kwa

root. complete, full, whole, all, every, complete, full, whole, all, every; [ᴹ√] something

A root, frequently but not universally suffixal, indicating completion or fullness. The first appearance of this root was ᴹ√KWA “something” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, serving as the basis for ᴹQ. il-qa “everything, ✱all-thing” (EtyAC/KWA). √KWA reappeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 glossed “completion” (WJ/392) or “full” (WJ/412), with extended form √KWAN and the verbal variant √KWAT “fill”. It appeared again in various notes from the late 1960s on numbering systems, glossed “full, complete, all, every” (VT42/24), “whole, complete, all” (VT47/7), or “complete, full, all, the whole” (VT47/17). In these notes it was connected to Tolkien’s latest word for “ten” from this period: ✶kwayam > Q. quean or S. pae. Since the root √IL was usually used for “all”, I think it is more accurate to attribute the sense “complete(ness)” or “full(ness)” to √KWA.

kwat

root. fill; full

This root was used for Elvish “fill, full” words for most of Tolkien’s life. The earliest appearance of this root was in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it appeared unglossed as ᴱ√QṆTṆ or ᴱ√QATA with derivatives ᴱQ. qanta “full, whole, all” and ᴱQ. qanta- “fill, complete” (QL/78). It seems in this early period, Tolkien favored the root with syllabic Ṇ, given forms ᴱQ. kunta “full” (< ᴱ✶qṇtā́) beside qanta in the Qenya Phonology (PE12/11) and G. cwintha- “to fill” beside G. cwant “full” in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/28); these vowel variations are indications of syllabic consonants.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s it appeared as ᴹ√KWAT, mostly with nasal-infixed derivatives like ᴹQ. qanta/N. pant “full”, but with others that were not like N. pathra- “fill” and N. pathred “fullness” (Ety/KWAT). The root appeared in Tolkiens later writings (PE17/68), and in the Quendi and Eldar essay Tolkien said it was an extension of the root √KWA (WJ/412), a notion he repeated in notes on numbers from the late 1960s (VT42/24).

kway

root. ten

A root Tolkien introduced in the late 1960s as the basis for his latest Elvish word for “ten”: Q. quëan/quain, S. pae, T. pai(n) (VT42/24; VT48/6). It was an extension of √KWA “complete” as in “a complete set of (10) fingers”. Prior this late change, the usual word for “ten” was ᴹQ. kainen (along with other variants beginning with kai- or kea-) from the root ᴹ√KAYAN or ᴹ√KAYAR as it appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KAYAN). This basis for “ten” dates back to the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/49, PE14/82). Tolkien was still considering √KAYAN for “10” in the late 1960s before replacing it with √KWAY(AM) (VT48/12).

kwal

root. die, pain, die, pain, [ᴹ√] die in pain

This root was connected to death and pain through Tolkien’s life. Its first appearance was as ᴱ√QALA “die” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. qalin “dead, dying” and ᴱQ. qalme “death” (QL/76). The latter appeared as ᴱQ. qalme “agony” in word lists from the 1920s (PE16/144). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√KWAL “die (in pain)”, again with ᴹQ. qalin “dead” and ᴹQ. qalme “agony, death” among other derivatives (Ety/KWAL).

The root appeared in both versions of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) and circa 1950 (TQ2) with the glosses “die” (TQ1: PE18/42, 58, 65; TQ2: PE18/103) and “pain” (TQ2: PE18/91). In TQ2 Tolkien connected it to similar roots √GWAL “suffer torment” and √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” (PE18/103). Somewhat interestingly, Tolkien gave almost no Sindarin or Noldorin derivatives of this root, indicating it probably fell out of use, most likely crowded out by derivatives of √PAL.

kwar

root. press together, squeeze, wring, clench; clenched hand, fist

This root was the basis for Elvish “fist” words, most notably in S. Celebrimbor “Silver-fist” (PE17/42). It first appeared as ᴹ√KWAR “clutching hand, fist” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. qár(e) and N. paur of similar meaning (Ety/KWAR), replacing a rejected entry where the gloss was “palm of hand” (EtyAC/KWAR). These derivatives and this root appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writings, where the root had glosses like “squeeze, clench” (PE17/42), “press together, squeeze, wring” (PM/318), and “clenched hand, fist” (VT47/22).

kwayam

cardinal. 10

kwan

root. completion

kwāra

noun. fist

kwap

root. chaffer, *haggle, bargain

kwath

root. *shake

dond(a)

noun. fist

kayan

root. ten