As the basis for “father” words, √AT and its extended form √ATAR date all the way back to Tolkien’s earliest ideas. The root itself did not explicitly appear in the Qenya or Gnomish Lexicons of the 1910s, but forms like ᴱQ. atar, G. †ador “father” indicate its presence (QL/33; GL/17). The root ᴹ√ATA “father” did appear in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. atar, N. adar (Ety/ATA) and the base √AT(AR) “father” was mentioned again in late 1960s notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals (VT48/19). In this late period, the Elvish words for “father” remained Q. atar and S. adar (PM/324).
Primitive elvish
ata
suffix. numerative dual ending
Derivatives
atar
noun. father
Derivations
- √AT(AR) “father”
Derivatives
Variations
- atan ✧ PE21/71; PE21/83
- átar ✧ PE21/74; PE21/75; PE21/76
- atta ✧ PE21/83
- atto ✧ PE21/83
atta
cardinal. two
Derivations
- √ATATA “two, two; [ᴹ√] again, back” ✧ VT48/19
Derivatives
Element in
- ✶galadā atta “2 trees” ✧ PE21/74
Variations
- Atta ✧ NM/060
- Tata ✧ NM/060
tata
masculine name. Two
Element in
- Q. Tatalië “*Company of Tata”
at
root. two, double, bi-, di-; back, re-; across, over, lying from side to side, two, double, bi-, di-; back, re-, [ᴹ√] again, twice; [ᴱ√] dual; [√] across, over, lying from side to side
Changes
AT→ AT(A) “a second time, once more, again” ✧ VT42/26Derivatives
Element in
Variations
- AT(A) ✧ PE17/148; PE17/166; VT42/26
- ATA ✧ PE17/167; PE21/74
- at(a) ✧ VT42/26
- ata- ✧ VT43/33
atata
root. two, two; [ᴹ√] again, back
Derivatives
Element in
- ✶atatya “double” ✧ VT42/27
Variations
- AT-TA ✧ PE17/148; PE17/166 (AT-TA)
- ATTA ✧ PE21/74; VT42/24
- TATA ✧ PE21/74; VT42/24
- Atat ✧ VT42/27
- tat(ă) ✧ VT48/19
at(ar)
root. father
Derivatives
Element in
Variations
- at/atar ✧ VT48/19
(a)tata
cardinal. two
Derivations
- √ATATA “two, two; [ᴹ√] again, back” ✧ VT42/27
Derivatives
Element in
Variations
- atta- ✧ PE17/014 (atta-)
- atata ✧ VT42/27
- atta/tata ✧ WJ/421
khan
root. back
Derivatives
- Q. han- “*back as an answer or return by another agent” ✧ PE17/166
Variations
- KHAN ✧ PE17/157; PE17/166
tō/oto
root. back
A root in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, which Tolkien specified as meaning: “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). But Tolkien crossed this all through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).
Element in
- Q. tóquet- “to answer” ✧ PE17/166
Variations
TŌ/OT(O)✧ PE17/166 (TŌ/OT(O)); PE17/187 (TŌ/OT(O))OT✧ PE17/167; VT47/16 (OT)OT(O)✧ PE17/171 (OT(O))TŪ✧ PE17/188 (TŪ)UTU/TŪ✧ PE17/189 (UTU/TŪ)
we
root. dual
A primitive “dual” element mentioned in notes on numbers from the late 1960s, contributing to the forms of primitive ✶enekwe “six” and ✶yun(e)kwe “twelve” in the Quenya branch of Elvish, as well as the ancient 1st person inclusive pronoun ✶ñwe (VT48/10). It was probably related to the ancient dual suffix ✶-ū (Let/427). It was also likely a later iteration the dual root ᴱ√WI from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which was likewise connected to dual U (QL/33). This early root was mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as ᴱ✶u̯i (GL/45).
Variations
- we ✧ VT48/10
As the main root for “two”, √AT dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where ᴱ√ATA appeared with the gloss “dual” (QL/33). At this very early stage, its derivatives had mainly to do with pairs such as ᴱQ. aqi “a brace, a couple of, both” and at- “bi-, twi-”, whereas the earliest Quenya word for “two” was ᴱQ. yúyo (PE14/49). Later on, Q. yúyo became “both” whereas “two” became Q. atta.
In The Etymologies of the 1930s this root appeared as ᴹ√AT(AT) (Ety/AT(AT)) with variants ᴹ√ATTA which became the basis for Quenya atta “two” (Ety/ATTA) and ᴹ√TATA which became the basis for Noldorin tâd “two” (Ety/TATA); these numerals retained this form thereafter into the Quenya and Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s (VT42/24-26). In the 1930s, the ᴹ√TATA variant took on the sense “double” in Quenya, and the ᴹ√ATTA variant took on the sense “across” in Noldorin. The base root ᴹ√AT had the sense “again, back”, as seen in both Quenya and Noldorin prefixes ᴹQ. at(a)-, N. ad- “back, again, re-” (Ety/AT(AT)).
This root continued to appear in the 1950s and 1960s, retaining its various meanings of “two” (VT42/27), “back, again” (PE17/148) and “across” (VT43/33). Tolkien explored the origin and development of this root at some length in his essays on Elvish numerals from the late 1960s, connecting it to √AT(AR) “father” via various Elvish finger names (VT48/19).