yestarë

beginning-day

yestarë noun *"beginning-day", the first day of the year (loa), immediately before the season of tuilë (Appendix D, PE17:120)

yestarë

proper name. first day of the year

The first day of the year in the calendar of Imladris, the Númenórean calendar and the Steward’s Reckoning (LotR/1108-9), a compound of yesta “beginning” and ré “day”.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the first day of the year was ᴹQ. Minyen (Ety/YEN), a combination of the root ᴹ√MIN, which had derivatives like ᴹQ. minya “first”, and ᴹQ. yén “year”. In drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices from the 1940s, the first day of the year was initially given as ᴹQ. Vinyarië “Newyear’s Day” (PM/127), where its first element was ᴹQ. vinya “young, new”. Later in the drafts it was given as ᴹQ. Entare “Year’s beginning” (PM/134).

Cognates

• ᴺS. iestor “first day of the new year”

Elements

Word	Gloss
yesta	“beginning, beginning, *start”
ré	“day (period from sunset to sunset)”

Variations

• yestarë ✧ LotR/1108; LotR/1108; LotR/1109; PE17/120; UT/327; UTI/yestarë

yesta

beginning

yesta (2) noun "beginning" (PE17:120). Also attested in the compound yestarë (see below), but cf. esta #2.

yesta

noun. beginning, beginning, *start

@@@ gloss “start” suggested by Robert Reynolds

Derivations

• √YESET “beginning”

Element in

• Q. Yestarë “first day of the year” ✧ PE17/120

esta

first

esta (2) adj. "first" (ESE/ESET); this entry was marked with a query. The word Yestarë (q.v.) "Beginning-day" in LotR suggests that Tolkien decided to change the stem in question to _YESE/YESET_. We could then read *yesta for esta (but later this became a noun "beginning" rather than an adj. "first", PE17:120) and also prefix a y to the other words derived from ESE/ESET (essë* > yessë, essëa > yessëa). Estanossë noun "the firstborn", read likewise Yestanossë** (*Yestanessi?) but in a later text, Tolkien used Minnónar (q.v.) for "the Firstborn" as a name of the Elves, and this form may be preferred. _(In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word _Estanossë is cited as "Estanesse", but according to VT45:12, the second-to-last vowel is actually o in Tolkien's manuscript.)

essë

beginning

essë (3) noun "beginning" (ESE/ESET). This entry was marked by a query in Etym, and a word in the appendices to LotR suggests that it was emended to *YESE/YESET; we may therefore read *yessë for essë. (See esta #2.) However, for the purposes of writing the form yesta "beginning" from PE17:120 may be preferred.

setta

first

[setta, setya adj. "first" (possibly also "primary", but Tolkien's gloss was not certainly legible) (VT46:13)]

enna

first

[enna adj. "first" (VT45:12)]

inga

first

inga (2) adj. "first" (ING)

minya

first

minya adj. "first" (MINI) (cf. Minyatur, Minyon); "eminent, prominent" (VT42:24, 25). Minyar "Firsts", the original name of the Vanyar (or rather the direct Quenya descendant of the original Primitive Quendian name) (WJ:380)

yestië

noun. beginning

Elements

Word	Gloss
yesta-	“to begin, to begin, *start”

yessë

noun. beginning

Derivations

• √YESET “beginning”