_ v. _make marks or signs, write, inscribe. >> taith, teith, teithant
Quenya
tec-
write
tec-
write
teitha-
verb. make marks or signs
teitha-
verb. to write, draw, inscribe, make marks or signs
Derivations
Element in
- S. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin “Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs” ✧ LotR/0305; PE17/043
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶tekta- > teith- [tekta-] > [tektʰa-] > [texθa-] > [teiθa-] ✧ PE17/043 Variations
- teith- ✧ PE17/043
teitha
write
teitha- (i deitha, i theithar) (draw)
teitha
write
(i deitha, i theithar) (draw)
teitha-
verb. to write
teitha-
verb. to write, draw
Cognates
- ᴹQ. tek- “to write, to write, [ᴱQ.] write on; to mark” ✧ Ety/TEK
Derivations
- ᴹ√TEK “write or draw (signs or letters), make a mark” ✧ Ety/TEK
Element in
- N. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thíw thin “Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs” ✧ TI/182
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ√TEK > teitho [tekta-] > [tektʰa-] > [texθa-] > [teiθa-] ✧ Ety/TEK
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!
tek-
verb. to write, to write, [ᴱQ.] write on; to mark
Cognates
- N. teitha- “to write, draw” ✧ Ety/TEK
Derivations
- ᴹ√TEK “write or draw (signs or letters), make a mark” ✧ Ety/TEK
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴹ√TEK > teke [tek-] ✧ Ety/TEK
tectha-
verb. to write
Derivations
- ᴱ√TEKE “make marks”
tekta-
verb. to write
Derivations
- ᴱ√TEKE “make marks” ✧ QL/090
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ᴱ√TEKE > tekta- [tekta-] ✧ QL/090
sar-
verb. to write
A verb appearing as ᴱQ. sar- “write” in Early Qenya Word-lists from the 1920s. Hints at its later validity may be seen in Q. sarat, the names of the letters in the Sarati alphabet, and the root √SAR “score, incise; write”, both mentioned in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60.
Neo-Quenya: Most Neo-Quenya writers use [ᴹQ.] tec- as the ordinary word for write, given its obvious association to Q. tehta and Q. tengwa. One of the challenges with sar- for “write” is that in Tolkien’s later writings, √SAR is also associated with “stone”, as in S. sarn/Q. sar “(small) stone”. In a discussion on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) in April 2022, Röandil suggested restoring ᴺQ. sar- with the sense “to mark (i.e. by incision), notch, score; (by later extension) to write”. Based on this I invented the following (fan-based) etymology:
Given its derivatives, it seems likely that √SAR is associated with stone but also with marks, probably originally marks in stone but generalized from there to marks on other substances. From this sar- was used as the basis for the earliest system of writing, both as a verb and in the name sarati. However, with the introduction of Feanor’s tengwar alphabet, this word no longer seemed suitable for as a general writing word, and was displaced by tec-, originally also meaning “make a mark”, but not specifically associated with stone.
Since tec- now usually meant “write”, the archaic sense “mark, score” was restored to sar-. This was aided by the fact that sar- was primarily a transitive verb, and used some awkward constructions. In particular, with the verb sar-, the direct object was always the thing written on, rather than the thing written. Thus with sar-, the proper way to say “write a sentence on paper” was actually sare hyalin quettalénen “write [on] paper with a sentence [instrumental]”, a construction that still survives, though now somewhat archaic. Meanwhile, the direct object of tec- is the thing written, so one would say tece quettale hyalinesse “write a sentence on paper”.
Note that this last construction [sare hyalin quettalénen] is inspired by Tolkien’s usage of the ᴱQ. verb teke- from the 1910s (QL/90), and essentially reverses of the Early Qenya paradigm of the 1910s and 20s, switching the roles of tek- and sar-. There is no evidence that the above Neo-Quenya discussion matches Tolkien’s own thoughts on the subject, so it should be considered “etymological fan-fiction”.
Changes
sár-→ săr- ✧ PE16/133Element in
- Eq. saramór “*writing-ink” ✧ PE16/133
- Eq. sinda nekka ui sara ro sinda hyalin me sinda móro “*this pen is not writing on this paper with this ink” ✧ PE16/146
Variations
- săr- ✧ PE16/133
- sár- ✧ PE16/133 (
sár-)
tec- vb. "write" (Etym gives the form tecë"writes", evidently the 3rd person aorist) (TEK)