A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “excite, egg on, urge” with derivatives ᴹQ. siule “incitement” and N. hûl “cry of encouragement in battle” (Ety/SIW).
Middle Primitive Elvish
si
root. this, here, now
silimā
adjective. silver, shining white
silip
root. SILIP
silimarille
proper name. silimarille
sil
root. shine silver
silimē
noun. light of Silpion, †silver
sik
root. *dagger, knife
siw
root. excite, egg on, urge
sir
root. flow
sirya-
verb. to flow smoothly
sis
root. hiss
gengwa
root. sick
A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sick” with derivatives ᴹQ. engwa/N. gem “sickly” (Ety/GENG-WĀ). It was given as ᴹ√GENG-WĀ, and thus represented an extension of an otherwise unattested root ᴹ√GENG. In the entry for ᴹ√YEN from The Etymologies it appeared as ᴹ√GEM in the discussion of N. ingem “old, (lit.) year-sick” (EtyAC/YEN), but I believe this represents the Noldorin phonetic developments of the true primitive form rather than a conceptual variation. The continued appearance of Q. Engwar in The Silmarillion narratives of the 1950s and 60s hints that this root may have remained valid as well.
ndar
root. sign
A rejected root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a single derivative: ᴹQ. narwe “sign, token”, along with an unglossed (and probably incomplete) form nar... (EtyAC/NDAR).
sliw
root. sickly
A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sickly”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. laiwa/N. flaew “sickly, sick, ill” and ᴹQ. líve/N. fliw “sickness” (Ety/SLIW). The root was first written as ᴹ√LIW (EtyAC/LIW). It is probably a later iteration of the unglossed root ᴱ√LEẆE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. leuke “sick, ill; pallid, wan” and ᴱQ. leume “sickness” (QL/53).
sub
root. sink (esp. in water)
The root ᴹ√SUB “sink, esp. in water” appeared in a rejected page of verbal roots from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s where it had a derived past tense form ᴹQ. sumbe “✱sank” as well as a distinct verb form ᴹQ. sumba- “to submerge” (PE22/127). It might be a later iteration of the unglossed root ᴱ√SUQU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. sunqa “going down, descending; abysmal, deep, profound” and ᴱQ. suq- “fall, fail, go down, die down” (QL/87).
Neo-Eldarin: I think it is worth retaining ᴺ√SUB “sink” as a Neo-Root.
thel(es)
root. sister
Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√THEL and extended form ᴹ√THELES with the gloss “sister” and derivatives like ᴹQ. seler and N. thêl of the same meaning, both derived from the extended root as made clear by the Noldorin plural thelei < ON. thelehi (Ety/THEL). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. meletheldi “love-sisters” for close female friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. nésa and S. nethel as the words for “sister”, both from the root √NETH. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√THEL(ES) to represent more abstract notions of “sisterhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical sister”s as opposed to Q. nésa/S. nethel for sisters by blood.
telep
root. silver
slaiwā
adjective. sickly, sick, ill
slīwē
noun. sickness
enek
root. six
kham
root. sit (down)
kyelep
root. silver
lin
root. sing
lindō
noun. singer
lir
root. sing, trill
miniya
adjective. single, distinct, unique
glir
root. sing, trill
kwam
root. *sick
A root connected to sickness, first appearing as ᴱ√QAMA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. qáme “sickness, nausea”, ᴱQ. qama- “to be ill, vomit”, G. cwam “ill”, and G. côma “disease, illness” (QL/76; GL/26, 28). It reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√KWAM with derivatives ᴹQ. qáme, N. paw and Ilk. côm “sickness” (Ety/KWAM). It does not appear again in Tolkien’s later writing, but there is nothing contradicting its validity either.
salap
root. lick up, *sip
The first iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√SḶPḶ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salpa “bowl” and ᴱQ. sulp- “lick, sup, lick up, sup up” (QL/84). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. salf “bowl, basin” (GL/66), as well as G. thlib- “sup, lap up, suck” (GL/73). Later versions of these verb forms appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s as ᴱN. lhif “drinks” and ᴱQ. sulpe “sips, tastes” from primitive ᴱ✶slp- along with (unused) variant ᴱ✶slq- (PE13/148-9). The verb ᴱQ. sulpe “drinks” was also mentioned in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, again as a derivatives of sḷp- (PE14/58).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the root reappeared as ᴹ√SALAP “lick up” with derivatives ᴹQ. salpa- “lick up, sup, sip” and N. salff “broth” (Ety/SÁLAP; EtyAC/SÁLAP). But in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s Tolkien had the TALAT-stem verb ᴹQ. sulpa- “to lap up, drink greedily” (PE22/114), hinting at a root ✱ᴹ√SULUP. Assuming ᴹ√SALAP and ᴹ√SULUP coexisted, they must have been etymological variants, since the vowel variations that resulted from primitive syllabic ḷ were no longer a feature of Elvish.
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d use √SALAP = “sip” and √SULUP = “lap”.
ni
pronoun. I
lindē
noun. *singing
ndū
root. go down, sink, set (of Sun)
nyel
root. ring, sing, give out a sweet sound
thelese
noun. *sister
tūgu
noun. muscle, sinew; vigour, physical strength
gem
root. *sick
geng
root. *sick
sus
root. hiss
A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “hiss” with the derivative ᴹQ. surya “spirant consonant” (Ety/SUS). The root ᴹ√SIS was written nearby and was likely intended to be a variant as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (EtyAC/SIS). These two variants might be later iterations of primitive ᴱ✶sṣt- from the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s with derivatives like ᴱQ. histe- “hiss” (PE13/163).
ar
root. day
A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “day” with various derivatives like ᴹQ. are, N. aur “day” and ᴹQ. arin “morning” (Ety/AR¹). In Tolkien’s later writings, the Quenya word for “day” became aurë (RC/727; S/190), and in 1957 Quenya Notes he devised a new etymology for these day-words from the root √UR “heat” as in ✶auri “heat, period of sun” (PE17/148). That opens the question whether the various 1930s Quenya “morning” words from ᴹ√AR remain valid, but many Neo-Quenya writers (including me) retain them since there aren’t really any good alternatives. They might be salvageable as derivatives of the later root √AS “warmth” (so that “day” = “hot” and “morning” = “warm”).
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).
khyel(es)
root. glass
A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “glass” with derivatives in both Quenya and Noldorin with the same meaning: ᴹQ. hyelle and N. hele (Ety/KHYEL(ES)). After Tolkien changed Noldorin to Sindarin, he decided that “There was no common Eldarin word for glass”, and that the Sindarin word S. heledh was derived from Khuzdul kheled (PE17/37). Thus the root ᴹ√KHYEL(ES) was abandoned.
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).
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]
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.
ari
noun. day
atta
root. two
ithil
noun. moon
lot(h)
root. flower
sed
root. rest
smal
root. yellow
smalinā
adjective. yellow
stintā
root. short
tekna
noun. a letter
alkwā
noun. swan
andā
adjective. long
atta
cardinal. two
auluta-
verb. [unglossed]
bay
root. [unglossed]
edenā
adjective. first
ezdē
noun. rest
gal
root. shine
gilya
noun. star
ista-
verb. to know
iw
root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish
kal
root. shine
kaltwa
?. [unglossed]
kelun
noun. river
khaimē
noun. custom, habit
khe
pronoun. they
khlip
root. [unglossed]
An unglossed root in a rejected paragraph from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/112 note #78).
khyelesē
noun. glass
kwen(ed)
root. Elf
kwenedē
noun. Elf
kōmā
noun. [unglossed]
lī
noun. number
mbar-
verb. to dwell
nauthe
noun. imagination
neth
root. young
nethrā
adjective. young
nyol
root. ring
phan
root. [unglossed]
A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/PHAN).
ranā
proper name. Moon
settā
adjective. first
span
root. white
stin
root. [unglossed]
sī̆/sē̆
pronoun. she
tad
adverb. thither
tainā
adjective. long
tata
root. two
terēn(ē)
adjective. slender
tor
root. brother
Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√TOR “brother” with derivatives like ᴹQ. toron and N. tôr of the same meaning (Ety/TOR). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. melotorni “love-brothers” for close male friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. háno and S. hanar as the words for “brother”, both from the root √KHAN. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√TOR to represent more abstract notions of “brotherhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical” brothers as opposed to Q. háno/S. hanar for brothers by blood.
torōmā
noun. [unglossed]
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).
wen-
noun. girl
winyē
noun. evening
wis
root. air
wínda-
verb. fade
yel
root. daughter
yen
root. daughter
yend
noun. daughter
yē
preposition. at
An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed with derivatives ᴹQ. sikil/N. sigil “dagger, knife” (Ety/SIK).