Ad. #nakh- v. (biconsonantal-verb) “to come” (Category: to Come)

Ad. #nakh- v. (biconsonantal-verb) “to come” (Category: to Come)

A verb translated in the past tense as “came” (SD/247, 311), so probably meaning “to come”. Like kalab-, this is one of the few Adûnaic verbs attested in more than one conjugation. As such, it is useful in the study of Adûnaic verbs, in this case biconsonantal-verbs as opposed to triconsonantal kalab-.

It is attested in two forms, unakkha “he-came” and yanākhim “are at hand”. The initial elements in these forms are the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u- and the 3rd-pl neuter pronominal prefix ya-, respectively, while the latter form has the plural verbal suffix -m. Removing these elements leaves the conjugated forms nakkha and nākhi, which are the past and continuative-present tenses according to the theories used here. If the second form is the continuative-present, its literal meaning may be “are coming”.

Conceptual Development: In the draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth, this verb stem was apparently nek-, with past forms hunekkū >> unekkū “he-came”, with Tolkien vacillating on the proper form of the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u-.

References ✧ SD/247, 251, 311-312

Changes

Inflections

yanākhim 3rd-pl-neut continuative-present plural “are at hand” ✧ SD/251
hunekkū 3rd-sg-masc past; draft “he-came” ✧ SD/311
unakkha 3rd-sg-masc past “he-came” ✧ SD/247
unakkha 3rd-sg-masc past   ✧ SD/312
unekkū 3rd-sg-masc past; draft “he-came” ✧ SD/311

Element In

Derivations