In English, verbs are words that express an action. These verbs can be expressed in various tenses which gives information on when the action has been performed. The present tense describes an action that is performed in the present. And example of a sentence with a verb in the present tense is: The bird is flying. The bird is flying now, in the present.
Quenya has 3 types of verbs, but only 2 will be discussed in this lesson. The first type are called a-stem verbs. These verbs end with the letters-ya, -ta, -na, or –a. You can always recognize and a-stem verb because they will always end in an –a. (ex: mapa- to seize) The second type are called primary verbs. These verbs represent a primitive root with no additions (ex: mat- to eat has the root MAT). When discussing Quenya verb, sometimes the stem-vowel will be referred to. A stem-vowel is the vowel of the root-word underlying the verb as it appears in Quenya. For example, in the verb mat- (to eat), the stem-vowel is the only vowel in the word: a. The stem-vowel of most primary verbs are therefore easy to discover, they are the only vowels in the word. A-stem verbs are only slightly more complicated. The stem-vowel of an a-stem verb is not it’s –a ending. To find the stem-vowel, you must look at the root of the verb. For example, pusta- (to stop), for instance, is derived from a root PUS, and its stem-vowel is therefore u, not a.
Why is it necessary to find the stem-vowel? Well, with primary verbs, it is essential in order to conjugate the verb in the present tense. To form a primary verb in the present tense, merely lengthen the stem vowel by adding an accent and then add an ‘a’ to the end of the verb. For example, the primary verb ‘mel-‘ (to love) has the present tense ‘méla’ (is loving). ‘Mat-‘ (to eat) has the present tense ‘máta.’ (is eating). A Tolkien-attested example is shown in the sentence: Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo. (A star shines [more like ‘is shining’] on the hour of our meeting.) ‘Sil-‘ (to shine) is conjugated in the present tense ‘síla’ (is shining). Because verbs must agree in number to their subject, a primary verb in the present tense can be made plural by adding an ‘r’ to the end of the word, using the same plural rules as nouns, as in ‘sílar’ (are shining) and ‘mátar’ (are eating).
The present tense form for a-stem verbs has been criticized and may only be a temporary evolution in Tolkien’s ideas, but currently Quenya scholars have nothing else to go on. The Quenya a-stem verbs follow a pattern similar to primary verbs. The stem vowel of the verb is lengthened by the addition of an accent and an ‘a’ is added to the end of the verb. But a-stem verbs already have a final ‘a.’ A combination of ‘aa’ as in the verb ‘pústaa’ is hardly a possible Quenya word. The first ‘a’ actually evolves into an ‘e’ to avoid the 2 a’s producing ‘pústëa’ (is stopping). The diaresis on the ‘e’ is placed to show that the vowels ‘ea’ are indeed pronounced separately, not as diphthongs. The only Tolkien attested verb is seen in the verb ‘ora-‘ (to urge). Tolkien conjugated the present tense of this verb as ‘órëa.’ Because verbs must agree in number to their subject, an a-stem verb in the present tense can be made plural by adding an ‘r’ to the end of the word, as in ‘órëar’ (are urging) and ‘pústëar’ (are stopping).
The Aorist Tense
Another Quenya tense is called the aorist tense. The aorist, similar to the present tense, is used to express general truths that are not bound to a specific time. For example, ‘sheep eat grass. Eat is a verb in the aorist tense. But the Quenya aorist tense also functions for other purposes. Tolkien often wavers in choosing the aorist tense over the present tense. To some extent the tenses are interchangeable. For example, Tolkien uses the aorist tense in the phrase, órenya quetë nin ‘my heart tells me.’ The aorist tense is here used to describe an here-and-now situation, synonymous with the present tense. For the sake of the exercises, the aorist tense will be used to express a time-less action, whereas the present tense will be used to describe an on-going action or a continuous state. The differences between the 2 tenses can be seen in the word ‘quet-‘ (to speak). The present tense is ‘quéta’ (is speaking) while the aorist is ‘quetë’ (speaks).
The aorist a-stem verb is perhaps the easiest verb to conjugate in Quenya. You leave the verb completely alone. For example, if you wanted to say ‘the horse lies under the tree’, the Quenya translation would be ‘I rocco caita nu i alda.’ The verb ‘caita’ meaning ‘to lie (down).’ Because verbs must agree in number to their subject, an a-stem verb in the aorist tense can be made plural by adding an ‘r’ to the end of the word, using the same plural rules as nouns. Therefore ‘the horses lie under the tree’ would be ‘I rocco caitar nu i alda.’
The conjugation of a primary verb in the aorist tense, is merely add an ‘ë’ to the end of the verbal stem. For example, ‘quet-‘ (to speak) would become quetë (speaks). In primitive Elvish, this final ‘e’ was instead written as ‘i’ but later evolved to ‘e.’ When any ending is added to the verb in the aorist tense, whether you are adding an ‘r’ to make the verb plural, or adding a case ending or pronominal ending, the final ‘e’ reverts back to its primitive ‘i.’ Therefore, if you wanted to say ‘the Elves make waybread,’ you would say ‘I Eldar carir coimas.’
