ndeb

root. NDEB

ndab

root. endeavor, try, seek opportunity

This is one of various roots that Tolkien considered for “try”. It first appeared as √NDEB in notes from around 1967, but Tolkien noted that this was “too obviously = endeavor”, and followed this with a new root √RIK “strive”, though √NDEB was not explicitly rejected (PE17/167). In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 Tolkien reintroduced a similar root √NDAB “endeavor, try, seek opportunity”, though without any derivatives (PE22/151).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think √NDAB is problematic in that it collides with other forms, but √NDEB “try” might still be useful, perhaps with the nuance “✱make an attempt, expirement” as opposed to √RIK “strive, ✱work towards, put forth effort”.

Derivatives

• Q. nev- “to try, to try, *experiment” ✧ PE17/167; PE22/151
• S. dev- “to try, to try, *experiment, test” ✧ PE17/167

Variations

• NDEB ✧ PE17/167 (NDEB)
• NDAB ✧ PE22/151