Primitive elvish

rot

root. cave; delve underground, dig, excavate, tunnel, [ᴹ√] bore; [ᴱ√] hollow, delve underground, dig, excavate, tunnel, [ᴹ√] bore; [ᴱ√] hollow; [√]cave

The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√ROTO “hollow” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. rotl “cave, hollow” and ᴱQ. rotse “pipe, tube” (QL/80). The primitive root ᴱ√roto also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon with derivatives like G. rod “tube, stem” and G. †roth “cave, grot” (GL/65). The root reappeared as ᴹ√ROT “bore, tunnel” as a late addition to The Etymologies of the 1930s that Christopher Tolkien omitted from the published version of The Lost Road; it had with derivatives ᴹQ. rotto/N. (g)roth “cave, tunnel” (EtyAC/ROT), and was also an element in the name N. Nogrod (EtyAC/NAUK).

The root appeared as √ROT “cave” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/49), as ✱groto “dig, excavate, tunnel” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/414), as unglossed (g)roto in other notes associated with that document (VT39/9) and as rot, s-rot “delve underground, excavate, tunnel” in notes associated with The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 (PM/365 note #56). Thus in later writings the root √ROT had variants √GROT and √SROT.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I would ignore the gloss “cave” which seems to be a loose translation, and stick with the meaning “excavate, tunnel, bore” for the root √ROT; I’d also retain the meaning “hollow” from the 1910s to allow salvaging similar early words from the Qenya and Gnomish Lexicon.

Primitive elvish [PE17/049; PE17/183; PM/352; PM/365; VT39/09; WJ/414; WJ/415] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nābā

noun. hollow

Primitive elvish [WJ/414] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kuldā

adjective. hollow

Primitive elvish [WJ/414] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lemek

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s illustrating certain phonetic combinations (PE19/98), and therefore possibly not a “real” root.

Primitive elvish [PE19/098] Group: Eldamo. Published by

phut

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) as an etymological variation of √PUT (PE18/90).

Primitive elvish [PE18/090] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sal

root. [unglossed], *harp(ing), lyre

The unglossed root ᴱ√SALA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salma “lyre, small harp” and ᴱQ. salumbe “harping, music” (QL/81). The root √SAL appeared again Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s to illustrate the reformed perfect form of its verb Q. asálie (PE22/132), but since these later forms are unglossed it is unclear whether they have the same meaning (“✱harp(ing)”) as the earlier version of the root.

Primitive elvish [PE22/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

stuk

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected section of the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, serving to illustration certain phonetic developments: ✶stuknā > Q. thúna (PE19/86).

Primitive elvish [PE19/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tig

root. [unglossed]

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as the basis for the verb Q. tinga- “go (for a long while)” (PE22/157). The etymology was marked with an “X” and so was probably a transient idea (PE22/157 note #70).

Primitive elvish [PE22/157] Group: Eldamo. Published by

graw Reconstructed

root. [unglossed], [ᴹ√] dark, swart

This root appeared as a primitive form grawa serving as the basis of the word Q. roa “bear” >> “dog” in notes on monosyllabic roots from 1968 (VT47/35); a Sindarin derivative S. graw “bear” appeared in other notes written around the same time (VT47/12). Patrick Wynne suggested that in the sense “bear” grawa might be connected to the root ᴹ√GRAWA “dark, swart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/GRAWA).

Primitive elvish [VT47/35] Group: Eldamo. Published by