rácina

adjective. broken

An adjective glossed “broken” appearing in the Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/223), apparently a passive participle of rac- “break”. A very similar plural adjective racine appeared in notes associated with Quendi and Eldar (Q&E) essay from 1959-60, an element in the term rakine tengwi for consonants without an associated vowel which Tolkien translated as “stripped or deprived signs”.

Conceptual Development: In versions of ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem around 1930, Tolkien used ᴱQ. rusta for “broken”, though in the same poem he translated its plural form ruste as “crumbling” (MC/214). In drafts of the 1930 poem he had ᴱQ. ranka for “broken” (PE16/77), perhaps an early manifestion of rácina. Compare also G. rag- “break asunder, burst” from the 1910s (GL/64).

racina

stripped, deprived

#racina adj. "stripped, deprived"; this adj. is only attested in the pl. (racinë ["k"]). Compare rácina under rac- above. Cf. #racina tengwë (only pl. racinë tengwi ("k") is attested) "stripped sign", "deprived sign"; in early Elvish analysis of Quenya the term for a consonant with no following vowel; the vowel was held to have disappeared or been omitted (VT39:6)

man tiruva rácina cirya?

Who shall heed a broken ship?

The thirty-second line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is man “who” followed by the future tense of the verb tir- “to heed”. The object of the phrase is the noun cirya “ship”, preceded by the adjective rácina “broken”, itself the passive-particle of the verb rac- “to break”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> man tir-uva rácina cirya = “✱who heed-(future) broken ship”

-ina

general 'passive' participle

-ina ending for what Tolkien called "general 'passive' participle" (VT43:15); compare nótina "counted", rácina "broken", hastaina "marred" (q.v.). The stem-vowel is usually lengthened when the ending is added to the stem of a primary verb (as in the two first examples above), though the lengthening fails to occur (or is not denoted) in carina as the passive participle of car- "make, do" (VT43:15).

rac-

verb. break

rac- ("k")vb. "break", past participle rácina ("k") "broken" in Markirya

rusta

broken

rusta adj.? "broken" (MC:214; this is "Qenya")

breitha-

verb. to break out suddenly

rak Reconstructed

root. break

This root appeared as ᴱ√RAKA “pile up” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. rakta- “pile, hoard, amass, collect” and ᴱQ. rakte “pile, heap” (QL/78). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, there are similar forms with different meanings: G. ractha “breach” and G. rag- “break asunder, burst” (GL/64). This conceptual shift from “pile up” to “✱break” is supported by the word ᴱQ. ranka “broken” in drafts of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from the end of the 1920s (PE16/77). Q. rak- “break” reappeared in the revised version of that poem from the late 1960s (MC/222-223), implying the root remained valid or (more likely) was abandoned but later restored. Q. rakine “stripped” in phonetic notes from 1959-60 might be related.

rangen

7x{#5$ adjective. broken