lit

root. *(fine) grit

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. litse/N. lith “sand” (Ety/LIT). Elsewhere N. lith was translated “ash” (TI/208), so perhaps the meaning of the root was something like “✱(fine) grit”. Tolkien’s continued use of S. lith “ash” indicates its ongoing validity (RC/765; SA/lith).

litse

noun. sand

(s)lit

root. swiftly[?] speed[?]

The forms √SLIT and √LIT appear in a rejected page of roots from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s with some unclear glosses, probably “swiftly, speed”; they were the basis for the past-tense form lhinte “sped” of otherwise unattested verb ᴹQ. lhit- (PE22/127). This root might be connected to later Q. linta “swift” from the Namárië poem (LotR/377; PE17/63), though elsewhere Tolkien indicated that Q. linta (< ✱lim-tā?) was the equivalent of S. lim “quick, swift” (PE17/147).

rīʒende

feminine name. queen, lit. ‘crowned’ or crowned-lady

tit

root. *little, tiny

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. titta/N. tithen “little, tiny” (Ety/TIT).

terēn(ē)

adjective. slender

am

root. mother

amī̆l

noun. mother

ata

root. father

atar

noun. father

atū

noun. father

lepet

root. finger

mit

root. small

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small” with various Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of similar meaning (Ety/MIT).

mitra

adjective. small

neth

root. young

nethrā

adjective. young

nis

root. woman

nī

noun. woman

nī̆s

noun. woman

thel(es)

root. sister

Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√THEL and extended form ᴹ√THELES with the gloss “sister” and derivatives like ᴹQ. seler and N. thêl of the same meaning, both derived from the extended root as made clear by the Noldorin plural thelei < ON. thelehi (Ety/THEL). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. meletheldi “love-sisters” for close female friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. nésa and S. nethel as the words for “sister”, both from the root √NETH. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√THEL(ES) to represent more abstract notions of “sisterhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical sister”s as opposed to Q. nésa/S. nethel for sisters by blood.

tor

root. brother

Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√TOR “brother” with derivatives like ᴹQ. toron and N. tôr of the same meaning (Ety/TOR). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. melotorni “love-brothers” for close male friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. háno and S. hanar as the words for “brother”, both from the root √KHAN. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√TOR to represent more abstract notions of “brotherhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical” brothers as opposed to Q. háno/S. hanar for brothers by blood.

tārī

noun. queen

wen(ed)

root. maiden