Primitive elvish

kan

root. cry aloud; (Q. only) command; lead, rule, cry aloud; (Q. only) command; lead, rule; [ᴹ√] dare

The root √KAN was used to explain the Sindarin element -gon in names like S. Fingon and Turgon. For this function, it was introduced in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√KAN “dare” with derivatives like N. cann “bold” and ᴹQ. káne/N. caun “valour”, the latter becoming -gon in names (Ety/KAN).

It appeared again in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 with the gloss {“govern, manage” >>} “lead” (PE17/113), but in this document it was ultimately replaced by √KON which could serve as the basis for both -gon in Fingon/Turgon as well -gond [<< -gund] in the name Felegond [<< Felagund] (PE17/118). This √KON (and Felegond) seems to have been transient, and the root √KAN reappeared with the sense “ruler” in a 1967 notes on the derivation of Q. Incánus “Mind Master”, where Tolkien again mentioned in passing its use in deriving -gon in Fingon/Turgon (UT/400).

A new interpretation for this root appeared in The Shibboleth of Fëanor written in 1968. Tolkien there stated that √KAN originally meant “cry, call aloud”, and was used only for this purpose in Sindarin (PM/361-362, note #36). In Quenya, however, it shifted to primarily have the sense “command” which served as the basis for Q. cáno “commander, chief” as an element in the names Q. Findecáno and Q. Turucáno (PM/345). These were adapted phonetically into Sindarin as Fingon/Turgon, and the suffix -gon was perhaps interpreted as “-lord” in other names, such as Felagon “Fair-minded Lord”: a Sindarization of Felagund which in 1959 notes had been redefined as a loan word from Khuzdul (PM/352).

Thus, while √KAN was generally the basis for -gon, it went through many different interpretations in Tolkien’s life: 1930s “dare” >> 1957 “lead” >> 1967 “ruler” >> 1968 “cry, call aloud” with the Quenya-only sense “command”. This conceptual evolution makes a hash of other derivatives of the root, particularly those appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s which have mainly to do with boldness and daring. √KAN is also one of the better candidates for the derivation of S. caun “prince”, but that’s incompatible with the 1968 notion that the root meant only “cry, call aloud” in Sindarin, and indeed those notes gave another meaning to caun: “outcry, clamour” (PM/362).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think the 1930s derivatives from ᴹ√KAN “dare” are probably best avoided, and using derivatives of ᴹ√BER “valiant” is preferable.

Primitive elvish [PE17/113; PE17/156; PM/361; UT/400; VT47/16; VT47/41] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kānā

noun. outcry, clamour

Primitive elvish [PM/362] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kānō

noun. leader, ruler; crier, herald

Primitive elvish [PE17/113; PM/352; PM/362] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kanat

root. four

This root was established as the basis for “four” very early, though the earliest known Elvish word for “four” was actually ᴱQ. nelde from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/65), which became “three” later on (PE14/49). In the Gnomish Lexicon written soon after, the Gnomish word for “four” was G. cant (GL/25), and by the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, the Qenya word likewise became ᴱQ. kanta “four” (PE14/49, 82). The Quenya word kept this form thereafter, and the Noldorin form became N. canad in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where the root ᴹ√KANAT “four” explicitly appeared for the first time (Ety/KÁNAT). The words and root for “four” remained the same thereafter (VT42/24-26; VT47/15-16; VT48/10), with occasional minor (and transient) variations such as √KENET (VT47/41).

Primitive elvish [VT42/24; VT42/26; VT47/12; VT47/15; VT47/16; VT47/41; VT48/10] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kanakwe

cardinal. *14

Primitive elvish [VT48/21] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kanatā

cardinal. four

Primitive elvish [PE21/74; VT42/24] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kanta

noun. shape; fashion

Primitive elvish [PE18/089; PE21/76; PE21/80] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kantaya

ordinal. fourth

Primitive elvish [VT42/26] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kanga

root. *tangle; [ᴱ√] weave, twine

kanu

root. *lead (metal)

Primitive elvish Group: Eldamo - neologism/adaptations. Published by

kat

root. shape, shape, [ᴹ√] make

The root ᴹ√KAT “shape” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. kanta- “to shape”, ᴹQ. kanta “shaped”, and N. echad- “fashion, shape” (Ety/KAT). All these derivatives reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings, though Q. canta was more typically used as the noun “shape” (PE17/175; PE18/84, 90). The root appeared frequently in both the first and second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa as an example of a biconsonantal root (TQ1: PE18/34, 46, 62; TQ2: PE18/84-85, 87, 89-90, 95).

Primitive elvish [PE18/084; PE18/085; PE18/087; PE18/089; PE18/090; PE18/095] Group: Eldamo. Published by

añkal-

verb. to blaze

glada-

verb. laugh

Primitive elvish [PM/359] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kat-

verb. to shape

Primitive elvish [PE17/042; PE18/095] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lal

root. laugh

A root for “laugh” appearing in notes written around 1959 (PE17/159), likely connected to S. Lalaith “Laughter”, the name of Túrin’s deceased sister (S/198). Some possible precursors appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: unglossed ᴱ√LALA whose derivatives had to do with babbling (QL/50), and ᴱ√KAKA “laugh” with derivatives in both Qenya and Gnomish (QL/44; GL/24).

Tolkien gave a different primitive form ✶glada- as the basis for “laugh” words in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s; this produced S. glað- but still resulted in Q. lala- (PM/359). This new primitive had two problems (1) it is not compatible with S. Lalaith and (2) it shows a rather unusual assimilation of primitive d to preceding l in Quenya rather than the normal change to r: ✶(g)lada- > laða- > Q. lala- instead of ✱✱lara-. Elsewhere such assimilation did not occur, for example Q. lerembas < ✶led(e)mbasse (PE17/52).

Thus for purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is preferable to assume √LAL was the root for “laugh” words. However, I also think it is worth retaining √GLAD as a Sindarin-only root for similar concepts, perhaps “guffaw” and “joke”, given the limited semantic space we have in Elvish roots.

Primitive elvish [PE17/159; PE17/182] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lemek

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s illustrating certain phonetic combinations (PE19/98), and therefore possibly not a “real” root.

Primitive elvish [PE19/098] Group: Eldamo. Published by

phut

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) as an etymological variation of √PUT (PE18/90).

Primitive elvish [PE18/090] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sal

root. [unglossed], *harp(ing), lyre

The unglossed root ᴱ√SALA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salma “lyre, small harp” and ᴱQ. salumbe “harping, music” (QL/81). The root √SAL appeared again Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s to illustrate the reformed perfect form of its verb Q. asálie (PE22/132), but since these later forms are unglossed it is unclear whether they have the same meaning (“✱harp(ing)”) as the earlier version of the root.

Primitive elvish [PE22/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

stuk

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected section of the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, serving to illustration certain phonetic developments: ✶stuknā > Q. thúna (PE19/86).

Primitive elvish [PE19/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

stīrē

noun. face

Primitive elvish [VT41/10] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tig

root. [unglossed]

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as the basis for the verb Q. tinga- “go (for a long while)” (PE22/157). The etymology was marked with an “X” and so was probably a transient idea (PE22/157 note #70).

Primitive elvish [PE22/157] Group: Eldamo. Published by

uñg

root. spider

This root and ones like it were tied to spider words for much of Tolkien’s life, most notably in the name S. Ungoliant and its precursors. The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√GUŊU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ungwe/G. gung “spider” (QL/98); Tolkien marked the root with a “?” and given that the Qenya forms had no initial consonant, the actual root may have been ✱ᴱ√ƷUŊU. In The Lost Tales of the 1910s, Tolkien changed G. Gungliont to G. Ungoliont (LT1/156), and in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the word for “spider” was G. ungwi (GL/75), so it seems Tolkien revised {✱ᴱ√ƷUŊU >>} ✱ᴱ√UŊU.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, unglossed ᴹ√UÑG had derivatives like ᴹQ. ungwe “gloom” and ᴹQ. ungo “cloud, dark shadow” (Ety/UÑG), and it was the second element ᴹQ. liante in ᴹQ. Ungoliante that meant “spider” (Ety/SLIG). However, in notes from 1969 Tolkien gave ✱ungu- as the basis for “spider” words (PE22/160), as reflected in Q. ungwë “spider’s web” (LotR/1122) and S. ungol “spider” in his later writings (Let/180; RC/490, 767).

Primitive elvish [PE22/160] Group: Eldamo. Published by

win

root. young, young, [ᴹ√] new, fresh

Tolkien used a similar set of Elvish roots for “youth” and “freshness” for many years. The earliest of these was primitive guı̯u̯ or gu̯iu̯ [ᴱ√GWIWI] in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like G. gui “just, just now, only just, already”, G. guin “recent, fresh”, and G. gwioth “youth” (GL/42). This root reappeared as ᴹ√WIR “new, fresh, young” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with variants ᴹ√ and ᴹ√WIN and derivatives ᴹQ. vírie “youth” and ᴹQ. virya “fresh” (EtyAC/WIR). The ᴹ√WIN variant had derivatives ᴹQ. vinya/N. gwîn “young”. Tolkien considered, but rejected, deriving these from strengthened ᴹ√GWIN instead, producing (also rejected) ᴹQ. winya/N. bîn (EtyAC/GWIN).

Q. vinya appeared in quite a few later names with the gloss “young” or “new”, but the Sindarin form became S. gwain as in S. Narwain “January, ✱(lit.) New Fire” (LotR/1110) and S. Iarwain “Old-young” (LotR/1114; RC/128). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, both were given as derivatives of √WIN “young” along with Q. víne/S. gwîn “youth”, though the Sindarin word for “young” was given as (archaic?) gwein (PE17/191). Also related are various words for “baby” from 1968 notes such Q. †wine/S. gwinig “little-one, baby” (VT48/6). In these notes primitive wini was glossed “little” but this was deleted (VT47/26), making it likely that the earlier senses “young, new” were restored for √WIN.

As for the 1930s root ᴹ√WIR, it might have survived as an element in the month names Q. Víressë/S. Gwirith “April” (LotR/1110), perhaps meaning “✱freshness”.

Primitive elvish [PE17/191; VT47/26] Group: Eldamo. Published by

graw Reconstructed

root. [unglossed], [ᴹ√] dark, swart

This root appeared as a primitive form grawa serving as the basis of the word Q. roa “bear” >> “dog” in notes on monosyllabic roots from 1968 (VT47/35); a Sindarin derivative S. graw “bear” appeared in other notes written around the same time (VT47/12). Patrick Wynne suggested that in the sense “bear” grawa might be connected to the root ᴹ√GRAWA “dark, swart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/GRAWA).

Primitive elvish [VT47/35] Group: Eldamo. Published by

stir Reconstructed

root. face

The root ✱√STIR is implied by the names Elestirnë “Star-brow” (UT/184) and Carnistir “Red-face” (PM/353), as well as the primitive word ✶stīrē “face” (VT41/10). It is probably an s-fortification of the root TIR “watch”. It likely replaces the root ᴹ√THĒ “look (see or seem)” from The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. thio “to seem” and N. thîr “look, face, expression, countenance”, the latter providing an earlier etymology for N. Cranthir “Ruddy-face” (Ety/THĒ). The original gloss of this 1930s root was “perceive, see” (EtyAC/THĒ). This deleted gloss in turn indicates that 1930s ᴹ√THĒ was itself a later iteration of 1910s ᴱ√SEHE [þeχe] from the Qenya Lexicon, which was mostly connected to eye-words but also had derivatives like ᴱQ. sehta-/G. thê- “see” (PE12/21; QL/82; GL/72); see the entry √KHEN for the later derivation of eye-words.