ret

root. climb

reth

root. remain in same place

A root appearing in a list of Sindarin words placed with Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, given as √REÞ or √RES “remain in same place, hence be unmoved, patient”. It had the derivatives S. andreth “patience”, which appeared elsewhere as the name of a Bëorian woman (MR/305), and S. Arodreth “Noble Endurance”, a name appearing nowhere else. The variant √RES may have been intended to be the Quenya form.

khap

root. bind, make fast; restrain, deprive of liberty, retain, keep, detain, retain, keep, detain; bind, make fast; [ᴹ√] enfold; [√] restrain, deprive of liberty

A root with alternate form √KHAM and gloss “bind, make fast; restrain, deprive of liberty” given as a variant of √KHEP “retain, keep” in a page of roots composed sometime around 1959-60 (VT41/6; PE17/157). It reappeared in notes from 1967 with the glosses “retain, keep, detain” and one derivative: Q. hampa “restrained, delayed, kept” (PE17/68). It might be a later iteration of ᴹ√KHAP “enfold” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KHAP).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is useful to retain this 1930s sense, since it is the basis for various Noldorin words having to do with “clothing” for which we have no clear replacements.

khep

root. retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of, retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of; [ᴱ√] bind; encircle

The root √KHEP appeared with gloss “retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of” in etymological notes from 1959-60 along with a variant √KHAP “bind, make fast, restrain, deprive of liberty” (VT41/6), and in this period it was almost certainly the basis for S. heb- “keep” in ú-chebin estel anim “I have kept (heb- lenited 1st-person) no hope for myself” (LotR/1061). It might be a later iteration of ᴱ√HEPE, glossed “bind” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/40) and “encircle?” (the question mark is Tolkien’s) in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/48).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, some derivatives of this 1910s root might be salvaged as derivatives of later √KHEP.

nanmen-

verb. return

ndanmē

noun. retreat; ebb, lowtide

(g)reth

root. aid, support

(n)dan

root. back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert

The most notable use of the root √(N)DAN “back(wards)” was in the name Q. Nandor for those Elves who joined in the march to Valinor but turned back during the journey (VT48/32); the same root was an element in the earlier name for the Nandor from the 1930s, the Danas (Ety/NDAN). The root first appeared as ᴹ√NDAN “back” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like the aforementioned Danas as well as the prefix ᴹQ. nan- “backwards” and the Doriathrin noun dôn “back” (Ety/NDAN). The Etymologies also mentioned an unstrengthened form of the root ᴹ√DAN (Ety/DAN).

The root √(N)DAN appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings. It appeared among a list of roots having to do with “back” probably composed around 1959 (PE17/166). In this list, Tolkien clarified that in Quenya, √NDAN specifically meant “back” as an action by the same agent revising a previous action, as opposed to an action by a different agent, for which Tolkien coined the root {√TŌ/OTO >>} √KHAN; the example Tolkien gave was Q. nanwen-/S. dadwen- “return, go back [by same agent]” < √NDAN vs. {{Q. tóquet- >>} Q. hanquenta “answer [by a different agent]”. This distinction was lost in Sindarin, however, and √NDAN came to be used for both same and differing agents. Tolkien also said that √NDAN could be used “of return (in same path), retracing, and so employable as un- as in undo”.

The root was mentioned again in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, where Tolkien said:

> The name Nandor was a derivative of the element ✱dan, ✱ndan- indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in “undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return)”. The original word ✱ndandō, therefore, probably only implied “one who goes back on his word or decision”.

Finally, the root appeared in some notes from the late 1960s where √dan- was glossed “retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” serving as the basis for {✶danmi >>} ✶ndanmē > Q. nanwë/S. dannen “ebb-tide”, apparently originally meaning “retreat” (VT48/26 author’s note #2, VT48/32 editor’s note #18). In the same document Tolkien again mentioned the connection of this root to the name of the Nandor.

rad

root. *back, return, [ᴹ√] back, return

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√RAD “back, return” with derivatives like ᴹQ. randa/N. anrand “cycle, age (100 Valian Years)” as well as Dor. radhon “east” (Ety/RAD). It reappeared (unglossed) in Outline of Phonology (OP2) as an example of a root where medial d dissimilated to l in Quenya rather than becoming r as usual: √RAD > Q. ral- (PE19/99). Neither the root or the verb were glossed in OP2, so it is unclear whether or not it retained its 1930s meaning, though there is no reason to believe it didn’t.

kab

root. hold, contain, retain, possess, have in hand, hold, contain, retain, possess, have in hand; [ᴹ√] hollow

This root’s most notable derivative was one of the Sindarin words for “hand”, S. cam, supplanting archaic S. †maw which survived only in compounds (VT47/6-7). This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “hollow” (Ety/KAB), replacing an earlier entry glossed “hold, (?contain)”. The root reappeared in the late 1960s in Tolkien’s notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals, variously glossed “hold, contain, retain” (VT47/7) or “to hold, possess, have in hand” (VT47/20).

A later addition to these notes then made the rather surprising claim that “kamba is from KAM not KAB”. This seems to be supported by a Quenya verb form camnelyes “you received it” (VT47/21), where the past form camne must be from √KAM. However, the form cambelyes was written below this, possibly indicating a restoration of √KAB, as suggested by Patrick Wynne.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is best to continue to assume the existence of √KAB.

kwer

root. revolve, revolve, [ᴱ√] turn

A root Tolkien used for “revolve” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s, along with variant √KWEL and derivatives Q. querend- “pivot, revolving center” and Q. querma “spinning wheel, turn-table” (PE17/65). It replaced √PEL for this purpose, which came to mean “edge, bound, fence, limit”. This note seems to imply that √KWER primarily meant a horizontal rotation, but it was also the basis for Q. querna, as in silmë nuquerna “s-reversed” for an inverted silmë tengwa (LotR/1123), though it may be that the nu- here is necessary to imply a vertical rotation.

The earliest precursor to this root was ᴱ√KERE “turn” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though this root’s derivatives mostly had to with earthenware and pottery (QL/46). In the Early Quenya Grammar of the 1920s Tolkien introduced several variants of this root: ku̯ere, ki̯ere and elaboration ᴱ√kereke “turn round and round, send to and fro”, the latter said to be the basis of words having to do with “weave” in a syncopated form √kreke (PE14/65). In this document, none of these variants had any derivatives, but it seems the first of these ku̯ere survived in Tolkien’s later conception of the languages.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would mostly use √KWER for “revolve, ✱turn”, and avoid the variant √KWEL which (a) has no derivatives and (b) conflicts with √KWEL “fade”. However, √KWEL is useful for preserving Noldorin words having to do with rotation from the earlier sense of the root ᴹ√PEL “revolve on fixed point” from the 1930s, so I would keep it as Sindarin-only variant to allow the retention of words like N. pelthaes “pivot”; this may also have been Tolkien’s motive for having such a variant of √KWER “revolve”.

tō/oto

root. back

A root in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, which Tolkien specified as meaning: “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). But Tolkien crossed this all through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).

khan

root. back

dankĭna

adjective. slain

kwel

root. revolve

rap

root. climb

res

root. remain in same place