lā

root. LĀ

la

root. no, not; to be not

laʒ

root. LAƷ

lamanǝ

noun. lamanǝ

lambe

noun. lambe

lawar

root. LAWAR

las

root. *leaf

lassē

noun. leaf

lad

root. lie flat, be flat

laire

noun. long lay

laurē

noun. light of the golden tree Laurelin

lag

root. *cut

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the derivatives ᴹQ. lango “broad sword; prow of a ship” and N. lhang “cutlass, sword” (Ety/LAG), so probably meaning something like “✱cut”.

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.

lak

root. swallow

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “swallow” with variant ᴹ√LANK and derivatives ᴹQ. lanko/N. lhanc “throat” (Ety/LAK¹, LANK), the latter an element in N. tarlanc “stiff-necked, obstinate” (Ety/TÁRAG). This last word was changed to S. tarlang in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/92; RC/536), consistent with an earlier but rejected form ᴹ√LANG for ᴹ√LANK in The Etymologies (Ety/LANK).

In later writings, Q. lango/S. lang meant “neck” rather than “throat”, so it is tempting to retain ᴹ√LAK for “throat” and other swallow-words. But it would be very confusing to have such similar but unrelated words for “neck” and “throat”, so I recommend using the root ᴹ√SLUK for “swallow” instead, and Q. lango, S. lang for both “neck” and “throat”.

lar

root. rich, fat

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “rich, fat” (EtyAC/LAR), a later iteration of the root ᴱ√LARA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which had derivatives like ᴱQ. laru “fat, grease” and ᴱQ. laruke “fat, rich” (QL/51). The 1930s root includes the derivative ᴹQ. larma “[?pig-]fat, flesh” so it likewise seems to refer to fatty flesh and rich food, but in the 1930s it replaced a deleted entry with both ᴹ√LAR and ᴹ√LAS whose derivatives had glosses connected to blessedness and luck (EtyAC/LAR), so it seems Tolkien was vacillating somewhat on the meaning of this root.

lath

root. string, thong

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “string, thong”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. latta “strap” and N. lhath “thong of (?leather)”, the last gloss being somewhat unclear (Ety/LATH).

lakh

root. kick

A root appearing in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s glossed “kick”, serving as the basis for the Quenya verb ᴹQ. lah- of the same meaning (PE22/102).

la(n)srondo

noun. hearer, listener, eavesdropper

la-

prefix. no, not, negative prefix

laikwā

adjective. fresh

las

root. listen

lab

root. lick

lakra

adjective. swift, rapid

lam

root. *sound

lan

root. weave

lap

root. *babe

lassekwelēne

noun. leaf-fading

lassē

noun. ear

lat

root. lie open; be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area)

lauka

adjective. warm

law

root. warm; abound

lay

root. *be alive, flourish

layak

root. *fresh, green

k’lā

noun. light

labdā

noun. licking up (food or drink), gluttonous eating

lai-

prefix. *many

laibē

noun. ointment

laikā

adjective. keen, sharp, acute

lastā-

verb. heard

lak

root. swift

lank

root. swallow

alat

root. large, great in size

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “large, great in size” with only two derivatives: the adjective ᴹQ. alta of the same meaning, and ᴹQ. Alataire “Great Sea” (Ety/ÁLAT), the Quenya equivalent (but not direct cognate) of S./N. Belegaer/Belegoer. The Quenya name appears nowhere else other than The Etymologies. There are quite a few words in Tolkien’s later writings that also mean “great, large”, but there is nothing that directly contradicts the continued validity of this root either.

galad

root. tree

The basis for Elvish “tree” words, this root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as an extension of ᴹ√GALA “thrive” (Ety/GALAD). This replaced the earliest derivation of “tree” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where the Qenya word for “tree” ᴱQ. alda was derived from ᴱ√ALA “spread” (QL/29). In The Etymologies, the Quenya form of this word remained the same, but the 1910s Gnomish words G. âl “wood” and †alwen “tree” (GL/19) became the 1930s Noldorin word N. galadh “tree” (Ety/GALA). Quenya and Sindarin retained these words for “tree” thereafter, and while Tolkien did not mention the root √GALAD again, his continued use of primitive ✶galadā “tree” (Let/426; PE17/153; PE21/74; UT/266) made it clear this root remained valid.

(a)lak

root. swift, rushing

(g)lawar

root. *gold

(l)alam

root. elm-tree

ala-

prefix. very

galadā

noun. tree

kalat

noun. light

makla

noun. sword

slaiwā

adjective. sickly, sick, ill

ala

root. no, not; to be not

nat

root. lace, weave, tie

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “lace, weave, tie”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. natse/N. nath “web” and N. gonathras “entanglement” (Ety/NAT).

(n)dub

root. lay base, foundation, root; found

buzbō

noun. large fly

loy

root. lack, be without; miss, fail to go

map

root. lay hold of with hand, seize

mā

noun. land

nay

root. lament

ndorē

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

nāyǝ

noun. lament

spinē

noun. larch

rim

root. abound; large number

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “abound” with derivatives such as ᴹQ. rimbe/N. rhim “crowd, host” (Ety/RIM). A likely precursor to this root appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√‘(A)ṚM(A)R and ᴱ√‘ṚMṚ with a Gnomish form ᴱ√grimri· (QL/32), indicating the actual primitive form was ✱ᴱ√ƷṚMṚ. Derivatives of this early root include ᴱQ. arm- “gather, collect” and G. grim “host, folk”, the last of these the likely precursor to N. rhim.

The root ᴹ√RIM also appeared in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, glossed “host, large number” >> “number, plenty” (PE21/57). Quenya and Sindarin forms Q. rimbë and S. rim continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writing (Let/382; PE17/50; UT/318), so it is likely the root √RIM remained valid, especially given the prevalence of suffix -rim in Sindarin collective names.

ur

root. wide, large, great

In The Etymologies, this root originally had the sense ᴹ√UR “be hot”, but this entry was deleted and replaced with this root. In later writings, though, the sense “be hot” was restored to √UR, and likely this root and its derivatives were no longer valid.

grad

root. to flatten, lay low/flat, make flat what was standing

A root glossed “to flatten, lay low/flat, make flat what was standing” appearing in a list of roots from rejected page in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s, with variants and √G)RAD and √SRAD and no derivatives (PE22/127). It appears nowhere else.

dal

root. flat

ailin

noun. pool, lake

buzbu

root. *large fly

daʒrā

adjective. great, large

li

root. many; large people

lāda

adjective. flat

lătĭna

adjective. flat (and wide)

mō

root. *labour

oiyā

adjective. everlasting

tyulussē

noun. poplar-tree

srad

root. to flatten, lay low/flat, make flat what was standing

sulup Reconstructed

noun. lap up

angwa

root. snake

The root √ANGWA “snake” with variant √ANGU appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the basis for the words ᴹQ. ango “snake” (Ety/ANGWA) and angulóke “dragon” (Ety/LOK). The Noldorin equivalent am- seems to have survived only as a prefix (Ety/ANGWA), and is a good example of how [[on|[ŋgw] > [mb]]] in that language. There are a variety of other words for “snake” in Tolkien’s later writings, so whether this root remained valid is unclear.

ar

root. day

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “day” with various derivatives like ᴹQ. are, N. aur “day” and ᴹQ. arin “morning” (Ety/AR¹). In Tolkien’s later writings, the Quenya word for “day” became aurë (RC/727; S/190), and in 1957 Quenya Notes he devised a new etymology for these day-words from the root √UR “heat” as in ✶auri “heat, period of sun” (PE17/148). That opens the question whether the various 1930s Quenya “morning” words from ᴹ√AR remain valid, but many Neo-Quenya writers (including me) retain them since there aren’t really any good alternatives. They might be salvageable as derivatives of the later root √AS “warmth” (so that “day” = “hot” and “morning” = “warm”).

bor(on)

root. endure

The root ᴹ√BOR “endure” along with its extended form ᴹ√BORON appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s along with various derivatives having to do with endurance, faithfulness and everlastingness (Ety/BOR, BORÓN). It was simply a later version of the root ᴱ√VORO from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but clearly of a similar meaning based on its Qenya and Gnomish derivatives like ᴱQ. voronda “faithful”, ᴱQ. vorima “everlasting” and G. bron(n) “steadfast, firm” (QL/102; GL/23-24).

Similar forms like Q. voronda or vórima “faithful” continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writing (UT/317). The well established names Q. Voronwë or S. Bronwe(g) “Steadfast, Faithful” retained the same basic form and meaning throughout Tolkien’s life, testifying to the enduring nature of the Elvish root for “endurance”.

doʒ

root. night

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “night” that (along with ᴹ√DOM) was the basis for the ᴹQ. lóme/N. dû “night” (Ety/DOƷ). It replaced some rejected variants ᴹ√LOƷ and ᴹ√DAW (EtyAC/LOƷ). Many of the derivatives of ᴹ√DOƷ were later assigned to other roots: N. dûr “dark” became S. dûr “dark” < √NDU “under, down” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/152) and ᴹQ. lóna “dark” became Q. lúna (PE17/22). There are no signs of ᴹQ. ló “night” and N. daw “night-time, gloom” in Tolkien’s later writing. Future derivations of Q. lómë/S. dû only mention the root √DOM (PE17/152; PE22/153) and thus ᴹ√DOƷ may have been abandoned.

In a message to the Elfling mailing list from July 2012 (Elfling/362.96), David Salo suggested there might be a later root ✱√DU serving as the basis for Q. lúna “dark” and Q. lúmë “darkness”, though the latter might instead be from √LUM. Such a root ✱√DU is not attested in Tolkien writings, but if it existed, it could be a later iteration of ᴹ√DOƷ. Another possible example of the root ✱√DU is primitive ✶durnŭ “dark of hue”.

gengwa

root. sick

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sick” with derivatives ᴹQ. engwa/N. gem “sickly” (Ety/GENG-WĀ). It was given as ᴹ√GENG-WĀ, and thus represented an extension of an otherwise unattested root ᴹ√GENG. In the entry for ᴹ√YEN from The Etymologies it appeared as ᴹ√GEM in the discussion of N. ingem “old, (lit.) year-sick” (EtyAC/YEN), but I believe this represents the Noldorin phonetic developments of the true primitive form rather than a conceptual variation. The continued appearance of Q. Engwar in The Silmarillion narratives of the 1950s and 60s hints that this root may have remained valid as well.

gonod

root. stone

The Elvish words for “stone” were established very early as Q. ondo and S. gond. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien gave the root of these words as ᴱ√ONO “hard” with derivatives like ᴱQ. ondo “stone, rock” and ᴱQ. onin “anvil” (QL/70). But its Gnomish derivatives like G. gonn “stone” and G. gontha “pillar” (GL/41) indicate the actual root was ✱ᴱ√ƷONO, since initial ʒ &gt; g in Gnomish.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√GONOD or √GONDO “stone” with essentially the same Elvish forms: ᴹQ. ondo and N. gonn (Ety/GOND). The root itself did not appear in later writings, but Tolkien continued to state, with great frequency, that the primitive form of the word was ✶gondō (Let/410; PE17/28; PE18/106; PE21/81; PM/374; RC/347).

lilt

root. dance

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dance” with derivative ᴹQ. lilta- of the same meaning (Ety/LILT). It is a later iteration of ᴱ√LḶTḶ “dance” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with both Qenya and Gnomish derivatives like ᴱQ. lilt and G. lalt “dance” (QL/55; GL/52).

pat

root. *open, [ᴱ√] open, wide, spreading

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. panta- “to unfurl, spread out, open” and N. panna- “to open, enlarge”, along with ᴹQ. panta “open” and N. pann “wide” (Ety/PAT). It seems to be a later iteration of ᴱ√PATA² or ᴱ√PṆTṆ from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “open, spread out, show” with very similar derivatives like ᴱQ. panta “open, wide, spreading” and ᴱQ. panta- “open, unfold, spread” (QL/72). In Tolkien’s later writings, ✱√PAT seems to mean “step” or “walk”; see that entry for details.

Neo-Eldarin: Despite the later shift in meaning for √PAT, I think this earlier sense “open (wide)” can be salvaged by assuming that form of the root is actually ✱√PANAT or ✱√PANTA, which is consistent with most of its derivatives. For the non-verbal senses of “open”, I think √LAT is generally better.

sab

root. juice

This root was one of a surprisingly large number of roots Tolkien used for “juice”, appearing as ᴹ√SAB in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. sáva/N. saw “juice” (Ety/SAB). It might be a variant of (hypothetical) early root ✱ᴱ√WASA needed to explain the forms G. gwâs and ᴱQ. vasa “juice” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/44). The primitive form ᴹ✶sāba also appeared in a rough 1940 note with the word N. iofog “fruit drink”, though Tolkien ultimately decided the second element was derived from ᴹ√SUK “drink” (TMME/53).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume this root refers mainly fruit juice and pulp, as opposed to syrup and tree sap which would be derived from ᴹ√PIS.

stā

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root reference in The Etymologies apparently serving as the basis for the verbal action suffix ᴹ✶-stā “-ing” in ᴹ✶khau̯-stā “rest-ing” (Ety/KHAW; EtyAC/KHAW). See the entry on ✶-stā for further discussion.

way

root. enfold

The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√VAẎA “enfold, wind about” from the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. vaile “covering”, ᴱQ. vaima “wrap, robe”, and ᴱQ. vaita- “wrap” (QL/100). The contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had derivatives like G. baidha- “clothe”, G. bail “sheath, case, cover; pod”, and G. bain “clad”, based on the primitive form Baʒ̔- (GL/21). This likely meant the medial consonant of the root was actually the voiced palatal spirant [ʝ], which Tolkien generally represented as ẏ in Qenya roots (PE12/15-16).

{ᴱN. bain >>} ᴱN. bai “clad” and ᴱN. bail “sheath” from Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s were probably related (PE13/138). In The Etymologies from the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√WAY “enfold” with derivatives like ᴹQ. vaita-/N. gwaeda- “enfold” and N. ui “envelope” (Ety/WAY; EtyAC/WAY). In this entry the form was revised to ᴹ√VAY (Ety/WAY). Tolkien also indicated that it was “confused in later Q with BAYA”, perhaps an attempt to salvage the bai- forms of Gnomish and Early Noldorin, but this sentence was struck out and there is no other sign of ᴹ√BAY in The Etymologies.

Neo-Eldarin: In The Etymologies, the Noldorin words for “clothing” seem to have moved to a new root, ᴹ√KHAP “enfold”, but this root had no Quenya derivatives. I think it is best to reconceive of the Early Qenya derivatives of ᴱ√VAẎA related to “clothing” as derivatives of ᴹ√WAY instead. The Gnomish derivatives of ᴱ√VAẎA can’t be easily salvaged, however, since the later roots changed to make it difficult produce their initial b.

yak

root. *neck

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. yat/N. iaeth “neck” (Ety/YAK). It might also be the basis for later Sindarin S. iach “ford” as in S. Arossiach “Ford(s) of Aros” (S/121, WJ/338).

yen

root. year

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “year” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yén/N. în “year” (Ety/YEN). Tolkien’s ongoing use of words like Q. yén and S. ínias “annals” indicate its ongoing validity (LotR/377; MR/200), but in Quenya at least the meaning shifted to that of an “Elvish long year”, equal to 144 solar years (LotR/1107; MR/471; NM/84).

maiga

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) to illustrate certain patterns of root formation (PE18/66). It may have serving as the basis for ᴹQ. Maia, though this word was given different derivations later.

skil

root. [unglossed]

A root mentioned in passing in as a variant of ᴹ√KIL “divide” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but it had no derivatives and appeared nowhere else (Ety/KIL).

al

prefix. without

gū

root. no, not

dat

root. fall down

ari

noun. day

auluta-

verb. [unglossed]

danta-

verb. fall

dattā

noun. hole, pit

daʒ

root. great

epe

preposition. after

ezdē

noun. rest

gaisrā

adjective. dreadful

gwen

root. *fresh, green

gālæ

noun. light

gū̆-

interjection. no, not

ilpirin

adjective. immortal

indise

feminine name. bride

kab-

verb. can, I can

kaltwa

?. [unglossed]

kelun

noun. river

khap

root. enfold

kwen(ed)

root. Elf

kwenedē

noun. Elf

kwentā

noun. tale

kyab

root. taste

kōmā

noun. [unglossed]

lin

root. pool

lokko

noun. ringlet

lopō

noun. rabbit

lī

noun. number

magā

noun. hand

mapā

noun. hand

maʒ

root. hand

met

root. end

metta

noun. end

māʒ

noun. hand

ndīse

noun. bride

nis

root. woman

nēthē

noun. youth

nē̆n

noun. water

nī

noun. woman

nī̆s

noun. woman

om

root. *sound

pantā

adjective. open

pathnā

adjective. smooth

patnā

adjective. wide

sed

root. rest

skelnā

adjective. naked

sluk

root. swallow

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no derivatives (Ety/SLUK).

solos

noun. surf

span

root. white

torōmā

noun. [unglossed]

tundu

noun. hole

tārī

noun. queen

ub

root. abound

ubrā

adjective. abundant

wath

root. shade

weirē

feminine name. Weaver

winyē

noun. evening

wis

root. air

yakta-

noun. neck

yenrinde

noun. year

bay

root. [unglossed]

da(n)t

root. fall down

ed(er)

root. open

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “open” and the forms √ED and extended √EDÉR, but it had no derivatives (EtyAC/ED).

iw

root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish

khlip

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected paragraph from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/112 note #78).

phan

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/PHAN).

stin

root. [unglossed]

uruk

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/URUK).

us

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/US).