This root was the basis for the Quenya word for “voice”: Q. óma. The earliest derivation of this word was from the root ᴱ√OHO “cry” along with ᴱQ. ohta- “shout” (QL/69); the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon likewise has derivatives like G. ûm “voice” and G. uptha- “shout” (GL/75). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. óma “voice” was derived from unglossed ᴹ√OM, along with ᴹQ. óman “vowel” (Ety/OM). The root √OM appeared in a list of roots for sound words, used “of resonant sounds”, along with variant √TOM which was used for “briefer” sounds (PE17/138).
Primitive elvish
tom
root. of resonant sounds
Derivatives
Element in
- Q. Tompollë “Great Bear-dance”
om
root. of resonant sounds
Derivatives
The root √TOM appeared in a list of sound roots from 1959-60 as a root for “resonant sounds”, with a pair of unglossed derivatives Q. tomba and Q. tompe (PE17/138); it was constrasted with √OM which was for “more long-drawn out” sounds, as opposed to √TOM which was “briefer”. The root √TOM might be a restoration of the unglossed early root ᴱ√TOMPO from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. tombo “gong”, ᴱQ. tompa “small drum”, and ᴱQ. tompo- “bang” (QL/94).