rod

root. roof, cave

rom

root. ROM

rok

root. run on foot, *horse, run on foot

This root was the basis for Elvish “horse” words starting in the 1930s. It first appeared as unglossed ᴹ√ROK in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the derivatives ᴹQ. rokko/N. roch “horse” (Ety/ROK). The root was given the gloss “run on foot” in a page of roots from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s, but that page was rejected. Primitive ✶rokkō “horse” was mentioned regularly in Tolkien’s later writing (Let/282; PE21/82; WJ/407), though in one place he clarified that it was more specifically a “swift horse for riding” (Let/382).

ros

root. *plain

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the derivative Ilk. rost “plain, wide land between mountains”, an element in the names Ilk. Nivrost “West Vale” and Ilk. Radhrost “East Vale” (Ety/ROS²). In later versions of The Silmarillion these names became S. Nevrast “Hither Shore” (S/119) and S. Talath Rhúnen “East Vale” (S/124), making it likely that ᴹ√ROS “✱plain” was abandoned.

roy

root. chase

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “chase” with derivatives like ᴹQ. roime/N. rhui(w) “hunt, hunting” and ᴹQ. ronyo/N. rhŷn(w) “chaser, hound of chase” (Ety/ROY¹; EtyAC/ROY¹); the root was originally given as ᴹ√RUY (EtyAC/ROY¹).

srō

root. east

A root appearing in a rejected page of roots from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/127), possibly as a variant of √RŌ/ORO that Tolkien introduced to explain S. rhûn “east” after he decided initial r- did not become rh- in Noldorin/Sindarin; see the entry on S. rhûn for discussion.

rokkō

noun. swift horse

ronyō

noun. ‘chaser’, hound of chase

ros

root. distil, drip

rot

root. bore, tunnel

roy

root. ruddy, red

(o)rom

root. loud noise, horn blast

rō/oro

root. rise, up, high

oro

root. rise, up, high

os

root. round, about

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “round, about”, with various derivatives like N. o “about, concerning” and ᴹQ. osto/N. ost “city, town with wall round” (Ety/OS). Tolkien also considered variant forms ᴹ√OD and ᴹ√OTH, the latter glossed “fort” (EtyAC/OS). This root in The Etymologies is a later iteration of unglossed ᴱ√OSO [’OSO] from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ossa “wall and moat” and ᴱQ. ostar “township” (QL/71). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. ost “enclosure, yard; town” and G. osta- “to surround with walls, build up; fortify, protect” (GL/63). This early root probably meant something like “✱enclosure”.

In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, Q. osto and S. ost were instead derived from the root √SOT “shelter, protect, defend”, but this root has no other derivatives.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, ᴹ√OS “round, about” is too useful to discard, and I prefer it over the later root √SOT, though √(O)S-OT might be salvaged as an extension of √OS.

top

root. cover, roof, roof, cover

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “cover, roof” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tópa-/N. toba- “to roof”, ᴹQ. tópa “roof”, and N. tobas “roofing” (Ety/TOP). It was grouped together with and was apparently a variant of ᴹ√TUP (EtyAC/TOP), a root with a much lengthier history; see that entry for details. For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think this root could mean “roof” as opposed to √TUP = “cover”.

kor

root. round

kornā

adjective. round, globed

rundā

noun. rough piece of wood

stambē

noun. room, chamber

kol

root. round, (?rim)

raw

root. *roar

Tolkien used similar Elvish words for “lion” for much of his life. Lion words were connected to a pair of related roots in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: ᴱ√RAVA or ᴱ√RAẆA (QL/79). The first of these had derivatives like ᴱQ. rauna “prey” and ᴱQ. rauta- “chase, hunt, pursue” as well as ᴱQ. rau “lion”. The second had derivatives like ᴱQ. rauka “swift” and ᴱQ. rawa- “run, chase”. In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, words like G. raug “rushing, swift” were probably derived from ᴱ√RAẆA and words like G. rau “lion” and G. raust “hunt, chase” were probably derived from ᴱ√RAVA (GL/65).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave only the root ᴹ√RAW (unglossed) with derivatives like ᴹQ. rá/N. rhaw “lion” (Ety/RAW). Hints of this root are also seen in later words like S. Rauros “Roaring Spray” (RC/327) and Q. rávë “roaring noise” (MC/223), indicating that the root meaning might be “✱roar”. As for “lion”, in the Outline of Phonology of the early 1950s (OP2) Tolkien gave two distinct primitive forms: ✶rāw “lion” and ✶raurō “roarer” (PE19/99, 102, 104).

i

root. that (deictic particle); [ᴱ√] here it is, root of relatives

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “that (deictic particle)” (Ety/I¹). A similar root appeared in the Qenya and Gnomish Lexicons of the 1910s glossed “here it is” (QL/41) and “root of relatives” (GL/50). Given Tolkien’s long standing use of i for both “the” and the relative pronoun “that” in all his Elvish languages, this root was established very early and remained more or less fixed throughout Tolkien’s life.

lir

root. *row

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s server as the basis for N. lhîr “row” in N. oeglir “range of mountain peaks” (Ety/LIR²). Tolkien’s continued use of aeglir in his later writings (in Hithaeglir “Misty Mountains; Line of Misty Peaks”) indicates its ongoing validity (Let/180; RC/11).

suluk

root. *root (especially as edible)

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. sulka/N. solch “root (especially as edible)” (Ety/SÚLUK).

(n)dub

root. lay base, foundation, root; found

ankā

noun. jaw, row of teeth

gondō

noun. stone, rock

nor

root. run as of wheels, roll along

talam

root. base, root, foundation; floor, ground

talmā

noun. foundation, basis, root

tel(u)

root. *roof

telu-

verb. to roof in

tēñe

noun. line, row

tōp-

verb. to roof

od

root. ?round, about

gonod

root. stone

The Elvish words for “stone” were established very early as Q. ondo and S. gond. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien gave the root of these words as ᴱ√ONO “hard” with derivatives like ᴱQ. ondo “stone, rock” and ᴱQ. onin “anvil” (QL/70). But its Gnomish derivatives like G. gonn “stone” and G. gontha “pillar” (GL/41) indicate the actual root was ✱ᴱ√ƷONO, since initial ʒ > g in Gnomish.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√GONOD or √GONDO “stone” with essentially the same Elvish forms: ᴹQ. ondo and N. gonn (Ety/GOND). The root itself did not appear in later writings, but Tolkien continued to state, with great frequency, that the primitive form of the word was ✶gondō (Let/410; PE17/28; PE18/106; PE21/81; PM/374; RC/347).

lop

root. horse, horse; [ᴱ√] *run (of animals), gallop, lope

This root was the basis for horse words starting with the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it appeared unglossed as ᴱ√LOPO (QL/56). It was compared to the root ᴱ√LOQO, and these roots include the verbs ᴱQ. lopo- “gallop, run (of animals)” and ᴱQ. loqo- “run (of human beings)”, so I think it is likely those were the meanings of the roots as well (QL/56). In the Qenya Lexicon, ᴱ√LOPO had the derivatives ᴱQ. lōpa “horse or mare” and ᴱQ. lopsi “mare” (QL/56), but elsewhere in that document there was the word ᴱQ. lapatte “rabbit” < ᴱ✶lopatte, so I think that word is related as well, though Tolkien did mark the primitive form with a “?” (QL/51). The probably-related word ᴹQ. lopo “rabbit” appeared in a discussion of nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/31).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√LOP was glossed “horse”, and its derivatives ᴹQ. olombo and N. lobor had only that sense (EtyAC/LOP), but horse words were usually derived from ᴹ√ROK from the 1930s and later. The word Q. lopoldi “rabbits” appeared in some 1965 notes on Númenor, so It seems likely √LOP remained valid in some form. Another possibly related late word is S. ✱laba- “hop” as in S. Labadal “Hopafoot” (UT/60).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√LOP with a verbal sense “✱gallop, lope”. In this way, it can remain the basis for rabbit words based on their loping run. The horse words from this root might be specialized for heavier loping horses like destriers, since ᴹQ. rokko was said to refer more specifically to a “swift horse” (EtyAC/ROK).

maiga

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) to illustrate certain patterns of root formation (PE18/66). It may have serving as the basis for ᴹQ. Maia, though this word was given different derivations later.

rauta

root. metal

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s, first glossed “copper” and then “metal”, with derivatives ᴹQ. rauta/N. rhaud “metal” and serving mainly to explain names like N. Angrod and N. Finrod (Ety/RAUTĀ). It might have reappeared in the name S. Rodëol “metal of Eöl” from later Silmarillion drafts (WJ/322), but by 1957 Tolkien was explaining the final element of S. Finrod as S. raud “noble” (PE17/49, 118), so I think it is likely that ᴹ√RAUTA “metal” was abandoned.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d use Q. tinco (LotR/1122) and its cognate [N.] tinc (Ety/TINKŌ) for “metal” words. For “copper” I'd use derivatives of √(U)RUS (VT41/10).

yel

root. friend

A new gloss for the root ᴹ√YEL “daughter”, with a new set of derivatives like ᴹQ. -iel “-friend” and ᴹQ. yelda “friendly” (Ety/YEL), but it was rejected in turn and probably replaced by ᴹ√MEL.

khlip

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected paragraph from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/112 note #78).

phan

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/PHAN).

skil

root. [unglossed]

A root mentioned in passing in as a variant of ᴹ√KIL “divide” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but it had no derivatives and appeared nowhere else (Ety/KIL).

stā

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root reference in The Etymologies apparently serving as the basis for the verbal action suffix ᴹ✶-stā “-ing” in ᴹ✶khau̯-stā “rest-ing” (Ety/KHAW; EtyAC/KHAW). See the entry on ✶-stā for further discussion.

tinkō

root. metal

The “root” ᴹ√TINKŌ (more likely just a primitive word) appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “metal” and derivatives like ᴹQ. tinko/N. tinc of the same meaning (Ety/TINKŌ). The reappearance of Q. tinco “metal” in The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1122) strongly indicates its ongoing validity.

ᴹ√TINKŌ may have replaced the root ᴱ√SINI “pale blue” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. sink “mineral, gem, metal” and G. sinc “metal” (QL/83; GL/67); these early mineral words were originally attributed to ᴱ√SṆT͡YṆ “twinkle” before they were transferred to ᴱ√SINI, leaving only derivatives like ᴱQ. sintl “crystal” and ᴱQ. sinty- “sparkle” under ᴱ√SṆT͡YṆ (QL/85). However, in notes from the late 1960s Tolkien had primitive ✶sinki as an element ✶sinkitamo, the basis for Q. sintamo “smith” (PE17/108). Likewise there is evidence of the earlier root in Q. sinca “flint” as in Q. sincahonda “flint-hearted” (LotR/979), initially given as ᴹQ. tingahondo in Lord of the Rings drafts (SD/68).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would definitely use ✶tink- = “metal”, but I think it is worth keeping ✶sinki = “✱mineral = any inorganic solid including both stone and metal” as a variant.

uruk

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/URUK).

us

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/US).

rāu

noun. lion

rǭda

noun. cave

am

root. up

auluta-

verb. [unglossed]

bay

root. [unglossed]

ithil

noun. moon

kab

root. hollow

kaltwa

?. [unglossed]

kas

noun. head

kōmā

noun. [unglossed]

lot(h)

root. flower

nelek

root. tooth

orta-

verb. to rise

phal

root. foam

pheleg

root. cave

ruk

root. demon

star

root. stiff

torōmā

noun. [unglossed]

yagō

noun. gulf

berékā

adjective. wild

gattā

noun. cavern

iw

root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish

kas

root. head

mālō

noun. friend

nakma

noun. jaw

nakse

noun. tooth

pathnā

adjective. smooth

patnā

adjective. wide

ranā

proper name. Moon

ril

root. glitter

rāmā

noun. wing

skelta-

verb. to strip

stin

root. [unglossed]

yakta-

noun. neck