Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Primitive Elvish

root.

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

pe

root. at, by

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by

peke

root. *plume

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. pekte/G. pectha “plume” (QL/73; GL/63). It was compared to ᴱ√PEQE of similar meaning. Later “feather” words were derived from ᴹ√KWES (Ety/KWES).

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pene

root. *through

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. pen “through”, ᴱQ. penda “bridge”, and ᴱQ. penwa “over, passed, past”; Tolkien said it was similar to ᴱ√PERE (QL/73). In later writings the sense “through” was transferred to ᴹ√TER.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

peqe

root. *comb

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. peqe- “comb, card wool, tease” and ᴱQ. peqen “comb” (QL/73). It was compared to ᴱ√PEKE of similar meaning. I think this root is worth salvaging in Neo-Eldarin as ✱√PEK(W) “comb”.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pere

root. *endure

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien said was similar in meaning to ᴱ√PENE “✱through” (QL/73). Some of its derivatives had similar meanings like ᴱQ. perma “passage; pass, aperture”, but most of its derivatives had to do with enduring and endurance. In Tolkien’s later writings the sense “endure” was generally assigned to the root ᴹ√BOR(ON).

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pete

root. *knock, hammer

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. penta “nose, beak (probably of such birds as woodpeckers)”, ᴱQ. pete- “knock, strike”, and ᴱQ. petl “hammer” (QL/73). Later nose, knock and hammer words were derived from other roots.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/072; QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

peia

noun. scorn

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/146] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pelesa

noun. fence

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/147] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pele

root. fence in

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pele

root. *revolve

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pelek Reconstructed

root. axe

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

ṛtyṛ

root. peck, prick

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s given as ᴱ√ᴵRTYᴵR “peck, prick” with derivatives ᴱQ. irtin “I peck, prick” and ᴱQ. irt “a peck, pinprick” (QL/43); the vowel i is simply the usual result of the syllabification of before a palatal consonant in Early Qenya (PE12/10). The words G. irt⁽⁾ “beak (of small birds)” and G. irtha- “peck” are clearly related (GL/52). I think it’s worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√IRIT “peck, prick” to salvage these early words.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/043] Group: Eldamo. Published by

iti

root. peck, bite (of flies), annoy

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “peck, bite (of flies), annoy” with derivatives like ᴱQ. itisya- “to itch, irritate” and ᴱQ. itse “small fly” (QL/43). The Gnomish word for “fly”, G. sitha, was probably related (GL/68). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, and the word for “fly” became Q. pupso/S. budhu (PE19/101). However, I think it is worth postulating a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√ITITH to salvage early Qenya words for itch and annoy.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/043; QL/047] Group: Eldamo. Published by

qele

root. perish, die, decay, fade

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/076] Group: Eldamo. Published by

raða

root. *peel

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s given as unglossed ᴱ√RAŘA [RAÐA], with derivatives like ᴱQ. randa “bark; peel, rind” and ᴱQ. rara- “scrape, peel, strip” (QL/79). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/079] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tun+tǝ

root. *see, notice, perceive

{ᴱ√TUNU >>} ᴱ√TUN + or 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.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/095] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wiı̯ḗ

noun. teors, *penis

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/162] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwili

root. *peace, quiet

Early Primitive Elvish [GL/23; GL/45] Group: Eldamo. Published by

para

root. *peel

Early Primitive Elvish [LT2A/Parma Kuluinen; QL/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by

paða Reconstructed

root. *peel

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

sṣtyṣ

root.

The unglossed root ᴱ√SṢT͡YṢ appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. sastya “sore, galled” and ᴱQ. sist (sisty-) “ulcer, sore” (QL/86). The latter word was also mentioned as siste in “ulcer, boil” as a derivative of ᴱ✶sṣtē (PE12/14), and the primitive form was given as sistyi, though Tolkien did say it was indicative of ancient syllabic (PE12/3). However, in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s it seems primitive ᴱ✶sṣt- = “✱hiss” (PE13/163); see the entry on ᴹ√SUS “hiss” for discussion.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√SISTI to salvage some of these early words.

Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/003; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tołᵂo

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in The Qenya Phonology of the 1910s illustrating a hypothetical series of ancient lateral approximants, with derived roots like ᴱ√TOLO and ᴱ√TOẆO [with = ɣʷ] (PE12/16). The former appeared in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon as the basis for island words (QL/94), but the latter appeared nowhere else in Early Qenya writings.

Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/016] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ru’u

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, probably actually ✱ᴱ√RUƷU, with derivatives like ᴱQ. “dwelling, village, hamlet”, ᴱQ. rue “rest, stillness, remaining, steadfastness”, and ᴱQ. ruin “peace” (QL/80). There were a number of likely-related words in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. “enduring, long suffering; quiet, gentle, docile”, G. “dwelling, house”, and G. rûtha- “dwell, remain”, though Tolkien seems to have rejected the Gnomish forms beginning with rô- (GL/66). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, but I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√RUH “✱still” to preserve some of these early words.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/080] Group: Eldamo. Published by

manga

root. lacking

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “lacking”, with derivatives ᴱQ. mange “lack, want, shortage” and ᴱQ. manka “few” (QL/59). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, and it may have been replaced by √PEN “lack” in the 1950s and 60s.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/059] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nulu

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s marked by Tolkien with a “?” having a single derivative ᴱQ. NÛLE “lead” (QL/68). There are no signs of this root elsewhere in Tolkien’s later writing, and even in the early period he generally used ᴱQ. kanu for “metallic lead” (LT1/100; QL/44).

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/068] Group: Eldamo. Published by

saw̯a

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/82), which may have reemerged as √SAWA “disgusting, foul, vile” in notes from the 1950s (PE17/172, 183).

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/082] Group: Eldamo. Published by

siŋi

root.

The root ᴱ√SIŊI appeared unglossed in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. singe “salt” and (adjective) ᴱQ. singwa “salt” (QL/83). It had similar derivatives the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon: G. sing and singrin “salt”, noun and adjective (GL/67). I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√SIÑGI to salvage these early words.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/083] Group: Eldamo. Published by

koto Reconstructed

root. nut

A hypothetical early root from the 1910s that would serve as the basis for Elvish “nut” words such as ᴱQ. kote and G. cod (QL/48; GL/26). In 1969, Tolkien introduced a new form Q. pec- for “nut” (PE22/155).

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ya

suffix. present

Early Primitive Elvish [PE16/140] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kar-

verb. to make

Early Primitive Elvish [PE14/058] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lepse

?. [unglossed]

Early Primitive Elvish [PE15/64] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lopse

?. [unglossed]

Early Primitive Elvish [PE15/64] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ornĕ

noun. tree

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/116; PE13/164] Group: Eldamo. Published by

teled-

noun. [unglossed]

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

toẇo

root. [unglossed]

Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/016] Group: Eldamo. Published by

þehe

root. *see

Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/021; QL/082] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pini

root. *small

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/073; QL/074] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tala

root. support

Early Primitive Elvish [LT2A/Talceleb; QL/088] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tum(b)u

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Tombo; QL/095] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ŋolo

root. to know

Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Noldoli; QL/067] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ŋuarenđā

noun. family

Early Primitive Elvish [GL/44] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Reconstructed

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by

miki Reconstructed

root. *little

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

nawa Speculative

root. dwarf

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

-yǝ

suffix. [unglossed]

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/035] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ese

root. out

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

eðe

root. out

Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Eruman; LT1A/Neni Erúmëar; QL/036] Group: Eldamo. Published by

eře

root. out

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

fulu

root. strip

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwori

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hama

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/039] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hese

root. wither

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “wither”, with derivatives having to do with withered things and winter (QL/40). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the root was given as heth², but it is not clear whether this was intended to be a variant root or a replacement (GL/49). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, but I think it is worth salvaging as a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√KHES “wither” to salvage Gnomish and Early Qenya wither-words.

Early Primitive Elvish [GL/49; LT1A/Heskil; QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hulu

root. strip

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “strip”, with derivatives in both Qenya and Gnomish such as ᴱQ. hulqa/G. hulc “naked” (QL/41; GL/49). It had a variant ᴱ√FULU which seems to have no derivatives (QL/38). There are quite a few later roots of similar meaning, so likely the root was abandoned.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/038; QL/041] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ini

root. small

Early Primitive Elvish [GL/18; LT1A/Inwë; QL/042] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lefe

root. half

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

lehe

root. half

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

nele

root. point

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/065] Group: Eldamo. Published by

oso

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. oksa “joint” and ᴱQ. oswe “hip” (QL/71). In Tolkien’s later writings “joint” words seem to be based on √LIM “link, join” as in Q. málimë/S. molif “wrist, (lit.) hand-link” (VT47/6), but ᴱQ. oswe “hip” may be salvaged as a derivative of ᴹ√OS “round, about” referring instead to a rotating joint rather than a link.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/071] Group: Eldamo. Published by

oto

root. knock

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/071] Group: Eldamo. Published by

piki

root. *small

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

po

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/074] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pol-i

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/075] Group: Eldamo. Published by

root. *small

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

sehe

root. *see

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

sivi

root. [unglossed]

Unglossed roots in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱ√SIVI and ᴱ√SIWI and a single unglossed derivative ᴱQ. sivilda (QL/84). It is difficult to guess what Tolkien intended for these forms to mean, though they conceivably reemerged as the later roots ᴹ√SIW “excite, egg on, urge” (Ety/SIW) or √SIB “rest, quiet” (VT44/35).

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/084] Group: Eldamo. Published by

root.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/082] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tyaka

root. hew

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “hew” with derivative ᴱQ. tyakta- of the same meaning (QL/49). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/049] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tḷkḷ

root. [unglossed]

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/093] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vḷkḷ

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. valkane “torture” and ᴱQ. vilkin “bitter, evil”, serving as the basis for ᴱQ. Valkarauke, the Qenya name of Balrogs (QL/100). In later writings the initial element of this name was derived from √BAL “(divine) power”.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/101] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ðana

root. day

A primitive form in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives meaning “day” (GL/38). There were a variety of different roots for “day” in later writings such ᴹ√AR or √UR.

Early Primitive Elvish [GL/66] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dala Reconstructed

root. support

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

wasa Speculative

root. juice

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by