A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “peck, bite (of flies), annoy” with derivatives like ᴱQ. itisya- “to itch, irritate” and ᴱQ. itse “small fly” (QL/43). The Gnomish word for “fly”, G. sitha, was probably related (GL/68). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, and the word for “fly” became Q. pupso/S. budhu (PE19/101). However, I think it is worth postulating a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√ITITH to salvage early Qenya words for itch and annoy.
Quenya
-itë
suffix. adjectival ending; capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing
Derivations
- ✶-iti “habit or special association with the verbal action” ✧ PE22/155
Element in
- ᴺQ. aitë “of some sort, of any sort”
- Q. caraitë “active, busy, active, busy; [ᴹQ.] able to make, handy, crafty, craftsmanlike, skilled” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. cenítë “seeing, *able to see” ✧ PE22/153; PE22/155
- Q. coloitë “capable of bearing, tolerant (of), enduring” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. cuvoitë “hiding, secretive; treacherous” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. hlonitë “phonetic”
- ᴺQ. lahlaraitë “deaf, (lit.) unable to hear”
- ᴺQ. laitë “false”
- ᴺQ. lalevítë “lame”
- Q. lanotoitë “innumerable”
- ᴺQ. luitë “melancholic, (lit.) habitually being sad”
- Q. maitë “handy, skillful; having a hand, handed; shapely, handy, skillful, [ᴹQ.] skilled; [Q.] shapely, well-shaped; (as suffix) having a hand, handed”
- Q. manaitë “*blessed, having grace” ✧ VT49/42
- ᴺQ. mardaitë “homely, domestic”
- Q. naitë “true” ✧ VT49/28
- Q. nefítë “air-breathing”
- Q. noroitë “(capable of) running” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. nútaite “?lowering (naturally), degrading” ✧ PE22/156
- Q. ólamaitë “consonantal”
- ᴺQ. quetítë “having speech, able to talk, good at expression, glib”
- Q. ruscuitë “foxy” ✧ VT41/10
- Q. sítë “of this sort”
- Q. taitë “of that sort” ✧ VT49/11
- Q. tirítë “watchful, vigilant” ✧ PE22/155
- ᴺQ. tyaraitë “effective, productive, effectual, efficacious”
- Q. xiétë “passing, impermanent” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. yuluitë “drinking (as a habit), *aquatic” ✧ PE22/155
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶-iti > eiti > íte [-eiti] > [-eite] > [-īte] ✧ PE22/155 ✶-iti > [y]eiti > éte [-jeiti] > [-jeite] > [-jēte] ✧ PE22/155 ✶-iti > [w]oiti > aite [-woiti] > [-woite] > [-waite] ✧ PE22/155 ✶-iti > -vuiti > oite [-vuiti] > [-vuite] > [-voite] ✧ PE22/155 Variations
- -ite ✧ PE22/153; VT41/10 (-ite); VT49/28 (-ite); VT49/42 (-ite)
- -iti ✧ PE22/154
- uite ✧ PE22/155
- íte ✧ PE22/155
- éte ✧ PE22/155
- aite ✧ PE22/155
- oite ✧ PE22/155
- ĭti ✧ PE22/156
mirwa
precious, valuable
mirwa adj. "precious, valuable" (PE17:37)