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1 THEY, THEM
(3rd person pl. and dual forms): As the pronominal ending for “they”, Tolkien hesitated between -ltë and -ntë. For instance, a verb like “they do” is attested both as cariltë and carintë (VT49:16, 17). In one text, the ending -ltë is marked as archaic or poetic (VT49:17), but in other paradigms no such qualification occurs (VT49:51). The alternative form -nte- occurs in UT:317, with a second pronominal marker (-s “it”, denoting the object) following: Tiruvantes "they will keep it". General considerations of euphony may favour -ltë rather than -ntë (e.g. *quenteltë rather than *quententë for “they spoke” – in the past tense, many verbs end in -ntë even before any pronominal endings are supplied, like quentë “spoke” in this example). The ending -ltë (unlike -ntë) would also conform with the general system that the plural pronominal endings include the plural marker l (VT48:11). – In Tolkien’s early material, the ending -ltë appears as -lto instead (e.g. tulielto “they have come”, LT1:270). – A simple plural verb (with ending -r) can have “they” as its implied subject, as in the example quetir en “they still say” (PE17:167). – In the independent pronouns, distinct forms of may be used depending on whether “they, them” refers to living beings (persons, animals or even plants) or to non-living things or abstracts. The “personal” independent pronoun is te, which may have a long vowel when stressed (té, VT49:51). It is also attested in object position (laita te “bless them”, LotR:989 cf. Letters:308, VT43:20). It can receive case endings, e.g. dative ten (VT49:14; variant forms téna and tien, VT49:14, VT43:12, 21). As the “impersonal” they, them referring to non-living things, Tolkien in some sources used ta (VT43:20; 8, 9), but this apparently caused dissatisfaction because he also wanted ta to be the singular pronoun “that, it”. According to VT49:32, the form tai was introduced as the word for impersonal or inanimate “they, them” (in some places changed to te, apparently suggesting that Tolkien considered using te for both personal and impersonal “they/them”, abandoning the distinction). Another source (VT49:51) lists sa as the pl. impersonal form, but all other published sources use this pronoun for singular impersonal “it”, not pl. “they”. – The object “them” can also be expressed by the ending -t following another pronominal suffix (laituvalmet, “we shall bless [or praise] them", LotR:989 cf Letters:308). Presumably this ending -t makes no distinction between personal and impersonal forms. – Quenya also possesses special dual forms of “they, them”, used where only two persons or things are referred to (none of these pronouns distinguish between personal and impersonal forms). In VT49:16, the old ending for dual “they” is given as -stë (marked as archaic or poetic), but this would clash with the corresponding 2nd person ending. According to VT49:51, this ending was changed (also within the imaginary world) from -stë to -ttë, which seems the better alternative (*carittë, “the two of them do”). The independent dual pronoun is given as tú (ibid.) However, it may also be permissible to use te for “they, them” even where only two persons are involved (te is seemingly used with reference to Frodo and Sam in one of the examples above, laita te “bless them”). – Genitive forms, see THEIR; reflexive pronoun, see THEMSELVES.
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