HE, HIM

(personal 3rd sg. pronoun): As a pronominal suffix, the entire 3rd person singular “he, she, it” is expressed by the ending -s , e.g. caris *“(s)he/it does” (VT49:16, 48). Sometimes a verb with no pronominal ending whatsoever implies a subject “he, she, it”, e.g. nornë “he ran” (PE17:58), fírië “she has breathed forth” (MR:250), tinë “it glints” (TIN). A distinctly masculine ending -ro does occur in early material (antaváro “he will give”, LR:63), but was apparently abandoned by Tolkien. The ending -s may also appear in the “rare” longer form -së (VT49:51, descended from older -sse, VT49:20), perhaps distinctly personal (cf. násë “he [or she] is” vs. nás “it is”, VT49:27, 30). The ending -s is also attested in object position, e.g. melinyes “I love him” (VT49:21; this could also mean *”I love her” or *”I love it”). “He/she” (or even “it”, when some living thing is concerned) does have a distinct form when it appears as an independent pronoun: se (VT49:37), also with a long vowel (sé, VT49:51) when stressed. (Contrast the use of sa for “it” with reference to non-living things.) The independent form may also appear in object position: melin sé, “I love him [/her]” (VT49:21). Case endings may be added, e.g. allative sena or senna “at him [/her]”, “to him/her” (VT49:14, 45-46); se also appears suffixed to a preposition in the word ósë *”with him/her” (VT43:29). A distinct pronoun hé can be used for “he/she” = “the other”, as in a sentence like “I love him (sé) but not him (hé).” Genitive HIS/HER (or ITS, of a living thing) would normally appear as the ending -rya, e.g. coarya “his house” (WJ:369), máryat “her hands” (Nam), the latter with a dual ending following -rya. “His/her” as an independent word could be *senya (compare ninya “my” vs. ni “I”, nin “for me”). – Reflexive pronoun, see HIMSELF. –VT49:16, 51, VT43:29, VT49:15, LotR:1008