narca- ("k")vb. "to rend" (NÁRAK; the form "narki" in LR is a misreading for narka; see VT45:37)
Primitive elvish
re(n)d
root. kinsman, *cousin
Noldorin
narcha-
verb. to rend
narcha-
verb. to rend
rista-
verb. to rend, rip
Quenya
narca-
verb. to rend
narcë
noun. *rend, tear; [ᴱQ.] snap of a dog; spiteful remark
Sindarin
narcha
rend
narcha- (i narcha, in narchar)
narcha
rend
(i narcha, in narchar)
rista-
verb. to cut; to rend, rip
Adûnaic
rahat-
verb. to break, rend
A verb appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth with the past-tense translations “broke” and “rent” (SD/247, VT24/12), so meaning “to break, rend”. In the final version of the Lament it appeared as yurahtam “they rent”. The initial element of this form is the 3rd persons masculine plural suffix yu- “they”, while its final element is the plural verbal suffix -m, both in agreement with the plural subject Bârîm “Lords”. This leaves the basic verb form rahta, which is the aorist tense according to the theories used here.
In the previous (second draft) version of the Lament, the verb form was urahta with the 3rd persons masculine singular suffix u- “he”, and no plural suffix -m. This is consistent with the subject in this version, which was the singular Bârun “Lord”.
Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/22) that this verb may be related to Q. rac- “to break” (MC/223). It could also be related to the contemporaneous ᴹQ. hat- “to break asunder” (Ety/SKAT).
Conceptual Development: In the first draft of the Lament, the form was rakkhatū, indicating the earliest form of the verb may have had the verb stem rakhat- instead of later rahat-.
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
ḷqḷ
root. rend
A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s given as ᴱ√(U)ḶQ(U)Ḷ and glossed “rend”, having what appears to be unglossed verb forms ᴱQ. ulqin “✱I rend” and alqe “✱rended [past]” as derivatives (QL/97). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.
sṇkṇ
root. rend, tear
Early Quenya
ulqu-
verb. *to rend
A verb form appearing as ulqin in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s based on the early root ᴱ√(U)ḶQ(U)Ḷ “rend” (QL/97), and so presumably meaning “✱I rend” as suggested by the editors.
sanka
noun. rend, jab
A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “rend, jag” derived from the early root ᴱ√SṆKṆ “rend, tear” (QL/85).
Qenya
narka-
verb. to rend
A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “to rend” derived from the root ᴹ√NARAK “tear, rend (tr. and intr.)” (Ety/NÁRAK; EtyAC/NÁRAK). In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road Christopher Tolkien gave the form as narki (LR/375), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne corrected this to narka in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/37).
askat-
verb. to rend, break asunder
The verb ᴹQ. terhat- “break apart” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, a combination of ᴹQ. ter “through” with the root ᴹ√SKAT “break asunder” (Ety/SKAT). Its past form terhante “broke” appeared in earlier versions of the Lament of Atalante from the 1930s (LR/47, 56). In versions of the poem associated with The Notion Club Papers from the 1940s, Tolkien revised terhante to askante “sunder-broke” (SD/310), and in the final version of the poem he had sakkante “rent” (SD/246). The past form sakkante is difficult to puzzle out, but askante is probably based on an augmented form askat- of the root ᴹ√SKAT.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would retain both terhat- “to break apart” and askat- “to rend, break asunder” as near synonyms, both more distinctive than the basic verb ᴹQ. hat- “break asunder”.
sakkat-
verb. to rend, break asunder
Old Noldorin
rista-
verb. rend, rip
Middle Primitive Elvish
narak
root. tear, rend (tr. and intr.)
A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tear, rend (tr. and intr.)”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. naraka “harsh, rending, violent” and N. narcha- “to rend” (Ety/NÁRAK). The element S. narch “bitter-biting” in S. Narchost from The Lord of the Rings is probably related (LotR/900; RC/601). This in turn hints that the early root ᴱ√NARA “(properly) bite at” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was a likely precursor, though a parenthetical comment indicates the actual form of this root was ᴱ√ŊARA or ᴱ√ŊAŘA [ŊAÐA] (QL/64).
skar
root. tear, rend
A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “to rend” derived from the root ᴹ√NARAK “tear, rend (tr. and intr.)” (Ety/NÁRAK; EtyAC/NÁRAK).