wa-

prefix. wa-

wā-

prefix. *away

Theoretical initial element in ancient wādelo “those who departed Middle-earth”, but according to Tolkien this was a false etymology (WJ/364).

Derivatives

• S. go- “*away” ✧ WJ/364

Element in

• ✶wādelo ✧ WJ/364

Variations

• wā ✧ WJ/364

waiwa(y)

noun. *wind

Derivations

• √WAY “blow (of wind), be disturbed” ✧ PE17/033; PE17/189

Derivatives

• Q. vailë “wind, [strong] wind, *gale” ✧ PE17/189
• Q. váva “*wind” ✧ PE17/033
• S. gwae “wind” ✧ PE17/033

Variations

• waiwe ✧ PE17/033 (waiwe)

waile

noun. *wind

Derivations

• √WAY “blow (of wind), be disturbed” ✧ PE17/189

Derivatives

• Q. vailë “wind, [strong] wind, *gale” ✧ PE17/189

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).

Derivatives

• ✶ówō “together” ✧ PE17/191
  • Q. uo “together” ✧ PE17/191
• ✶wō “together” ✧ WJ/361
  • Q. o- “together” ✧ PE19/106
  • S. go- “together, co-, com-” ✧ WJ/368
  • ᴺS. gu “(together) with”
• Q. o- “together” ✧ PE17/191; WJ/367
• S. go- “together, co-, com-” ✧ PE17/016; PE17/191; WJ/367
• T. vo- “together” ✧ WJ/367

Element in

• ᴺ✶. womātē “*community, (lit.) eating-together”
• ᴺQ. ólav- “to compromise”
• ᴺQ. ómen “crossroads”
• ᴺS. goven “crossroads”

Variations

• WĂ/WO ✧ PE17/016
• WO/WONO ✧ PE17/191 (WO/WONO)

wō

prefix. together

Derivations

• √WO “together” ✧ WJ/361

Derivatives

• Q. o- “together” ✧ PE19/106
• S. go- “together, co-, com-” ✧ WJ/368
• ᴺS. gu “(together) with”

Variations

• gwo ✧ PE19/106
• wo- ✧ WJ/367
• wo ✧ WJ/368

wā/awa

root. away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago, away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago; [ᴹ√] forth, out

This invertible root and ones like it were the basis for “away” words for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest iteration was ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. au “away from” and ᴱQ. avanwa “going, passing, nearly gone” (QL/33). This early root remanifested as ᴹ√AB “go away, depart, leave” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but the gloss of that root was revised to “refuse, deny” (Ety/AB). As a replacement, Tolkien introduced ᴹ√AWA “away, forth; out” with derivatives like ᴹQ. ava “outside”; Tolkien also considered deriving a privative prefix ᴹQ. ava- from this root (Ety/AWA).

The root √AWA was mentioned many times in Tolkien’s later writings, along with its inverted variant √WĀ, usually with the sense “away (from)” or a verbal sense “go (away), depart, pass away”. Its most detailed description appeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, where Tolkien said:

> The element ✱AWA ... referred to movement away, viewed from the point of view of the thing, person, or place left. As a prefix it had probably already developed in CE the form ✱au-. The form ✱awa was originally an independent adverbial form, but appears to have been also used as a prefix (as an intensive form of ✱awa-, ✱au-). The form ✱wā- was probably originally used as a verbal stem, and possibly also in composition with verbal stems (WJ/361).

In this same document Tolkien said of Sindarin that:

> The only normal derivative [of √AWA] is the preposition o, the usual word for “from, of”. None of the forms of the element ✱awa are found as a prefix in S, probably because they became like or the same as the products of ✱wō, ✱wo (WJ/366).

Indeed, most of the attested derivatives of this root are in Quenya, but there are a couple in Sindarin, such as the aforementioned S. o from AWA, as well S. gwanwen “departed” (WJ/378) and the verb S. gwae- “go”, probably only in the limited sense “depart” (PE17/148), both from WĀ.

In late notes from 1969 Tolkien gave the root √AWA the sense “before or ago (of time)” (PE22/167 note #117; PE22/168), but I suspect this was a transient idea.

Derivatives

• ✶au- “away” ✧ WJ/361
• ✶awa- “away” ✧ PE17/143; WJ/365
  • Q. au- “away (from)” ✧ WJ/365
  • Q. ú “without, destitute of” ✧ PE17/144
  • T. au- “away” ✧ WJ/365
• ✶awā “away” ✧ WJ/361; WJ/365
  • Q. öa “away (of movement)” ✧ WJ/366
  • T. au “away” ✧ WJ/366
• ✶ăwă “from” ✧ PE17/148
  • Q. o “from” ✧ PE17/148
  • S. o “from, of” ✧ PE17/148
• ✶awta-
  • Q. auta- “to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away” ✧ PE17/063; WJ/366; WJ/366
• ✶wanwa “gone, taken away, lost, departed” ✧ PE17/143
  • Q. vanwa “gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, [ᴹQ.] gone for good; [ᴱQ.] on the road” ✧ PE17/143; PE22/137
• Q. au- “away (from)” ✧ PE17/024; VT49/24
• Q. au “away, off, not here (of position)” ✧ PE17/143; PE17/148
• Q. auta “ago” ✧ PE22/168
• Q. auta- “to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away” ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; PE17/148; WJ/365
• Q. autas “a former occur[rence]” ✧ PE22/168
• Q. ava “*outer, [ᴹQ.] outside, beyond; outer, exterior”
• Q. öa “away (of movement)” ✧ PE17/024
• Q. öar “away from” ✧ WJ/364
• Q. va “(away) from, (away) from, [ᴹQ.] away, [ᴱQ.] gone forth; with” ✧ VT49/24
  • ᴹQ. va “away”
• S. gwae- “to go, depart” ✧ PE17/148
• ᴺS. gwanwas “the past, past days, olden times”
• S. gwanwen “departed, departed, *gone, lost [to time], past”
• S. o “from, of” ✧ PE17/024; WJ/366
• T. auta- “to go, depart, pass away” ✧ WJ/365

Element in

• ᴺQ. avatup- “to uncover, expose”

Variations

• awa ✧ PE17/024; PE22/168 (awa); PE22/168; VT49/24; WJ/366
• AWA ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; PE17/148; PE22/167; WJ/361; WJ/364; WJ/365; WJ/368
• AWA/WĀ ✧ PE17/143; PE17/148; PE17/148
• WĀ ✧ PE17/189
• awa/wā ✧ VT42/32
• wā- ✧ WJ/361
• wā ✧ WJ/366

sū

noun. wind

Derivations

• √SŪ “blow, move with audible sound (of air)”

Derivatives

• Q. sú “sound of wind, sound of wind, [ᴱQ.] noise of wind” ✧ VT47/12; VT47/35

Element in

• ✶sūli “wind” ✧ VT47/35
• ✶sūri “wind” ✧ VT47/35

sūli

noun. wind

Derivatives

• S. sûl “wind, [strong] wind, *gust”

Elements

Word	Gloss
SŪ	“blow, move with audible sound (of air)”

sūri

noun. wind

Derivations

• √SUR “noise of wind, noise of wind; [ᴱ√] to blow” ✧ NM/237

Derivatives

• Q. súrë “wind, breeze” ✧ NM/237

Variations

• sūr(i) ✧ VT47/35

ówō

adverb. together

Derivations

• √WO “together” ✧ PE17/191

Derivatives

• Q. uo “together” ✧ PE17/191