Practice Exercises for Learning Quenya

[Tuilinde]

EXERCISE TWENTY

THE GENITIVE CASE

The Genitive case indicates source or origin; being of or about something; being part of a group or a family relationship; the relationship of a ruler with his people; and belonging to a place.

The Genitive has the ending -o (displacing any final -a )in sg & dual - dual genitives ending in -t > -to ; those ending in -u > -uo.
The plural ending is -on which is added to the nominative plural marker.
The word order is flexible.
NB The object of the preposition ú - 'without', also takes the Genitive case ,
as does the object of arwa - 'to have, possess'.



Translate the following sentences into English, or your mother tongue:

Hirnentë i macil ohtaro firin.
Menelo eleni sílar.
Tirnen hendu i nisso.
Cenuvantë Aran Atanion ar ilyë nórion.
Coa ú talamion umë anwa coa.
I tário torni úmië merir turë i lier Ambaro.
I rassi i lamnion nar altë.
I quain rávi manter lintavë i rocco hrávë.

(and these without clues!)

Hirnes i vanwa seldo cú.
I calmë telepsë i osto sílar.
Tirnes i vendëo mát.
Mahtuvantë i lië ar urqui i Arano úmëa.
Ohtar ú macilo umë anwa ohtar.

Translate the following sentences into Quenya:

The birds of heaven will see ten warriors between the great rivers.
The king's thrall poured wine into the biggest of the cups.
The Elf's brother gathered the ten books about stars.
The great river of the land poured into a gorge.
A bird without wings cannot fly.
I saw the greatest of all mountains under the sky.
I want to find a land without great animals like lions.
You will see an animal without horns.


(And these without clues!)

The king's beautiful daughters want to sing under the golden leaves of the tree.
The Elves' eyes are keen.
The seven boys swiftly gathered all the stones.
The six maidens swiftly read the queen's books.
The king's wise men gathered the twelve boys to speak about the Elves.

[Tuilinde]

EXERCISE TWENTY-ONE

THE POSSESSIVE CASE:

The Possessive Case covers simple ownership; a permanent attribute;
a prevalent characteristic of a place ; the composition of something.

It is formed by adding the ending -va to the sg. which becomes -wa after a consonant (including dual -t);
The plural ending is -iva replacing the plural marker -r;

Three-syllable words ending in a vowel, with the last two vowels short lengthen the final vowel before -va. eg. Oroméva.

This also happens following words with a penultimate -ui- eg huinéva.

Translate the following sentences into English, or your mother tongue:

Be Careful!! There are some genitives in here as well as possessives!!!

I limpë Eldaiva.
Haryalyë yulma maltava.
I rocco i Eldava lanantë mir i núra cilya.
Neri séreva úvar ohtari.
Altë rambar ondova nurtaner i coar i quain analyë neriva i osto.
I coa i nésava arano carnë ná.
Minë i mólion mampë i macil i aranwa.
I vendeo toron hirnë ilyë i harmar i minquë Naucoiva imbë i canta rassi i ninqui orontion.
I seldoron nésa ( I nésa seldoron) hostanë i engwi i seldoiva ar lendë mir (i) coa táriva.
Nórë i Eldaiva ná nórë rimbë vanyë engwíva; nórë ú éldaron ná nórë morniéva, pan Atani i nórëo umir hlarë i alya lambë i Eldaiva.


Translate these carefully into Quenya!:

The Dwarves' gold (source/ origin) The Dwarves' gold (present owners)
You have an iron sword.
The warrior's sword fell into the deep river.
Elves of light will not be Elves of evil.
Great towers of stone protected the walls of the eight greatest cities of the land.
The Elf's son's horse is black.
One of the boys seized the maiden's book.
The man's daughter found all the horns of the three cities between the five houses of the tall warriors.
The friendship of the Atani protected the tall stone towers of the land.
We will go through a land of deep rivers and tall mountains, for we want to see the forest of the wisest Elves.

[Tuilinde]

EXERCISE TWENTY-TWO

THE PERFECT TENSE:

The Perfect Tense describes an action that is over and finished. In English the words has, and have are used - They have gone into the house, rather than They went into the house.

According to Thorsten there seem to be a number of possible problems, so careful study of the course material is necessary. As usual I will make some choices and try for a measure of clarity!

The Perfect Tense is formed with a prefix, sometimes called an augment or strengthening, as well as a suffix or ending.
The stem vowel is placed as a prefix, and the original vowel is lengthened (if possible).
The ending -ië is added.

Thus tec > etécië; and cen > ecénië
Any derivational endings on A-Verbs are dropped, which may make it possible to lengthen the stem vowel.
Thus verya > evérië and fanta > afánië

Check carefully verbs with a diphthong, as they seem to work from their past tense forms
Thus caita > cëantë > ecëantië and auta > vánë > avánië

Where a verb has changed its form over the ages, it may revert to the earlier form - mahta < mac-ta and so > amácië.

Where a verb begins with a vowel the augment may be the first syllable, or it may be omitted and the Perfect Tense indicated by the ending alone.
Thus anta > ánië and maybe ora > orórië

The usual plural marker -r, or pronominal endings can be added.

Translate the following into English, or your mother tongue:

I nissi ecendier i parma. I úmëa tári amápië i Naucor otso.
Etécielyë parmar atta. I nér utúlië.
I Naucor amátier. I seldor ecénier rá imbë i aldar.
Alaitien i aran, an i aran elérië ilyë móli.
Alantielyë, ar ecénienyes. Emétienyes.
I súrë arácië alda lomessë.
Nyéni amátië ilyë lotsinyar!

Translate the following into Quenya:

The grey ship has sailed into the West.
Our mighty king has conquered all the southern kingdoms.
The foxes have hunted the hare through the valley.
The parents have summoned their children to come into the house, and they have come.
The sailors have baled out the water and fastened the boat beside the steps.
The great flood has covered all the fields in the valley, and many animals have died.
The Wizards have established peace in the kingdoms.
The women have baked the bread and the children have eaten it.
The mason has cut the stones and the builder has built the house.
I have spoken, and you have heard me!

[Tuilinde]

EXERCISE TWENTY-THREE

NEGATION USING UA-:

One way of stating negative facts is to use the negative forms of the verb to be.
In the Present and the Aorist this is ua-.
In the Past it is únë- ; in the Perfect, uie- ; in the Future, úva-
All the usual endings may be added to these.

There are three different ways to use this with other verbs:
a) Following a noun, add endings for number to it, and then inflect the following verb.
b) Add pronominal endings to it, and then inflect the following verb.
c) Inflect ua- and add pronominal endings, and then make the following verb Aorist / Infin. This third form seems to be more archaic than a) or b).

a) I Roqueni uar cára ramba. The Riders are not building a wall.
a) I Roqueni uar carë rambar. The Riders do not build walls.
b) Úalyë caruva ramba. You will not build a wall.
b) Uassë acárië ramba. He has not built a wall.
c) Únelmë carë ramba. We did not build a wall.
c) Úvalmë carë ramba. We will not build a wall.

Translate the following sentences into English, or your mother tongue:

Uan mahtëa aranen ulca.
Ualtë cennes i cirya hopassë.
Aiwi uar liruva tenna Tuilë tulë.
Sírë ua sirë Lairessë.
Únen sucë limpelya!
I lossë ua oantië ortollon.
Úvas liltë ettelëan.
Vanimor uar avatyaruva ulundo.
Uielyë tulë coanyanna.
Nieri uar cárar lis.

Translate the following sentences into Quenya:

In Lothlorien the leaves do not fall in Autumn.
The bears will not eat through the Winter.
The child's mother has not left her sick son in many days.
We will not go through the forest.
They have not seen the great city.
I do not want to read your new book!
The robbers did not escape from the prison.
The two champions do not talk before a fight.
At this time the moon has not risen.
The mountain river will not flow through this valley, because it flows through that gorge.