path

root. smooth (to feel), silky

This root first appeared as unglossed ᴹ√PATH in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. pasta/N. path “smooth” and N. pathw “level place, sward” (Ety/PATH). It reappeared in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s as √PATH “to smooth” (PE19/88), and again in etymological notes from 1959 as √PĂTH/PAS “smooth (to feel), silky” (PE17/171).

pat(a)

noun. track, road, way; ford

pathnā

adjective. smooth

pata

root. after, behind of place

patar

?. *after, behind of place

pakat

root. *talk, speech

This root appeared in notes probably dating to the early 1960s as the basis for words for “speech”, probably replacing another root √KARAP of similar meaning, and with a deleted variant √PATAK (PE17/126). The root √PAKAT itself was probably a restoration of a (hypothetical) early root ✱ᴱ√PAKATA, the likely basis for “speech” words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s such as G. pactha- “utter, speak, talk” and G. paithron “orator” (GL/63).

pat Reconstructed

root. *step, walk

Based on words like Q. pata-/S. pad- “walk” and S. pâd “step; track, road” (PE17/34), it seems Tolkien imagined a root ✱√PAT = “walk” or “step” in his later conception of the languages. This was probably a later iteration of unglossed ᴱ√PATA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. pata- “rap, tap (of feet)”, ᴱQ. patake “clatter”, and ᴱQ. patinka “shoe, slipper” (QL/72). Tolkien compared this early root to ᴱ√PETE which had derivatives like ᴱQ. pete- “knock, strike” (QL/73), so likely ᴱ√PATA¹ = “tap” (light) vs. ᴱ√PETE = “knock” (heavy). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon this root had derivatives like G. padra- “walk”, with a much clear connection Tolkien’s later ideas from the 1950s and 1960s. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave N. pâd as an element Tharbad, whose gloss is unclear but seems to be “?Crossway” (Ety/THAR); this might indicate some continuity of thought between 1910s ᴱ√PATA¹ “✱tap” and 1950s/60s ✱√PAT “walk”.

The root ᴹ√PAT did appear in its own entry in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but it had derivatives like ᴹQ. panta-/N. panna- “to open” (Ety/PAT), making it more likely a continuation of ᴱ√PATA² or ᴱ√PṆTṆ “open, spread out, show” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which coexisted with ᴱ√PATA¹ “✱tap” (QL/72). See the entry on ᴹ√PAT for further discussion.

khyapat-

noun. shoe

khin

root. child

A root appearing in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 with the gloss “child” (PE17/157), and again in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 with the same gloss (WJ/403). It was the basis for the words Q. hína and S. hên “child”, which were probably inspired by the Adûnaic patronymic suffix -hin that Tolkien introduced in the 1940s as part of Êruhin “Child of God” (SD/358), originally an Adûnaic word but later on used in Sindarin (Let/345; MR/330). This root might be a later iteration of the early root ᴱ√HILI from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s whose derivatives had to do with children (QL/40). As evidence of this, the Adûnaic word was first given as Eruhil (SD/341).

pā/apa

root. touch; after, behind of place

This root and ones like it were used for various spatial and temporal relationships during Tolkien’s life. Perhaps the earliest iteration in this chain of developments was the root ᴱ√PE “at, by” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. penasta “being near at hand, support, backing” and ᴱQ. peanta- “give into one’s hands, give instructions to, enjoin” (QL/72). In Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s Tolkien gave primitive ᴱ✶apa > ᴱN. ó “to, on” and ᴱT. pa, presumably of the same meaning (PE13/151). In a late note of unclear date Tolkien wrote:

> √apa “touch” (not with fingers but of the contact of surfaces, esp. vertical surface). So prep. apa, pa “touching, against”. In Q. this, espec. in form pā̆ is used as prep. = touching, as regards, concerning. Also the verb ape is used fig. as to touch one, concern, affect. In literal sense [touch] the strengthened weak verb appa is mostly used (VT44/26).

In another note from this period Tolkien glossed apa as “above but touching” (VT44/26).

In other words from the 1950s and 60s, apa- is given the temporal sense “after”, most notably in Q. Apanónar/S. Abonnen “After-born” (WJ/386-387), the former appearing in the published version of The Silmarillion (S/103). It was also used temporally in Q. apacenyë “of foresight” (MR/216). In a table of spatial and temporal roots from 1969, Tolkien gave √PĀ/PATA “after, behind of place” (PE22/147) and in another 1969 note Tolkien glossed apa, pā as both “before of time” and “after (later than)”, with both being deleted (VT44/36). Other similar roots in the semantic space of “after” include √EPE and √OPO.

Neo-Eldarin: As indicated by the discussion above, Tolkien’s treatment spatial and temporal prepositional elements was wildly inconsistent. √APA was one of the elements Tolkien used for “before” and “after”, but also as “on” or “touching”. For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, the most useful definition of √PĀ/APA is “touch”, for which we have no other good late roots, so I would assume this was its primary meaning. I generally prefer ✶epe for “after (of time); before (of space)” and ✶nō for its opposite. However, I think apa- might be a euphonic variant of epe-, perhaps limited to “after” of time, to justify Q. Apanónar/S. Abonnen “After-born”.

teg

root. line

Tolkien used a number of similar roots as the basis for “line” words throughout his life. The earliest of these appeared in the Qenya Lexicon as ᴱ√TEHE [teχe] “pull” (gloss marked with a “?” by Tolkien) with derivatives like ᴱQ. tea “straight”, ᴱQ. telya “attractive; importunate”, and ᴱQ. tie “line, direction, route, road” (QL/90), the last of these surviving more or less unchanged all the way into the published version of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/377). The early root ᴱ√TEHE also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. tê “mark, line; track; path”, G. tî or tion “straight”, and G. tîr “honest; esteem, regard, honour”, originally “straight, upright” (GL/69, 71). Primitive ᴱ✶tegna > ᴱQ. tína/ᴱN. tain “straight” from Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s may represent a shift in the form of the root to ✱ᴱ√TEGE (PE13/153, 165).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as {ᴹ√TEƷ >>} ᴹ√TEÑ “line, direction” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tie/N. tê “line, way” and ᴹQ. téra/N. tîr “straight, right” (Ety/TEƷ, TEÑ). In the Outline of Phonology Tolkien gave √TEG “line”, whereas √TEÑ was given as the basis for Q. tenna “a thought, notion, idea” and thus clearly with a different meaning; see the entry √TEÑ for further discussion. In any case it is clear that Tolkien considered various ancient velar consonants for the second consonant of this root, all ultimately vanishing in the child languages with similar vocalic effects: 1910s teχ-, 1920s teg-, 1930s {teʒ- >>} teñ- and 1950s teg-.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume this root was √TEƷ in order to preserve the validity of the word téma “series”. This is because Tolkien kept vacillating on the development of gm, but usually had gm > ngw, so that teg-mā > tengwa, not téma.

apa

root. touch

gō

preposition. from

karap

root. *talk, speech

The root √KARAP appeared with various forms and meanings throughout Tolkien’s life. Perhaps the earliest iteration was ᴱ√KᴬRPᴬR [KṚPṚ] “pluck” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), with derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as well such as G. carp “bundle, bunch” and G. crib- “gather, pluck” (GL/25, 27). The verb form ᴱ✶kṛp- > ᴱQ. karpe “pluck” reappeared in the Early Qenya grammar of the 1920s (PE14/58).

The root ᴹ√KARPA appeared unglossed in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) from the 1930s as an example of a KALTA-stem root, but whether it was related to earlier √KṚPṚ is unclear. Possibly also related is N. carab “hat”, appearing in N. Amon Carab which was an earlier name of S. Amon Rûdh.

Finally, the root √KARAP appeared in notes probably dating to the early 1960s, serving as the basis for various “speech” words such as Q. carpa-/S. carfa- “talk, speak, use tongue”, but that root was probably replaced by √PAKAT (PE17/126). Given the muddled history of this root, I would mostly avoid its use for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, though it is needed to justify N. carab “hat”.

khīnā

noun. child

par

root. peel, peel, *bare

pas

root. smooth (to feel), silky

skey

root. pass

A root in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 given as √SKEY “pass” serving as the basis for Q. xiétë “passing, impermanent”, and illustrating certain phonetic developments for the suffix Q. -itë (PE22/155).

yad

root. wide

ăwă

preposition. from

ʒō

preposition. from

nom Reconstructed

root. place

A hypothetical root serving as the basis for Q. nómë “place”.