lu

root. *time

This root and ones like it were the basis for time words throughout Tolkien’s life. The earliest appearance of this root was as ᴱ√LUHU or ᴱ√LU’U (the latter marked by Tolkien with a “?”) in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with derivatives like ᴱQ. lú “24 hours, day” and ᴱQ. lúme “time” (QL/56). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon like G. lu “occasion, time” and G. lust “time; tide; weather” (GL/55). It appeared as unglossed ᴹ√LU in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. lú “a time, occasion”, ᴹQ. lúme “time”, and their Noldorin cognate N. lhû (Ety/LU).

The Etymologies had a distinct root ᴹ√ULU “pour, flow” (Ety/ULU). It was not explicity connected to ᴹ√LU in this 1930s document, but in notes from around 1959 Tolkien said lūmē “time” was derived from √ULU “flow” (PE17/168), so it is likely that √LU is an inversion of this more basic root.

lug

root. *blue

lugni

adjective. blue

lubbu

noun. a clumsy piece or lump

lug

root. be heavy

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “be heavy”, with the derived adjectives ᴹQ. lunga and N. lhong of the same meaning (Ety/LUG¹). Given the appearance of G. lung “heavy; grave, serious” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, I think the idea for this root dates back to this period, though the related verb G. luntha- “balance, weigh” indicates the Early-period root may have been ✱ᴱ√LUŊU instead (GL/55). Tolkien’s continued used of Q. lungu- and S. -lung for “heavy” in his later writings indicates its ongoing validity (S/185; PE17/162; VT47/19).

lub

root. weary

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “weary”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. lumba and N. lhom of the same meaning (EtyAC/LUB).

lus

root. *empty

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s whose derivatives had to do with empty things, such as ᴹQ. lusta “void, empty”, N. lhoss “wilderness” and N. lhost “empty” (Ety/LUS). The last of these was an element in the name N. Lhothlann or Lothland “Empty and Wide” (Ety/LAD; LR/264), and Tolkien’s continued use of S. Lothlann in later versions of the Silmarillion indicate the ongoing validity of this root (S/123).

luk

root. magic, enchantment

luktiēnē

feminine name. enchantress

lum

root. *shadow

lungā

adjective. heavy

lur

root. be quiet, still, calm

lut

root. float, swim

slus

root. whisper

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with variants ᴹ√SLUS and ᴹ√SRUS; it was glossed “whisper” with derivatives like ᴹQ. lussa- “to whisper” and ᴹQ. lusse/N. thloss/floss “whispering sound” (Ety/SLUS). The only sign of ᴹ√SRUS was the variant form N. thross of N. thloss/floss.

auluta-

verb. [unglossed]

lub Reconstructed

root. lump

mil(ik)

root. *greed, lust

ʒel

root. sky

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sky”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. helle/N. ell “sky” and ᴹQ. helwa/N. elw “(pale) blue” (Ety/ƷEL). It was the basis for the initial elements of the names N. Elrond, N. Elwing and ᴹQ. Elwe, but elsewhere Tolkien connected these names to √EL “star”. It was also an element in the word N. eilian(w) “rainbow, (lit.) sky-bridge”, later given as S. ninniach. On the basis of these changes, I think it is likely Tolkien abandoned ᴹ√ƷEL, but some of its derived words are still popular in Neo-Eldarin.

ku(ʒ)

root. bow

The root ᴹ√KU(Ʒ) “bow” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KUƷ), most likely a later version of ᴱ√KUVU “bend, bow” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/49). One notable derivative in both periods was G. cû “bow, crescent” and N. cû “arch, crescent”, which regularly appeared as S. cû “bow” in later writings, for example in S. Laer Cú Beleg “Song of the Great Bow” (GL/27; Ety/KUƷ; S/209).

The probably-related root ᴹ√KUB “bow” appeared in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/102); ᴹQ. nukumna “humbled (?under-bowed)” from this period may also be related (SD/246). In notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s Tolkien gave ✶kūma, Q. cúma and S. cû(f) next to Q. lúva “bow, bight (not for shooting)” < √LUB “bend”, so presumably cúma/cû was “bow (for shooting)” (PE17/122). Finally Q. cúna “bent, curved” appeared in notes associated with the version of the Q. Markirya poem from the late 1960s, along with a verb form cúna- “to bend” (MC/222-223).

These variations make it difficult to determine what Tolkien intended the root to mean, but for purposes of Neo-Eldarin I would assume a base root of √KU(Ʒ) or √KU(H) with perhaps a verbal variant √KUB based on its use in the 1940s, and with the primitive sense “bow, bend”.

lop

root. horse, horse; [ᴱ√] *run (of animals), gallop, lope

This root was the basis for horse words starting with the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it appeared unglossed as ᴱ√LOPO (QL/56). It was compared to the root ᴱ√LOQO, and these roots include the verbs ᴱQ. lopo- “gallop, run (of animals)” and ᴱQ. loqo- “run (of human beings)”, so I think it is likely those were the meanings of the roots as well (QL/56). In the Qenya Lexicon, ᴱ√LOPO had the derivatives ᴱQ. lōpa “horse or mare” and ᴱQ. lopsi “mare” (QL/56), but elsewhere in that document there was the word ᴱQ. lapatte “rabbit” < ᴱ✶lopatte, so I think that word is related as well, though Tolkien did mark the primitive form with a “?” (QL/51). The probably-related word ᴹQ. lopo “rabbit” appeared in a discussion of nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/31).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√LOP was glossed “horse”, and its derivatives ᴹQ. olombo and N. lobor had only that sense (EtyAC/LOP), but horse words were usually derived from ᴹ√ROK from the 1930s and later. The word Q. lopoldi “rabbits” appeared in some 1965 notes on Númenor, so It seems likely √LOP remained valid in some form. Another possibly related late word is S. ✱laba- “hop” as in S. Labadal “Hopafoot” (UT/60).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√LOP with a verbal sense “✱gallop, lope”. In this way, it can remain the basis for rabbit words based on their loping run. The horse words from this root might be specialized for heavier loping horses like destriers, since ᴹQ. rokko was said to refer more specifically to a “swift horse” (EtyAC/ROK).

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.

day

root. shadow

tumpu

root. hump

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “hump”, with Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of the same meaning (Ety/TUMPU). It might be a later iteration of the root ᴱ√KUPU “hump” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which had derivatives like ᴱQ. kumpo “pile” and ᴱG. cub “hollow” (QL/49; GL/27). Alternately, it could be a later interation of ᴱ√TUMU “swell (with idea of hollowness)” (gloss marked with “?”) from the same document, but the one clear derivative of ᴱ√TUMU was ᴱQ. tumbe “trumpet, large horn” (QL/95), which seems unrelated to 1930s ᴹ√TUMPU.

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.

bay

root. [unglossed]

dag

root. dig

A rejected root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dig” (Ety/DAG), it may have been a transient replacement for √SAP.

galan

root. bright

gāsa

noun. void

iw

root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish

kalaryā

adjective. brilliant

kaltwa

?. [unglossed]

khlip

root. [unglossed]

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

kiryā

noun. ship

kub

root. bow

kum

root. void

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “void”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. kúma “void” and N. caun “empty” (Ety/KUM). It was probably also the basis of ᴹQ. kumba in ᴹQ. saurikumba in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, unglossed but probably “✱foul-bellied” (SD/86).

kuu̯

noun. bow

kwentā

noun. tale

kōmā

noun. [unglossed]

lauka

adjective. warm

los

root. sleep

magā

noun. hand

mapā

noun. hand

maʒ

root. hand

mbarat

root. fate

māʒ

noun. hand

nur

root. deep

A root mentioned in The Etymologies as an extension of ᴹ√NU with the gloss “deep” and derivatives ᴹQ. núra and N. nûr of the same meaning (Ety/NU). Possibly related is the later word Q. nurtalë “hiding” as in Q. Nurtalë Valinóreva “Hiding of Valinor” (S/102).

nūrā

adjective. deep

olosphantur

masculine name. Lórien

phan

root. [unglossed]

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

sir

root. flow

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).

spāna

noun. cloud

srus

root. whisper

stin

root. [unglossed]

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.

torōmā

noun. [unglossed]

tubnā

adjective. deep

ungwē

noun. gloom

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).

wath

root. shade

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).

yenrinde

noun. year

yē

preposition. at