Theoretical initial element in ancient wādelo “those who departed Middle-earth”, but according to Tolkien this was a false etymology (WJ/364).
Primitive elvish
wā
root. blow; noise of wind, echoic representation of sound of wind
Derivatives
Element in
Variations
- wā ✧ NM/237
- wa-wa ✧ NM/237
wā-
prefix. *away
Derivatives
- S. go- “*away” ✧ WJ/364
Element in
- ✶wādelo ✧ WJ/364
Variations
- wā ✧ WJ/364
wāya
verb. blow
Changes
- wā-ya → wā-wā “blow” ✧ PE17/034
Derivations
Derivatives
- S. gwae “wind” ✧ NM/237; PE17/034
Variations
- wā-yo ✧ NM/237
- wā-ya ✧ PE17/034
- wāyā ✧ PE17/034
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
Element in
Variations
- WĂ/WO ✧ PE17/016
- WO/WONO ✧ PE17/191 (WO/WONO)
wō
prefix. together
Derivations
- √WO “together” ✧ WJ/361
Derivatives
Variations
- gwo ✧ PE19/106
- wo- ✧ WJ/367
- wo ✧ WJ/368
waiwa(y)
noun. *wind
Derivations
- √WAY “blow (of wind), be disturbed” ✧ PE17/033; PE17/189
Derivatives
Variations
- waiwe ✧ PE17/033 (waiwe)
wiw
root. blow
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
- ✶awā “away” ✧ WJ/361; WJ/365
- ✶ăwă “from” ✧ 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
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
This and similar roots were the basis for “wind” words for much of Tolkien’s life, especially in Sindarin and its precursors. Its first appearance was unglossed ᴱ√GWĀ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wā “wind” and ᴱQ. ’wanwavoite “windy”, where presumably the ’ indicated the lost initial g; there were also two erased variants of the root ᴱ√WĀ and ᴱ√WA’A (WAƷA?) (QL/102). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had derivatives like G. gwâ “wind” and G. gwavwed “windy” (GL/43).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WĀ “blow” with extended variants ᴹ√WAIWA and ᴹ√WAWA and derivatives like ᴹQ. vaiwa/N. gwaew “wind” (Ety/WĀ). ᴹQ. ván/N. gwaun < ᴹ√WĀ-N also seem to be related (Ety/WA-N; EtyAC/WA-N), perhaps based on the noise the goose makes. The root √WĀ appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings with glosses like “blow” (PE17/33), “[used?] of noise of wind” (PE17/34), “echoic representation of sound of wind” (NM/237), and in the variant form √WAY “blow, or be disturbed” (PE17/33) or √WAY “blow (as of wind)” (PE17/154, 189). √WAY was its most common variant form, but it had many others such as √WAW, √WIW, √SWA, √SWAW and √SWAR.