Quenya 

ista

verb. know

Quenya [PE 22:104, 112; PE 22:158] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

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

DevelopmentStagesSources
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
Quenya [PE17/052; PE17/068; PE17/077; PE17/155; PE22/148; PE22/156; PE22/157; PE22/158; PE22/159; PE22/164; VT39/20; VT41/06; VT48/25; VT49/16] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sinwa

known, certain, ascertained

sinwa passive participle "known, certain, ascertained" (PE17:68), connecting with ista- and sintë. Also sína.

sinwa

adjective. known, certain, ascertained

Element in

  • ᴺQ. maisinwa “well-known, notable, famous”

istanwa

known, generally recognized

Quenya [PE 22:112] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

sína

known, certain, ascertained

sína passive participle "known, certain, ascertained" (PE17:68), connecting with ista- and sintë. Also sinwa.

Sindarin 

sinnen

adjective. known

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
ista-“to have knowledge, to have knowledge, [G.] know, be aware, perceive, feel”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Primitive elvish

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

Variations

  • ISI ✧ PE17/155
  • SI ✧ PE22/134
  • isi ✧ VT41/06
Primitive elvish [PE17/155; PE22/129; PE22/134; VT41/06; VT48/25] Group: Eldamo. Published by

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
Primitive elvish [PE22/129; PE22/130; PE22/134; PE22/135; PE22/158] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

ista-

verb. to know

Cognates

  • N. ista- “to have knowledge, to have knowledge, [G.] know, be aware, perceive, feel” ✧ Ety/IS

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶ista- “to know”
    • ᴹ√IS “*know”
  • ᴹ√IS “*know” ✧ Ety/IS

Element in

  • ᴹQ. istalima “knowable, ascertainable”
  • ᴹQ. istare “knowledge”
  • ᴹQ. istima “having knowledge, wise, learned” ✧ Ety/IS

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√IS > ista-[ista-]✧ Ety/IS

Variations

  • ista ✧ PE22/104; PE22/107; PE22/115
  • ist(ă) ✧ PE22/114
Qenya [Ety/IS; PE22/104; PE22/106; PE22/107; PE22/108; PE22/109; PE22/111; PE22/112; PE22/114; PE22/115] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

ista-

verb. to know

Derivations

  • ᴹ√IS “*know”

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. ista- “to know”
  • N. ista- “to have knowledge, to have knowledge, [G.] know, be aware, perceive, feel”

Variations

  • istă ✧ PE22/098
Middle Primitive Elvish [PE22/095; PE22/098] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

gist-

verb. to know

Derivations

Early Noldorin [PE13/144] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

aha

root. know

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “know”, but most of its derivatives have to do with “mind” (QL/29). There are quite a few later roots filling this same semantic space, and this root was probably abandoned.

Derivatives

  • Eq. â “mind, inner thought” ✧ QL/029
  • Eq. akta “notion” ✧ QL/029
  • Eq. áma “mind, heart, thought”
  • G. ôm “mind, heart, thought”

Variations

  • ‘AHA ✧ QL/029
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/029] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ŋolo

root. to know

Derivatives

  • ᴱ✶Ngol(o)dō-
    • Eq. Noldo “Gnome” ✧ PE13/145
    • Eq. noldare “mole” ✧ QL/067
    • En. Golodh “Gnome, Deep-elf” ✧ PE13/145
    • Et. goldo ✧ PE13/145
  • ᴱ✶ŋolđō
    • Eq. Noldo “Gnome” ✧ GL/41
    • Eq. noldare “mole” ✧ QL/067
    • G. Golda “Gnome, wise one” ✧ GL/41
  • ᴱ✶ŋōlo
    • G. Golda “Gnome, wise one” ✧ PE13/117; PE13/117
  • ᴱ✶ŋolta
    • G. Golda “Gnome, wise one” ✧ PE13/117
  • Eq. Noldo “Gnome” ✧ LT1A/Noldoli; QL/067
  • Eq. nóleme “deep lore, wisdom” ✧ LT1A/Noldoli; QL/067
  • G. Golda “Gnome, wise one” ✧ LT1A/Noldoli
  • G. golma “lore, wisdom, ancient lore”
  • En. gûl “wisdom”

Variations

  • NOL ✧ LT1A/Noldoli
  • ŇOL ✧ QL/067
  • ŇOLO ✧ QL/067
Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Noldoli; QL/067] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

ista-

verb. to know

Cognates

  • G. ista- “to know, be aware, perceive, feel”

Derivations

  • ᴱ√ISI “*know” ✧ LT2A/Eldarissa; QL/043

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√ISI > ista[ista-]✧ LT2A/Eldarissa
ᴱ√ISI¹ > ista[ista-]✧ QL/043

Variations

  • ista ✧ LT2A/Eldarissa; PE16/133; QL/043
Early Quenya [LT2A/Eldarissa; PE14/086; PE15/32; PE16/133; QL/043; QL/085] Group: Eldamo. Published by