lerta-

can

lerta- vb. "can" in the sense "be free to do", being under no restraint (physical or other). Lertan quetë "I can speak (because I am free to do so, there being no obstacle of promise, secrecy, or duty)". Where the absence of a physical restraint is considered, this verb can be used in much the same sense as pol- (VT41:6)

pol-

can

pol- (1) vb. "can" = have physical power and ability, as in polin quetë "I can speak (because mouth and tongue are free)". Cf. ista-, lerta- as verbs "can" with somewhat different shades of meaning. (VT41:6, PE17:181)

can-

command, order

*can*- (2) vb. "command, order" (give an order) or (with things as object) "demand" _(PM:361-362; where various derivatives of the stem KAN- are listed; the verb _can_- is not directly cited, but seems implied by the statement "in Quenya the sense command had become the usual one". The undefined verb _canya**- listed elsewhere [PE17:113] may also be taken as the actual verbal derivative that Tolkien here refers to.)

canuva

leaden

canuva ("k")"leaden" (LT1:268; if this "Qenya" word is used in a LotR-style Quenya context, it must not be confused with the future tense of can-)

ec-

verb. to have a chance of; may, can

Derivations

• √KE/EKE “may (be); have chance, opportunity or permission; it is open” ✧ VT49/20

Element in

• Q. ecë nin? “please, may I?” ✧ VT49/20
• Q. ecë nin care sa “I can do that” ✧ VT49/20
• Q. ecuva nin carë sa nöa “I ‘may’ do that tomorrow, I have a chance of doing that [tomorrow]” ✧ VT49/20

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ek > eke	[ek-]	✧ VT49/20

Variations

• eke ✧ VT49/34

ista

verb. know

ista-

know

ista- (2) vb. "know", pa.t. sintë (IS, LT2:339, VT48:25). This past tense Tolkien called "certainly irregular" (VT48:25, where an alternative pa.t. isintë is also mentioned, but sintë is said to be the older form; compare editorial notes in VT48:32. Ista- is also used for "can" in the sense of "know how to", as in istan quetë "I can speak (because I have learned (a) language)" (VT41:6) Passive participle sinwa "known, certain, ascertained" (VT49:68)

pol-

verb. can, to be able to

Cognates

• ᴺS. pol- “can, to be able to”

Derivations

• √POL “can, have physical power and ability; large, big (strong); pound up, break up small, reduce to powder, can, have physical power and ability; large, big (strong); [ᴹ√] physically strong, [ᴱ√] have stength; [√] pound up, break up small, reduce to powder” ✧ PE17/181; VT41/06

Element in

• ᴺQ. polëa “able”
• ᴺQ. polië “ability”
• Q. polin quetë “I can speak, I am able to speak” ✧ PE17/181; VT41/06
• ᴺQ. polta- “to (physically) enable”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√POL > polin	[pol-]	✧ PE17/181

yam-

shout

yam- or yama- vb. "shout" (PE16:134, yamin, *"I shout", QL:105), pa.t. yámë (QL:105)

rama-

to shout

rama- vb. "to shout" (LT1:259)

rambë

shout

rambë noun "a shout" (LT1:259)

hollë

noun. shout

Derivations

• √KHOL “crow, cry aloud”

canuva

adjective. leaden

Elements

Word	Gloss
canu	“lead”

can

card

_ card. _four. Q. canta. >> canad, leben

can-

verb. to cry out, shout, call

caen-

card

_ card. _ten. Q. cainen. >> cae, mimp. This gloss was rejected.

canad

card

_ card. _four. Q. canta. >> can, leben

cae

card

_ card. _ten. Q. cea. >> caen-, mimp. This gloss was rejected.

eneg

card

_ card. _six. Q. enque, enc-. >> odog

er

card

_ card. _one. Q. er. >> min, tad

leben

card

_ card. _five. Q. lepen, lempe. >> eneg

min

card

_ card. _one. Q. min. >> er, tad

neder

card

_ card. _nine. Q. nerte. >> cae, caen-

nel

card

_ card. _three. Q. nelde. Fcan, canad, neledh

odog

card

_ card. _seven. Q. otos. >> tolod

tad

card

_ card. _two. Q. atta. Fnel, neledh

tad

card

card. two. . This gloss was rejected.

tolod

card

_ card. _eight. Q. tolto. >> neder

nallon

verb. I cry

nalla-

verb. to cry

can

shout

(i gân, i chenir) (cry out, call). Adj.

can

shout

can- (i gân, i chenir) (cry out, call). Adj.

can

cry out

(i gân, i chenir) (shout, call). Compare

can

cry out

can- (i gân, i chenir) (shout, call). Compare CALL OUT. (noun),

pol-

verb. can

caun

shout

(i gaun, o chaun) (clamour, outcry, cry), pl. coen (i choen), coll. pl. conath, the latter is used = "lamentation" (PM:345, 362). Note: a homophone of caun means "valour".

caun

shout

(noun) caun (i gaun, o chaun) (clamour, outcry, cry), pl. coen (i choen), coll. pl. conath, the latter is used = "lamentation" (PM:345, 362). Note: a homophone of caun means "valour".

caun

cry

(noun) caun (i gaun, o chaun) (clamour, outcry, shout), pl. coen (i choen), coll. pl. conath, the latter often used = "lamentation" (PM:345, 362). Note: a homophone of caun means "valour".

caun

cry

(i gaun, o chaun) (clamour, outcry, shout), pl. coen (i choen), coll. pl. conath, the latter often used = "lamentation" (PM:345, 362). Note: a homophone of caun means "valour".

nalla

cry

(i nalla, in nallar). Attested in the 1st person present-tense form nallon ”

glam

shouting

(i ’lam) (din, uproar, confused yelling of beasts; tumult, confused noise; a body of Orcs), pl. glaim (in glaim), coll. pl. glammath

pol-

verb. can, to be able to

Cognates

• Q. pol- “can, to be able to”

Derivations

• √POL “can, have physical power and ability; large, big (strong); pound up, break up small, reduce to powder, can, have physical power and ability; large, big (strong); [ᴹ√] physically strong, [ᴱ√] have stength; [√] pound up, break up small, reduce to powder”

Element in

• ᴺS. poltha- “to (physically) enable”

rûkh

noun. shout

A word glossed “shout” (SD/426). Andreas Moehn suggested (EotAL/RUKH) that it may be a verb rûkh- “to shout”, but it appears in a list of nouns, so I think it likelier that it is noun form.

Variations

• rūkh ✧ SD/426

is

root. know

The root √IS was the basis for words having to do with “knowledge” for all of Tolkien’s life, as represented by the verb Q. ista- “to know” which likewise retained the same form and meaning for decades. The root first appeared as ᴱ√ISI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where somewhat cryptically Tolkien said its Gnomish form was GIS or IS (QL/43). This is mysterious because there were no such Gnomish words beginning with gis- in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, but there is an Early Noldorin word ᴱN. gist- “to know” from the 1920s, probably derived from ᴱ✶ʒist- (PE13/144, 146); in this early period initial ʒ- > g- in Gnomish (PE12/17).

Tolkien seems to have abandoned this Noldorin variant, giving the root only as ᴹ√IS in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/IS). In this form it continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/155; PE22/129; VT41/6; VT48/25). In one place Tolkien gave the root in inverted form √SI (PE22/134), and such an inversion appeared in some of its derivatives, such as Q. síma “imagination, mind” (VT49/16) and sinte the irregular past tense of Q. ista-. However, the vast majority of its derivatives are from √IS.

Derivatives

• ✶ista- “to know” ✧ PE22/129; PE22/134
• Q. ista- “to know” ✧ PE17/155; VT41/06; VT48/25
• Q. síma “imagination, mind” ✧ VT48/25

Element in

• ᴺQ. atsinta- “to recognize”

Variations

• ISI ✧ PE17/155
• SI ✧ PE22/134
• isi ✧ VT41/06

si

root. know

pol

root. can, have physical power and ability; large, big (strong); pound up, break up small, reduce to powder, can, have physical power and ability; large, big (strong); [ᴹ√] physically strong, [ᴱ√] have stength; [√] pound up, break up small, reduce to powder

This root was connected to Elvish words for strength and physical ability for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√POLO “have stength” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. poldor “physical strength” and ᴱQ. polka “pig”, though the latter was marked by Tolkien with a “?” (QL/75). There were also derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. polm “strength (physical)” and G. polod “power, might, authority” (GL/64). The root ᴹ√POL reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “physically strong”, extended form ᴹ√POLOD and derivatives like ᴹQ. polda “strong, burly” and ᴹQ. poldore as an element in the name ᴹQ. Poldórea (Ety/POL); this name was variously glossed “Strong One” (SM/79) or “Valiant” (LR/206), though in the later sense it was eventually replaced by Q. Astaldo (S/28).

√POL appeared in a list of roots from around 1959-60 with a minor shift in meaning:

> √pol can, have physical power and ability [as in] “I can jump that”. polin quete means I can speak (because mouth and tongue are free)” (VT41/6).

In another note around this time but probably later (and thus maybe in the early 1960s), Tolkien wrote:

> √POL. This cannot refer to strength. (Too obvious a reminiscence of [Latin] pollens); also it does not account for poli- “meal”, grist. √POL- should have senses “pound up”, break up small, reduced to powder etc. Poldórea, as adjective applied to Tulkas, should be derived from the Elvish nickname of Tulkas (not being derived from Valarin), Poldor, Poldorno: “breaker up of the hard/tough”, √DOR- “hard, tough” (PE17/181).

The mention of poli- “meal” seems to be a reference to a different early root ᴱ√POL-I from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. pole “oats, grain; flour” and ᴱQ. polu “kernel” (QL/75), whereas in The Etymologies of the 1930s the word for “flour, meal” was ᴹQ. pore derived from ᴹ√POR (Ety/POR). This shift in sense to “pound up” seems to be motivated by the similarity of √POL “strength” to Latin “pollens” (able, strong).

However, in another later-still note Tolkien wrote the phrase Q. á rike empollie that seems to mean “try harder” (PE17/167), likely a rough contemporary of other notes from around 1967 exploring the same phrase (PE17/94). This later use of empollie seems to be connected to physical effort, and thus is in line with the 1959-60 note with √POL “can, have physical power and ability” mentioned above.

Finally in a note from around 1968, Tolkien wrote:

> Q. pol, large, big (strong). polda, big. DELETE pole “meal”! Make it mule (PE17/115).

This is explanation appears in a set of notes having to do with “large and small”, probably from around 1968, the date given for an apparently related root-list with similar information (VT47/26 note #26). It seems to firmly discard the connection of √POL to “pound, meal” and restored its connection to “strength” along with a new connection to “largeness”.

Assuming this analysis is correct, the conceptual evolution seems to be:

• 1910s: ᴱ√POLO “have stength”; ᴱ√POL-I “✱grain, flour”.

• 1930s: ᴹ√POL(OD) “physically strong”; ᴹ√POR “✱flour, meal”.

• 1959-60: √POL “can, have physical power and ability”.

• early 1960s: √POL “pound up” > ✶poli “meal”.

• late 1960s: √POL “large, big (strong)” vs. Q. mulë “meal”.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is best to assume √POL has to do with “physical ability” and its extended form √POLOD with “strength”. I think it better to assume the connection of the root to √POL “meal, flour” was abandoned, and use ✱√MUL and possibly ᴹ√POR for that purpose instead.

Derivatives

• ✶poli “meal”
  • Q. polë “meal, grist, meal, grist, [ᴹQ.] flour, [ᴱQ.] oats, grain (unground kernels of oats, wheat, etc.)”
• ✶pollō “ram”
  • ᴺQ. pollo “ram”
  • ᴺS. poll “ram”
• Q. empollië “*harder”
• Q. pol- “can, to be able to” ✧ PE17/181; VT41/06
• ᴺQ. polca “pig”
• Q. polda “big, big; [ᴹQ.] strong, burly; [ᴱQ.] mighty, powerful” ✧ PE17/115
  • ᴺQ. poldavë “strongly”
• ᴺQ. pollië “hard, strongly”
• Q. polë “meal, grist, meal, grist, [ᴹQ.] flour, [ᴱQ.] oats, grain (unground kernels of oats, wheat, etc.)” ✧ PE17/181
• ᴺS. pol- “can, to be able to”
• ᴺS. polodh “power, might, authority”

Element in

• Q. Poldórëa “Valiant; Breaker up of the Hard/Tough” ✧ PE17/181

Variations

• pol ✧ PE17/115 (Q. pol); VT41/06; VT41/06
• pōlo ✧ PE22/148
• pōl ✧ PE22/148

hûl

noun. cry of encouragement in battle