ke

pronoun. thou, thee

kem

root. soil, earth

This root was established as the basis for “earth” words early in Tolkien’s writing. It first appeared as ᴱ√KEME “soil” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, its most notable Qenya derivative being ᴱQ. kemen “soil, earth” (QL/46). The root ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s along with ᴹQ. kén (kem-) or kemen “earth”, as well as various other Quenya and Noldorin derivatives (Ety/KEM). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. cemen and S. ceven for “earth” or “the Earth” in later writings indicates the continued validity of this root.

ken

root. spearhead, gore

A rejected (Noldorin-only?) root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “spearhead, gore” (EtyAC/KEN).

keper

root. ridge; knob, head, top

A rejected (Noldorin-only?) root in The Etymologies of the 1930s initially glossed “knob, head, top”, perhaps replacing the also rejected root ᴹ√KOPAR of the same meaning (Ety/KEPER; EtyAC/KEPER, KOPAR). Tolkien changed the gloss of ᴹ√KEPER to “ridge” before he rejected the entry. The most notable derivative of this root was N. ceber in N. Sarn Gebir, whose gloss is unclear but might be “?limestone, -rock”. Despite his rejection of this root, S. Sarn Gebir did appear in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/391) and was in one place translated as “Stone-spikes” (RC/327), so perhaps Tolkien restored the root, though what it might mean is unclear.

kel

root. flow, flow away (downhill), run (of water or rivers), run away especially downwards or at end

kelun

noun. river

kēm

noun. *earth

kelu-

verb. to flow, well up

kelutā-

verb. to cause to flow out

ken

root. see, perceive, look at, observe, direct gaze

ke mati-te

thou eatest it

kye

pronoun. thou, thee

gar

root. keep, hold, possess; maintain, defend

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s, apparently a variant of ᴹ√ƷAR, and having extensions ᴹ√GARAD and ᴹ√GARAT (Ety/ƷAR). It was given various glosses in separate entries such as “hold, possess” and “keep, maintain, defend”, but these glossed entries were all deleted (Ety/GAR; EtyAC/GAR). Two notable derivatives of ᴹ√ƷAR/GAR were ᴹQ. arda “realm, region” and N. ardh “realm” (Ety/ƷAR), apparently transferred to here from the earlier root ᴱ√ƷARA “spread” (QL/32). Both these words reappeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 as Q. arda and S. gardh “region” from primitive ✶gardā (WJ/402), hinting at the continued validity of the root √GAR, though its later meaning is unclear.

laik

root. keen, sharp, acute

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “keen, sharp, acute” with derivatives like ᴹQ. laika/N. lhaeg of the same meaning; apparently the root was the result of a-fortification of ᴹ√LIK (Ety/LAIK; EtyAC/LAIK). It was thus distinct from ᴹ√LÁYAK “✱green, fresh” (Ety/LÁYAK). The root ᴹ√LAIK was clearly a later iteration of unglossed ᴱ√LAIKA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. laika “keen, sharp” (QL/50), but in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon Tolkien gave the primitive form as ᴱ✶leika > both G. (g)leg “keen, sharp, piercing” and ᴱQ. laika (GL/53). Since [[eq|[ei] became [ai]]] in Early Qenya, ᴱ✶leika seems more represenative of the 1910s form of this root.

laikā

adjective. keen, sharp, acute

terēwā

adjective. piercing, keen

lik

root. *keen, sharp, acute

tatalat-

verb. totter, keep on slipping

wed

root. bind

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bind” with derivatives like ᴹQ. vére/N. gwaedh “bond, troth, compact, oath” and ᴹQ. vesta-/N. gwesta- “swear”, though Tolkien deleted Quenya derivatives of this root beginning with ves- saying they fell out of use due to conflict with ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/WED). This root might be a later iteration of the hypothetical early root ✱ᴱ√FEDE indicated by words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s like G. fedhin “bound by agreement; ally, friend” and G. fedhra- “unite in a band” (GL/34), but the 1910s and 1930s forms are rather dissimilar so it is hard to say.

ʒar

root. have, hold

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “have, hold” with derivatives like ᴹQ. arda/N. ardh “realm”, ᴹQ. harma “treasure” and ᴹQ. harya- “possess” (Ety/ƷAN). The continued appearance of Q. harya- “have” (MS) and Q. harma “treasure” (LotR/1123) indicated this root remained valid in Tolkien’s later writings, though perhaps reconceived of as ✱√HAR after Tolkien replaced primitive ʒ with h. Some of its derivatives seems to have been transferred later to √GAR, notably Q. arda/S. gardh “region, realm” that were later derived from primitive ✶gardā (WJ/402).

kyelep

root. silver

laikwā

adjective. fresh

tambā-

verb. to knock

ethe

root. other

kanat

root. four

kayan

root. ten

kiris

root. cut

kyen

root. see, perceive, look at, observe, direct gaze

nenle

noun. brook

rap

root. bind

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bind” but without derivatives (EtyAC/RAP). The element S. raph (“?rope”) in S. Udalraph “Stirrupless” (“?without (U-) foot-rope”) might be related (UT/313).

rista-

verb. cut

sir

root. flow

telep

root. silver

tot

root. repeat