ū

root. denial of fact, privation, negative element, denial of fact, privation, negative element, [ᴱ√] not

A negative root first mentioned as ᴱ√Ū “not” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with various derivatives in Qenya and Gnomish (QL/96, 98; GL/73). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it became {ᴹ√ƷŪ >>} ᴹ√GŪ or ᴹ√MŪ “no, not”, and in this document had “evil connotations” (Ety/GŪ, MŪ; EtyAC/ƷŪ), but in later writings it again became √Ū (PE17/143; PE22/153). For much of its existence this root was in competition with invertible √LA for negation, but in notes from 1959 Tolkien decided √Ū was the only negative root (PE17/143), though √LA was briefly restored in 1969 (PE22/160) only to be abandoned again (VT44/4). For a full history of Tolkien’s shifting conceptions of negation in Elvish, see the Quenya entry on the negative.

ū

interjection. primitive negative interjection

ugu-

verb. ugu-

ulka

adjective. ulka

ulmō

masculine name. Ulmō

utupnu

place name. Utupnu

ul

root. pour (out), flow, pour (out), flow, [ᴱ√] flow fast

This root was used for “pour, flow” for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√ULU⁽⁾ “pour, flow fast” with derivatives like ᴱQ. Ulmo and ᴱQ. ulto- “pour” (QL/97). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. ulin “liquid” and G. ultha- “pour out” (GL/74), but rejected forms like G. gul- “ooze, trickle” and G. gulta- “pour out” indicate Tolkien considered making the root be ✱ᴱ√ƷULU (GL/43). In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root was ᴹ√ULU “pour, flow” with derivatives like ᴹQ. ulunde “flood”, ᴹQ. ulya- “pour”, N. eil- “it is raining”, and N. oll “torrent, mountain-stream” (Ety/ULU). The root √UL(U) appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings with glosses like “flow” (PE17/168), “pour” (PE22/133), and “pour out” (WJ/400). It may have been connected to ᴹ√LU “time” (PE17/168); see that entry for discussion.

usuk

root. dusk, evening, *reek, smoke; dusk, evening

This root has a long history in Tolkien’s Elvish languages, but its meaning shifted over time. The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√ṢQṢ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (marked by Tolkien with a “?”) with derivatives like ᴱQ. usqe “fog” and G. usc “fog, mist” (QL/98; GL/75). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had unglossed ᴹ√USUK with derivatives like ᴹQ. usqe “reek” and N. osp “smoke” (Ety/USUK). In both the first and second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) and around 1950 (TQ2) Tolkien had √USUK > Q. usquë “dusk” (PE18/50, 100). In Common Eldarin: Noun Structure Tolkien had primitive ✶usuk “dusk, evening”, again with derivative Q. usquë (PE21/71). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would stick with the 1930s sense “✱smoke, reek” for this root, as Elvish languages already have plenty of roots for “dusk”.

um

root. abound; teem, throng; large, abound; teem, throng; large [in quantity]

A root appearing in various notes from around 1968 having to do with “large & small”, variously gloss “large”, “abound” and “teem, throng”, along with derivatives like Q. úma- “teem”, Q. umba “swarm”, and Q. úmë “great collection or crowd; throng” (VT48/32; PE17/115). √UM “large” was also mentioned in passing in notes on Variation D/L in Common Eldarin, also from 1968 (VT48/25). This √UM is probably a later iteration of ᴹ√UB “abound” from The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. úve “abundance, great quantity” and N. ovor “abundant” (Ety/UB). Based on its derivatives, it seems √UM means “large [in quantity]” rather than size.

uthu

root. bad; unsuitable; improper, useless, wrong; [wrong] with a bad sense

This root appeared in a page of roots from Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 with the gloss “unsuitable, bad, improper, useless, wrong” (PE17/172). This page was rejected, but the root √UTHU appeared again later in DLN as the basis for prefixes meaning wrong “with a general bad sense”: Q. us- and S. oth- as in S. othgarn “misdeed” and Q. uskare > Q. uxarë of the same meaning (PE17/151).

ul-

verb. to pour

us(u)kwē

noun. dusk

unu

root. down, under; go down, sink

ur

root. heat, be hot

This root was connected to “heat” for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√URU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. úrin “(blazing) hot”, ᴱQ. uru “fire”, G. urin “hot, very hot”, and G. urna- “blaze, burn” (QL/98; GL/75). In this early period it was blended with the root ᴱ√UŘU with variant ᴱ√USU which had derivatives like ᴱQ. urna “oven” and ᴱQ. usta- “burn” (QL/98). This second root had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. gund “boil, pus” and gusta- “burn, destroy” from primitive ✱gudh (GL/42), indicating the actual root form was ✱ᴱ√ƷUÐU.

✱ᴱ√ƷUÐU seems to have been abandoned in Tolkien’s later writings, but ᴹ√UR “be hot” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. úr/N. ûr “fire” and ᴹQ. urya- “blaze” (Ety/UR). This entry was deleted and replaced by ᴹ√UR “wide, large, great”. This was likely a transient change, however, as ᴹQ. Úrin as a name of the Sun remained in contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts (LR/240). Indeed primitive √UR appeared several times in later writings as the basis for words for “sunlight”, “fire” and “heat” (PE17/120, 148; PE21/71; PE22/160).

umu

root. not, expressing privation, not, expressing privation; [ᴹ√] negative stems

The roots √UMU and variant √UGU were often assigned a negative sense, either as elaborations on the base root negative √Ū or sometimes (especially in the case of √UGU) serving as its source. The earliest iteration of these more elaborate negative roots was ᴱ√UMU or ᴱ√UVU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like the negative verb ᴱQ. um- or ᴱQ. uv- as well as ᴱQ. ūvanimo “monster” (QL/98); ᴱQ. munta “nothing” from the Qenya Grammar of the 1920s was probably related (PE14/48, 81).

The Etymologies of the 1930s had negative stems ᴹ√UMU and ᴹ√UGU with derivatives like the negative verb ᴹQ. um- as well as ᴹQ. úmea “evil” (Ety/UGU; UMU). This document also had inverted forms ᴹ√MŪ and ᴹ√GŪ, the latter the basis for the negative prefix ᴹQ. ú- with a bad or evil connotation (Ety/GŪ; MŪ). Finally both √UMU and √UGU were mentioned a number of times in later writings in connection to negation (PE17/143, 172; VT49/29). See the entry on negative √Ū and the entry on Quenya negation for further information.

ub

root. have in mind, consider, ponder; impend, be imminent, approach, draw near

This root was the basis for the Quenya future tense suffix Q. -uva. The earliest appearance of this root was as ᴹ√UB “ponder, have in mind” in notes from the early 1940s where it served as the basis for both the future and (archaic) past future suffixes ᴹQ. -uva and ᴹQ. -umne, the future sense derived in Quenya from the meaning “have intention (to do something now or eventually)” (VT48/32). It was also the basis of a noun form ᴹQ. úvie “considering a matter (with a view to decision)”, but according to Tolkien no independent verb form survived in Quenya, though Old Noldorin had ON. ūba- “to brood on, ponder”.

The root ᴹ√UB was not the only proposed explanation for the Quenya future in this period: in Quendian & Common Eldarin Verbal Structure (EVS1) from the late 1940s he gave ᴹ√BĀ/BANA “go, proceed” as the basis for the future suffix ᴹQ. -va (PE22/97), and a similar scenario appeared in the Quenya Verbal System from this same period (PE22/112). In these notes, -va was the basic future suffix, with -uva a vocalic elaboration when used with basic verbs as in kar-u-va “will make, (originally) going to make”.

Tolkien firmly rejected √BA(N) “go” in 1959, however (PE17/149). The root √UB “ponder, have in mind” was again given as the basis for the future suffix in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) in the early 1950s, with a scenario similar to the 1940s note mentioned above, but with a slightly different archaic future-past construction: AQ. †umbeste mate “he was going to eat” (PE22/132). The root √UB “consider, have in mind” was mentioned in passing in notes from 1968 (VT48/25). In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, Tolkien again described the origin of the Quenya future:

> Q. developed a pure future of fact or eventuality, with a stem ubā suffixed to the bare base (without ómataima): as ✱karubā- “will do, is going to do”. This base UB provided a verbal stem (an a-verb) uba- in original sense: impend, be imminent, approach, draw near. In this form it was at an early date affixed to the simple verbal stem, but with a weakened and generalized sense: as e.g. ✱kar|ubā|ni = “I draw near to doing, I am about to do (it)” > CQ [Classical Quenya] caruvan(ye) “I am going to do/shall do (it)” (PE22/167).

The independent (and impersonal) verb Q. ūva “impend, be imminent” took on the sense “threaten (to come)” due to the “bad” sense of the ū-prefix, and likewise for the noun form Q. umbë “imminence, threat” (PE22/167, 168). In this note Tolkien said derivatives of this root did not survive at all in Sindarin.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would retain the basic sense “ponder, have in mind” for the root √UB that Tolkien used from the 1940s up to 1968, and would assume the 1969 meaning “impend, be imminent” was an extension of that sense, as a thing being pondered. As such, I’d allow the “ponder” meaning to survive in Sindarin.

uñg

root. spider

This root and ones like it were tied to spider words for much of Tolkien’s life, most notably in the name S. Ungoliant and its precursors. The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√GUŊU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ungwe/G. gung “spider” (QL/98); Tolkien marked the root with a “?” and given that the Qenya forms had no initial consonant, the actual root may have been ✱ᴱ√ƷUŊU. In The Lost Tales of the 1910s, Tolkien changed G. Gungliont to G. Ungoliont (LT1/156), and in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the word for “spider” was G. ungwi (GL/75), so it seems Tolkien revised {✱ᴱ√ƷUŊU >>} ✱ᴱ√UŊU.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, unglossed ᴹ√UÑG had derivatives like ᴹQ. ungwe “gloom” and ᴹQ. ungo “cloud, dark shadow” (Ety/UÑG), and it was the second element ᴹQ. liante in ᴹQ. Ungoliante that meant “spider” (Ety/SLIG). However, in notes from 1969 Tolkien gave ✱ungu- as the basis for “spider” words (PE22/160), as reflected in Q. ungwë “spider’s web” (LotR/1122) and S. ungol “spider” in his later writings (Let/180; RC/490, 767).

ug

root. dislike

In a 1969 essay on negation, Tolkien restored √LA as basis for the “negative of fact”, and altered the meaning of Q. ú to be “bad, uneasy, hard” as a sort of “negative with a bad sense” based on this new root √UG “dislike” (PE22/160). This is similar to the usage of these ú-forms in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where the root ᴹ√GŪ was a negative root, but its derivative ᴹQ. ú- was “not (with evil connotation)” (Ety/GŪ), though in the 1930s it seems to have been a true negative, as opposed to 1969 where it meant “difficult” or “impossible”. See the entry on the Quenya entry negative for a more information on the conceptual development of this and other negative roots.

uk

root. nasty

The root √OKO was mentioned a couple times in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 with glosses like “wicked, evil” and “evil, bad” serving as the basis for Q. olca/S. ogol “bad, wicked, evil” along with similar words (PE14/149, 170). In other notes from this period Tolkien said √OKO “evil” influenced the meaning of the Sindarin root √AK “hostile return” (PE17/167). In one of these 1959 notes, Tolkien wrote UK, UKLA below OKO with derivatives Q. ulca and S. ogl, all unglossed (PE17/149); Q. ulca was the word Tolkien used most frequently for “evil” in Quenya. In notes from 1968, Tolkien mentioned √UK “nasty” in passing, without giving any derivatives (VT48/25); Patrick Wynne suggested this form of the root may have been connected to 1969 √UG “dislike” (VT48/32 note #15; PE22/160).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer Q. ulca for “evil”, but I think √OKO “wicked” might coexist with it as variant to salvage other words from that root.

uba-

verb. to ponder, have in mind; to impend, be imminent, approach, draw near

ubmē

noun. imminence/threat

ugrā

adjective. nasty

uklā

adjective. gloom, gloomy

urku/urkō

noun. orc

urkā

adjective. horrible

urun

root. copper

uba-

verb. impend,be imminent,approach,draw near

ugu

root. expressing privation

nū/unu

root. down, under; go down, sink

This root and ones like it were used for Elvish words for “under” and “(going) down” for much of Tolkien’s life. Probably the first appearance of this root was ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down, stoop, sink” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variant ᴱ√NŪ appearing in parenthesis, though marked by Tolkien with a “?” (QL/68). The most notable derivative of this root was ᴱQ. núme “west”, and Q. núme(n) remained the Quenya word for “west” for the remainder of Tolkien’s life. Elsewhere in the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien compared the root ᴱ√Ū “under” to the short form of this root ᴱ√NŪ, but went on to note that “Ū- = not” (QL/96), perhaps the inspiration for him later transferring the sense “under” to √NŪ. As for the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, the root ᴱ√NŪ/NUHU had derivatives like G. nûmin “the west” and G. nunthi “downward” (GL/61). Of ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” there is no sign, though there are plenty Gnomish derivatives of ᴱ√Ū “not” (GL/73).

Indeed, by the Markiya poem of the late 1920s, Tolkien was using ᴱQ. nu for “under” (MC/214), though in the drafts he initially used no (PE16/62, 72). In The Etymologies of the 1930s he had the unglossed invertible root ᴹ√NU/UNU with derivatives like ᴹQ. nu/N. no “under” (Ety/NU). The only notable derivative of its inverted form was ᴹQ. undu “down, under, beneath” (Ety/UNU), which reemerged in the Q. Namárië poem in Q. undulav- “swallow, (lit.) down-licked” (LotR/377; PE17/72; RGEO/58).

In The Etymologies Tolkien also gave a new strengthened form of this root ᴹ√NDŪ “go down, sink, set (of Sun)”, now serving as the basis for words for “west” like ᴹQ. númen, N. dûn or N. annûn, though strictly speaking the latter was the cognate of ᴹQ. andúne “sunset” (Ety/NDŪ), a Quenya word that was also frequently used for “The West”. All these Quenya and Noldorin words reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings, with the caveat that in Sindarin Tolkien used S. nu for “under” as in S. Taur-nu-Fuin “Forest under Nightshade” (S/155). The root √NU, its inversion √UNU and its strengthened form √NDU appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writing, consistently with senses like “under, (go) down, sink”.

luy

root. blue

The Elvish words for “blue” remained very similar throughout Tolkien’s life, but underwent a number of minor conceptual shifts. The word ᴱQ. lūne “blue, deep blue” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s in a collection of words along with ᴱQ. lūle “blue stone, sapphire”, but no root was given (QL/55). The word for “blue” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon was G. luim (GL/55). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the root for “blue” was ᴹ√LUG with derivatives ᴹQ. lúne and N. lhûn (Ety/LUG²).

Meanwhile, the root ᴹ√LUY appeared in The Etymologies with derivatives ᴹQ. luina and Dor. luin “pale” (EtyAC/LUY), probably connected to ᴱN. Draugluin “Werewolf Pale” from the Lays of Beleriand of the 1920s (LB/205). But in The Etymologies the root ᴹ√LUY was rejected, and Dor. luin “pale” was reassigned to ᴹ√LUG² and then revised in form to Dor. lūn (Ety/LUG²; EtyAC/LUG²).

In addition, there was already evidence of a conceptual shift in the Noldorin words for blue in the 1930s, with the name N. Eredluin “Blue Mountains” being given as an alternative to N. Lhúnorodrim and N. Lhúndirien “Blue Towers” (Ety/LUG²), the latter appearing as N. Luindirien in contemporaneous Silmarillion narratives (LR/267). By the 1950s and 60s, the Sindarin and Quenya words for “blue” had firmly become S. luin (Let/448; S/54; UT/390) and Q. luinë (LotR/377; PE17/66, 71). The root √LUY “blue” appeared in notes from the late 1960s serving as the new basis for these “blue” words (VT48/23-24, 26).

All this made a mess for the river name S. Lhûn (LotR/1134) from The Lord of the Rings which was a remnant of Tolkien’s earlier ideas, and he struggled to find a new basis for that name as discussed by Patrick Wynne in his article on The Problem of Lhûn (VT48/26-29).

stuk

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected section of the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, serving to illustration certain phonetic developments: ✶stuknā > Q. thúna (PE19/86).

phut

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) as an etymological variation of √PUT (PE18/90).

-ubā

suffix. -ubā

luini

adjective. blue

ndu

root. down, under, below; sink, descend, go down, down, under, below; sink, descend, go down, [ᴹ√] set (of Sun)

lugni

adjective. blue

yu

root. both, both, [ᴹ√] two

This Elvish root was connected to the sense “two” or “both” throughout Tolkien’s life. The first clear manifestation of this root was ᴱQ. yú “twice” and ᴱQ. yúyo “two” from the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/49-51, 82-84). The root ᴹ√YŪ “two, both” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. yúyo “both” and ᴹQ. yúkale/N. uial “twilight” (Ety/KAL, YŪ). The root √YU appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings, generally with the sense “both” (PE17/70; PE21/74; VT48/8, 10). It was likely related to the ancient dual suffix ✶-ū.

yuyuñal

noun. twilight

-(u)mē

suffix. denoting a (single) action

kuldā

adjective. hollow

raukō

noun. demon

tul-

verb. come, is coming, has come, is here

ñguriyē

noun. she-wolf

ñgurū

noun. death

¤kurwē

noun. power, ability

uth

root. get out, escape

rō/oro

root. up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount, up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount; [ᴹ√] high, [ᴱ√] steepness, rising

This invertible root had a long history in Tolkien’s writings. Its earliest iteration was in a pair of roots in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: ᴱ√OŘO [OÐO] with derivatives having to do with the “dawn”, and ᴱ√ORO “steepness, rising” with which it was much confused (QL/70). The latter had derivatives like ᴱQ. orme “summit, crest, hilltop” and ᴱQ. orto- “raise” (QL/70), and Tolkien mentioned an inverted variant ᴱ√RŌ or ᴱ√ROHO with derivatives like ᴱQ. róna- “arise, rise, ascend” (QL/80). The contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon also gave it as in an invertible root ᴱ√rō-, oro with derivatives like G. oros “rising” and G. ront “high, steep” (GL/63, 66).

The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√ORO “up, rise, high” and ᴹ√RŌ “rise” (Ety/ORO, RŌ). The root was mentioned very frequently in his writings from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, generally glossed “rise” or “up(wards)”. Thus the root was very well established in Tolkien’s mind.

belu

root. unroll

ornā

adjective. uprising, tall

khābā

noun. unleavened bread (originally from any vegetable, later just bread from grains)

ámān

place name. Unmarred State

hor

root. urge, impel, move

oro

root. up(wards); rise (up), go high, mount

du Reconstructed

root. dark

we

root. dual

A primitive “dual” element mentioned in notes on numbers from the late 1960s, contributing to the forms of primitive ✶enekwe “six” and ✶yun(e)kwe “twelve” in the Quenya branch of Elvish, as well as the ancient 1st person inclusive pronoun ✶ñwe (VT48/10). It was probably related to the ancient dual suffix ✶-ū (Let/427). It was also likely a later iteration the dual root ᴱ√WI from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which was likewise connected to dual U (QL/33). This early root was mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as ᴱ✶u̯i (GL/45).

nek

root. narrow, narrow; *angular, sharp

A root appearing in notes on words and phrases from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, serving mainly as the basis for S. naith “angle” (PE17/55). It was also mentioned in a discussion of the death of Isildur at the Gladden Fields, again as the basis for S. naith among other words, where the root √NEK was glossed “narrow” (UT/281-2, note #16). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. naith was derived from ᴹ√SNAS or ᴹ√SNAT, but the precise derivation was unclear, and in any cases seems to have been replaced by Tolkien with a more straightforward derivation from √NEK.

The root √NEK also appeared in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 with the gloss “deprive”, serving among other things as the basis for S. neithan “one deprived” (PE17/167), which was the name adopted by Túrin after he became an outlaw (S/200). The root appeared again in notes on Elvish numbers from the late 1960s glossed as either “divide, part, separate” (VT47/16) or “divide, separate” (VT48/9), where it served as the basis for √ENEK “six” as the dividing point between the lower and upper set of numbers in the Elvish duodecimal system.

It is not clear whether Tolkien intended all these various meanings for the root √NEK to be connected. For purposes of analysis, I’ve split √NEK “narrow” from √NEK “separate; deprive”, but conceivably the sense “narrow” could be a semantic extension of “separate” or vice-versa.

aw

root. possess, own, keep (have in hand, use or with one)

A root appearing in some late notes on verbs from around 1969, with the sense “possess, own, keep” (PE22/151). It seems to be a restoration of a much earlier root from the 1910s, which appeared as ᴱ√AW̯A in the Qenya Lexicon with derivatives having to do with wealth, such as ᴱQ. ausie “wealth” and ᴱQ. aute “rich” (QL/33), as well as Gnomish and Early Noldorin cognates G. avos “wealth” (GL/20) and ᴱN. awes “rich” (PE13/137). This root is a good example of how certain linguistic ideas could lay dormant for many years in Tolkien’s writing, only to reemerge much later. This makes it difficult to say for certain whether Tolkien really abandoned a particular idea.

bar

root. [ᴹ√] raise; uplift, save, rescue(?)

The root ᴹ√BAR appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where its original sense was probably “raise” but the basic root gained the added sense of “uplift, save, rescue” (Ety/BAR). The basic root included derivatives like ᴹQ. varna “safe” and ᴹQ. varya-/N. beria- “to protect”. But it seems it also had several extensions as in ᴹ√BARAD or ᴹ√BARATH with the meaning “lofty, sublime” and ᴹ√BARAT which was the basis for the word N. barad “tower” (Ety/BARAD, BARAT, BARATH).

Tolkien mentioned this set of extended roots in later writings (date unclear, but probably the late 1950s or early 1960s) along with a fourth extension √BARAS, all having to do with “great height combined with strength, size, majesty” (PE17/22-23). √BARAT was still the basis for S. barad “tower”. The roots √BARAD and √BARATH were respectively the basis for Q. Varda and S. Elbereth (< Elen-barathī) as they had been in the 1930s. The new root √BARAS had derivatives tied to cliffs, as opposed to the 1930s where ᴹ√BARAS was an (unrelated) root having to do with heat (Ety/BARAS).

There was no mention of the base root √BAR in later writings, so it is unclear whether it retained the meaning “save”. In addition, there were certain phonological problems in the derivation of Elbereth from √BARATH in Sindarin that were not present in Noldorin (where frequently ei > e in polysyllables), and this word may have been transferred to the root √BER “marry”; see the entry on Elbereth for further details.

der

root. hard, difficult

A root in linguistic notes from 1959 used for the sense “hard, difficult” in Sindarin because other roots like √GUR > S. gor- gained a very negative sense due to collision with the roots √ÑGOR “horror” and √ÑGUR “death” (PE17/154). Tolkien first gave this root as √DIR before switching it to √DER. There is no indication of its use in Quenya, so it is probably a Sindarin-only innovation.

dor

root. hard, tough, dried up, unyielding

The Elvish words for “oak” had very similar forms throughout Tolkien’s life. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, it was ᴱQ. nor(ne) from the root ᴱ√NOŘO, which Tolkien marked with a “?” (QL/67). Its Gnomish cognate G. dorna (GL/30) hints that the true form of this early root might have been ✱ᴱ√NDOÐO or something similar. In the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DORON with derivatives ᴹQ. norno/N. doron “oak” (Ety/DÓRON). This somewhat surprising derivation was explained in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s, where Tolkien said:

> n ... also appears occasionally as product of [initial] d, instead of l, by assimilation to succeeding nasals, as in dorno > norno (PE19/80).

In etymological notes from the later 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien gave the root √DOR “hard, tough”, that in Quenya was preserved only in the word “oak” and in ndŏr > nŏr “land” (PE17/181). Its connection to “oak” indicates this is a later iteration of ᴹ√DORON, though the connection to √NDOR “land” was new. A similar root √DORO “dried up, hard, unyielding” appeared in the contemporaneous Quendi and Eldar essay from around 1959-1960, again connected to √NDOR but without mention of “oak” (WJ/413). In both sets of notes, √DOR has the Sindarin derivative dorn “tough, stiff, thrawn, obdurate”, also used as another name for the dwarves.

gor

root. deep, profound; warn, counsel; urge, impel, move, deep, profound; warn, counsel; urge, impel, move; [ᴹ√] impetus, haste, violence

The root ᴹ√GOR “violence, impetus, haste” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. orme “haste, violence, wrath” and N. gorn “impetuous” (Ety/GOR), along with a variant ᴹ√ƷOR whose only derivative was ᴹQ. orro or horro “ugh, alas!, ow!” (EtyAC/ƷOR). The root √GOR reappeared in 1968 notes on Gender and Sex with the gloss “deep, profound”, and there it served as the basis for órë (see below) along with other derivatives like Q. orda “profound”, S. gœria- “to ponder”, and S. gordh “deep thought” (NM/176). The root appeared again in another essay from 1968 on the topic of órë (VT41/11-15; NM/219-224), where Tolkien explained its meaning as follows:

> Nearest to the original sense is “warn”, but (a) it did not refer only to dangers, evils, or difficulties ahead; and (b) though it could be used of the influence of one person upon another by visible or audible means (words or signs) — in which case “counsel” was nearer to its sense — this was not its chief use. This can best be explained by consideration of its principal derivative. This was in Common Eldarin ✱gōrē: Quenya óre, Telerin ōre, Sindarin gûr (NM/219).

Tolkien went on to explain Q. órë as the source of deep emotions, that “advises, but is never represented as commanding”, roughly analogous to one’s conscience; see the entry on Q. órë for further details. Note that when this essay on órë was first published in Vinyar Tengwar 41 in the year 2000, Carl Hostetter gave the root and the primitive form as √ƷOR and ✱ʒōrē (VT41/11), but in his book The Nature of Middle-earth (NM) from 2021, he corrected them to √GOR and ✱gōrē (NM/219).

In rough notes after the main essay, Tolkien altered the root to √HOR with glosses “urge, impel, move” specifically limited to “mental impulses” (VT41/13; NM/221). This revised form might be a later iteration of ᴹ√KHOR “set going, put in motion, urge on” from The Etymologies (Ety/KHOR) as suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT41/17 note #9). Tolkien gave the Quenya derivative of this revised form as (h)óre but did not specify its Sindarin derivative (VT41/13; NM/222). In another rough note in the same bundle he gave [primitive?] hor- “warn” as the basis for T. hŏra or ora and Q. óre (VT41/15).

Neo-Eldarin: The root √HOR is problematic and difficult to reconcile with either Q. óre and S. gûr, since typically primitive h- survived in Quenya but vanished in Sindarin. I think it is preferable to assume the root remaining √GOR. As for its meaning, I would assume the basic sense was “warn, council” as well as “mental impulse”, with ✶gorē serving as the source of deep-seated thoughts and emotions. This interpretation would allow the continued use of the majority of the root’s attested derivatives from both the 1930s and 1960s, including various 1930s words having to do with “haste” and “impetousness”.

gwen

root. fair, beautiful; (probably originally) fresh, fair, unblemished (especially of beauty of youth)

This root appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives having to do with freshness and greenness, as in ᴹQ. wenya “green, yellow-green, fresh” and Ilk. gwên “greenness”. In that document it was also the basis for N. bein “fair, beautiful” by way of blending with ᴹ√BAN “beautiful”. In the entry for ᴹ√GWEN Tolkien said it needed to be distinguished from ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden”, but in the entry for ᴹ√WEN(ED) he said maiden words needed to be transferred to ᴹ√GWEN (Ety/WEN).

This connection between “fresh” and “maiden” reappeared in notes from 1959, where √GWEN was given with gloss “fair, beautiful (probably originally fresh, fair, unblemished especially of beauty of youth)” as this basis for “maiden” words (PE17/191). But Tolkien soon rejected this notion and reverted back to √WEN(ED); this may be a reflection of Tolkien’s ongoing vacillation between Q. wende versus vende as the proper Quenya word for “maiden”; wende (which seems to be his preference) would be better supported by an ancient root beginning with gw-, but that would also invalidate the Sindarin form gwend “maiden” (not ✱✱bend).

Tolkien seems to have given up on √GWEN for maiden words, and the sense “fresh” seems to have been reassigned to the root √KEW in later notes (VT48/7), so √GWEN may have been abandoned completely.

kher

root. possess, possess, [ᴹ√] rule, govern, [ᴱ√] have power

The basic root for rulership was √KHER for most of Tolkien’s life. The root appeared as ᴱ√HERE “rule, have power” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, and in this period already had the derivative ᴱQ. heru “lord” and ᴱQ. heri “lady” (QL/40), words that retained the same form and meaning throughout Tolkien’s life. Gnomish derivatives from this period include G. herma “protection, lordship, sway”, G. hermon “lord”, G. hîr “care, anxiety; heed”, and G. hiril “queen†, princess” (GL/49).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s these last two Gnomish words became N. hîr “master” and N. hiril “lady” as derivatives of ᴹ√KHER “rule, govern, possess”; the words ᴹQ. heru/ᴹQ. heri reappeared as well (Ety/KHER). All four of these words reappeared frequently in Tolkien’s later writing, though S. hîr was more typically glossed “lord” (PM/210; SD/129; VT41/9; Let/382; UT/318). The root √KHER itself reappeared in a 1954 letter to Naomi Mitchison with the gloss “possess” (Let/178).

lat

root. open, unenclosed, free to entry; low, lowlying, at ground level, open, unenclosed, free to entry, [ᴹ√] lie open; be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area); [√] low, lowlying, at ground level

This root has a lengthy history in Tolkien’s development of the Elvish languages.

Its development seems to have begun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with unglossed ᴱ√LAHA which had derivatives like ᴱQ. lá “moor, heath, open space” and ᴱQ. lāta- “spread, extend, lie (of country)” (QL/50). This root was compared to a variety of other roots: ᴱ√ALA, ᴱ√AŘA, ᴱ√ṆŘṆ, ᴱ√LAŘA and ᴱ√LATA, but the last of these was a later addition, both to the list and as an entry in the lexicon (QL/51). This newer entry had derivatives like ᴱQ. latwa “smooth, glossy” and ᴱQ. latsin(a) “level, smooth”, the latter transferred from ᴱ√LAHA. This new root also had Gnomish derivatives such as G. lad “a level, a flat; fair dealing” and G. ladin “level, smooth; fair, equitable” (GL/52).

After the 1910s it seems ᴱ√LAHA “✱open” faded out of use (though it may have remerged much later as √LAƷ “cross, pass over, go beyond”: PE17/91), but ᴱ√LATA “✱level, smooth” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√LAT “lie open” with derivatives like ᴹQ. latin(a) “open, free, cleared (of land)” and N. lhand “open space, level” (Ety/LAT). It is also evident in N. -lad “plain” from names like N. Lithlad “Plain of Ash” and N. Dagorlad “Battle Plain” from Lord of the Rings drafts (TI/208, 389), both of which reappeared in the published version (LotR/243, 636).

The root appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s with the gloss “be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area)” and a Quenya verb ᴹQ. lat- of similar meaning (PE22/126). In this document it was compared to ᴹ√LAD “lie flat, be flat”, and Tolkien said the two roots were confused in Noldorin as a way of explaining N. laden “flat (and wide)”.

The next appearance of √LAT is in etymological notes from 1959-60 with the gloss “open, unenclosed, free to entry” and contrasted with √PAK “shut” (VT41/5-6). In these notes the derivative Q. latina also reappeared with a meaning similar to the one it had in The Etymologies: “free (of movement), not encumbered with obstacles”. The last appearance of √LAT in currently published materials is in 1968 notes on D/L variations in Common Eldarin, where it was glossed “at ground level, low; lowlying” and compared to √DAT “fall down” (VT48/24); in this document it had no derivatives.

All this amounts to considerable conceptual variation in the meaning of this root. To summarize:

• 1910s ᴱ√LATA “✱level, smooth” as alternate to ᴱ√LAHA “✱open” (QL/50-51).

• 1930s ᴹ√LAT “lie open” compared to (unglossed) ᴹ√LAD (Ety/LAD, LAT).

• 1940s ᴹ√LAT “be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area)” contrasted with ᴹ√LAD “lie flat, be flat” (PE22/126).

• 1959-60 √LAT “open, unenclosed, free to entry” contrasted with √PAK “shut” (VT41/5-6).

• 1968 √LAT “at ground level, low; lowlying” contrasted with √DAT “fall down” (VT48/24).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume this root has the sense “(lie) open, be extended, unenclosed”, as this is consistent with the largest number of derivatives of the root.

lek

root. loose, unbind, let, permit, loose, unbind, let, permit, [ᴹ√] let loose, release

This root was the basis for the word S. leithia- “release” as in the Lay of Leithian “Release from Bondage” (S/162). This word dates back to Tolkien’s first version of this poem from the 1920s, where the primitive base seems to be ᴱ√LETH “set free” as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LB/154), though the note where this etymology appears is undated and might be a contemporary of The Etymologies of the 1930s instead (Ety/LEK). In The Etymologies itself this root became ᴹ√LEK “loose, let loose, release” with derivatives like ᴹQ. lehta- “loose, slacken”, N. lheithia- “to release” and Ilk. legol “nimble, active, running free” (Ety/LEK). The root √LEK “loose, unbind, let, permit” reappeared in a list of roots from 1959-60 (VT41/6), and Tolkien’s continued use of Q. lehta and S. leithian indicates its ongoing validity (VT39/17; S/162).

man

root. good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil, good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil; [ᴹ√] holy spirit

This root for “(morally) good” and “holy” things dates back to Tolkien’s earliest versions of Elvish, probably due to its long-standing connection to the name Q. Manwë, one of the most stable names in Tolkien’s Legendarium. The unglossed root ᴱ√MANA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. mane “good (moral)” and ᴱQ. manimo “holy soul” (QL/58). Derivatives like G. mani “good (of men and character only), holy” and G. manos “spirit that has gone to the Valar” also appear in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/56).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√MAN “holy spirit” appeared with derivatives like ᴹQ. manu/N. mân “departed spirit” (Ety/MAN). Earlier versions of the entry had the gloss “holy” (EtyAC/MAN), and an earlier version of the entry for ᴹ√MBAD has MAN- “blessed” (EtyAC/MBAD).

The senses “good, blessed, holy” were retained in Tolkien’s later writings, though sometimes the root was given in its augmented form √AMAN. In Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957, √MAN was contrasted with √ARA which also meant “good”, but with the nuance of one specimen that is “good of its kind” and hence “excels, without necessarily implying that others are bad or marred” (PE17/147). Elsewhere in QN Tolkien elaborated on the meaning of √MAN in more detail:

> √MAN “good”. This implies that a person/thing is (relatively or absolutely) “unmarred”: that is in Elvish thought unaffected by the disorders introduced into Arda by Morgoth: and therefore is true to its nature & function. If applied to mind/spirit it is more or less equivalent to morally good; but applied to bodies it naturally refers to health and to absence of distortions, damages, blemishes, &c (PE17/162).

In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, √AMAN “good (morally), holy, blessed, free from evil” was contrasted with √AYA(N) “treat with awe/reverence” and √MAGA “good (physically)” (PE17/149). In The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968, Tolkien said the root meant “blessed, holy” and was adapted from Valarin (PM/357 note #18), which is consistent with the fact that its derivatives were almost entirely limited to Quenya and not Sindarin; where derivatives do appear in Sindarin, such as S. Avon the equivalent of Q. Aman (PE17/162), they were probably loan words from Quenya.

may

root. excellent, admirable, beautiful; make [art]; suitable, useful, proper, serviceable; right

A root appearing in Tolkien’s later writings with a variety of glosses: √MAY “make (in artistic sense as ποιήτης [Greek: make, create])” in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 (PE17/145, 163), {√MAGA >>} √(A)MAY “suitable, useful, proper, serviceable; right” in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 but this note was crossed through (PE17/172), √MAY “excellent, admirable” elsewhere in DLN (PE17/172), again as √MAY “excellent, admirable” in notes contemporaneous to the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (PE17/150, 163) and finally as √MAY “beautiful” in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/18).

Two notable derivatives of √MAY were S. mae “well” (PE17/17, 163) and Q. Maia (PE17/163; VT47/18), but elsewhere these two words were derived from the root √MAG “good (useful)” (PE17/16, 162; PE19/46, 62, 75, 94). In the aforementioned notes from the late 1960s, however, Tolkien said “maga was distinct from maʒa and maya” (VT48/18). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume the root √MAY was distinct from √MAG, having the meaning “excellent, admirable, beautiful” and by extension the creation of beautiful things such as art, to allow the retention of 1957 words like Q. maitar “artist” (PE17/163).

A possible precursor to this root is unglossed ᴱ√MAẎA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. mai “too much” and ᴱQ. maira “excessive, strong” (QL/60); perhaps a more extreme version of its later sense “excellent”. The entry also included ᴱQ. mairu “(horse ?); mane, flowing hair”, but Tolkien marked this word with a “?”, perhaps indicating he was unsure it was from this root (QL/60).

oy

root. ever, continual, unceasing

This root first appeared as ᴹ√OY “ever, eternal” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/OY), replacing roots ᴹ√GEY, ᴹ√EY, and ᴹ√ƷEI̯ of similar meaning (Ety/GEY, EY; EtyAC/ƷEI̯). It had derivatives like ᴹQ. oi/N. ui “ever” and ᴹQ. oira/N. uireb “eternal” (Ety/OY). It was an element in the name ᴹQ. Oiolosse “(Mount) Ever White” (LR/209), though when Tolkien first coined this name it was ᴹQ. Ialasse (SM/81), as reflected in Tolkien’s vacillations on the proper form of the root. After settling on √OY, he stuck with it thereafter, and this root and primitive form appeared a number of times in his later writings (PE17/69; Let/278).

rab

root. astray, wandering, unsettled

This root first appeared as unglossed ᴹ√RAB in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. ráva/N. rhaw “wild, untamed” and ᴹQ. ravanda/N. rhofan “wilderness” (Ety/RAB; EtyAC/RAB), the latter an element in the name N. Rhovanion from Lord of the Rings drafts (TI/296). The Quenya/Noldorin r-/rh- variation was a result of the fact that [[n|initial [r-], [l-] were unvoiced]] in Noldorin (PE22/32).

The root √RAB reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings with the gloss “astray, wandering, unsettled”; Tolkien contrasted it with √RAN by saying “it differed from √RAN in that it referred to absence of direction or purpose, whereas √RAN meant to ‘err’, go aside from a course (commanded or self-chosen)” (PE17/78). In Sindarin, however, initial r-, l- were no longer unvoiced, so Tolkien coined a new intensified variant √S-RAB “wild in senses ‘not tamed, domesticated’, and hence often ‘fierce, savage, hostile’ (to Elves and Men)”. This intensified variant served as a new basis for S. Rhovanion “Wilderland”, and also had other derivatives like Q. hráva “wild” and Q. hravan “wild beast”.

In another place Tolkien defined this root as √S)ROB with variant √D)ROB as the basis for Rhovanion (PE17/99), also explaining the element Drû in Drúadan, the Sindarin name for the Woses. These roots produced different Quenya derivatives like hróva.

Neo-Eldarin: Since the Quenya form (h)ráva “wild” is better known, I think it is best to ignore the √S)ROB and √D)ROB variants of this root for purposes of Neo-Eldarin. The Sindarin name for the Woses can be easily explain as a loan word from that people’s name for themselves: Drughu (UT/385).

sal

root. [unglossed], *harp(ing), lyre

The unglossed root ᴱ√SALA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salma “lyre, small harp” and ᴱQ. salumbe “harping, music” (QL/81). The root √SAL appeared again Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s to illustrate the reformed perfect form of its verb Q. asálie (PE22/132), but since these later forms are unglossed it is unclear whether they have the same meaning (“✱harp(ing)”) as the earlier version of the root.

san

root. think, use mind; (trans.) ponder, consider in thought

Tolkien used this root and ones like it on-and-off for Elvish “thought” words throughout his life. The first manifestation of this root was in words from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s like G. sana- “can, know how to, have knowledge, craft or skill” and G. santhi “knowledge, experience (in) or skill (in)” (GL/67), which suggests a (hypothetical) early root ✱ᴱ√SANA “know”, though such a root does not appear in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon. In etymological notes associated with the Ósanwe-kenta essay from 1959-60 Tolkien gave:

> √SAM mind, think, reflect, be aware. sāma a mind. sanwe an act of thinking, a thought (✱sam-we). ósanwe interchange of thought (between 2 samat). sanwekenda thought-inspection, thought-reading. sanwe-menta thought-sending, mental message (VT41/5).

However, in notes associated with óre that were contemporaneous with The Shibboleth of Feanor from 1968, Tolkien gave Q. sanar = “mind, reflector, thinker” (VT41/13), and in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (LVS) Tolkien gave the root √SAN “think, use mind; ponder, consider (in thought)” with derivative Q. sanwë “(act or process of) thinking, thought” (PE22/158). Thus 1959-60 √SAM “think” >> 1968-69 √SAN “think”, perhaps a restoration of the Gnomish root from the 1910s.

teñ

root. indicate, signify, show, represent, betoken, mark, to point at, indicate, signify, show, represent, betoken, mark, to point at; [ᴱ√] know, understand

The first mention of this root was as ᴱ√TEŊE “know, understand” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where it had derivatives like ᴱQ. tenge- “know, understand, grasp” and ᴱQ. tengwe “knowledge, understanding” (QL/91). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien instead gave {ᴹ√TEƷ >>} ᴹ√TEÑ “line, direction” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tie/N. tê “line, way” and ᴹQ. téra/N. tîr “straight, right” (Ety/TEƷ, TEÑ). However, in the original layer of composition for the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, Tolkien gave √TEG for “line” and gave √TEÑ as the basis for Q. tenna “thought, notion, idea”, perhaps a restoration of its meaning from the 1910s (PE19/97).

In another entry in The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien derived ᴹQ. tengwa from ᴹ✶tekmā = ᴹ√TEK “write” + the instrumental suffix ᴹ✶-mā (Ety/TEK). The foundation of this derivation is the sound change whereby voiceless stops were voiced before nasals in Ancient Quenya, thereafter nasalizing so that ᴹ✶tekmā > tegmā > teñmā > teñgwā (PE19/43). This sound change was still in effect when Tolkien wrote the initial draft of Outline of Phonology (OP2) in the early 1950s (PE19/85-66 note #79), but at some later point Tolkien revised this rule so that the nasal instead unvoiced, so that km > kʰm̌ > kƕ > kw (PE19/85), making the derivation of tengwa from the root √TEK invalid.

As pointed out by Christopher Gilson (ibid., note #79), earlier signs of this new phonetic rule can be seen Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s, where he gave √TEÑ “show, sign, indicate” instead of √TEK “[written] sign” as the new root for Q. tengwa, now derived from ✶teñwā or ✶teñmā, though Tolkien briefly considered √TEWE as a possible root in drafts to these notes (PE17/44). From this point forward, Tolkien regularly mentioned √TEÑ with glosses like “indicate, signify” (WJ/394), “represent, betoken, indicate (by sign)” (VT39/15) and “indicate, mark, signify” (PE22/149). Finally, in green-ink revisions to OP2 from 1970, Tolkien added tengwa as another derivative of √TEÑ alongside Q. tenna “thought, notion, idea” as mentioned above (PE19/97 and note #139).

See the entries on √TEG “line” and √TEK “write” for parallel developments in similar roots.

tig

root. [unglossed]

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as the basis for the verb Q. tinga- “go (for a long while)” (PE22/157). The etymology was marked with an “X” and so was probably a transient idea (PE22/157 note #70).

ye(l)

root. daughter

The root √YEL was one of several competing Elvish roots for “daughter”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√YEL “daughter” was first used as the basis for ᴹQ. yelde/N. iell “daughter”, but it was deleted (Ety/YEL). N. iell was given a new derivation from ᴹ√SEL-D “child”, by analogy with N. ionn “son” (Ety/SEL-D), while a new Quenya word for “daughter” was introduced: ᴹQ. yende from a feminine variant ᴹ√yēn of ᴹ√YO(N) (Ety/YŌ). Note that ᴹ√SEL-D itself was initially glossed “daughter”, but was changed to “child” and given derivatives for all genders in Quenya: ᴹQ. selda [n.], ᴹQ. selde [f.], and ᴹQ. seldo [m.].

The picture in later writings is also rather muddled. In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 Tolkien gave sel-de “daughter” (PE17/170), while S. sel(l) = “daughter” appeared in both the King’s Letter from the late 1940s (SD/129) as well as the Túrin Wrapper from the 1950s (VT50/5). The diminutive form for “daughter” appeared as Q. selyë in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/10). In several places Tolkien gave Q. Tindómerel “Daughter of Twilight” as the Quenya equivalent of S. Tinúviel, with the final element being derived from primitive ✶-sel(dĕ) > -rel (Ety/SEL-D; PE19/33, 73; VT47/37).

In this period, however, the more common suffix for “daughter” was Q. -iel as in Q. Elerondiel (S. Elrenniel) “✱Daughter of Elrond” as applied to Arwen (PE17/56) and Q. Uinéniel “Daughter of Uinen” (UT/182). Furthermore, in a list of masculine and feminine suffixes written around 1959, Tolkien gave (primitive?) yē, yel and (Quenya?) yelde for “daughter”, though in that note the feminine patronymic suffixes were revised from {-yel, iel, -yelde >>} -well-, -uell-, -wend-, -wel, and yen was given as another variant (PE17/190). In other notes from the late 1950s associated with “Changes affecting Silmarillion nomenclature”, Tolkien had feminine patronymic suffixes -en, -ien, but said that Quenya used -ielde, -iel (PE17/170).

Neo-Eldarin: All of the above indicates considerable vacillation between √SEL, √YEL, and √YEN for “daughter” words and suffixes in the 1930s to 1960s: of the three Tolkien seem to favor sel- for “daughter” words but -iel for “daughter” suffixes. For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume ᴹ√SEL(D) originally meant “child”, with √YEL an early variant meaning “daughter” under the influence of √YON “son”, especially used as a suffix. However, due to reverse influence Q. seldë and S. sell were early on used to mean “daughter”, with female child = “girl” words becoming Q. nettë and S. neth.

yer

root. desire (for marriage and bodily union), desire (for marriage and bodily union), [ᴹ√] feel sexual desire

The root ᴹ√YER “feel sexual desire” was a later addition to The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like unglossed ᴹQ. yére and N. îr, probably nouns meaning “sexual desire” (EtyAC/YER). The root √YER was mentioned again in notes from 1959 with the gloss “desire (for marriage and bodily union)” (NM/20), serving as the basis for Q. yermë with the sense “sexual desire” specifically within the context of marriage for the purposes of procreation (NM/16). Tolkien said that the Elves had little in the way of sexual interests outside of this context, and that the notion of sexual desire in the absense of love between spouses was an alien idea to the Elves, in keeping with Tolkien’s own Catholic sensibilities. For “improper” sexual desires, the Elves would likely use other terms like ᴹQ. maile/N. moel “lust” [ᴺS. mael] from the root ᴹ√MIL(IK).

-ni

suffix. adjectival suffix

Seen in lugni < LUG, luini < LUY and ninkwi < NIKW (with subsequent metathesis). Possibly a (rare) variant of -nā and/or -i.

lemek

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s illustrating certain phonetic combinations (PE19/98), and therefore possibly not a “real” root.

skor

root. rough, marred, unequal or unsymmetrical in shape

A root appearing in the discussion of the privative function of prefix √S- with the sense “rough, marred, unequal or unsymmetrical in shape” via S-KOR = “without roundness” (PE17/184), but the root had no derivatives and appeared nowhere else with this meaning. See the entry on √S- for further discussion.

-ū

suffix. dual ending for pairs

kwet

root. say, speak, utter words

-kwā

suffix. -ful

-t

suffix. dual ending

-ya

suffix. adjectival suffix

-ū̆lā

suffix. likelihood or aptitude

anār

noun. Sun

banya

adjective. beautiful

dērā

adjective. hard, difficult

grottā

noun. (large) excavation, underground dwelling

magrā

adjective. good, useful, proper, fit

ndī

preposition. beneath, not touching, under

paran

adjective. bare, bald, naked, unclad

phelgā

noun. mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]; minor excavations, temporary dwellings

saw

root. disgusting, foul, vile; bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched

taltā

adjective. tottering, unsteady

we

pronoun. we, us (inclusive)

ūopa

adjective. dumb

ṃbono

noun. hill, lump, clump, mass

aman

root. good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil

rob

root. astray, wandering, unsettled

srak

root. hard, difficult

wo

root. together

This root was the basis for the prefix Q. o- and S. go- “together”. In the 1910s Gnomish Lexicon, G. go- (unaccented) or gwa- “together” was derived from primitive ᴱ✶ŋu̯a and the Qenya form was ᴱQ. ma- (GL/40-41). In the 1920s the Early Noldorin form was still ᴱN. go- or gwa- but the Qenya form was ᴱQ. va- (PE13/162), probably from primitive ✱wa-. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WŌ̆ “together” with derivatives ᴹQ. o- and N. go- or stressed gwa- (Ety/WŌ; EtyAC/WŌ).

In The Etymologies Tolkien explained the go-/gwa- variation in Noldorin as the result of the sound change whereby stressed wŏ became wa in Common Eldarin (Ety/WŌ); Tolkien gave a similar explanation for Sindarin in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/367). Despite stressed wŏ > wa being an ancient change, the wa variant did not survive in Quenya. Tolkien explained the sound change whereby wo became o in Quenya several times: in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1930s, in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, and in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (PE19/53, 106; WJ/367). The root √WO itself also appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/16, 191; WJ/361), in one place with the variant √WONO (PE17/191).

gwen

root. fresh, *green, fair, unblemished, beautiful

@@@ might still be valid for Quenya derivations in the Etymologies

graw Reconstructed

root. [unglossed], [ᴹ√] dark, swart

This root appeared as a primitive form grawa serving as the basis of the word Q. roa “bear” >> “dog” in notes on monosyllabic roots from 1968 (VT47/35); a Sindarin derivative S. graw “bear” appeared in other notes written around the same time (VT47/12). Patrick Wynne suggested that in the sense “bear” grawa might be connected to the root ᴹ√GRAWA “dark, swart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/GRAWA).

kah

root. cause

mangya

root. butter

dom

root. dark, dark, [ᴹ√] faint, dim

This root was the basis for the main Elvish words for “dusk, night”, which was established as Q. lómë in Quenya for most of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was ᴱ√LOMO in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with various derivatives having to do with “dusk” and “shadow” (QL/55). One notable derivative was ᴱQ. lóme “dusk, gloom, darkness”, which survived in Tolkien’s later writings as “night” and in the 1910s was the basis for ᴱQ. Hisilóme/G. Hithlum “Shadowy Twilights”. Another notable derivative was G. lómin “shady, shadowy, gloomy; gloom(iness)” (GL/45) used in the name G. Dor Lómin, which in the 1910s was translated as “Land of Shadow” (LT1/112).

The “shadow” meaning of this early root seems to have transferred to ᴹ√LUM from The Etymologies of the 1930s, which served as the new basis for N. Hithlum (Ety/LUM), as opposed contemporaneous N. Dor-lómen which was redefined as “Land of Echoes (< ᴹ√LAM via Ilkorin or in later writings, via North Sindarin). The “dusk” sense was transferred to a new root ᴹ√DOM “faint, dim”, which (along with ᴹ√DOƷ) was the basis for the pair words ᴹQ. lóme/N. dû “night” (Ety/DOMO).

These two words for “night” survived in Tolkien’s later writing in both Quenya and Sindarin (Let/308; SA/dú). In notes from the 1940s Tolkien clarified that it “has no evil connotations; it is a word of peace and beauty and has none of the associations of fear or groping that, say, ‘dark’ has for us” (SD/306). The Elves were quite comfortable being under the night sky, dating back to the time when the Elves lived under the stars before the rising of the Sun and the Moon. The root √DOM reappeared in etymologies for star-words from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/152). It appeared again in some very late notes from 1969 where it was glossed “dark” and served as the basis for words meaning “blind” as well as “night”, though this paragraph was rejected (PE22/153, note #50).

il

root. all

A root meaning “all” in Tolkien’s writings from the 1930s through 1960s (VT48/25) with derivatives in both Quenya and Sindarin, the most notable being Q. Ilúvatar “All-father” (MR/39). Its earliest precursor is the root ᴱ√ILU “ether, the slender airs among the stars” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, whose derivatives include various sky-words as well as ᴱQ. Ilúvatar, since in this early period the name meant “Heavenly Father” (QL/42). The meaning of the root shifted to ᴹ√IL “all” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/IL), and it retained this sense thereafter.

is

root. know

The root √IS was the basis for words having to do with “knowledge” for all of Tolkien’s life, as represented by the verb Q. ista- “to know” which likewise retained the same form and meaning for decades. The root first appeared as ᴱ√ISI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where somewhat cryptically Tolkien said its Gnomish form was GIS or IS (QL/43). This is mysterious because there were no such Gnomish words beginning with gis- in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, but there is an Early Noldorin word ᴱN. gist- “to know” from the 1920s, probably derived from ᴱ✶ʒist- (PE13/144, 146); in this early period initial ʒ- &gt; g- in Gnomish (PE12/17).

Tolkien seems to have abandoned this Noldorin variant, giving the root only as ᴹ√IS in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/IS). In this form it continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/155; PE22/129; VT41/6; VT48/25). In one place Tolkien gave the root in inverted form √SI (PE22/134), and such an inversion appeared in some of its derivatives, such as Q. síma “imagination, mind” (VT49/16) and sinte the irregular past tense of Q. ista-. However, the vast majority of its derivatives are from √IS.

khy-

root. other

Tolkien used a variety of different roots for “otherness” and “or” throughout his life. The earliest of these was ᴱ√VARA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with derivatives like ᴱQ. vára “other”, ᴱQ. var “or”, ᴱQ. varya “different” and ᴱQ. varimo “foreigner” (QL/100). Similar words in the Gnomish lexicon such as G. far(o)n “separate, different, strange” and G. faronwed “foreign” seem to be based on a distinct but possibly related root, apparently being derived from G. far- “separate, sever, divide” (GL/34). The Gnomish words for “otherness” seem to be based on the (hypothetical) root ✱ᴱ√ELE, such as G. el “or” and G. eleg “other, else” (GL/32); see the entry on ✱ᴱ√ELE for further discussion.

In the Early Qenya Grammar, the “other” words were based on ᴱQ. etya (comparative) and ᴱQ. nyanya (general), but these words were on a page of demonstratives and their primitive basis isn’t clear (PE14/55). The next published “or” word was S. egor from the King’s Letter in the omitted epilogue to The Lord of the Rings, written towards the very end of the 1940s (SD/129).

The next set of “or/other” words do not appear until the 1960s. The primitive form ✶khē̆ appears in notes on reflexives from 1965 as the basis for Q. hé “him, the other” (VT49/15). In rough notes on numbers written in the late 1960s, Tolkien gave the possibly-related root √KES “other”, with derivatives Q. exa “other” and Q. exe “the other”, apparently adjective and noun (VT47/40). Finally in some notes written in 1968 or later, Tolkien gave the primitive element √KHY- “other”, with derivatives Q. hye “other person”, Q. hya “other thing”, and Q. hyana “other [adjective]” (VT49/14).

These primitive forms also seem to be connected to various words Tolkien considered for “or” in the Ambidexters Sentence composed in 1969: khe >> hela >> hya (VT49/14). Patrick Wynne suggested the first two of these might be connected to 1965 ✶khē̆, and the last one to 1968+ √KHY-. This last root may also be connected to Q. ahya- “change” (circa 1960); if so Tolkien may have been vacillating among various possible forms throughout the 1960s.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is better to use √KHY- and its derivatives, since they are a more comprehensive paradigm including the best available Quenya word for “or”.

ler

root. free

A root appearing twice in a list of roots from 1959-60, the first time described as “free (of moveable things or moving things), able to move as willed, unimpeded, unhampered, loose, not fixed fast or static” and the second time as “am free to do, sc., am under no restraint (physical or other)” (VT41/5-6). In the second instance it was compared to √POL which had the sense of being physically able to do something. It seems that √LER = “able to do something because there is nothing preventing it” vs. √POL = “able to something because of physical ability”. It might also be contrasted with √LEK which has the sense of freeing something that was once bound, whereas with √LER the thing that is free may have never been bound in the first place.

mat

root. eat

This was the root for eating words for all of Tolkien’s life, appearing very regularly. It was ᴱ√MATA “eat” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/59), ᴹ√MAT “eat” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MAT), and √MAT “eat” in etymological notes from the late 1960s (VT48/26), among its many other appearances. This puts it among the most conceptually stable of Elvish roots.

mel

root. love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)

This root was the basis for Elvish “love” words for all of Tolkien’s life. The root first appeared as ᴱ√MELE “love” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. mel- “to love”, ᴱQ. meles(se) “love”, and ᴱQ. melin “dear, beloved” (QL/60). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had similar derivatives like G. mel- “love” and G. melon “dear, beloved” (GL/57).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien specified that ᴹ√MEL meant “love (as friend)”, and for the first time it included the derivative N. mellon “friend” (Ety/MEL); Gnomish “friend” words from the 1910s were mostly based on G. ged (GL/38). However, the same entry included ᴹQ. melindo/ᴹQ. melisse “lover” (male and female), so it seems even in the 1930s it could refer to romantic love (Ety/MEL). The root continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings associated with “love” (PE18/46, 96; PE17/41; VT39/10).

In notes from 1959, Tolkien elaborated on the precise sense of √MEL and its role in romantic and non-romantic love:

> Love, which Men might call “friendship” (but for the greater strength and warmth and permanency with which it was felt by the Quendi) was represented by √mel. This was primarily a motion or inclination of the fëa [“spirit”], and therefore could occur between persons of the same sex or different sexes. It included no sexual or procreative desire, though naturally in Incarnates the difference of sex altered the emotion, since “sex” is held by the Eldar to belong also to the fëa and not solely to the hröa [“body”], and is therefore not wholly included in procreation ... The “desire” for marriage and bodily union was represented by √yer; but this never in the uncorrupted occurred without “love” √mel, nor without the desire for children. This element was therefore seldom used except to describe occasions of its dominance in the process of courting and marriage. The feelings of lovers desiring marriage, and of husband and wife, were usually described by √mel. This “love” remained, of course, permanent after the satisfaction of √yer in the “Time of the Children”; but was strengthened by this satisfaction and the memory of it to a normally unbreakable bond (NM/20).

Thus √MEL was close in sense to Greek “philia”, used of friendship, whereas √YER was used of “eros” or sexual desire. But in Elvish thinking, √MEL was essential for romantic love, and √YER only arose from that. Furthermore, √YER was not the most important element in the love between romantic partners, as the period of procreation and child-rearing took up a relatively small portion of Elvish lives. It was the more enduring feeling of friendship between lovers that really mattered, and thus √MEL was used of both non-romantic and romantic love, though it had not particular sexual connotation.

nar

root. fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame

A root for “fire” first appearing as ᴹ√NAR “flame, fire” in The Etymologies of the 1930s along with derivatives like ᴹQ. nár(e)/N. naur “flame” (Ety/NAR¹). There was also an augmented variant ᴹ√ANÁR that served as the basis for “Sun” words: ᴹQ. Anar and N. Anor (Ety/ANÁR). These roots and the various derivatives continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings in the 1950s and 60s (PE17/38; Let/425), and in one place Tolkien specified that nār- was “fire as an element” as opposed to √RUYU for an actual blaze.

nen

root. water, water, [ᴱ√] flow

A root connected to water and (to a lesser extent) rivers for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appearance was as ᴱ√NENE “flow” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though Tolkien marked both the root and the gloss with a “?”; it had derivatives like ᴱQ. nen “river, †water” and ᴱQ. nēnu “yellow water lily” (QL/65). Under this entry Tolkien noted that “nen water is perhaps different from nen river, which is from neře” (QL/65); elsewhere in QL Tolkien gave ᴱ√NERE² or ᴱ√NEŘE [NEÐE] as the basis for nen (nend-) “river”, a root he said was often confused with ᴱ√NESE “give to feed; feed, pasture; graze” (QL/66). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon he had G. nenn “(1) water, (2) river” and G. nendil “water fay” which were probably a blending of NENE and NEÐE, as well as G. nern “brook” from ✱nere¹ (GL/60), probably corresponding to ᴱ√NERE² from QL.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had unglossed ᴹ√NEN with derivatives like ᴹQ. nén/N. nen “water” and ᴹQ. nelle “brook” (Ety/NEN), whereas ᴱ√NERE² and ᴱ√NEÐE from the 1910s seems to have been abandoned. The primitive form √NEN or nē̆n “water” continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s writings from the 1940s, 50s and 60s (PE17/52, 167; PE19/102; PE21/64, 79).

nis

root. woman

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NIS “woman”, an extension of ᴹ√NĪ “female” (Ety/NIS). It also had a strengthened form ᴹ√NDIS, unglossed but apparently meaning “bride” based on its derivatives ᴹQ. indis/N. dîs of that meaning (Ety/NDIS). Unstrengthened ᴹ√NIS seems to have survived only in Quenya as the basis for ᴹQ. nis (niss-) “woman”, but this word was also blended with ✱ndis-sē to produce a longer form nisse of the same meaning.

In Tolkien’s later writings, both short Q. nís and longer nissë appeared as words for “woman” (MR/213; VT47/33) and Q. indis reappeared as well, though glossed “wife” (UT/8). As primitive forms, both unstrengthened √nis (VT47/33) and strengthened ✶ndī̆s “woman” also appeared in later writings, the latter given as the feminine equivalent of ✶[[p|n[d]ēr]] “man” (PE19/102).

nī/ini

root. *female, [ᴹ√] female

A root associated with feminity, most often used in its extended variant √NIS. The root first appeared as invertible ᴹ√NĪ/INI “female, woman” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. inya/N. inw “female” and ᴹQ. inimeite “✱feminine” (Ety/INI, NĪ¹). Invertible √INI “female” was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants (PE21/55), and √INI was mentioned again in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s (PE21/71).

porok

root. hen

An onomatopoeic root appearing in notes from the late 1960s with variants porok- and korok and the gloss “hen” (VT47/36). It seems to be a restoration of the form ᴱQ. poroke “barn fowl” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/75) with Gnomish cognate G. porog “fowl (domestic)” in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/64). ᴱQ. poroke “hen” reappeared in Qenya Word-lists from the 1920s (PE16/132), and primitive ✶porokĭ “fowl” and ✶porokē “hen” appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s (PE21/82). Thus this root seems to be a pretty enduring notion.

tolod

root. eight

The earliest Elvish words for “eight” were ᴱQ. {ungo >>} umna and G. {ung >>} uvin in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/75), but in the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s it became ᴱQ. {telte >>} tolto (PE14/49). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√TOL-OTH/OT “eight” as the basis for ᴹQ. tolto and N. toloth of the same meaning (Ety/TOL¹-OTH/OT); in this document it was distinct from ᴹ√TOL which was the basis for “island” words.

In documents on Elvish numbers from the late 1960s, Tolkien vacillated between √TOLOTH (VT42/30 note #52), √TOLOT (VT42/24; VT47/31) and √TOLOD (VT47/11) for the form of this root, but in the more polished versions of these documents he seems to have settled on √TOLOD > Q. toldo, S. toloð (VT48/6). In this last iteration, Tolkien connected the root √TOLOD to the root √TOL “stick up” due to the prominence of the middle fingers (3 and 8) in counting (VT47/11); see the entry on √TOL for discussion.

tolokwe

cardinal. eighteen

appears among Q. forms but seems to be CE

tō/oto

root. back

A root in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, which Tolkien specified as meaning: “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). But Tolkien crossed this all through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).

yon

root. son

This root was the basis for Elvish “son” words for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest indications of this root are ᴱQ. †Y̯ó (or y̯ond-) “son” and ᴱQ. yondo “male descendant”, both tied to the patronymic suffix ᴱQ. -ion “son of, descendant of” appearing in many names (QL/106). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon there was also the related patronymic prefix G. go- (GL/40), which implies the existence of a root ✱ᴱ√YO(NO) since [[g|initial [j] usually became [g]]] in Gnomish. However, go- was deleted and changed to G. bo-, along with new Qenya forms ᴱQ. vô and ᴱQ. vondo (GL/23, 40), implying a change to a root ✱ᴱ√VO(NO).

In Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s, ᴱN. gó “son” reappeared along with ᴱQ. ion and yondi (PE13/144). In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√YŌ or ᴹ√YON “son” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yondo/N. ionn “son” and patronymic -ion (Ety/YŌ). However, in notes labeled “Changes affecting Silmarillion nomenclature” from the late 1950s, Tolkien wrote “Delete entirely yondo = ‘son’! Very unsuitable” (PE17/43). This particular note was rejected when Tolkien changed √YON “wide, extensive” to √YAN (PE17/42). Other notes in the same bundle indicate Tolkien was still seeking a new word for son, saying “Q wanted: son, daughter”, though yon(do) remained among the forms he was considering (PE17/170, 190).

However, it seems Tolkien eventually stopped vacillating and restored √YON, since the patronymic -ion was never discarded, and yon- was the basis for “son” words in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/26).

thandā

noun. shield

(a)tata

cardinal. two

-iti

suffix. habit or special association with the verbal action

-ā

suffix. adjectival

am-

prefix. intensive prefix

amba

?. more

ambō

noun. hill

as(a)

preposition. and

atata

root. two, two; [ᴹ√] again, back

atta

cardinal. two

bani

adjective. fair

dāra

adjective. wise

ekka

noun. hole

imin

masculine name. One

ista-

verb. to know

kalat

noun. light

kawāk

noun. crow

kes

root. other

khan

root. back

kholyē

noun. hen

khyana

adjective. other

lā-

verb. to not be

manrā

adjective. good

mat-

verb. to eat

mbartā-

verb. to define, decree, destine

melā-

verb. to love

min

cardinal. one

minya

ordinal. first

mori

adjective. black

mornā

adjective. dark

morokō

noun. bear

mā

noun. hand

mō

noun. person

nelek

root. tooth

nenda

noun. water

nābā

noun. hollow

nāro

noun. fire

năta

noun. thing

nēnā

adjective. wet

nē̆n

noun. water

oio

adverb. ever

orlā

preposition. over

orya-

verb. to rise

pendā

adjective. sloping

phawalōkō

noun. dragon

porokē

noun. hen

sinkitamo

noun. smith

slas

root. ear

slas

noun. ear

tata

masculine name. Two

wanyā

adjective. fair

wath

noun. shadow

wō

prefix. together

yŭ

conjunction. both

árātō

noun. lord

ñgūr

noun. wolf

ówō

adverb. together

ăwă

preposition. from

ōma

noun. voice

ūr

noun. a fire (on hearth)

ʒō

preposition. from

(s)rō Reconstructed

root. east

añkal-

verb. to blaze

gō

preposition. from

imi

root. in

ini

root. *female

korok

root. hen

melā

verb. love

ndilā

verb. love, be devoted to

ngwaw

root. howl

si

root. know

tolot

root. eight

yad

root. wide