Learn Elvish! Newsletter Advanced Quenya (October 2002) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Subscriber, In this issue of the Advanced Quenya course, we'll focus on practical application of words and vocabulary. I hope you've been practising what you learned last month, because it'll make it a whole lot easier. This time we'll focus more on 'fun stuff' rather than technical tools and grammar. For example, you'll be looking at season designations and taking a deep look at the Ring Spell from The Lord of the Rings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in this issue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Seasons * Ring Spell * Assignment * Get Creative! Seasons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Elves (as per The Lord of the Rings) did not have fixed seasons by month as we do, but judged seasons according to the weather and growing patterns. Where you live will determine which months you think of as fitting into seasonal slots as per the Elves. The Elves had 6 seasons: summer and winter were single seasons on their own, but spring and autumn were divided into both early and late respectively. So the exact seasons are early spring, late spring, summer, early autumn, late autumn, and winter. Now that the season introduction is over with, let's get to the word list! Early spring - Coirë Late spring - Tuilë Summer - Lairë Early autumn - Yàvië Late autumn - Quellë Winter - Hrìvë Ring Spell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm not going to give you the whole ring spell, just a small portion of it, and we'll study it in-depth so you get a feel for the language. At the moment, I've got the whole ring spell translated into Quenya as well as the written language, so most likely we'll continue to look at in further issues. "One ring to rule them all, one ring find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them." This is the quote we're going to be looking at in this issue - not very long, and most certainly not very hard for you advanced students (I'm assuming most of you have adequate knowledge of grammar, pronunciation, and decent vocabulary). "Minë corma vala te ilye..." is the first line translated. Naturally, minë means 'one' and corma means 'ring'. Vala is the next word ... it is a verb (I'm assuming you all know what verbs and nouns are), but it is in the infinitive form. For those of you who don't know what infinitive is, it is merely the family name. For example, in English, to jump, to swim, to speak... no one is doing them (except when you add to them), they are just the verb designation. So since vala is in its infinitive form, it means 'to rule'. Usually when Quenyan words are in their infinitive, they are either written as if in the present, or (in special cases) they put the ending -ie on the verb. Te is the next word in that segment, and it means 'them'. It is plural (since there is more than one ring). If you wanted to, you could use the suffix -met (which also means them) and combine it with ilye to form ilyemet which would mean 'all them' instead of 'them all'. There would really be no difference, but I chose this way. As aforementioned, ilye is the next word, and it means 'all'. This is a tricky word because if spelt ilya is not plural! And since we're talking about more than one ring, we want the plural form of 'all'. I hope this doesn't confuse you, but in case it does, I'll give some English examples: 'I want all that piece of paper' vs. 'I want all those toys!'... in the first example, there was only one piece of paper, so the form of 'all' in that case would be ilya, but in the second case, there is many toys, so the correct form of 'all' would be ilye. Assignment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you're still having trouble with any concepts in what I've said, perhaps a hand-in assignment is in order. Depending what your trouble spot is, pick one of the following assignments: Verbs: -List 5 verbs (tense doesn't matter); -Put those verbs into past (choose your favorite kind of past tense, such as 'had'), present (example, I swim), and future (use the word 'will'); -Define 'verb' and 'noun'; -Give 5 examples each in Quenyan of verbs and nouns; Forms of 'All': -Write 3 sentences that include the word 'all' at least once; -Pick out what noun they apply to, and determine whether it is singular or plural; -Give 5 examples each in English of singular and plural nouns; -Give 5 examples each in Quenya of singular and plural nouns; -Apply ilya to the singular words and ilye to the plural nouns. If you are sure you've gotten a firm grasp on both Verbs and the forms of 'all', don't feel you have to hand the assignment in, but I encourage you to do it, since it helps to keep it in your mind. Just reading what I'm teaching doesn't help you retain facts. If you have any serious problems with the assignment or just plain don't understand a word I'm saying, please e- mail me. My e-mail address is listed on every newsletter issue, and I answer every single question/comment/plea for help I receive. I honestly want to help you learn the language, so don't hesitate to ask for help. Get Creative! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, after all that work, now it's time for a little play: use your imaginations and come up with a short story (nothing over 1000 words) or paragraph that is or includes Quenya. As my Advanced Quenya 'class', I'll be putting up some of your work on my website in your own special section. These short works are due by the next newsletter. This is not mandatory, but I hope to see a lot of interesting things in my inbox. Please title your e-mails appropriately, such as "Advanced Quenya" or "short story" or "Learn Elvish". It makes it so much easier and allows me to categorize it more quickly. For all you who love writing short stories, I encourage you to explore the Message Board section of the webpage -- currently there is a role-playing going on, and I hope to expand on it to make the quality better sometime in the near future. Also, whenever you are in the chatroom, don't feel constricted to chat about just Elves or Lord of the Rings -- it's always open for RP! That's enough for now -- give your brains a break, get a snack, do your homework, and feel free to e-mail me with any questions, comments, or assignments. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Learn Elvish webpage >> http://www.learnelvish.com * Learn Elvish Chatroom >> http://www.stormpages.com/axana/chatroom.html * English-Quenya Dictionaries >> http://www.stormpages.com/axana/english.html * Quenya-English Dictionaries >> http://www.stormpages.com/axana/quenya.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: freedombelle@hotmail.com voice: (204)365-0385 web: http://www.learnelvish.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~