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).

wō

prefix. together

wolwē

masculine name. Wolwē

wor

root. express, cause to exude (by pressure)

The first appearance of this root was as unglossed {ᴱ√WORI >>} ᴱ√GWORI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wōre and G. gur “sweet” (QL/104); the latter appeared as gûri in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/43). These early words were elements in ᴱQ. miruvóre and its Gnomish equivalent G. gurmir (QL/61; GL/43).

The root √WOR reappeared in Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s, with the gloss “express, cause to exude (by pressure)”, again as the basis for the second element of Q. miruvórë: ✶wōri “juice (esp. of fruit)” (PE17/37-38). But Tolkien went on to say “This is false etymology. High Elvish. There was not in fact any word wor- in Elvish, Quenya or Sindarin.” He then concocted a new etymology for miruvórë as a loan word from Valarin mirubhōze (PE17/38). This Valarin origin of the word was repeated in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/399). In notes from 1967 Tolkien admitted that the actual inspiration of the word was Germanic među “mead” + wōþi “sweet” (PE17/65).

wonā

adjective. male

towo

noun. wool

womātē

noun. *community, (lit.) eating-together

lewek

root. worm

A root glossed “worm” appearing in etymological notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s serving as the basis for Q. leuca and S. lŷg “snake” (PE17/160), words that also appeared in Appendix E to The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1115). A possible precursor to this root is indicated by “snake” words from the Qenya and Gnomish Lexicons of the 1910s: ᴱQ. lin (ling-) and G. ling (QL/54; GL/54), probably derived from ✱ᴱ√LIŊI.

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).

snag

root. wound, gash

A root appearing in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, first as √(S)NAG “wound” (PE19/92 note #110) and then as √SNAG “wound, gash” in red-ink revisions made in 1959, ultimately having derivatives like Q. nahte/S. naedh “wounding, wound” (P19/91). It might be a later iteration of ᴱ√SṆKṆ “rend, tear” from Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivative ᴱQ. sanka “rend, jab” (QL/85). This early root was apparently confused with ᴱ√ÞṆKṆ “✱hate”; see that entry for discussion.

taw

root. wood

Tolkien used a similar set of words for “forest” starting with the earliest versions of Elvish, but their derivation evolved somewhat over time. The earliest related root was ᴱ√TAVA “beam” with variant ᴱ√TAFA (the latter marked by Tolkien with a “?” and with no obvious derivatives) from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as the basis for words like ᴱQ. taule “great tree”, ᴱQ. tauno “forest” and ᴱQ. tavar “dale-sprite” (QL/90). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. tavros/G. taur “forest” and G. tavor “wood fay” (GL/69).

ᴱQ. taure “forest” did not appear as an independent word until drafts of the Oilima Markirya from around 1930 (PE16/62; MC/213). Thereafter Tolkien mostly stuck with Q. taurë and N./S. taur for “forest”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√TAWAR “wood, forest” (Ety/TÁWAR), though in one place it was ᴹ√TAR (EtyAC/TUR). In notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 Tolkien gave √TAWA “wood”, and in notes on “large & small” roots from 1968 Tolkien had √TAW “wood” (PE17/115).

mbartanō

masculine name. World-artificer

nīs

noun. woman, female person

rigelle

noun. woman bearing a garland

tawinā

adjective. wood

ñgwaumē

noun. wolvish howling

ñgwaurō

noun. wolf (not wild wolves)

ñgūr

noun. wolf

wen(ed)

root. maiden, girl, virgin; woman

This and similar roots were connected to Elvish words for maidenhood for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was unglossed {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wendi “maiden” and ᴱQ. ’wendele “maidenhood” (QL/103). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the primitive form was given as {ᴱ✶gw̯ene >>} ᴱ✶gu̯eđe having derivatives like G. gwennin “girl” and {G. gwendi >>} G. gwethli “maiden, little girl” (GL/45).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WEN “maiden” with extension ᴹ√WENED and derivatives like ᴹQ. venesse/N. gweneth “virginity” and ᴹQ. vende/N. gwenn “maiden” (Ety/WEN). In this entry Tolkien later wrote “transfer to GWEN”, indicating a relationship to ᴹ√GWEN, a root in The Etymologies with derivatives having to do with youth and freshness (Ety/GWEN). The root √WEN(ED) appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings, mostly as the basis for Q. wendë/S. gwen(d) “maiden” (PE17/191; VT47/17; VT48/18). The frequency with which Tolkien used Q. wendë over Q. vendë indicates the primitive root may have been ✱√GWEN(ED), since w derived from primitive gw survived longer in Quenya than ancient primitive w; see the entry on Q. vendë for further discussion.

(s)lōkō

noun. reptile, snake, worm

rembinā

adjective. meshed, netted, woven

balad

root. worth, value

elem

root. wonder, marvel

web

root. *worm

win

root. young, young, [ᴹ√] new, fresh

Tolkien used a similar set of Elvish roots for “youth” and “freshness” for many years. The earliest of these was primitive guı̯u̯ or gu̯iu̯ [ᴱ√GWIWI] in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like G. gui “just, just now, only just, already”, G. guin “recent, fresh”, and G. gwioth “youth” (GL/42). This root reappeared as ᴹ√WIR “new, fresh, young” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with variants ᴹ√WĪ and ᴹ√WIN and derivatives ᴹQ. vírie “youth” and ᴹQ. virya “fresh” (EtyAC/WIR). The ᴹ√WIN variant had derivatives ᴹQ. vinya/N. gwîn “young”. Tolkien considered, but rejected, deriving these from strengthened ᴹ√GWIN instead, producing (also rejected) ᴹQ. winya/N. bîn (EtyAC/GWIN).

Q. vinya appeared in quite a few later names with the gloss “young” or “new”, but the Sindarin form became S. gwain as in S. Narwain “January, ✱(lit.) New Fire” (LotR/1110) and S. Iarwain “Old-young” (LotR/1114; RC/128). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, both were given as derivatives of √WIN “young” along with Q. víne/S. gwîn “youth”, though the Sindarin word for “young” was given as (archaic?) gwein (PE17/191). Also related are various words for “baby” from 1968 notes such Q. †wine/S. gwinig “little-one, baby” (VT48/6). In these notes primitive wini was glossed “little” but this was deleted (VT47/26), making it likely that the earlier senses “young, new” were restored for √WIN.

As for the 1930s root ᴹ√WIR, it might have survived as an element in the month names Q. Víressë/S. Gwirith “April” (LotR/1110), perhaps meaning “✱freshness”.

ówō

adverb. together

gardā

noun. region

keme

noun. earth

kemen

noun. earth

manrā

adjective. good

mat-

verb. to eat

ndakta-

verb. to slay

ndē̆r

noun. man

phawalōkō

noun. dragon

talam

root. flat space, flat space, [ᴹ√] floor, ground; base, root, foundation

taltā

adjective. tottering, unsteady

taurē

noun. forest

wōri

noun. juice (esp. of fruit)

yenā

adjective. female

sisti

root. ‽

(m)bol

root. *labour

n-uĕg

suffix. male

pū

noun. ‽

skā

noun. ‽

skū

noun. ‽