tengwa (pl. tengwar is attested) (1) noun "letter" Tengwa(ñ) is defined as "any one visible sign representing (theoretically) any one audible teñgwe" (phoneme) (VT39:17). In non-technical usage tengwa was equivalent to "consonant", since only the consonants were full signs (WJ:396, TEK). In the Etymologies, tengwa was apparently emended from tengwë(VT46:17).
tengwa- (2) vb. “to read written matter”, called a “weak verb”; aorist [teng]wa “reads”, present tense [teng]wëa “is reading”, past tense [teng]wane “read”, perfect e[teng]wië “has read”, the latter without lengthening of the stem-vowel (not **eténgwië) because there is a consonant cluster following (VT49:55). Gerund or “verbal noun” tengwië, also attested with a pronominal suffix + genitive: tengwiesto “of your (dual) reading” (VT49:47, 48, 52, 54)
