Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Primitive Elvish

tum(b)u

root.

Derivatives

  • ᴹ✶tundu “hole”
    • ᴹQ. tundo “hole” ✧ PE21/08
  • Eq. túma “moving”
  • Eq. tum- “to dive”
  • Eq. tumbe “trumpet, (large) horn” ✧ LT1A/Tombo
  • Eq. tumbo “dale, vale” ✧ LT1A/Tombo; QL/095
  • Eq. tumna “deep, profound, dark or hidden” ✧ LT1A/Tombo; QL/095
  • ᴺQ. tumya- “to dip, baptize”
  • Eq. tunda “hole”
  • G. tumla- “to excavate, hollow out” ✧ LT1A/Tombo
  • G. tûm “valley” ✧ LT1A/Tombo
  • G. tum “hollow” ✧ LT1A/Tombo
  • G. tumli “dale” ✧ LT1A/Tombo
  • G. Udum

Variations

  • TUMU ✧ LT1A/Tombo
  • TUM(B)U² ✧ QL/095
Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Tombo; QL/095] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ru’u

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, probably actually ✱ᴱ√RUƷU, with derivatives like ᴱQ. “dwelling, village, hamlet”, ᴱQ. rue “rest, stillness, remaining, steadfastness”, and ᴱQ. ruin “peace” (QL/80). There were a number of likely-related words in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. “enduring, long suffering; quiet, gentle, docile”, G. “dwelling, house”, and G. rûtha- “dwell, remain”, though Tolkien seems to have rejected the Gnomish forms beginning with rô- (GL/66). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, but I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√RUH “✱still” to preserve some of these early words.

Derivatives

  • Eq. “dwelling, village, hamlet” ✧ QL/080
  • Eq. “steadfastness, faith, trustiness” ✧ QL/080
  • Eq. rue “rest, stillness, remaining, steadfastness” ✧ QL/080
  • Eq. ruin “peace” ✧ QL/080
  • Eq. rungwa “stiff, solid” ✧ QL/080
  • Eq. rúse “weary”
  • Eq. rúya “unmoved, steadfast” ✧ QL/080
  • G. rô- “to remain, stay, stand; to endure”
  • G. “enduring, long suffering; quiet, gentle, docile”
  • G. rôs “endurance, meekness, patience, gentleness”
  • G. “dwelling, house”
  • G. ruin “inhabited, tilled”
  • G. rûs “endurance, long suffering, patience”
  • G. rust “inhabitation; cultivation, tillage”
  • G. rûtha- “to dwell, remain”
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/080] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nulu

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s marked by Tolkien with a “?” having a single derivative ᴱQ. NÛLE “lead” (QL/68). There are no signs of this root elsewhere in Tolkien’s later writing, and even in the early period he generally used ᴱQ. kanu for “metallic lead” (LT1/100; QL/44).

Derivatives

  • Eq. núle “lead” ✧ QL/068
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/068] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hama

root.

Derivatives

  • Eq. hant “down, to the ground” ✧ QL/039
  • Eq. han “ground, earth” ✧ QL/039
  • G. ham “ground, level of Earth’s service [surface]”
  • G. hôm “ground, base, bottom, seabed”
  • G. hum “(right) down, (lit.) to bottom”

Element in

Variations

  • HAM ✧ QL/039
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/039] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pol-i

root.

Derivatives

  • Eq. pole “oats, grain (unground kernels of oats, wheat, etc.); flour” ✧ QL/075
  • Eq. polu “kernel” ✧ QL/075
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/075] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sṣtyṣ

root.

The unglossed root ᴱ√SṢT͡YṢ appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. sastya “sore, galled” and ᴱQ. sist (sisty-) “ulcer, sore” (QL/86). The latter word was also mentioned as siste in “ulcer, boil” as a derivative of ᴱ✶sṣtē (PE12/14), and the primitive form was given as sistyi, though Tolkien did say it was indicative of ancient syllabic (PE12/3). However, in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s it seems primitive ᴱ✶sṣt- = “✱hiss” (PE13/163); see the entry on ᴹ√SUS “hiss” for discussion.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√SISTI to salvage some of these early words.

Derivatives

  • ᴱ✶sṣtē “ulcer, boil”
    • Eq. sist(e) “ulcer, sore, boil” ✧ PE12/014
  • Eq. sastya “sore, galled” ✧ QL/086
  • Eq. sist(e) “ulcer, sore, boil” ✧ QL/086

Variations

  • sistyi- ✧ PE12/003
  • SṢT͡YṢ ✧ QL/086
Early Primitive Elvish [PE12/003; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwori

root.

Changes

  • WORIGWORI ✧ QL/104

Derivatives

  • Eq. wóre “sweet (to taste only)” ✧ QL/104
  • G. gûri “sweet” ✧ QL/104

Variations

  • WORI ✧ QL/104 (WORI)
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

oso

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. oksa “joint” and ᴱQ. oswe “hip” (QL/71). In Tolkien’s later writings “joint” words seem to be based on √LIM “link, join” as in Q. málimë/S. molif “wrist, (lit.) hand-link” (VT47/6), but ᴱQ. oswe “hip” may be salvaged as a derivative of ᴹ√OS “round, about” referring instead to a rotating joint rather than a link.

Derivatives

  • Eq. oksa “joint” ✧ QL/071
  • Eq. oswe “hip” ✧ QL/071
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/071] Group: Eldamo. Published by

po

root.

Derivatives

  • Eq. póme “north” ✧ QL/074
  • Eq. póya “[unglossed]” ✧ QL/074

Element in

  • Eq. Ponóre “Norway” ✧ QL/074
  • Eq. Ponórir “the Northlands, Scandanavia” ✧ QL/074
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/074] Group: Eldamo. Published by

siŋi

root.

The root ᴱ√SIŊI appeared unglossed in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. singe “salt” and (adjective) ᴱQ. singwa “salt” (QL/83). It had similar derivatives the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon: G. sing and singrin “salt”, noun and adjective (GL/67). I think it is worth positing a Neo-Root ᴺ√SIÑGI to salvage these early words.

Derivatives

  • Eq. singe “salt” ✧ QL/083

Element in

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/083] Group: Eldamo. Published by

root.

Derivatives

  • Eq. senda “like, something like, similar” ✧ QL/082
  • Eq. sesta- “to liken, compare, make like, model on, assimilate, imitate” ✧ QL/082
  • Eq. se “as, like, in manner of” ✧ QL/082
  • Eq. seste “similarity” ✧ QL/082

Variations

  • SENE² ✧ QL/082
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/082] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vḷkḷ

root.

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. valkane “torture” and ᴱQ. vilkin “bitter, evil”, serving as the basis for ᴱQ. Valkarauke, the Qenya name of Balrogs (QL/100). In later writings the initial element of this name was derived from √BAL “(divine) power”.

Derivatives

  • Eq. valke “edge, sharp blade” ✧ QL/101
  • Eq. valka “cruel, bitter” ✧ QL/101
  • Eq. vilki- “to cut” ✧ QL/101
  • Eq. vilkin “bitter, evil” ✧ QL/101
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/101] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Reconstructed

root.

Derivatives

  • Eq. “the two lips, the (closed) mouth” ✧ QL/072
  • G. beg “chin”
  • G. mem “mouth”

Variations

  • ✧ QL/072
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by