A root Tolkien introduced in the late 1960s as the basis for his latest Elvish word for “ten”: Q. quëan/quain, S. pae, T. pai(n) (VT42/24; VT48/6). It was an extension of √KWA “complete” as in “a complete set of (10) fingers”. Prior this late change, the usual word for “ten” was ᴹQ. kainen (along with other variants beginning with kai- or kea-) from the root ᴹ√KAYAN or ᴹ√KAYAR as it appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KAYAN). This basis for “ten” dates back to the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/49, PE14/82). Tolkien was still considering √KAYAN for “10” in the late 1960s before replacing it with √KWAY(AM) (VT48/12).
Primitive elvish
sath
root. pair
Derivatives
Variations
- SATHA ✧ PE21/74
kayan
root. ten
Derivatives
Element in
- Q. caista “one tenth”
Variations
- kayan ✧ VT48/12
kway
root. ten
Derivatives
Variations
- kwaya ✧ VT42/24; VT42/24
kwayam
cardinal. 10
Derivations
- √KWAY “ten” ✧ VT42/24
Derivatives
Variations
- kway-am ✧ VT42/24
A root mentioned in passing in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s as √SATHA “pair” (PE21/74). It had no derivatives in that document, but might be connected to ᴱQ. satto “both” from the 1910s (PE14/76-77) and Ad. satta “two” from the 1940s (SD/428). In the 1950s document, Tolkien wrote in the margin “Best get rid of s, th [for duals] ?”, indicating he likely abandoned √SATHA.