Q. -lvë suf. “we (inclusive)” (Category: Pronoun)
The suffix -lvë is the first person plural inclusive inflection: “we (including you)” (PE17/130; VT49/16, 51). The corresponding possessive form -lva “our (inclusive)” appears in its genitive form -lvo in the famous phrase elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo.
Possible Etymology: Tolkien indicated that this inflection was ultimately derived from the primitive pronoun ✶we, with the same plural marker l as other plural inflections such as -l(yë) and -ltë, and that its oldest form was ✶-lwe (PE17/130; VT49/50-51). At one point Tolkien indicated that the change of lw > lv was the normal phonetic development in Quenya (PE17/129). There little evidence that Tolkien carried through with the phonetic rule, however, and there are plenty of examples of unmodified lw in later Quenya. A better explanation might be that -lwe changed to -lve under the influence of the independent pronoun ve². These ideas came out of a discussion with Shihali on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) on Jan 28, 2018.
Conceptual Development: @@@
References ✧ PE17/130; VT49/16, 51
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Phonetic Developments
| ✶-lwe > -lve | [-lwe] > [-lve] | ✧ PE17/130 |
| ✶we > -lwe > -lve | [-lwe] > [-lve] | ✧ VT49/51 |
Q. -lmë² suf. “we (inclusive)” (Category: Pronoun)
References ✧ PE17/57, 129, 190; PE23/69; VT49/38, 48
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Related