Monday, June 14, 2010

It, in J.R.R. Tolkien's words

In Quenya the word ta can mean it (that). The word se is the 3rd person singular pronouns he, she and it (living things) and also him, her, and it. The corresponding word for it (inaimate things) is sa. The pronominal ending -s means he/him, she/her, it.

The Sindarin word for it is ha (hana).

Pronouns are a somewhat fuzzy area for both Quenya and Sindarin. Although I found these words in dictionaries that I trust, pronouns are a poorly attested feature of these elven languages.

Although pronouns are important grammatically, I'd rather do something else, as far as words go. I'll return to pronouns again later.

No comments: