ta (1) pron. "that, it" (TA); compare antaróta "he gave it" (FS); see anta-. The forms tar/tara/tanna “thither”, talo/tó “thence” and tás/tassë “there” are originally inflected forms of this pronoun: *”to that”, *”from that” and *”in that” (place), respectively. Compare “there” as one gloss of ta (see #4).
ta (2) adv. “so, like that, also”, e.g. ta mára “so good” (VT49:12)
ta (3) pron. "they, them", an "impersonal" 3rd person pl. stem, referring "only to 'abstracts' or to things (such as inanimates) not by the Eldar regarded as persons" (VT43:20, cf. ta as an inanimate Common Eldarin plural pronoun, VT49:52). Compare te, q.v. The word ta occurring in some versions of Tolkien's Quenya Lord's Prayer may exemplify this use of ta as an "impersonal" plural pronoun: emmë avatyarir ta "we forgive them" (VT43:8, 9; this refers to trespasses, not the trespassers). However, since Tolkien also wanted ta to mean “that” (see #1 above), he may seem to be somewhat dissatisfied with ta “they, them”, introducing variant forms like tai(VT49:32) to free up ta as a sg. pronoun. In one document, taiwas in turn altered to te(VT49:33), which could suggest that the distinction between animate and inanimate “they, them” was abandoned and the form te (q.v.) could be used for both. In some documents, Tolkien seems to use tar as the plural form (VT49:56 mentions this as an uncertain reading in a source where the word was struck out; compare ótar under ó-).
