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).

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

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.)

yestië

noun. beginning

enna

first

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

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.

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)

setta

first

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

yessë

noun. beginning

yeset Reconstructed

root. beginning

The root ᴹ√ESE(T) “precede” and ᴹ√SET “precede forward” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. esse “beginning”, ᴹQ. esta “first”, and N. seth {“first” >>} “forth”, but the ᴹ√SET forms were rejected and the ᴹ√ESE(T) forms marked with a “?”, being in conflict with ᴹ√ES “indicate, name” (Ety/ESE; EtyAC/SET). The appearance of Q. yesta “beginning” and Q. Yestarë “first day of the year” in later writings (LotR/1108-1109; PE17/120) indicate the root was probably revised to ✱√YESET.

minya

ordinal. first

edhen

adjective. first

ereg

place name. First

Earlier name for the river S. Erui from Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, apparently a Noldorin word meaning ereg “first” (TI/312, WR/436).

ereg

adjective. first

minya

ordinal. first

main

ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent

mein

ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent

mein

ordinal. first

minui

ordinal. first

minui

ordinal. first

ned

noun. first, *one more; first; *during

This word replaced the preposition uin “of the” in the third version of the King’s Letter, appearing in the phrase nelchaenen ned Echuir “the thirty-first day of Stirring”. Both Carl Hostetter (VT31/30) and David Salo (SG/229) theorized that this replacement has a similar prepositional function, from either √NOT “count” or √NED “middle”. Fiona Jallings suggested it might be a temporal preposition, with sense “during” (FJNS/349).

On VT47/40, note 67, Patrick Wynne suggested that this word might be a cognate of the newly published Quenya word net(ë) “one more”. This theory is supported by the most likely interpretation of nelchaenen. This word seems to mean “thirtieth” rather than “thirty-first”, and Patrick Wynne suggested that nelchaenen ned means “thirtieth and one more” = “thirty-first”. I find this theory the most compelling, and use it here.

erui

first

(single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.

minui

first

1) minui (lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form), 2) mîn (lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”; 3) erui (single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.

minui

first

(lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form)

mîn

first

(lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”