suk

root. drink, drain, gulp, quaff

sok

root. drink, gulp, quaff, drain

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 with 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. Since both √SOK and √YUL coexisted in the Quendi and Eldar essay, I am of the opinion that √SUK/SOK may not have been abandoned.

yul

root. drink

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.

glis

root. *sweet

lis

root. *sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey

This root was connected to sweet things throughout Tolkien’s life. It appeared as ᴱ√LISI “sweetness” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with some derivatives of similar meaning as well as others having to do with grace and blessing, such as ᴱQ. lis (list-) “grace, blessing”; Tolkien made it clear that “sweetness” was the root meaning (QL/54-55). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the “sweetness” words all began with gl- and “grace” words with l-: G. glais “sweetness”, G. glist “sugar” (GL/39) vs. G. list “grace, favour, kindness”, G. lista- “bless” (GL/54). This connection between √LIS and “grace” survived in Tolkien’s later writing, since he used Q. lissë for “grace” in Quenya prayers of the 1950s (VT43/29; VT44/12).

This root appeared as ᴹ√LIS “honey” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, with Noldorin derivatives still beginning with gl-: ᴹQ. lis vs. N. glî “honey” (Ety/LIS). It appeared as √(G)LIS in “Definitive Linguistic Notes” (DLN) from 1959, still serving as the basis for words for honey and sweetness (PE17/154), though some of the Sindarin “sweet” words began with l- in this document, such as: S. laich “sweet” (PE17/148).

lisyā

adjective. sweet

yulmā

noun. drinking-vessel

thuk

root. resin, gum