tefe

root. *hate, dislike

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. tempe “hate” and ᴱQ. teve- “hate, dislike” (QL/90), where the -v- was because intervocalic voiceless spirants became voiced in Early Qenya (PE12/17-19). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. tîf “resentment, ill feeling, bitterness” (GL/70). I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√TEB “hate, dislike” to serve as the basis for Elvish “hate” words; I think it is the best option among the various other early roots Tolkien used for this purpose: the derivatives of ᴱ√ÞṆKṆ conflicts with later ᴹQ. sanka/N. thanc “cleft, split” < ᴹ√STAK (Ety/STAK), and ᴱ√MOKO as the final element of G. Gothmog was replaced by ᴹ√MBAW (Ety/MBAW).

atefe-

noun. strong dislike

þṇkṇ

root. *hate

A variant root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s given under the entry for ᴱ√SṆKṆ “rend, tear” with which it was confused, but having derivatives like ᴱQ. sanka⁽⁾ “hate, fierce hatred” and ᴱQ. sanke “hateful” (QL/85). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, words like G. thanc “loathing, hatred” and G. thancol “loathsome” were probably related (GL/72). But the Gnomish Lexicon also had a base form sag- with derivatives like G. sactha- “fight” and G. sagruith “hatred; revenge”, which could represent another variant ✱ᴱ√SAKA (GL/66); in the Qenya Lexicon it seems ᴱ√SAKA = “✱search” (QL/81). Some of the derivatives of Gnomish sag-, such as G. sanc “jag, tooth”, seem to be connected to ᴱ√SṆKṆ “rend, tear” instead. There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.