pata- vb. "walk" (PE17:34)
Quenya
pata-
verb. to walk, to walk, *stroll; [ᴱQ.] to rap, tap (of feet)
pata-
walk
ratta
noun. track
A noun for a “track” appearing in a 1968 essay, which Tolkien described as follows:
> Both Quenya and Lindarin [Telerin] also possessed a word ratta, which might be a derivative (by lengthening the medial consonant, a frequent device in Primitive Eldarin) from either ✱rattha [from RATH “climb”] or ✱ratta from the stem RAT [“find a way”] and in senses seems to be a blend of both. It meant ‘a track’; though often applied to ways known to mountaineers, to passes in the mountains and the climbing ways to them, it was not confined to ascents. It could be used of tracks across a marshland, or trails (blazed or sometimes marked by guide-stones) in forests (NM/363).
Thus Q./T. ratta seems to have applied to any “track” through the wilderness (not necessarily one that climbs) as a derivative of √RAT “find a way”, as opposed to S. rath “(climbing) track or street” that was more influenced by √RATH “climb”; see that entry for discussion.
vanta
walk
vanta (2) noun "walk" (BAT)
A verb appearing in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings glossed “walk”, equivalent to S. pad- of similar meaning (PE17/34).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. pata- “to rap, tap (of feet)”, derived from the early root ᴱ√PATA which mostly had to do with rattling and clattering, but it did have a derivative ᴱQ. patinka “shoe, slipper” having to do with feet (QL/72).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would interpret this verb to mean “continuously stepping”, so meaning “walk” when moving forward but also “rap, tap (of feet)” when standing still. For clarity the second meaning may include a reference to “feet”, as in i elda patane talya “the elf rapped/tapped his/her foot”. As for the sense “walk”, I would use pata- mainly in the sense of a casual walk = “✱stroll”. For a longer, more serious walk I would use [ᴹQ.] vanta- “walk, ✱trudge, trek”.