do

root. *interrogative base

An interrogative root in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s that served as the basis for various Gnomish question words (GL/30). It was distinct from ᴱ√MA, which at this early stage was the basis for the indefinite marker, not interrogatives (GL/55). It seems that by the late 1920s, ᴱ√MA has become an interrogative, as seen in the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem. There is no sign of interrogative ᴱ√DO past Tolkien’s earliest writings.

kara

root. do, make

swandǝ

noun. dog

loro

root. doze, slumber

boðo

root. *gate, door

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s that was the basis for Early Qenya words for “gate” and “door” (QL/75). It was first given as (rejected) ᴱ√PONO but this was changed to ᴱ√BOÐO (with b- > p- as it did in Early Qenya) whereupon Tolkien gave its Gnomish equivalent as Bon. However, there are no words in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon beginning with bon- that have any similar meaning, indicating Tolkien probably abandoned this root very early.

toli

root. *doll

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. toli “doll, puppet” and ᴱQ. tolipin “mannikin” (QL/94). I think it is worth retaining it as a Neo-Root √TOLI “doll” to salvage these early words.

saẇa

root. *dog

ðoro

root. sit

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “sit” with derivatives mean “sit” or “seat” (QL/85-86). In the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien gave the root as SORO with ÐORO in parenthesis, but Gnomish cognates like G. dorn “seat” and dortha- “to settle” (GL/30) make it clear ÐORO was the true form of the root. There were a variety of different roots for “sit” in later writings such ᴹ√KHAM or √KHAD.

ðoto

root. drop, fall

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “drop, fall” but with no Qenya derivatives (QL/86). In the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien gave the root as SOTO with ÐOTO in parenthesis, but Gnomish cognates like G. dod- “to fall down, drop” and G. dont “fall, bump, drop” make it clear the true form was ÐOTO.

Neo-Eldarin: I think it is worthwhile to salvage this root as ᴺ√DOT in the more limited sense “drop” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, so we can salvage Gnomish words such as dod- “to drop” and dod “berry”. This hypothetical ᴺ√DOT could be a variant of √DAT “fall”.

ū

root. under

The root ᴱ√Ū⁽¹⁾ “under” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a reduced form of {ᴱ√UGU >>} ᴱ√UƷU, with derivatives like ᴱQ. ū “beneath” and ᴱQ. umbe “dale, dell” (QL/96-97). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. um⁽⁾ “lowlying” and G. umbel “a dell” (GL/74). Tolkien noted that ᴱ√Ū also meant “not”, and contrasted ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” with ᴱ√NŪ (ᴱ√NUHU) of similar meaning (QL/68, 96). Indeed, in Tolkien’s later writings, √NŪ/UNU was the usual basis for “under” words, and ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” seems to have been abandoned.

kar-

verb. to make

ū

root. not

ẇaða

root. dwell

nele

root. point

ʒono Reconstructed

root. hard

-yǝ

suffix. [unglossed]

gu̯ara-

verb. to dwell

kasa

root. head

lepse

?. [unglossed]

lopse

?. [unglossed]

ornĕ

noun. tree

qṇtā́

adjective. full

saw̯a

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/82), which may have reemerged as √SAWA “disgusting, foul, vile” in notes from the 1950s (PE17/172, 183).

sivi

root. [unglossed]

Unglossed roots in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱ√SIVI and ᴱ√SIWI and a single unglossed derivative ᴱQ. sivilda (QL/84). It is difficult to guess what Tolkien intended for these forms to mean, though they conceivably reemerged as the later roots ᴹ√SIW “excite, egg on, urge” (Ety/SIW) or √SIB “rest, quiet” (VT44/35).

soto

root. drop, fall

teled-

noun. [unglossed]

tołᵂo

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in The Qenya Phonology of the 1910s illustrating a hypothetical series of ancient lateral approximants, with derived roots like ᴱ√TOLO and ᴱ√TOẆO [with ẇ = ɣʷ] (PE12/16). The former appeared in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon as the basis for island words (QL/94), but the latter appeared nowhere else in Early Qenya writings.

toẇo

root. [unglossed]

tḷkḷ

root. [unglossed]

uluku

root. wolf

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “wolf”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. ulku and G. ulug of the same meaning (QL/97). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon Tolkien first gave G. ulug “wolf”, but this word’s gloss was revised to “dragon” as a cognate to ᴱQ. lōke (GL/74), and Tolkien added a new word G. urc “wolf” as an equivalent to harw. None of the later Elvish “wolf” words resemble either √ULUK- or √URUK-.

kaha

root. cause

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “cause” with derivatives like ᴱQ. ka- “cause”, ᴱQ. káma “guilt, responsibility”, and ᴱQ. kasta “cause, motive, ultimate reason” (QL/43). There are similar derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, such as G. caith “cause, reason, motive” < ᴱ✶kahta (GL/24). Some of these words have no good replacements in Tolkien’s later writing, so I think it is worthwhile to postulate a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√KAH to salvage some of these early words.

nawa Speculative

root. dwarf