mapa-

grasp, seize

mapa- vb. "grasp, seize" (MAP; according to LT2:339 this word was struck out in the "Gnomish Lexicon" [where it was quoted as the cognate of certain Gnomish words], but it reappears in the Etymologies.) Earlier material gives map- "take" (PE16:133) or map- "seize, take" with pa.t. nampë (QL:59); it is unclear if the pa.t. of map(a)- is still nampë in LotR-style Quenya.

ista

verb. know

ista-

know

ista- (2) vb. "know", pa.t. sintë (IS, LT2:339, VT48:25). This past tense Tolkien called "certainly irregular" (VT48:25, where an alternative pa.t. isintë is also mentioned, but sintë is said to be the older form; compare editorial notes in VT48:32. Ista- is also used for "can" in the sense of "know how to", as in istan quetë "I can speak (because I have learned (a) language)" (VT41:6) Passive participle sinwa "known, certain, ascertained" (VT49:68)

ista-

verb. to know

Derivations

• √IS “know” ✧ PE17/155; VT41/06; VT48/25

Element in

• Q. iluisa “omniscient” ✧ VT39/20
• ᴺQ. istalë “information”
• ᴺQ. istanómë “school, academy”
• Q. istan quetë “I can speak, I know how to speak” ✧ PE17/155; PE17/155
• Q. Istar “Wizard, (lit.) One Who Knows”
• Q. istima “wise (in sense knowing very much), knowledgeable, very well informed, learned”
• Q. laista “ignorance, (lit.) not-knowing”
• Q. lá istan “I suppose so, I don’t know” ✧ PE22/158
• Q. sinwa “known, certain, ascertained” ✧ PE17/068
• Q. sívë “knowing, knowledge”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ISI > istan	[istan]	✧ PE17/155
√isi > istan	[istan]	✧ VT41/06
√IS > is-ta	[ista-]	✧ VT48/25

Variations

• ista ✧ PE17/052; PE22/164; VT49/16
• istā ✧ PE22/148 (istā)
• is-ta ✧ VT48/25

mahtë

noun. hold, grip, *grasp; power, possession

Derivations

• √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp”

mab

grasp

*mab*-[or maba-?] (i vâb, i mebir**) (seize). Only the ”Old Noldorin” form map- is cited in the source (LR:371 s.v. MAP)

mab

grasp

[or ✱maba-?] (i vâb, i mebir) (seize). Only the ”Old Noldorin” form map- is cited in the source (LR:371 s.v. MAP)****

gar

hold

gar- (i **âr, i ngerir = i ñerir) (have, possess; be able, can); pa.t. garant**. (AI:92, VT45:14)

gar

hold

(i ’âr, i ngerir = i ñerir) (have, possess; be able, can); pa.t. garant. (AI:92, VT45:14)

manc

noun. grip, grasp, hold

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Derivations

• √MAH “handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use, handle, manage, control, wield; serve, be of use; [ᴹ√] hand; [ᴱ√] grasp”

mab-

verb. to seize, *grasp, grab; to take away by force

Derivations

• √MAP “take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize”

mapa-

verb. to take hold of, grasp

Cognates

• ᴹQ. mapa- “to grasp, seize, to grasp, seize, [ᴱQ.] take; to ravish, seize and carry off forcibly”

Derivations

• √MAP “take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize” ✧ VT47/07
• T. mapa “hand” ✧ VT47/07
  • ✶makwā “a hand-full, complete hand with all five fingers” ✧ VT47/06; VT47/07; VT47/19
  • √MAK “cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); ️[√] forge metal; kill, slay” ✧ VT47/19
  • √MAP “take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize” ✧ VT47/20

map

root. take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize

This root was connected to grabbing things by hand for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√MAPA “seize” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. map- “seize, take” and ᴱQ. maptale “robbery” (QL/59). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon its main derivative was G. mab “hand” (GL/55). In the Gnomish Lexicon, Tolkien did redefine mab as a dual form of G. mô “hand”, but it was later restored as an independent word and survived all the way into Sindarin as S. mâb “hand”.

The root reappeared as ᴹ√MAP “lay hold of with hand, seize” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a similar set of derivatives (Ety/MAP). √MAP was mentioned again in the late 1960s in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals, with glosses like “take hold of, grasp” (VT47/7) and “take away” (VT47/20). But in these same notes Tolkien made the somewhat shocking decision to abandon this root, proposing instead that S. mâb was derived from CE ✶makwā “handful” (VT47/6).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore this very late idea, since √MAP appears so regularly in Tolkien’s earlier writings.

Derivatives

• ᴺQ. amapta- “to ravish, seize and carry off forcibly”
• Q. maqua “hand-full, group of five (similar) things; hand (colloquial); closing or closed [hand] (facing down) for taking” ✧ VT47/20; VT47/20
• ᴺS. avautha- “to ravish, seize (forcibly)”
• ᴺS. mab- “to seize, *grasp, grab; to take away by force”
• S. mâb “hand, hand, [N.] grasp” ✧ VT47/20
• T. mapa “hand” ✧ VT47/20
  • T. mapa- “to take hold of, grasp” ✧ VT47/07
• T. mapa- “to take hold of, grasp” ✧ VT47/07

Variations

• mapa ✧ VT47/20
• map ✧ VT47/20

nap

root. take (hold), pick up, grasp, seize quickly (with fingers)

A root appearing in notes from the late 1960s on hands and fingers variously glossed as “grasp, seize quickly (with fingers)” (VT47/20), “take hold” (VT47/28) or “take, pick up” (VT47/29). It seems Tolkien introduced this root as part of his rather surprising decision to abandon √MAP “take hold, seize” after 50 years of use, stating that √NAP was the true primitive root and √MAP perhaps a Telerin-only variant of it (VT/7). It may be a restoration of the early root ᴱ√NAPA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which itself was said to be a variant of ᴱ√MAPA “seize” (QL/59, 64). The early root ᴱ√NAPA had no (Early) Qenya derivatives, but some Gnomish derivatives appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, such as G. nab- “take, lay hold of” and G. nabos “seizure” (GL/59). ᴱN. nabru “booty” from Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s was probably also related (PE13/150).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is preferable to retain the root √MAP “take hold, seize”, but √NAP can co-exist with it as a variant of similar meaning, both allowing its 1960s derivatives (mostly thumb words) and salvaging some of its Gnomish derivatives.

Derivatives

• ✶nāpa “thumb, (lit.) picker” ✧ VT47/29
  • Q. nápo “thumb, (lit.) picker” ✧ VT48/16
  • S. nobad “thumb and index finger as a pair, *(lit.) pickers” ✧ VT48/16
  • T. nápa “thumb” ✧ VT48/16
• ᴺQ. nap- “to take (hold), pick up, grasp (with fingers)”
• Q. nápo “thumb, (lit.) picker” ✧ VT47/29
• Q. nappa “claw, talon” ✧ VT47/20
• ᴺS. nab- “to take, lay hold of”
• ᴺS. nabas “seizure”
• ᴺS. nabor “booty”
• S. naub “thumb”
• T. nápa “thumb” ✧ VT47/28

is

root. know

The root √IS was the basis for words having to do with “knowledge” for all of Tolkien’s life, as represented by the verb Q. ista- “to know” which likewise retained the same form and meaning for decades. The root first appeared as ᴱ√ISI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where somewhat cryptically Tolkien said its Gnomish form was GIS or IS (QL/43). This is mysterious because there were no such Gnomish words beginning with gis- in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, but there is an Early Noldorin word ᴱN. gist- “to know” from the 1920s, probably derived from ᴱ✶ʒist- (PE13/144, 146); in this early period initial ʒ- > g- in Gnomish (PE12/17).

Tolkien seems to have abandoned this Noldorin variant, giving the root only as ᴹ√IS in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/IS). In this form it continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/155; PE22/129; VT41/6; VT48/25). In one place Tolkien gave the root in inverted form √SI (PE22/134), and such an inversion appeared in some of its derivatives, such as Q. síma “imagination, mind” (VT49/16) and sinte the irregular past tense of Q. ista-. However, the vast majority of its derivatives are from √IS.

Derivatives

• ✶ista- “to know” ✧ PE22/129; PE22/134
• Q. ista- “to know” ✧ PE17/155; VT41/06; VT48/25
• Q. síma “imagination, mind” ✧ VT48/25

Element in

• ᴺQ. atsinta- “to recognize”

Variations

• ISI ✧ PE17/155
• SI ✧ PE22/134
• isi ✧ VT41/06

si

root. know

ista-

verb. to know

Derivations

• √IS “know” ✧ PE22/129; PE22/134

Variations

• ista ✧ PE22/129; PE22/134; PE22/135; PE22/158
• is-ta ✧ PE22/134

mab

noun. grasp

Cognates

• Ilk. mâb “hand” ✧ EtyAC/MAP

Derivations

• ᴹ√MAP “lay hold of with hand, seize” ✧ EtyAC/MAP

Element in

• N. Mablothren “*Empty-handed”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√MAPA > mab	[mapa] > [map] > [mab]	✧ EtyAC/MAP

gar-

verb. to hold, have

gerin

verb. I hold, I have