Quenya/Exceptional stems

Words with misguiding final letter
Following words look as words on -r but they are in fact words on  -s:
 * cár &rarr; cas- "head"


 * cor &rarr; cos- "war"


 * fandor &rarr; fandos- "monster"


 * mar &rarr; mas- "home, dwelling"


 * nier &rarr; nies- "honey-bee"

They only have a final -r in the nominative singular, in all other cases they are declined as  cos (see ../Declension Paradigms/).

And these words look as words on -s but they are really words on  -t:
 * ceres &rarr; ceret- "earthenware"


 * hes &rarr; het- "sibling"


 * palis &rarr; palit- "sward, lawn"

They only have a final -s in the nominative singular, in all other cases they are declined as  sarat (see ../Declension Paradigms/).

doubled stems in ts
When these words end in -t we don’t find a genuine doubling but rather an extra  -s:
 * helet &rarr; helets- "fur-coat"


 * henet &rarr; henets- "window"


 * orot &rarr; orots- "cave"


 * quelet &rarr; quelets- "corpse"

Also some words in -s belong to this group:
 * aris &rarr; arits- "daughter"


 * cangaris &rarr; cangarits- "weaver"


 * fas &rarr; fats- "tassel"


 * nos &rarr; nots- "damp"


 * oaris &rarr; oarits- "mermaid"

And one exceptional word in -ë:
 * vitë &rarr; vits- "sap"

These words have a special locative and possessive singular, and they all have a u-dual:

doubled stems in tt

 * calumet &rarr; calumett- "lamp"


 * cehtecet &rarr; cehtecett- "cuckling"


 * lat &rarr; latt-, "flap, lid"


 * lequet &rarr; lequett- "joint"


 * mat &rarr; matt- "meal"


 * nat &rarr; natt- "thing"


 * tecet &rarr; tecett- "letter"

doubled stems in ht

 * cecet &rarr; ceceht- "pheasant"


 * met &rarr; meht- "mark, aim"


 * mut &rarr; muht- "dirt, filth"


 * sarat &rarr; saraht- "plank"


 * teret &rarr; tereht- "auger, gimlet"


 * tet &rarr; teht- "spot, mark"


 * welet &rarr; weleht- "boil, tumour"


 * yat &rarr; yaht- "neck"

Vowel shortening
In some nouns a long vowel is shortened in the stem-form, but otherwise they are declined as if they didn't have that long vowel in the nominative singular.


 * lár &rarr; lar- "ear"


 * nén &rarr; nen- "water"


 * nér &rarr; ner- "man"


 * quén &rarr; quen- "person"


 * tál &rarr; tal- "foot"


 * yár &rarr; yar- "blood" ^

^ The normal word for blood is sercë.

The word yén "Elvish year" is an exception, as its stem-form also has a long  é:  yéni.

Vowel lengthening
In a few words we find the reverse situation. But they are all proper names:
 * Eruhin &rarr; Eruhín- "Child of Eru"


 * Valatar &rarr; Valatár- "Valar-king"


 * Atanatar &rarr; Atanatár- "Forefather"


 * Casar &rarr; Casár- "Dwarf"

Vowel changing
In some words the vowel completely changes. The most frequent words are the U-stems and the I-stems.

There are 2 words that have a stem-forms in –a but a nominative in  –o:
 * rauco &rarr; rauca- "demon"


 * sundo &rarr; sunda- "root"

Note: rauco is in singular and dual a U-stem.

There are also 2 words on –a with a stem-form on  –i:
 * hína &rarr; híni- "child"


 * ónona &rarr; ónoni- "twin"

Words with exceptional connecting vowels
As we have seen: when a case-ending that begins with a consonant, is applied to a noun ending in a consonant we add an –e– between the stem and the ending, e.g.
 * macilen "to a sword" (dative)


 * anarenna "to a king" (allative)

There are however four words that have a different connecting vowel: With –o–
 * tol &rarr; toll- "island"


 * Mandos &rarr; Mandost- "Mandos"


 * so we find e.g.


 * tolossë "on an island" (locative)


 * Mandostonna "to Mandos" (allative)

With –a–
 * tál &rarr; tal- "foot"


 * umbar &rarr; umbart- "fate"


 * so we find e.g.


 * talan "to a foot" (dative)


 * umbartanen "with fate" (instrumental)

Irregular stem-forms
First a group of connected words: All words that denote a "room" end on –san. This is derived from sambë "room", e.g.:
 * caimasan &rarr; caimasamb- "bedroom"

These two words also belong to this group:
 * han &rarr; hamb- "ground"


 * san &rarr; samb- "chamber"

But some words are totally irregular:
 * cilapi &rarr; cilapinc- "robin"


 * hyar &rarr; hyarm- "plough"


 * las &rarr; lax- "snare"


 * lencë &rarr; lenqu- "limb"


 * oito &rarr; oiont- "lack"


 * olos &rarr; olor- "dream"


 * pat &rarr; papt- "small leaf"


 * peltas &rarr; peltax- "pivot"


 * piet &rarr; piecc- "pin"


 * sat &rarr; sapt- "hole"


 * silit &rarr; siliqu- "flint"


 * sincë &rarr; sinqu- "mineral, metal"


 * taran &rarr; taramb- "buffet"


 * telin &rarr; telimb- "roof, covering"


 * tyus &rarr; tyux- "cud"


 * ulun &rarr; ulump- "camel"

Some words resemble ../2-letter words/, but they have a stem-form:
 * rá &rarr; ráv- "lion"


 * nó &rarr; nów- "idea"


 * tó &rarr; tów- "wool"

The possessive singular of these words always ends on -va, the genitive on -vo:
 * rá &rarr; ráva, rávo


 * nó &rarr;  nóva, nóvo


 * tó &rarr; tóva, tóvo

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