Eldamo : Quenya : tenna¹

Q. tenna¹ prep. and conj. “until, up to, as far as, to the point, to reach, still” (Category: Time (other))

Q. tenna¹, prep. and conj. “until, up to, as far as, to the point, to reach; still [in reference to past = *until then]” (Category: Time (other)): ᴹQ. ten “for”

The usual Quenya word for “until” or “unto”, most notably appearing in Elendil’s Oath in the phrase sinomë maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta “in this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world” (LotR/967). More precisely it means “up to, as far as, to the point”, and is an allative formation based on the root √TEN “direction, end in sense of point aimed at” (PE17/187; VT49/24). As such it means “until” in reference to the future, but in reference to the present or past it may mean “up until now/then” or “still”, as in yá tenn’ aldar lente landanóressë ólaner “when still [until then] trees grew free in a wide country” (CPT/1297-8). It can also be used spatially, as in sustanë Manwëo súlë ten[na] i indo Sindicollo “*the spirit of Manwe blew unto the heart of Thingol” (NM/239).

See also more specific tensi “until now/here” and tenta “until then [past]”.

Conceptual Development: The first version of Elendil’s Oath from Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s had kenn’ “unto”, but this was soon revised to ᴹQ. tenn’ (SD/56). The ᴹQ. Koivienéni sentence from the late 1930s had ᴹQ. mennai “until”: ᴹQ. mennai Orome tanna lende i erenekkoitanie “until Orome came thither that he might awake them” (VT27/7).

References ✧ CPT/1298; LotR/967; NM/239; PE17/103, 105, 187; PE22/147; UT/317; VT44/35-36; VT49/23-24

Glosses

“*up to, as far as” ✧ VT44/35 (tenna)
“right up to a point” ✧ VT49/23 (tenna)
“to the object, up to, to (reach), as far as” ✧ PE17/103
“to the point” ✧ VT49/24
“to the point, until” ✧ VT49/24
“Until” ✧ PE17/105
“up to” ✧ PE17/103
“up to, as far as” ✧ UT/317
“up to, to reach, as far as” ✧ PE17/187

Variations

tenna ✧ PE17/103; PE17/103; PE17/105; PE17/187; UT/317; VT49/24; VT49/24; VT44/35 (tenna); VT49/23 (tenna)

Inflections

ten	elided		✧ NM/239
tenn’	elided	“still”	✧ CPT/1298
tenn’	elided	“unto”	✧ LotR/967
tenn’	elided		✧ PE22/147; VT44/36

Element In

Q. sinomë maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta “In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world” ✧ LotR/967; PE17/103; PE17/105; PE22/147
Q. yá tenn’ aldar lente landanóressë ólaner “when still trees grew free in a wide country” ✧ CPT/1297; CPT/1298
Q. et sillumello ter yénion yéni tenn’ ambarmetta “*from this hour, through years of years until the ending of the world” ✧ VT44/33
Q. sustanë Manwëo súlë ten i indo Sindicollo ar he lastanë ar carnes “*the spirit of Manwe blew unto the heart of Thingol and he listened and did it” ✧ NM/239
Q. tennoio “forever” ✧ UT/317

Cognates

ᴺS. !naden “until, up to, as far as”

Derivations

< √TEN “direction; point (toward); end (in sense of point aimed at)” ✧ PE17/187; VT49/23 (ten-); VT49/24; VT49/24

Phonetic Developments

√TEN > tenna	[tenna]	✧ PE17/187
√ten- > tenna	[tenna]	✧ VT49/23
√ten > tenna	[tenna]	✧ VT49/24
√ten > tenna	[tenna]	✧ VT49/24

kenn’	elided	“until”	✧ SD/56
tenn’	elided	“until”	✧ SD/56