Cases 1

Quenya Grammar 1, Chapter 3 showed that a Quenya noun changes at its end to show number. It changes at its end for a second reason too: to show its job in the sentence. These job-endings are called cases. English mostly uses small words and word order for this ("of the ship", "to the ship"); Quenya often puts the same information in an ending. This chapter covers the core cases, and Quenya Grammar 1, Chapter 5 covers the ones that show place and means.

The Case Table

Wikipedia's account of late Quenya rests mainly on a 1967 letter by Tolkien, the "Plotz declension", which gives full forms only for two nouns, cirya "ship" and lassë "leaf". It lists ten cases, counting short forms. This chapter takes the four main ones; the table shows the singular endings for those two nouns, with the formal-style forms (Parmaquesta) given on the page.

Nominative: the bare form

The nominative has no ending. It marks the subject of a verb and is the dictionary form of the word. Wikipedia's example is Finwë carë, "Finwë is making".

Accusative: the thing acted on

The accusative marks the direct object. In the formal (Parmaquesta) paradigm it is a lengthened final vowel: ciryá, lassé. In everyday Quenya (Tarquesta) it is the same as the nominative, so in practice the order of the sentence and the context show who does what to whom.

Genitive: "of" and "from"

The genitive is formed with -o on a noun ending in -a (cirya to ciryo, with the final vowel replaced) or on a noun ending in -ë (lassë to lassëo, with the vowel added). Wikipedia calls its main meaning "origin" and notes that it overlaps with the ablative and adjectival cases. Its example pair is Sinda Eldo "a Grey Elf's" against plural Sindar Eldaron "Grey Elves'".

Dative: "to" and "for"

The dative marks the person who receives. The ending is -n: ciryan, lassen. Wikipedia describes it as a shortened form of the allative (Chapter 5). In the plural it is -in and in the dual -nt.

Plural and Dual Cases

The case endings also come in plural and dual forms. Wikipedia's table gives them for cirya and lassë:

Study the pattern, not each cell. The plural genitive ends in -on (ciryaron), the plural dative in -in, the dual genitive in -o and the dual dative in -nt. Note that lassí is the formal plural from Chapter 3, written with the long -í.

Showing Possession

In English, my father and the ship's captain use two methods. Quenya has three:

• The genitive for "of" and origin: Sinda Eldo "a Grey Elf's".
• The adjectival case (Wikipedia's tenth case), formed with -va (ciryava, lasseva), which is "also used to indicate possession".
• Possessive endings attached to the noun, which say whose it is.

The point of the second example is that the case ending (-o, here in vorondo) can sit on the adjective, not the noun, so "Elendil the faithful" is marked as an owner by changing voronda to vorondo.

Hands-On Exercises