive function of nominative
may be seen in V'ematte sinqi Eldamar *"as they call to mind the
gems in Eldamar" (VT40:23-4), the word Eldamar does not show any
inflexion, hence it might be nominative and inessive (unless final -mar
fused with -r). (Another, later, inessive use of the nominative may
be seen in Aia María: sí ar lúmesse ya
firuvamme "now and at the hour in which we will die" (VT43:34), although
the lack of any locative suffix (or preposition) at ya might be due to
its presence in lúmesse.)
Now the same situation may be witnessed in the phrase níve
qímari ringa ambar: although Q(u)enya of the time distinguishes
nominative (bare or (?) -n stems) from locative (-sse or (?)
-r stems), it is possible that the nominative could have inessive
function in certain constructions (or in verse when needed).
note 8
d. Nieninque
Another poem mentioned by Tolkien in his essay A Secret Vice is
Nieninque (Nie). Based on the use of tande "thither", it seems
to be written after OM2 (together with the poem Earendel which does
not seem to be important for this discussion). It contains these lines:
(22)
elle tande Nielikkilis
thither came little Niéie
(23)
yar i vilya anta miqilis
to whom the air gives kisses
There is no full locative form in this poem but it was probably
-sse again, this ending does not seem to change. The form yar
"to whom" is clearly the dative of ya "which" (see VT43:34), the
same dative ending is given in ED. The form tande may be analyzed
as ta "that, it" (LR:389, s.v. TA-) and -nde, which is
just a allative ending or a form of -nda (on which see below).
The morphs -r and -nde might be of the same origin.
In Etym, we can find preposition mir "into" (LR:373, s.v. MI-)
and pronoun (?) tar "thither", said to be derived from tad
(LR:389, s.v. TA-). Aside from this, there is adverb öar
"away" which 'shows addition of the ending -d (prehistoric -da)
indicating motion to or towards a point' (WJ:366). The ending -d
seems to be the oldest allative suffix; the preposition mir may
contain it as well (besides mir there is also minna of the
same meaning). The suffix -nde might show a nasal infixed form
of -d.
Whether the -r cases in ED and OM2 are of the same origin
cannot be said. Tolkien is known to have come up with wholly different
etymologies of the same thing, so the -r of ED and OM2 might be
from something else. It must be pointed out that the allative ending in
both ED and OM2 is -nta. Devoicing of original -d is not
very likely, but on the other hand, the allative and dative endings of
the time need not be related. However, as was already shown, the ending
-r might be a rhotacized form of short locative -s in
OM2 and there is a possibility that at some stage of external development
of Quenya the ending -s was used for the dative.
e. the Bodleian declensions
The other one of those two charts mentioned above is the so called
Bodleian Declensions (BD). Being probably from 1936, it is therefore
later that ED and Nie. Particular cases are not again named. The forms
relavant for this discussion are:
[singular]
[plural]
?
kiryas
kiryais (aisi)
[locative]
kiryasse
(-sser) �n
[allative]
kiryanda
(-andar)
Analysts of the paradigm call the -s case short locative,
based on PL and the use of yas in a draft of Namárie
(see above). They take the -r case in lines 6-10 to be a
rhotacized form thereof. The short locative, according to them, has
a syntactical role as the dative and they compare it with the dative case
of the early Adunaic case system. The Adunaic dative singular is -s,
plural -sim.
The ultimate origin of the ending probably lie in Greek dative plural
si (Attic -ais, Ionic -aisi, identical to Quenya
forms!). It may be very interesting and important to know that the -s-
in Greek dative plural (it also appears in Latin) is rather typical for
locatives in other Indo-European languages, cf. Sanskrit loc. pl. -su.
In Greek, the dative is used also as the locative. However, unlike Quenya,
Greek does not have a distinct locative case. Tolkien might have been
inspired by the Greek situation and Q(u)enya dative -r might have
been the locative in origin and sometimes even used in this original role
when needed and therefore the -s here in BD would be an
un-rhotacized form.
In the chart, there is no short locative per se. In other charts
(PL, ED) we have a short variant of the locative grouped with the full
locative. It is not perfectly certain that the -s ending is a
short variant, as was suggested in VT28. The dative, sc. the -s,
could be of another origin, perhaps from *-th because it did not
undergo rhotacism, even not intervocalically (-isi). Note that
the same origin was offered to -sen from OM1. Taken from other
side, it is appearent that certain s's are not intervocalically
sonorized and then rhotacized in QL.
As suggested in the c section above, it is possible that the
dative suffix contained the element r from the beginning and
the locative suffix contained the element s or rather th
(þ). In the singular, the dative ending might have been -r and
the locative ending -r, having undergone rhotacism, or -s when Tolkien
decided for non-rhotacism in final position. In plural, it would be
-ri for dative and -sen for locative. The -s dative
in BD may indeed be locative in origin, being inspired by Greek.
Compare also Gnomish dative/allative ending -r which is compared
with Qenya -r adverbial (and with -l in nouns; QL:10) and
ar "at, to" (PM13:110) which would speak for the dative in -r
(and Tolkien might have come up with different origin of this ending,
being from -d).
sê, jê, men
The publication of Vinyar Tengwar 43 shed more light on the
locative problem. The issue presents various versions of Pater Noster (PN)
and Ave Maria (AV) translated to Quenya by Tolkien in the article
"Words of Joy" by Patrick Wynne, Arden R. Smith and Carl F. Hostetter.
Various versions feature various ways of expressing "in/on something/one":
menelle 'in heaven': menelle (At. I), menelze (At. IIa),
and menelde (At. IIb-V) are all locative case forms of menel
'heaven', each exhibiting a different phonetic result of contact between
the final consonant of menel and the locative suffix -(s)se:
*menel-se > menelle, menelze, menelde. Compare
the locative forms of cemen 'earth' in this same line: *kemen-se
> cemesse, cemenze, cemende [...]. The adj.
menelessea (At. I deletion) appears to be derived from loc.
menelesse, in which the locative suffix is preceded by an epenthetic
or stem vowel; the coexistence of such forms side-by-side with directly
suffixed forms such as menelze, menelde is demonstrated
by an unpublished declension of tál, c. 1967, which gives
the locative forms as talasse and talse. (p. 16, At. I etc.
being different versions of Quenya Pater Noster)
[...] olesse 'with you' can be explained as the preposition
ó- 'with' (in reduced form in unstressed environment) +
(shortened) 2 sg. ending -le 'you' + locative sg. ending -sse
'in, at'. The subsequent forms carelye and aselye are
presumably to be explained similarly as variant prepositions (as-,
car-) expressing accompaniment, with the (full) 2 sg. ending -lye,
but without the locative ending. (p. 29)
The preceding versions [of olesse] le se and lese give
separately and then combine the independent form le 'you' and se
'at, in' (the root of the latter is given [...] as sê 'at'; cf.
the locative ending -sse). (p. 30)
[...] the same entry sê 'at' [...] also gives men as
an alternative gloss. The gloss men was subsequently struck through
[note on p. 36:] [a]nd replaced with jê; men being subsequently
reassigned as a gloss from 'with (instr[umental])' (p. 35)
It is obvious that the locative ending was originally a postposition
(so was the allative/dative and genitive) derived from the root sê.
This postposition when added to a consonant-ending word was partially
assimilated (voiced) if preceding consonant was voiced (menelze)
or wholly assimilated (menelle). The z-forms have to be in
archaic/Book Quenya because Quenya of the Third Age did not have the phoneme
z while the geminated forms have to be Exilic Quenya.
The variants cemende and menelde are different. The
authors of the cited analysis take them to be phonetic results of
contanct between sê and sonors n and l.
I think it may be hard to explain how s could become d
if from original s, sc. from root sê. However, it may
be easily explained if the source of locative preposition se would
be th (þ) as I suggested above. This th (þ)
if in contact with preceding l would result in ld and perhaps
even in nd if in contact with n (cf. QL:19 where Tolkien
states that liquids + þ produce ld and rd,
although nasals + þ produce nt -- Tolkien might have
later decided that all sonors trigger voicing, therefore nasals + þ
> nd). That may also explain why lese was allowed to stand.
On the other hand, Q(u)enya might have been in a stage when no medial s
of whatever origin changed, cf. nísi "women" (p. 31) and
and base NIS- (LR:378). note 9 Also, the root of the locative
se is explicitly given as sê not *þê.
But cf. this statement: '[...] the notes on the verso of At. V attribute
úsahtie to a different stem: "saka- "draw, pull';
þ/sahta 'induce': úsahtie 'inducement to do wrong'"'
(p. 23). How (inter)dental þ could arise from alveolar
s in Quenya is somewhat unclear, one would expect the reverse
development which would mean that the root was *þaka- instead
(did Tolkien or Eldar confuse it with the root thag- "oppress, crush,
press" mentioned on p. 22?). It may therefore be possible that at one stage
se was derived from þê in Tolkien's mind. It must
be also noted that talse was a permitted form which did not undergo
any change to *talle or *talze but even not to *talde
which speaks for the proposed theory though even against it. Possibly the
de in cemende was of different origin that the one suggested
(allative -da might be possible, cf. tande in Nie, though it
does not do fit well semantically).
The authors of the cited article attribute the preposition as
"with" to the conjuction ar having 'a Common Eldarin form as
'and'' (p. 30). 'In the current Quenya example, as- 'with' may be a
prepositional reflex of C.E. as and related to the Quenya conjuction
ar 'and'' (ibid.). Though this may be possible, one may wonder why
the CE form as did not become Quenya as, either because CE s
did not change finally or in every position (cf. nísi) or
at least in the versions At. I and At. IIa wherein hyáze
occurred being derived from the root AS- "warmth" (see p. 18). Since the
note on CE as is from c. 1968, it is more probably that ar
was still a derivative of the root AR (LR:349) at that time.
It may be possible that the preposition as- is related to the
base sê 'at, in' rather that to the base as- "and"
or perhaps aselye is a *"with" + (short) locative -s,
compare the alternative olesse being compounded of o- "with",
le "you" and locative -sse. The locative expresses the state
of being in/on something/one, maybe it likewise expresses the state of
being with something/one. note 10 The authors of the article mention two elements: jê and
men both connected with the locative. The former may explain the
peculiar locative forms as entunye mentioned above (ED), the
latter may be the origin of Adunaic men which was replaced by dative
si (SD:311), which may be locative in origin, as argued above. And
speaking of Adunaic, this language has a preposition zê "at"
which seems to Quendian in origin, being probably from the same base
sê as Quenya se. The initial z would rather
seem to be from original s than from th (þ), though
we do not know the fate of the Elvish words beginning with þ
borrowed by Men.
From the angle I look at the problem of the case endings -r and
-s, far too many points remain uncertain. There are evidences speaking
for some theories but also evidences agaist the same proposed theories.
Hopefully the future publications will further our understanding and knowledge
of Tolkien's invented languages.
