A root meaning “drink” in Tolkien’s later writings, most notably the basis for Q. yulda “draught” and Q. yulma “cup” from the Q. Namárië poem (LotR/377). It seems likely the root was coined in association with this poem, though there are no signs of any yul- forms in its earliest drafts from the 1940s (TI/284). The root √YUL (or √JULU) was mentioned a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings in the 1950s and 60s (PE17/63, 180; PE22/155; WJ/416), but there is no sign of it before then. In earlier writings Tolkien generally used √SOK or √SUK for “drink”, and the root √SOK appeared as late as the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (VT39/11), an essay that also referenced √YUL (WJ/416). Thus it isn’t clear whether √SOK was supplanted by √YUL, or if the two roots coexisted.
Primitive elvish
sok
root. drink, gulp, quaff, drain
Derivatives
Element in
- ᴺS. soethor “drinking-horn”
Variations
- SUK ✧ PE18/094
yul
root. drink
Derivatives
- ✶yulmā “drinking-vessel”
- Q. yul- “to drink”
- Q. yulda “drink, draught, thing drunk; cup” ✧ PE17/063
- Q. yulda “drunk”
- Q. yúlima “drinkable” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. yulma “cup, drinking vessel, drinking implement, goblet” ✧ PE17/063
- Q. yuluitë “drinking (as a habit), *aquatic” ✧ PE22/155
- ᴺS. yll “draught”
- ᴺS. ýl- “to drink”
Element in
- ✶yuldā “what is drunk, a draught”
- ✶yulmā “drinking-vessel” ✧ WJ/416
- ✶yulmē “drinking, carousal” ✧ WJ/416
- Q. yulma “cup, drinking vessel, drinking implement, goblet” ✧ PE17/180
- Q. yulunefítë “amphibious, *(lit.) drinking-breathing” ✧ PE22/155
Variations
- JULU ✧ WJ/416
The first appearance of this root was unglossed ᴱ√SOKO in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. soko- “drink” and ᴱQ. sokto- “give to drink, drench” (QL/85). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the base form was given as sog- which had derivatives like G. sog- “drink” and G. suith “a drink, a draught” (GL/68).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root was given as ᴹ√SUK with derivatives like ᴹQ. suhto/N. sûth “draught” and ᴹQ. suk-/N. sog- “drink”, along with a variant root ᴹ√SUG with derivatives ᴹQ. súlo/N. sûl “goblet” (Ety/SUK). The root appeared as vocalic variants √SUK and √SOK “drain, drink” in both the first and second versions of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1: PE18/45) and circa 1950 (TQ2: PE18/94). Finally the root √SOK “gulp, quaff, drink” appeared in notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 where it had a single derivative: Q. soika “thirsty” (VT39/11).
In Tolkien’s later writings, the roots √SUK and √SOK had competition from √YUL “drink”; see that entry for details. As both √SOK and √YUL coexisted in the Quendi and Eldar essay, I am of the opinion that √SUK/SOK may not have been abandoned.