Q. tië n. “path, road, way, line” (Category: Path)
This was the basic Quenya word for “path” for most of Tolkien’s life. This word dates all the way back to ᴱQ. tie “line, direction, route, road” under the early root ᴱ√TEHE “pull” (QL/90). In Early Qenya Word-lists Tolkien revised {ᴱQ. tie} “path” to kie (PE16/143), and in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, the form was tē “path” (PE21/40). These seem to have been temporary ideas since by The Etymologies of the 1930s the form was again ᴹQ. tie “path, course, line, direction, way” under the root {ᴹ√TEƷ >>} ᴹ√TEÑ “line, direction” (Ety/TEƷ).
Its most notable appearance in Tolkien’s later writings was in the Namárië poem, within the phrase ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë “and all paths are drowned deep in shadow” (LotR/377). In green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from around 1970, Tolkien derived tie from primitive ✶tegē “line, road” (PE19/71); in this document the root √TEG was glossed “line”, as opposed to √TEÑ “signify” (PE19/97).
Neo-Quenya: The word tie had many possible translations, such as “path, road” (PE17/13), “road, way” (PE17/72), or “line, direction” (Ety/TEƷ). I believe its basic meaning is “*line of travel” (not necessarily straight), and can refer to both the path or road travelled upon as well as the way or route of the travel itself. For a simple “straight line”, I would use the related word [ᴹQ.] tea.
References ✧ LotR/377; PE17/13, 72, 76; PE19/71; PE23/134; RGEO/58-59; UT/22; VT39/20; VT47/11
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| tielyanna | 2nd-sg-polite-poss allative | “upon your path” | ✧ UT/22 |
| tier | plural; er-plural | “paths” | ✧ LotR/377 |
| tier | plural; er-plural | “ways” | ✧ PE17/72 |
| tier | plural; er-plural | ✧ PE17/76 | |
| tier | plural | “paths” | ✧ PE23/134 |
| tier | plural; er-plural | “roads, paths” | ✧ VT39/20 |
| tiër | plural; er-plural | ✧ PE17/72 | |
| tiër | plural; er-plural | “roads” | ✧ RGEO/59 |
| tíër | plural; er-plural | “paths” | ✧ RGEO/58 |
Element In
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶tegē > tie | [tegē] > [teɣē] > [tejē] > [tie] | ✧ PE19/71 |
ᴹQ. tie n. “path, course, line, direction, way” (Category: Path)
References ✧ Ety/TEƷ; PE21/40; PE22/46
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| tello | ablative | ✧ PE21/40 |
| télo | ablative | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tellut | ablative dual; assimilated | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tea | accusative | ✧ PE21/40 |
| †teünt | accusative dual | ✧ PE21/40 |
| †teüt | accusative dual | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tét | accusative dual | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tehta | allative; assimilated | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tehtau | allative dual; assimilated | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tēn | dative | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tëa | dative dual | ✧ PE21/40 |
| teo | genitive | ✧ PE21/40 |
| te(u)hta | genitive dual | ✧ PE21/40 |
| ténen | instrumental | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tekse | locative; assimilated | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tekset | locative dual; assimilated | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tē | nominative | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tent | nominative dual | ✧ PE21/40 |
| teksin | nominative plural | ✧ PE21/40 |
| télin | nominative plural | ✧ PE21/40 |
| téva | possessive | ✧ PE21/40 |
| tekson | similative | ✧ PE21/40 |
| ténon | similative | ✧ PE21/40 |
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶teʒē > tie | [tegē] > [tejē] > [tie] | ✧ Ety/TEƷ |