put

root. [ᴹ√] stop, halt, pause

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√PUS “stop, halt, pause” with derivatives like ᴹQ. pusta- “to stop, put a stop to; (intr.) cease, stop”, N. post “pause, halt, rest, cessation, respite”, and ᴹQ. pusta “stop, in punctuation full stop” (Ety/PUS). Tolkien then wrote a new entry {ᴹ√PUS >>} ᴹ√PUT with similar derivatives but with {√pusta >>} ᴹQ. putta “stop (in punctuation)”. Another form in the new entry, ᴹQ. punta “stopped consonant”, reappeared in plural form in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) as Puntar “stops”, the label for voiced, voiceless and aspirated stopped consonants (PE18/30). The word pusta “stop” was used for the dot tehta in The Feanorian Alphabet of the late 1930s, but this word was revised to putta (PE22/21 and note #63). Finally, √PUT appeared in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from around 1950 (TQ2) with etymological variant √PHUT, but in that document it was unglossed and had no derivatives (PE18/90).

par

root. learn; arrange, [ᴹ√] compose, put together

This root was the basis for Q. parma “book”, but Tolkien vacillated on the exact sense for the root. It first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√PARA in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with a single derivative: ᴱQ. parma “skin, bark; parchment; †book, writings” (QL/72). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, words like G. padhwen “bark” and G. paglos “parchment” are probably related, along with deleted word G. pand “bark; book” (GL/63). These Gnomish forms hint that the early root was probably actually PAŘA [PAÐA]. Another set of words appearing in the same part of the Gnomish Lexicon and thus probably also related are: G. past “skin”, G. pasta- “skin, peel, flay” and G. path “peel, skin of fruit, fine bark (paper)” (GL/63).

The root ᴹ√PAR reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a completely different meaning “compose, put together”, though still with the derivative ᴹQ. parma/N. parf “book” along with ON. partha- “arrange, compose” (Ety/PAR). The root ᴹ√PAR “compose, arrange” also appeared in the first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) also from the 1930s, again as the basis for ᴹQ. parma “book” (PE18/51). The root √PAR¹ “arrange” > Q. parma “writing, composition, book” appeared again in the second version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 (PE18/101).

In notes from around 1959 Tolkien reverted to the earlier meaning of the root. In etymological notes from 1959 Tolkien wrote “√PAR-, peel (hence bark, book). [S.] paran, Q. parne, bald, bare” (PE17/171). In a list of Sindarin words from the same period he wrote:

> S paran, naked, bare. Cf. Dol Baran. √PAR “peel”. Cf. Q parna, bare. (Q parma, peel, applied to bark or skin, hence “book”). Q. parca, naked, of persons. S parch (PE17/86).

In another note from this period he gave a very similar derivation with √PAR > Q. parma = [originally] “bark” [later] “parchment, book” noting that the first Elvish writing materials were bark, but he then rejected this etymology (PE17/171).

In notes from the 1960s Tolkien gave:

> √PAR- “learn, to acquire information, not by experience or observation, but by communication”, by the instruction, or accounts of others in words or writing: parma, a book (or written document of some size). To read a book in Elvish was often expressed so: paranye (apārien) parmanen, I am learning (have learnt) by means of a book (PE17/180).

This last meaning of the root is further supported by the phrase Q. cuita’r parë “live and learn” from Late Notes on Verbs composed in 1969 (PE22/154).

Thus the semantic evolution of root seems to be 1910s “✱peel” >> 1930s-1950 “arrange, compose” >> 1959 “peel” >> 1960s “learn”.

Neo-Eldarin: Tolkien’s shifting definitions of the root √PAR make it tricky to use in the context of Neo-Eldarin. While it was the source of Q. parma “book” for all of Tolkien’s life, the exact mechanism of how √PAR was connected to “book” underwent a number of changes. Of these, I think the use of √PAR = “peel” is the one that can be most easily discarded. While this does leave S. paran “bare” from the name S. Dol Baran with no etymology, that word might be salvaged by assuming it was derived instead of an unrelated (hypothetical) root ✱√PARAN.

The other two meanings of the root, “compose” (1930s-1950) and “learn” (1960s) are both popular parts of Neo-Eldarin. The verb Q. par- has become the basis verb for “learn” verbs in Neo-Eldarin since its publication in PE17 in 2007. However, the sense “compose, arrange” is also well established. I think it is best to assume this root means both “compose, put together” in general as well as “compose (information)” = “learn”, to retain both these senses. As for “arrange”, that seems to be better covered by √PAN.

rik

root. put forth effort, strive, endeavour, try

This root was connected to Tolkien’s attempt to translate the phrase “try harder” into Quenya around 1966-67. √RIK “strive” first appeared in rough notes as a replacement for √NDEB which Tolkien thought was too close to “endeavor” (PE17/167). Tolkien then firmed up the meaning of √RIK in another note, giving it the gloss “put forth effort, strive, endeavour”, so that “try!” = ā rike in Quenya (PE17/93). Another note had √RIK meaning “try” in the sense “endeavour, make an effort, strive (to do something against an obstacle or opponent)”; this note indicated the root was intransitive and the preposition “against” was required before any obstacle (PE17/182). It seems Tolkien did not entirely abandon √NDEB, however, since a similar form √NDAB “endeavor, try, seek opportunity” appeared in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/151); see that entry for discussion.

Note that √RIK “strive” is also identical in form to √RIK or ᴹ√RIK(H) “twist”, a root that had a long history in Tolkien’s writings. For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I assume the two roots co-exist.

hekla

proper name. any thing (or person) put aside from or left out from its normal company

mi-srawanwe

proper name. put into flesh

telu

root. roof in, put the crown on a building

pan

root. arrange, set in order, arrange, set in order; [ᴹ√] place, set, fix in place (especially of wood)

Tolkien introduced this root early and it retained more or less the same meaning throughout his life. It first appeared as ᴱ√PANA “arrange” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. pano “series, course, plan, arrangement” and ᴱQ. panya- “plan, arrange, intend, mean” (QL/72). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. pan “arrangement, settlement; place, spot” and G. panta- “set, put, place, arrange, settle” (GL/63).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s it appeared as ᴹ√PAN “place, set, fix in place (especially of wood)”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. panya-/N. penia- “fix, set”, ᴹQ. pano “piece of shaped wood”, and N. pân “plank, fixed board (especially in a floor)” (Ety/PAN). √PAN appeared unglossed in the second version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa from around 1950 (TQ2: PE18/89) and the root √PAN “arrange, set in order” was mentioned in passing in etymological notes from the late 1960s (PE17/108).

red

root. scatter, sow

This root first appeared as ᴹ√RED “scatter, sow” in The Etymologies of the 1930s along with augmented variant ᴹ√ERÉD and derivatives like ᴹQ. erde/N. eredh “seed, germ” and ᴹQ. resta/N. rîdh “sown field, acre” (Ety/ERÉD, RED). √RED appeared again in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s with the same gloss “scatter, sow” and derivatives Q. resta/S. rîdh “sown field” (PE19/91). The Quenya word resta reappeared in the 1964 phrase Q. nai elen siluva parma-restalyanna meldonya “✱may a star shine upon your book-fair, my friend” (VT49/38), which might indicate the ongoing validity of this root, but it is also quite possible that resta “✱fair” has a completely different etymology.