nō

root. become, be born

nold

noun. nold

noronōr-

masculine name. Noronōr-

notta

noun. notta

no(wo)

root. ahead, in front; after of time, tomorrow

A root given as ᴱ√NŌ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with extended variants ᴱ√NOWO and ᴱ√NONO (both marked by Tolkien with a “?”) and glossed “ahead, in front; after of time, tomorrow” (QL/66). It was contrasted with ᴱ√DYE(NE) of the opposite meaning. It had derivatives like ᴱQ. nuo “tomorrow” and ᴱQ. nó “after (only of time)”. The latter appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writings, but he kept vacillating on whether it meant “after” or “before”: see the entry on Q. nó for further discussion. For example, the word ✶nō “behind” appeared in a set of primitive monosyllabic forms from the late 1960s, but that list was marked through. As for the other branch of the Elvish languages, ᴱ√NŌ “after” had several derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/61) but no obviously related forms in later Noldorin or Sindarin.

nolo

root. dare

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “dare”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. nolme “audacity” and ᴱQ. nolwa “bold, brave” (QL/67). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

noso

root. *damp, wet

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱ√NOSO and ᴱ√NOTO, as well derivatives like ᴱQ. nos (noss- or nots-) “wetness, damp” and ᴱQ. note “drizzle” (QL/67-68). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon like G. nosc or noth “damp, wet” (GL/61), and deleted forms like G. doth (nd-) “drizzle, damp; moisture” were probably based on the strengthened form of this root (GL/30). There seems to be a last example of this root in ᴱN. nûd “wet” vs. ᴱQ. nōtē in the Early Noldorin Grammar from the 1920s (PE13/122), but there are no signs of this root having this meaning thereafter. It was likely displaced by √NOT “count”.

noro

root. run, go smoothly, ride, spin

noho

root. extended

norokā́

noun. slave, thrall, servant

noto

root. *damp, wet

nořo

root. NOŘO

noto Reconstructed

root. count

ū

root. not

kı̯-ā

adverb. now

ʒono Reconstructed

root. hard

tun+tǝ

root. *see, notice, perceive

{ᴱ√TUNU >>} ᴱ√TUN + Tǝ or Kǝ appeared as unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. tunke “bright, witty, smart” and ᴱQ. tunta- “see, notice, perceive” (QL/95). I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√TUNTU to salvage some of these early words having to do with general perception.

ŋolo

root. to know

reðe

root. kinsman

The form reðe was a root added under ᴱ√RESE [REÞE] “aid, support” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives of ᴱ√RESE having to do with “kinship” reassigned to reðe, such as ᴱQ. renda “related, of the same kin or clan” and ᴱQ. resse “kinswoman, cousin” (QL/79). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon Tolkien had a similar set of words likewise derived from distinct reth- vs. redh-, with the latter most likely being the basis for words like G. redhin “related” and G. ress “cousin (f.), relative” (GL/65). The root was given as RESE- “kinsman” in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/79), but the addition of reðe may be later than that document.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√RE(N)D to preserve these early kinship and cousin words, for which we have no later alternatives. It might be considered a variant of later root √RED “scatter, sow” (Ety/RED; PE19/91) and thus applied only to more distant kin.

teme

root. tie

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “tie” with no derivatives (QL/91), but ᴱQ. tendl “string” is derived from ᴱ√teme in The Qenya Phonology (PE12/25) and ᴱQ. Vorotemnar, name of the manacles binding Melko in the earliest Lost Tales, is probably related as pointed out by Christopher Tolkien (LT1/101, 273). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

maþa

root. dusk

This root was given as ᴱ√MASA¹ “dusk” in its main entry in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, but its Gnomish form math- indicates the true root was ᴱ√MAÞA (QL/59). This was clarified in a list of roots at the end of the M-section in the Qenya Lexicon (QL/63) and its representation as maþ- in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/59). Its most notable use in the Legendarium was in the name G. Umboth-muilin “Pools (muil-plural) of Twilight (umboth)”, where G. umboth or umbath “nightfall” was derived from a strengthened form of the root, ᴱ√mbaþ- (GL/75). However, in later writings this name was reconceived as Ilk. Umboth Muilin “Veiled (muilin) Pool (umboth)”, with the first element umboth meaning “large pool” (Ety/MBOTH, MUY). The name was ultimately replaced with S. Aelin-uial (S/114), by which point the early root ᴱ√MAÞA was long abandoned.

taþa

root. count

The root {ᴱ√TASA >>} ᴱ√TAÞA “count” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives ᴱQ. tanta “number” and ᴱQ. tasta- “reckon” (QL/90). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. {tant >>} tast “number” and {tath- >>} G. tathna- “number, count, reckon” (GL/69), the later the basis for {udathriol >>} G. udathnarol as in G. Nínin-Udathriol “[Battle of] Unnumbered Tears”, the earliest name for S. Nirnaeth Arnoediad of the same meaning. In Tolkien’s later writings, counting and number words were based on the root √NOT (Ety/NOT; PE17/62).

ū

root. under

The root ᴱ√Ū⁽¹⁾ “under” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a reduced form of {ᴱ√UGU >>} ᴱ√UƷU, with derivatives like ᴱQ. ū “beneath” and ᴱQ. umbe “dale, dell” (QL/96-97). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. um⁽⁾ “lowlying” and G. umbel “a dell” (GL/74). Tolkien noted that ᴱ√Ū also meant “not”, and contrasted ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” with ᴱ√NŪ (ᴱ√NUHU) of similar meaning (QL/68, 96). Indeed, in Tolkien’s later writings, √NŪ/UNU was the usual basis for “under” words, and ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” seems to have been abandoned.

m(b)ṇðṇ

root. bind

ndoðo Speculative

root. *oak

hotho

root. bind

kasa

root. head

kulu

root. gold

kulū

noun. gold

naχū́a

noun. *giant

nele

root. point

ornĕ

noun. tree

ourū̆

noun. sun

rese

root. kinsman

roto

root. hollow

saχ[a]

noun. fire

sehe

root. *see

sōđā

noun. house

t’lépe

noun. silver

ukko

noun. rain

vī

root. as

þehe

root. *see

ī

root. be

ŋuarenđā

noun. family

ẏuru

root. run

nawa Speculative

root. dwarf