ba

root. away, go away

balandore

proper name. balandore

balīndore

proper name. balīndore

banā

feminine name. Banā

barnā

adjective. barnā

bale

noun. Bale

baran

root. russet, brown

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “russet, brown”, with the derived adjectives ᴹQ. varne and N. baran of similar meaning (Ety/BARÁN). The continued appearance of S. baran in later words such as S. Baranduin “Brown River” (LotR/1138) and Berennyr “Brown Lands” (RC/343) indicates its continued validity. However, in The Lord of the Rings appendices Tolkien translated S. baran as “golden brown”, so it seems in later writings Tolkien considered this to be a brighter shade of brown.

baras

root. *heat

A Noldorin-only root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives having to do with heat such as N. brass “white heat” and N. bara “fiery, eager” (Ety/BARAS). The second of these was an element in the name N. Barahir, a name which continued to appear (albeit untranslated) in later versions of the Legendarium (S/148).

Tolkien introduced a new root √BARAS in the late 1950s associated with “height” and other roots like √BARAD and √BARAT; the derivatives of this new root had to do with cliffs. It is possible the new √BARAS invalidated the old one, but none of its derived words appeared in the narratives, so it could also have been a transient idea. It’s hard to say for certain since S. Barahir was not translated in later writings.

bat

root. tread

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tread”, with the derivatives in both (Middle) Quenya and Noldorin having to do with walking, trampling and paths (Ety/BAT). It may have been replaced by later root √PAT with various path and walking derivatives (PE17/34), or the two might have coexisted as light (√PAT) and heavy (√BAT) variants.

ba(n)

root. go, proceed

bad-

verb. to judge

bal

root. *power

balā

noun/adjective. powerful; Power, God

bal’tār-

proper name. Vala-king

ban

root. *beauty

bar

root. raise; uplift, save, rescue(?)

barad

root. *lofty, noble

baradā

adjective. lofty, sublime

barasā

adjective. hot, burning

barat

root. *tower

barath

root. *queen

barathī

feminine name. Spouse of Manwe

baryā-

verb. to protect

battā

verb. trample

batā̆

noun. beaten track, pathway

bay

root. [unglossed]

(m)bad

root. duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge

The most notable derivative of this root is Q. Mandos, which in Tolkien’s earlier writings was the name of the Vala, but in later writings technically only the name of his halls. The first iteration of this root was unglossed {ᴱ√MANÐAN >>} ᴱ√Mᵇ(A)NÐ(A)N from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with a more “normal” Quenya form of MAND; its derivative ᴱQ. Mandos was glossed “hell” at this early stage (QL/58, 60). In a list of roots at the end of the M-section Tolkien gave it as MṆÐṆ and its Gnomish variant band- was glossed “bind”, which was the most likely meaning of the root at this early stage (QL/63).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√BAD along with a strengthened form ᴹ√MBAD glossed “duress, prison, doom, hell” (Ety/BAD, MBAD). Earlier entries for the strengthened root ᴹ√MBAD had glosses “hell” >> “doom” (EtyAC/MBAD). The strengthened root had derivatives like N. bann “duress, prison” and cognate ᴹQ. manda as in ᴹQ. Angamanda “Hell, Iron Prison” (Ety/MBAD). Tolkien said the unstrengthened root ᴹ√BAD was “not in Q” and it had derivatives like primitive verb ᴹ✶bad- “judge”, N. bauð “judgement”, and N. badhron “judge” (Ety/BAD), the Noldorin words having been transferred from ᴹ√MBAD (EtyAC/MBAD).

Thus it seems the unstrengthened root meant ᴹ√BAD “judge” and the strengthened root ᴹ√MBAD meant “duress, prison”. Tolkien’s continued use of names like Q. Mandos “Castle of Custody” and S. Angband “Iron Prison” indicate the ongoing validity of strengthened √MBAD, but there are other later root for “judge” such as ✱√NAM or √NDAB (PE22/154; VT42/34). These roots served as the basis for the true name of Mandos: Q. Námo or Návo (S/28; PE21/85; PE22/154).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume √BAD survived as a Sindarin-only root for “judge”, since the Sindar had no direct encounter with the Vala and would be less likely to use this true name for Mandos.

mbakh

root. exchange

This root was the basis for words having to do with trade. It first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√VAKA in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. vakse “sale” and ᴱQ. vaktele “trade” (QL/99). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon like G. bag- “sell, trade” (GL/21); a similar set of derivatives appeared in Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s (PE13/138). The root appeared as ᴹ√MBAKH “exchange” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. manka-/N. banga- “trade”, N. bachor “pedlar”, and ᴹQ. makar “tradesman” (Ety/MBAKH). An earlier version of this entry instead had ᴹ√MBAƷ, but this was deleted (EtyAC/MBAƷ, MBAKH). The word ᴹQ. makar as well as a deleted variants māka- of ᴹQ. manka- and bagor of N. bachor (EtyAC/MBAKH) imply Tolkien also considered a variant form ᴹ√MBAK.

mbakhā

noun. article (for exchange), ware, thing

mbanda

noun. duress, prison

mbar

root. dwell, inhabit

mbarat

root. fate

stud

root. base, ground

The root ᴹ√SUD “base, ground” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivative ᴹQ. sundo “base, root, root-word” (Ety/SUD), but it was given an alternate form ᴹ√STUD with Noldorin forms like {N. sunn >>} N. thund/thonn being added to the entry (EtyAC/SUD). Tolkien’s later of use of S. thond “root” (< ✱stundā?) in S. Morthond “Blackroot” implies the ongoing validity of this root (LotR/1115). In The Etymologies, Tolkien’s first attempt at the basis for “root” words was a deleted entry {ᴹ√NDUM/DUM >>} ᴹ√NDUB/DUB “lay base, foundation, root; found” (EtyAC/NDUB).

khug

root. bark, bay

This root was the basis for several “dog” words, most notably S. (or Q.) Huan “Hound”, a name Tolkien used throughout his life. Its earliest precursor was the root ᴱ√SAẆA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which had the derivative ᴱQ. fan (fand-) “dog”. In the somewhat earlier Qenya Phonology, Tolkien had ᴱQ. hwan >> huan >> fan, reflecting conceptual shifts in the phonetic development of initial sẉ- in Qenya (PE12/26 note #149). In the contemporaneous Gnomish lexicon the words G. hû “dog” and G. saur “hound, wild dog” seem to be derived from this same root (GL/49, 67). The Early Noldorin word ᴱN. fan(d) “dog” in word lists of the 1920s is probably of similar origin (PE13/143).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien derived N. Huan and a number of other dog-words, first from an (unglossed) extended root ᴹ√KHUGAN, and then from ᴹ√KHUG “bark, bay” (Ety/KHUGAN). In their Reader’s Companion to the Lord of the Rings, Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull said:

> The first element of Huorn could be derived from the base KHUG- “bark, bay”, which appears to be supported by unpublished etymological notes by Tolkien (RC/425).

Hammond and Scull did not further describe these notes so we don’t know whether it actually contained √KHUG, but I think it is likely that these “unpublished notes” refer to the etymology of Huorn on PE17/86, which does not contain √KHUG but does have Q. hú “hound” (the word’s gloss is unclear and might be “heart” according to Christopher Gilson).

(n)dan

root. back, backwards

at

root. back, again, twice; two

ngalambe

noun. barbarous speech

talam

root. base, root, foundation; floor, ground

ete

adverb. back, below

rad

root. back, return

sud

root. base, ground

khop

root. *harbour, bay

Tolkien used a number of similar roots for “bay” but their exact form varied over his life. The earliest form was ᴱ√KOPO “keep, guard?” (the question mark is Tolkien’s) from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with the derivative ᴱQ. kópa “harbour” (QL/47). This root and its Qenya derivative were linked to words like G. gob “hollow of hand” and G. gobos “haven” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/40). Given these Gnomish forms it is likely the true root was ✱ᴱ√GOPO since initial g- became k- in Early Qenya. In Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s, however, the related word became ᴱN. cú “bay, cove” < ᴱ✶kópa (PE13/141).

The root ᴹ√KOP appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but Tolkien seems to have abandoned it in favor of ᴹ√KHOP, changing ᴹQ. kópa “harbour, bay” to ᴹQ. hópa/N. hûb “haven, harbour, small landlocked bay” (Ety/KHOP, KOP). In draft maps for Gondor from the 1940s, however, Tolkien gave N. Cobas “Haven” (TI/312, WR/434). Finally, in notes from the late 1960s Tolkien had S. côf “bay” in Côf Belfalas, the Sindarin name for the “Bay of Belfalas”, though the paragraph where it appeared was struck through (VT42/15). As suggested by Carl Hostetter, côf was probably derived from a variant of earlier ᴹ√KOP (VT42/29 note #36), perhaps ✱√KOB.

Thus it seems the conceptual evolution of this root was 1910s ✱ᴱ√GOPO >> 1920s ᴱ√KOPO >> 1930s ᴹ√KHOP >> 1940s ✱ᴹ√KOP >> 1960s ✱√KOB. Given Tolkien’s extreme vacillations on the form of this root, it is probably best avoided for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, but if you do use it I recommend sticking with the derivatives of 1930s ᴹ√KHOP, since those are likely most recognizable to readers of Elvish.

pal

root. beat

lap

root. *babe

talmā

noun. foundation, basis, root

atat

root. again, back

mas

root. knead; [ᴱ√] cook, bake

yat

adverb. away, back there; ago

way

root. enfold

The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√VAẎA “enfold, wind about” from the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. vaile “covering”, ᴱQ. vaima “wrap, robe”, and ᴱQ. vaita- “wrap” (QL/100). The contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had derivatives like G. baidha- “clothe”, G. bail “sheath, case, cover; pod”, and G. bain “clad”, based on the primitive form Baʒ̔- (GL/21). This likely meant the medial consonant of the root was actually the voiced palatal spirant [ʝ], which Tolkien generally represented as ẏ in Qenya roots (PE12/15-16).

{ᴱN. bain >>} ᴱN. bai “clad” and ᴱN. bail “sheath” from Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s were probably related (PE13/138). In The Etymologies from the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√WAY “enfold” with derivatives like ᴹQ. vaita-/N. gwaeda- “enfold” and N. ui “envelope” (Ety/WAY; EtyAC/WAY). In this entry the form was revised to ᴹ√VAY (Ety/WAY). Tolkien also indicated that it was “confused in later Q with BAYA”, perhaps an attempt to salvage the bai- forms of Gnomish and Early Noldorin, but this sentence was struck out and there is no other sign of ᴹ√BAY in The Etymologies.

Neo-Eldarin: In The Etymologies, the Noldorin words for “clothing” seem to have moved to a new root, ᴹ√KHAP “enfold”, but this root had no Quenya derivatives. I think it is best to reconceive of the Early Qenya derivatives of ᴱ√VAẎA related to “clothing” as derivatives of ᴹ√WAY instead. The Gnomish derivatives of ᴱ√VAẎA can’t be easily salvaged, however, since the later roots changed to make it difficult produce their initial b.

gos

root. dread

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dread” with two variations: ᴹ√GOS and ᴹ√GOTH (Ety/GOS). It was an element in quite a few names in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, such as ᴹQ. Mandos “Dread Imprisoner” (Ety/MBAD), ᴹQ. Osse (Ety/GOS), N. Gothmog (Ety/MBAW), N. Tauros “Forest-Dread” (Ety/TÁWAR), and N. Dor-Daideloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread” (LR/405), the last of these containing N. deloth “abhorrence, detestation, loathing” = ᴹ√DYEL + ᴹ√GOTH (Ety/DYEL).

In Tolkien’s later writings, many of these names were given new forms or etymologies: Q. Mandos “Castle of Custody” = mando + osto (MR/350); Q. Ossë as an adaptation of his Valarin name Oš(o)šai (WJ/400); S. Tauron “Forester” (PM/358). This calls into question whether ᴹ√GOS or ᴹ√GOTH survived as a root. It does have a few useful derivatives for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, however, such as N. gosta- “fear exceedingly”.

khlip

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected paragraph from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/112 note #78).

maiga

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) to illustrate certain patterns of root formation (PE18/66). It may have serving as the basis for ᴹQ. Maia, though this word was given different derivations later.

stā

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root reference in The Etymologies apparently serving as the basis for the verbal action suffix ᴹ✶-stā “-ing” in ᴹ✶khau̯-stā “rest-ing” (Ety/KHAW; EtyAC/KHAW). See the entry on ✶-stā for further discussion.

ab

root. refuse, deny, say no; away, go away, depart

bálāre

place name. Bálāre

bányā

adjective. beautiful

bād-

noun. judgement

b’rássē

noun. heat

m(b)as

root. knead

atta

cardinal. two

dēr

noun. man

kor

root. round

kōmā

noun. [unglossed]

mardasē

adverb. at home

mart

adverb. homewards

rambā

noun. wall

ruk

root. demon

skelnā

adjective. naked

skelta-

verb. to strip

smal

root. yellow

umu

root. negative stems

ṃbárt-

noun. ṃbárt-

(n)di

root. in

angosse

noun. horror

arʒā

noun/adjective. dread

ata

root. father

atar

noun. father

atta

root. two

atū

noun. father

auluta-

verb. [unglossed]

bessē

noun. wife

daʒ

root. great

imi

root. in

iw

root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish

kaltwa

?. [unglossed]

karan

root. red

This root appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “red” (Ety/KARÁN), a later iteration of ᴱ√KṚN of the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s of the same meaning, but with syllabic ṛ (QL/48). Its main Quenya derivative, Q. carnë, retained the same form throughout Tolkien’s life, but its Gnomish forms G. carn(in) “scarlet” and G. crintha “rosy, pink” (GL/25, 27) became N. caran “red” in the 1930s, and retained that form thereafter.

karani

adjective. red

kelun

noun. river

khap

root. enfold

kiryaktō

noun. shipwright

kiryā

noun. ship

kuldā

adjective. red

lin

root. pool

maita-

verb. to feed

men

root. go, proceed

mizdā

adjective. wet

mā

noun. land

oth

root. fort

parmā

noun. book

phan

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/PHAN).

ruskā

adjective. brown

rāmā

noun. wing

skil

root. [unglossed]

A root mentioned in passing in as a variant of ᴹ√KIL “divide” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but it had no derivatives and appeared nowhere else (Ety/KIL).

smalinā

adjective. yellow

sok

root. drink

stal

root. steep

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “steep” with derivatives like Ilk. thall “steep, falling steeply (of river)” and Ilk. thalos “torrent”, the latter used for the river name Ilk. Thalos (Ety/STAL). Tolkien continued to use the name S. Thalos in later versions of The Silmarillion, but the name was translated nowhere else, making its continued connection to the 1930s root uncertain.

stin

root. [unglossed]

sug

root. drink

tata

root. two

torōmā

noun. [unglossed]

tumpu

root. hump

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “hump”, with Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of the same meaning (Ety/TUMPU). It might be a later iteration of the root ᴱ√KUPU “hump” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which had derivatives like ᴱQ. kumpo “pile” and ᴱG. cub “hollow” (QL/49; GL/27). Alternately, it could be a later interation of ᴱ√TUMU “swell (with idea of hollowness)” (gloss marked with “?”) from the same document, but the one clear derivative of ᴱ√TUMU was ᴱQ. tumbe “trumpet, large horn” (QL/95), which seems unrelated to 1930s ᴹ√TUMPU.

tārā

adjective. lofty

tārī

noun. queen

ugu

root. negative stems

uruk

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/URUK).

us

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/US).

ñgoroth

root. horror

lub Reconstructed

root. lump