Eldamo : Quenya : -itë

Q. -itë (-iti-) suf. “adjectival ending; [with verbs] capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing” (Category: Can, May)

Q. -itë (-iti-), suf. “adjectival ending; [with verbs] capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing” (Category: Can, May)

A suffix for adjective formation, dating all the way back to Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s. When used with verbs, it has the more specific meaning “capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing”, as in active cenítë “able to see” vs. passive cénima “visible, able to be seen”, both from cen- “to see”. The verbal use of this suffix was first described in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 (PE22/111), and was described again in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/155).

When used with a verb, the suffix was preceded by the base vowel of the verb: i, e, a, o, u. This produced various diphthongs, and in the case of ei usually had [ei] becoming [ī]. The basic examples Tolkien gave were tirítë “watchful, vigilant, *apt to watch”, cenítë “able to see”, caraitë “active, busy, *apt to do”, coloitë “capable of bearing, tolerant (of), enduring”, and yuluitë “drinking (as a habit), *aquatic”.

Conceptual Development: As a general adjective suffix, there was a variant ᴱQ. -voite that was quite common in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, also appearing in ᴹQ. hanuvoite “*masculine” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/INI), but not thereafter. In Tolkien’s earlier writings, -itë had no specific verbal function, and ᴱQ. -alka, -elka, -olka was the suffix meaning “able to” in notes on The Qenya Verb Forms from the 1920s (VT14/33). This earlier verbal suffix also varied in form depending on the base vowel of the verb.

References ✧ PE22/153-156; VT41/10; VT49/11, 28, 42

Glosses

“adjectival ending” ✧ VT49/28 (*-ite); VT49/42 (*-ite)
“capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing” ✧ PE22/154 (-iti)

Variations

-ite ✧ PE22/153; VT41/10 (#-ite); VT49/11 (#-itë); 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

-iti “capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing” often functioning as an active form of passive -ima ✧ PE22/154

Element In

ᴺQ. !aitë “of some sort, of any sort”
ᴺQ. !anyaitië “range, reach, distance of capability”
ᴺQ. !camaitë “suitable, fitting”
ᴺQ. !capaitë “leaping, bounding”
ᴺQ. !ermaitë “concrete, material”
ᴺQ. !lahlaraitë “deaf, (lit.) unable to hear”
ᴺQ. !laitë “false”
ᴺQ. !lalevítë “lame”
ᴺQ. !luitë “melancholic, (lit.) habitually being sad”
ᴺQ. !mailengaitë “well-mannered”
ᴺQ. !mardaitë “homely, domestic”
ᴺQ. !mínaite “straightforward, (lit.) apt to have some end in view”
ᴺQ. !saulengaitë “ill-mannered”
ᴺQ. ^tuluitë “*able to come”
ᴺQ. !tulyaitë “able to bring”
ᴺQ. !tyaraitë “effective, productive, effectual, efficacious”
Q. cenítë “seeing, *able to see” ✧ PE22/153 (#keníte); PE22/155 (keníte)
Q. hlonitë “phonetic”
Q. lanotoitë “innumerable”
Q. maitë “handy, skillful; having a hand, handed; shapely”
Q. #nefítë “air-breathing”
Q. noroitë “(capable of) running” ✧ PE22/155
Q. #ólamaitë “consonantal”
Q. sítë “of this sort”
Q. yuluitë “drinking (as a habit), *aquatic” ✧ PE22/155
Q. caraitë “active, busy” ✧ PE22/155 (karaite)
Q. coloitë “capable of bearing, tolerant (of), enduring” ✧ PE22/155 (koloite)
Q. cuvoitë “hiding, secretive; treacherous” ✧ PE22/155 (kuvoite)
Q. manaitë “*blessed, having grace” ✧ VT49/41
Q. naitë “true” ✧ VT49/28
Q. nútaite “*(naturally) lowering, ?degrading” ✧ PE22/156
Q. ruscuitë “foxy” ✧ VT41/10 (ruskuite)
Q. taitë “of that sort” ✧ VT49/11
Q. tirítë “watchful, vigilant” ✧ PE22/155
Q. xiétë “passing, impermanent” ✧ PE22/155

Derivations

< ✶-iti “habit or special association with the verbal action” ✧ PE22/155; PE22/155; PE22/155; PE22/155
- < eiti < -iti ✧ PE22/155
- < [y]eiti < -iti ✧ PE22/155
- < [w]oiti < -iti ✧ PE22/155
- < -vuiti < -iti ✧ PE22/155

Phonetic Developments

✶-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