awā

adverb. away

awa-

prefix. away

au-

prefix. away

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).

kel

root. flow (down or away), run (of water or rivers), go away, flow (down or away), run (of water or rivers), go away, [ᴹ√] run away especially downwards or at end; [ᴱ√] ooze, trickle

√KEL was established as the root for “flow” very early in Tolkien’s Elvish languages, also with the variant vocalic extension √KELU. ᴱ√KELE appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “flow, run” and also “ooze, trickle”, though the latter sense did not appear in later writing (QL/46). It also had a variant ᴱ√KELU elsewhere compared to ᴱ√QEL+U of similar meaning (QL/75). It had derivatives in both Qenya and Gnomish such as ᴱQ. kelu- “flow”, G. celu- “trickle” and ᴱQ. kelu(me)/G. celu “stream” (QL/75; GL/25).

The root ᴹ√KEL reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s where it seems to have an added connotation of “flow downwards”, given its gloss “go, run (especially of water), flow away downhill” (Ety/KEL). This more specific meaning to the root continued to appear in later writings, with glosses such as 1930s “flow, flow away, run (of rivers)” (PE18/58), 1940s “run away especially downwards or at end” (PE22/114), 1950s “go away, flow away or flow down (of water)” (PE18/103), and 1960s “flow (down)” (PE17/157). The u-extension ✶kelu with the (continuative?) sense “flow, well up” remained common throughout all these periods as well (PE18/86; PE22/98, 133, 135).

Starting with The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien compared this root with etymological variants √KWEL “fade (away), die away, grow faint” and √KYEL “come to an end, cease, run out” (Ety/KWEL, KYEL; PE18/58, 103), and indeed Tolkien used it as one of his basic examples of such etymological variations:

> There existed in Quenderin 1. √KEL “flow, flow away, run (of rivers)”. Of this simple base, since the initial variation is possible, while the sundóma is the same 2. √KJEL “cease, come to an end”, and 3. √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” may be regarded as differentiated variants (second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa, TQ2, circa 1950, PE18/103).

A similar note appeared in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) from the 1930s (PE18/58). Likewise ✶kelu was one of his main examples of variant vocalic extensions:

> This “variant extension” always had the form i or u. It appears in many cases where its original function is no longer discoverable, if indeed that was more than to serve as a euphonic connecting link to affixes. But the added element [u] often appears as a differentiator as in kel¹-u beside kel², and some old verbs have a fixed u as the end of their base (TQ2, PE18/86).

In the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, it seems that √KYEL “end” was replaced by √TEL “close, end, come to an end” (WJ/411) as indicated by the replacement of 1930s ᴹQ. tyelma “ending” (LR/72) by later Q. telma “conclusion” (WJ/411). In a 1967 note the etymological variant √KYEL seems to have been assigned a new meaning “go down slowly”, which served as the basis for Q. tyellë “grade, a step in a stairway or ladder” (PE17/157).

To summarize, the base root √KEL meant “flow (down)” for pretty much all of Tolkien’s life, usually used with a variant vocalic extension √KELU, and starting in the 1930s it had etymological variants √KWEL and √KYEL, with √KWEL always meaning “fade (away), die” and √KYEL meaning “cease, end” from the 1930s to 40s, but changing to “go down slowly” sometime between the 1950 and 1967 (but probably before the 1st edition of LotR), with “end” being reassigned to √TEL by 1960. See the entry on √TEL for further discussion of those developments.

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.

ba(n)

root. meet, come up against; go (away), meet, come up against; go, [ᴹ√] proceed

A root meaning “go, proceed” appearing as one of the many etymologies of Q. vanwa “gone, departed”. It may have been a partial restoration of the (rejected) meaning of the root ᴹ√AB “go away, depart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s, a root that later was altered in that document to mean “refuse, deny, say no” (Ety/AB). It may also have been intended as a replacement for ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish”, also from The Etymologies and the basis for ᴹQ. vanwa in the 1930s.

In the published corpus, the first clear mention of this root is in a discussion of the Quenya future suffix -(u)va from the late 1940s where it was given as √BĀ, BANA “go, proceed” with Q. vanwa “gone, over” as one of its derivatives (PE22/97). It appeared again in a discussion of the Sindarin greeting mae govannen “well met” from the late 1950s, where Tolkien hypothesized that the verb “meet” might be go- “together” + ban- “go” or “meet”, which he again connected to Q. vanwa “gone” (PE17/16). Phonetic complications prompted Tolkien to coin a new verb covad- “assemble, gather together” from a root √KOB, but he was unwilling to commit at this time to the new verb because of the obvious similarity of govannen to √BAN “go” (PE17/16-17).

However, in 1959 when he was overhauling the Eldarin system of negation, it seems Tolkien finally rejected √BA(N) “go” because of the conflict with √BĀ/ABA “refuse”, and he transferred the sense “go” to the root √MEN (PE17/143). In etymological notes contemporaneous with the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, Tolkien restored √KOB “gather” (PE17/150) though he seems to have eventually settled on the form √KOM for this root along with a restored verb S. covad- “bring together, make meet” (PE17/157-158). Q. vanwa “gone” was also transferred to √WĀ/AWA by the time of the Quendi and Eldar essay (WJ/366). Meanwhile, the Quenya future had been transferred from √BA to the root √UB in the early 1950s (PE22/132).

This left no remaining functions for √BA(N) “go”, and there is no further sign of it starting in the 1960s.

bā/aba

root. refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), [ᴹ√] deny; away, go away, depart

The invertible root √BA or √ABA was principally connected to refusal, and its best known derivative was Avari, the group of Elves that refused to travel to Valinor. When Tolkien first introduced the root ᴹ√AB in The Etymologies of the 1930s and other contemporaneous writings on Ancient Quenya, he gave this root the meaning “go away, depart” (Ety/AB; PE19/045); in this sense it may have been a replacement for the early root ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” (QL/33). Indeed, the first application of Avari was to the Elves that left for Valinor, “the Departing”, rather than those that stayed behind (LR/169-170). But the sense “away” was soon transferred to ᴹ√AWA (Ety/AWA) and √AB was revised in The Etymologies to mean “refuse, deny, say no” (Ety/AB), a sense it retained thereafter.

Tolkien wrote about this root at great length in the 1959 when he decided that √BA was part of the Eldarin system of negation, distinguishing negation of volition (I will not) from negative of fact (it is not so). Tolkien seems to have introduced this notion at the same time he decided to abandon la-negation, so the corresponding negation of fact was the root √Ū (PE17/143). Even when Tolkien considered restoring la-negation in the late 1960s, √BA still retained a role as the negation of volition (PE22/161).

One peculiar feature of √BA is that it represented refusal from the perspective of the speaker. Thus in 1st person, √BA meant “I will not” (refusal), but in 2nd person or 3rd person it meant “do not” (forbiddance). Tolkien discussed this topic at some length in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/370-2). In 1st person this was Q. ván(ye)/S. avon “I won’t” and Q. vamme/S. avam “we won’t” [using the circa-1960 pronominal suffix -mme; with later pronouns this would be valve and avof]. In 2nd person this used the interjection Q. vá/S. baw “don’t”, or the negative imperative particle Q. áva/S. avo, as in Q. áva care/S. avo garo “don’t do [it]”.

When Tolkien revisited his ideas for negation in 1969, he still kept this notion of 1st person refusal vs. 2nd/3rd person forbiddance (PE22/161-3), so that the system of √BA negation remained more or less the same (barring changes like new pronouns).

khaw

root. cover up, hide away, lay in store, [ᴹ√] rest, lie at ease; [√] cover up, hide away, lay in store

The early existence of this root was indicated in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as (unglossed) ᴱ✶haw- where it was the basis of words like G. hau- “to lie” and G. haus “bed” (GL/48). It reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√KHAW “rest, lie at ease”, this time with both Quenya and Noldorin derivatives such as ᴹQ. hauta- “cease, take a rest, stop” and N. haust “bed” (Ety/KHAW). In The Etymologies Tolkien also said this root influenced the meaning of N. hauð “mound” so that it came to mean “grave, tomb” as well (Ety/KHAG, KHAW).

The root reappeared again in revisions made to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) around 1959 with a new gloss “cover up, hide away, lay in store”, along with an extended root √KHAWAD “store, hoard” that continued to influence S. haudh “(funeral) mound” (PE19/91). The root √KHAW >> √KHAWA also appeared in a page of roots having to do with “large and small” probably from around 1968 (VT47/26 note #26), with the derivatives Q. höa “big, large” and Q. haura “huge” (PE17/115).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think the 1930s meaning “rest, lie at ease” is probably most useful, and I would limit the meaning “lay in store” to its extended root √KHAWAD. As for the meaning “big”, I would limit it to (Quenya-only) Q. höa.

khep

root. retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of, retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of; [ᴱ√] bind; encircle

The root √KHEP appeared with gloss “retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of” in etymological notes from 1959-60 along with a variant √KHAP “bind, make fast, restrain, deprive of liberty” (VT41/6), and in this period it was almost certainly the basis for S. heb- “keep” in ú-chebin estel anim “I have kept (heb- lenited 1st-person) no hope for myself” (LotR/1061). It might be a later iteration of ᴱ√HEPE, glossed “bind” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/40) and “encircle?” (the question mark is Tolkien’s) in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/48).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, some derivatives of this 1910s root might be salvaged as derivatives of later √KHEP.

kwel

root. fade, die away, grow faint, fade, die away, grow faint, [ᴹ√] fade away; wither, [ᴱ√] decay, perish, die

In Tolkien’s later writings this root primarily meant “fade”, but its earliest precursor ᴱ√QELE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was glossed “perish, die, decay, fade”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. qele- of the same meaning, ᴱQ. qelet “corpse”, and ᴱQ. qelme “ruin, utter end, perdition, end, death” (GL/76). Derivatives from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had a similar semantic scope, such as G. cwel- “fade, wither”, G. cweleg “corpse”, and G. cweloth “fading”, most notably as an element in G. lasgweloth “leaf-fading, autumn” (GL/28); the connection between this root and words for “autumn” survived in Tolkien’s later conception of the languages.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the meaning of the root ᴹ√KWEL seems to have softened somewhat to “fade (away), wither” with more of a sense of waning rather than outright death, though ᴹQ. qelet “corpse” remained among its derivatives (Ety/KEL, KWEL). In the 1930s it still was related to words for “autumn”, notably N. lhasbelin (Ety/LAS¹) “leaf-fall, autumn” and ᴹQ. Narqelion “Fire-fading, Autumn” (Ety/NAR¹). The latter seems to have been modified to Q. Narquelië (and S. Narbeleth) as the Elvish word for October, literally “Sun-fading”, in the Lord of the Ring appendixes (LotR/1107). The root was also the basis for Q. quellë “autumn” (LotR/1111), though its Sindarin equivalent (firith) was based on a different root.

Starting in the 1930s Tolkien indicated this root had an etymological relationship with √KEL “flow (down)”; see that entry for details.

map

root. take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize

This root was connected to grabbing things by hand for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√MAPA “seize” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. map- “seize, take” and ᴱQ. maptale “robbery” (QL/59). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon its main derivative was G. mab “hand” (GL/55). In the Gnomish Lexicon, Tolkien did redefine mab as a dual form of G. mô “hand”, but it was later restored as an independent word and survived all the way into Sindarin as S. mâb “hand”.

The root reappeared as ᴹ√MAP “lay hold of with hand, seize” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a similar set of derivatives (Ety/MAP). √MAP was mentioned again in the late 1960s in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals, with glosses like “take hold of, grasp” (VT47/7) and “take away” (VT47/20). But in these same notes Tolkien made the somewhat shocking decision to abandon this root, proposing instead that S. mâb was derived from CE ✶makwā “handful” (VT47/6).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore this very late idea, since √MAP appears so regularly in Tolkien’s earlier writings.

rek

root. recover, get out/away, save from ruin/peril/loss

A root glossed “recover, get out/away, save from ruin/peril/loss” in notes on the words from The Lord of the Rings, serving as an explanation for S. edraith “rescue, saving” (PE17/38).

aumata-

verb. to eat away, corrode

aumata-

verb. eats away, corrodes

ent(h)a

pronoun. away over there, in time to come

enya

pronoun. away back there, long ago

wanwa

adjective. gone, taken away, lost, departed

yat

adverb. away back; ago

ñgwar-

verb. fret, wear away

ōmata-

verb. eat away, devour, corrode

pok

root. tuck (-away)

gwa-

prefix. *away

An element in the word gwahae, itself an element in Gwahaedir which was the Sindarin name of the palantír from drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/186 note #15). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the word N. gwahae was the equivalent of ᴹQ. (a)vahāya under the root ᴹ√KHAYA “far, distant, remote” (EtyAC/KHAYA), so likely meaning “✱far away”. Therefore, the prefix gwa- probably means “away” and is based on the root √AWA.

Note, however, that in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, Tolkien said:

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

Neo-Sindarin: Despite Tolkien’s later statement that √AWA was not used a prefix in Sindarin, I think it is worth retaining gwa- “away”, as we have no better alternatives. Of the two variants of the prefix go-/gwa- “together”, go- is much more common and gwa- appears only in a few older forms like gwanon “twin”, usually of obscured meaning. I think that leaves enough semantic space for the prefix gwa- “away”. I would also use ᴺS. gwa “away” as an adverb in Neo-Sindarin. I rationalize these choices as being derived from inverted WA rather than AWA, and thus not technically in conflict with Tolkien’s notes in Quendi and Eldar; compare gwanwen “departed” < WA also appearing in that essay (WJ/378).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. bâ “away, off” (GL/21), clearly a cognate of ᴱQ. vá “gone forth, away” under the early root ᴱ√VAHA having to do with travel (QL/99).

go-

prefix. *away

A hypothetical element in the name Gódhel, a late Sindarin replacement for Ódhel “Elf who left for Aman”, but Tolkien said “it seems most probable that it took g- from the old clan-name Golodh, pl. Goelydh, which it practically replaced” (WJ/364). Thus ✱go- “away” < ✶wā- is probably a false etymology.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use gwa- as the prefix for “away”, as in gwahae “✱far away”.

gwahae

adjective. *far away

A word appearing as an element in Gwahaedir, the Sindarin name of the palantír from drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/186 note #15). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the word N. gwahae was the equivalent of ᴹQ. (a)vahāya under the root ᴹ√KHAYA “far, distant, remote” (EtyAC/KHAYA), so likely meaning “✱far away”, a combination of gwa- “away” and hae “far”.

It is not clear why this word does not have the form gwachae with the proper soft mutation of soft mutation *h* → *ch*; compare na-chaered from the A Elbereth Gilthoniel. It could be that Gwahaedir is a Gondorin word, comparable to Gondorian Rohan vs. “proper Sindarin” Rochan(d). There are, however, other cases where this mutation did not occur in the second element of an obvious compound: Gwaihir, Eruhîn, arahadhw, etc.

hae

adverb. far, very far away, far, (very) far away

An adverb(?) for “far” or “very far away” based on the root ᴹ√KHAYA (PE17/25; EtyAC/KHAYA). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it had the variant forms hae, hoe, haen (EtyAC/KHAYA).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hai “there (by him)” (GL/47), a possible precursor. In this document the basic adverb for “far” was G. eg or êg “faraway, wide, distant, far off” based on the early root ᴱ√eika (GL/32; QL/29). This word reappeared in Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document with the gloss “far” (PE13/113). Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱN. eg- {“†wide, far” >>} “far” (PE13/142).

hae

adverb. very far away

_adv._very far away. >> haer, haered, na-chaered

heb-

verb. to retain, keep, do not give away or release, keep hold of

e

away

ed (out, forth); also as adjectival prefix "outer" and preposition "out from, out of" (WJ:367)

gwa

adverb. away

gwachae

away

1. (adj.) gwachae (remote), lenited wachae, no distinct pl. form. The form occurring in the primary source, #gwahae, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciantion with h for ch (PM:186, isolated from gwahaedir). 2) (adv.) e, ed (out, forth); also as adjectival prefix "outer" and preposition "out from, out of" (WJ:367)

gwachae

away

(remote), lenited ’wachae, no distinct pl. form. The form occurring in the primary source, #gwahae, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciantion with h for ch *(PM:186, isolated from gwahaedir)*.         

óvenna-

 verb. to dismiss, divorce, (lit.) away-send

A Sindarin adaptation of the neologism originally coined by Helge Fauskanger for his translation of the biblical New Testament into Quenya. Containing the elements *au* (a repurposing of the Quenya/Telerin word meaning "away"; and the verb *menna-*, or "to send."

mab-

verb. to seize, take away by force, *grasp

A “neologism” proposed by David Salo in his Gateway to Sindarin (GS/271), a simple extrapolation of the Old Noldorin verb ON. map- “seize, take away by force” and its Quenya equivalent ᴹQ. mapa- “grasp, seize”, both based on ᴹ√MAP “lay hold of with hand, seize” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MAP). Based on the Old Noldorin glosses I would interpret this verb as having the connotation of forceful seizure, as opposed to ᴺS. nab- for simply taking something with or without force.

gwachae

far away

(adj.) *gwachae (remote), lenited wachae, no distinct pl. form. The form occurring in the primary source, #gwahae, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciantion with h for ch (PM:186, isolated from gwahaedir).

gwachae

far away

(remote), lenited ’wachae, no distinct pl. form. The form occurring in the primary source, #gwahae, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciantion with h for ch *(PM:186, isolated from gwahaedir)*.

hauda-

verb. to cover up, hide away, lay in store, hoard, save, record; to bury

othra-

verb. to get away, escape

au

away

au (2) adv. "away", of position rather than movement (compare oa). PE17:148

au-

prefix. away (from)

A prefix meaning “away” derived from √AWA of similar meaning (PE17/24). In one note from the late 1960s, it had variants o and va (VT49/24). In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, Tolkien further specified that it meant “away from the speaker or the place of his thought” (WJ/365) and thus could not be used with verbs like tul- “come” indicating motion towards something (WJ/368). For these other senses of “away (from)”, the prefix hó- is used instead; see that entry.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. au “away from” was mentioned as a prefix in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√AVA (QL/33).

auta-

verb. to go (away), depart, leave; to pass away, disappear, be lost, to go (away), depart, leave; [variant: vanya-] to pass away, disappear, be lost

A rather irregular verb whose base meaning is “go (away), depart, leave” and by extension with the senses “pass away, disappear, be lost”, derived from the invertible root √WĀ/AWA “away” (PE17/63; WJ/366). Its most notable use is in the Namárië poem where it appeared in its plural perfect form avánier “have passed” (LotR/377). The related adjective vanwa “lost, departed, vanished” appeared in the same poem. Tolkien’s desire to retain the forms avánie and vanwa likely influenced his investigation of this verb; its conceptual development is quite complex (see below).

The irregularity of this verb is due to some of its tenses being based on √AW, and others on √WĀ. Starting in the late 1950s he usually represent the base verb stem as auta- (PE17/63; PE22/164; WJ/366), such as in __auta__ i lómë “the night is passing” from The Silmarillion (S/190). The stem form auta- was based on √AW + tă, similar to other verbs whose roots ended in y/w which usually required a formative suffix like ✶-tă (PE22/156). Such “half-strong” verbs normally had past forms with nasal-infixion before the formative suffix, in this case with primitive ✶áwa-n-tē becoming modern öante because ancient *awa* become *öa* in Quenya’s phonetic history (WJ/366-367). Tolkien posited similar perfect forms öantie or öávie (WJ/366; PE17/148; PE22/164).

In the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, Tolkien said that:

> In the more purely physical sense “went away (to another place)” the regular forms (for a -ta verb of this class) öante, öantie were used (WJ/366).

However, in this document (and others) he described another past form váne from primitive ✶wāne, derived from √WĀ rather than √AW (PE17/63; WJ/366). From this ancient past form the perfect avánie was derived, with Tolkien saying “the forms of past and perfect became progressively more closely associated in Quenya” (WJ/366). This variant of the past and perfect was associated with the adjective (originally a perfective adjective) vanwa “gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past and over”, and from it got the meaning: “✱passed away, went away (to never return)”. It was in this sense the perfect form avánier was used in the Namárië poem.

Conceptual Development: This verb has numerous precursors in Tolkien’s earlier writings, since the original root ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” dates back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/33). This root had a verb form ᴱQ. avin “he departs” with past form ambe (QL/33). The early root also had an inversion ᴱ√VAHA, from which an alternate past form vâ “went” was derived (QL/99). Thus the notion that the past and present forms of this verb were from inversions of the root was quite an old idea in Tolkien’s mind.

The English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s had a verb form ᴱQ. vana- “pass, depart, vanish, go away” (PE15/76). This became ᴹQ. vanya- “go, depart, disappear” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” (Ety/WAN). This verb reappeared in the “Merin Sentence” from the mid-to-late 1950s: merin sa haryalyë alassë nó __vanyalyë__ Ambarello “I hope that you have happiness before you pass from the world” (MS). It is thus likely the base verb was vanya- when Tolkien first composed the Namárië poem, and in the 1st edition of The Lord of the Rings the perfect form was vánier without the leading a (RC/341).

The verb form ᴹQ. auta- with the sense “to go away” first appeared in the Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s, where it was a variant of ᴹQ. apsa- < ᴹ✶abtā- of the same meaning, a back-formation from the past form avante < ✱aba-n-tē, all based on the root ᴹ√ABA/BA “away, go away” (PE19/45). However, sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s, Tolkien revised the meaning of ᴹ√AB to “refuse, deny, say no” (Ety/AB). In the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, Tolkien had a similar verbal paradigm with Q. apta < ✶ab-ta vs. Q. auta as back-formation from past avante, but in that document the past was glossed “refused, denied, said nay” (PE19/90).

The derivations of auta- “go away, depart” from the root √WĀ/AWA began to appear in documents from the late 1950s and early 1960s such as Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS: PE17/63), Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN: PE17/148), and Quendi and Eldar (Q&E: WJ/365-366). He seem to stick with this paradigm going forward, but continue to experiment with various forms for different verb tenses. For example, in couple places Tolkien gave anwe as another (archaic) past along with oante (WJ/366; PE17/148). In another place he consider a variant verb ava- “depart, go away, disappear, be lost” with present avea, future auva, past vāne, and perfect avānie (PE17/63).

Neo-Quenya: It is pretty clear Tolkien intended the aorist form of this verb to be auta. In NGS Tolkien gave a future form autuva (PE17/63) and in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 a present form autya (PE22/164). LVS had a number of -ya or -ia present tenses for various *ta*-formative verbs, but also said something like “make Q. ea as present tense invaded other forms” in a difficult-to-read note. I take that to mean that the -ya/-ia presents regularized to -ea across many verb classes, so I would use the present tense form ✱autea “is departing” instead and assume that †autya is archaic; see the discussion of the Quenya present tense for more details.

This verb had two past paradigms: öante “went away (to another place)” vs. váne “✱pass away, went away (to never return)”, along with associated perfects öantie vs. avánie, with the last meaning “have passed away” (RGEO/58). In the aorist, present and future tenses this distinction is frequently less relevant, because the “to never return” qualifier is necessarily unknown. Where it is relevant, however, I would use a variant stem form vanya- “to pass away, disappear, be lost”, a back-formation derived from the alternate perfect avánie, inspired by the verb form in The Etymologies and the Merin Sentence (see above).

hó-

prefix. away, from, from among

A prefix for “away, from, from among”, which Tolkien contrasted with au- (WJ/368). Whereas hó- was “away” from a point of view that was outside the thing, place, or group in thought, the prefix au- was “away” where the point in thought was the place or thing left. As examples, Tolkien gave hócir- “to cut off (so as to have or use a required portion)” vs. aucir- “to cut off (and get rid of or lose a portion)”.

hótul-

verb. to come away (to leave a place and go to another)

A verb in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 glossed “come away, so as to leave a place or group and join another in the thought or place of the speaker”, used to illustrate the mean of the prefix hó- “away from” in combination with the verb tul- “come” (WJ/368).

lomentie

noun. ?away-journey, departure

An unglossed word in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/16). It is perhaps the opposite of omentië “meeting = together-journey”, using an initial prefix lo- “away from” rather o- “together”, so meaning “away-journey = departure”.

va

preposition/prefix. (away) from, (away) from, [ᴹQ.] away; [ᴱQ.] gone forth; with

A preposition for “[away] from” appearing in some versions of the Átaremma prayer from the 1950s, in phrases like ono __va__ úro aly’ eterúna me “but deliver us from evil” (VT43/9-11). In the final version of the prayer, it was replaced with the ablative suffix -llo (VT43/12). va- “away from” is mentioned in notes associated with the Ambidexters Sentence for the 1960s where it seems to function as a prefix (VT49/24).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. vā “gone forth, away” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√VAHA (QL/99). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, vá “away” was an adverb, interjection and adjective, but this entry was deleted (PE15/70). Elsewhere in the dictionary va was a preposition “with” in combination with ᴱQ. vesta- “marry”, as in vesta va “marry with (someone)”.

In the Early Qenya Grammar also from the 1920s, va was a preposition “from” in the phrase hwa·telpe ie-rautanéma ompa __va__ húyo “his money had all been stolen from him” (PE14/54). In the 1930s and 40s it appeared as a prefix va- “away” in vahaiya or vahāya “far away” in various iterations of the Lament of Atalante (LR/47; SD/247, 310).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume va is a preposition or prefix, serving a similar function to adverb/prefix au “away (from)”, replacing prefixal au- in cases where va- is more euphonic. As a preposition I would assume it is only rarely used, being generally replaced with the ablative suffix -llo, but va can be preferable when the sense “from” is more abstract (stolen from him, delivered from evil) rather than describing actual motion or direction.

öa

adverb. away (of movement)

An adverb meaning “away” derived from √AWA of the same meaning (PE17/24). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) written in 1959, öa meant “away of movement” and was contrasted with au “off, away, not here, of pos[ition]” (PE17/144). In the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, Tolkien said “the [primitive] form awā appears originally to have been used either of rest or motion, and öa can still be so used in Q.”; it was contrasted with öar for motion away (WJ/366).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume adverbial öa is a generic “away” usable either for being or moving away, while au is only being away and öar is only moving away.

öar

adverb. (towards) away

An adverbial form appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/364). It was a combination of the root √AWA “away” with the ancient allative suffix ✶-da “towards” (WJ/366), so literally meaning “towards away”. It was therefore used to indicate motion, as in mennes öar “he went away”. See the entry öa for other “away” adverbs.

Conceptual Development: Some similar forms appeared in earlier writings. There was avar “away down” in the 1958 poem Löa Yucainen in the phrase löa yucainen __avar__ Anduinë sí valútier “twenty years have flowed away down the Long River” (CPT/1298). There was var “✱away from” as a deleted preposition in one version of the Átaremma prayer from earlier in the 1950s (VT43/10).

ambela

further still beyond, far away beyond

ambela adv. "further still beyond, far away beyond" (PE17:91)

au

away from

o (3) prep.? variant (along with au and va) of the stem awa "away from" (VT49:24). It is uncertain whether this o is a Quenya word; Patrick Wynne suggests it could be the first element of the preposition ollo "away from" (ibid.)

au

adverb. away, off, not here (of position)

An adverb meaning “away” derived from √AWA in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) written in 1959 (PE17/144, 148). In one of these notes it was glossed “off, away, not here, of pos[ition]” and contrast with öa meaning “away of movement” (PE17/144). In another place in the same document, adverbial au was contrasted with prepositional o (PE17/148).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. au “away from” appeared all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave”, but there Tolkien marked it with a “?” and said it was especially used as a prefix as opposed to adverbial ᴱQ. vá (QL/33). In Tolkien’s later writings, va is usually prefixal or prepositional.

Neo-Quenya: See öa for my recommendations for Neo-Quenya usage.

au-

off, *away

au- (1) a verbal prefix "off, *away", as in auciri ("k") "cut off" (so as to get rid of or lose a portion); contrast hóciri (WJ:366, 368). Compare au as a variant of the stem awa "away from" (VT49:24) and the adverb au (see #2 below).

auta-

verb. go away, leave

auta- (1) vb. "go away, leave" (leave the point of the speaker's thought); old "strong" past tense anwë, usually replaced by vánë, perfect avánië but when the meaning is purely physical "went away (to another place)" rather than "disappear", the past tense oantë, perfect oantië was used. Past participle vanwa "gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past and over" (WJ:366)

fifíru-

verb. slowly fade away

fifíru- vb.; this is evidently the frequentative (see sisíla-) form of fir-; according to MC:223 it means "slowly fade away"; participle fifírula in Markirya (translated "fading")

fifíru-

verb. to slowly fade away

A verb translated “slowly fade away” in notes associated with the Markirya “poem” of the 1960s, a frequentative form of fir- “die, fade” (MC/223). In the poem itself it appeared in its active participle form fifírula “fading” (MC/222).

Conceptual Development: The version of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 had histane “fading” (MC/213), presumably the active participle of a verb ᴱQ. ✱hista- “to fade”. The verb was probably based on the early root ᴱ√HISI having to do with “mist” and “dusk”; compare ᴱQ. hiswa “dim, fading” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/40).

háya

far off, far away

háya adj. "far off, far away" (KHAYA). Also haiya.

hó-

away, from, from among

hó- verbal prefix; "away, from, from among", the point of view being outside the thing, place, or group in thought (WJ:368)

lenweta-

verb. go away, migrate, leave ones abode

lenweta- vb. "go away, migrate, leave ones abode", pa.t. lenwentë (PE17:51)

oantë

went away (to another place)

oantë vb. "went away (to another place)"; past tense of auta-. Also perfect oantië. (WJ:366, VT48:32)

ollo

away from

ollo (2) prep. "away from" (VT49:24)

vaháya

far away

vaháya adj. "far away" (LR:47, SD:310). Also spelt vahaiya (SD:247)

avar

adverb. away down

var

adverb. *from, away to

ai! löar yassen palantírienyë andavanwë yárier

ah years in which looking far away I saw ages long-passed

arcalima ep’ eleni

far and away brighter than stars

auta-

verb. go away

enyasse

adverb. there far away

i hyarma tentanë melcorello

the left hand pointed away from Melkor

Fourth phrase @@@

| |  I  | II |III|IV|  V  |VI|VII| |i hyarma| |i hyarma| |{tente >>}|tentane| |ollo {Moringotto >>} Morikotto|ollo Melkor|{Morikottollo >>} Melkorello|Melcorello|

ollo

preposition. away from

sapsarra-

verb. keep on rubbing, fray away

vahaia

adverb. far away

yéni avánier ve lintë yuldar

years have passed away like swift draughts

The 3rd phrase of the prose Namárië. Tolkien altered the text from the poetic version as follows:

> yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier >> yéni avánier ve lintë yuldar

Tolkien moved the prepositional phrase ve lintë yuldar “like swift draughts” from between the subject and verb to behind the verb in the prose version. As this phrase functions adverbally (describing how the years are passing), it makes sense that it would follow the verb.

aucelië

noun. sewer, (lit.) away-flowing

A neologism for “sewer” coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), an abstract noun formation based on au- “away” and √KEL “flow”, so more literally “an away-flowing”.

aumanca-

verb. to sell, (lit.) trade away

A neologism for “sell” coined by Sami Paldanius in the 1000W project (1000W), a combination of au- “away from (the speaker)” and [ᴹQ.] manca- “trade”, inspired by homanca- “buy”.

aumapando

noun. abductor, (lit.) away-seizer

A neologism for “abductor” coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), more literally “away-seizer” as an agental formation based on au- “away” + mapa- “sieze”.

aumenta-

verb. to dismiss, divorce, (lit.) away-send

A neologism for “to dismiss or divorce” coined by Helge Fauskanger for his NQNT (NQNT), a combination of menta- “to send” with the prefix au- “away”, hence more literally “to send away”.

autulya-

verb. to deport, (lit.) bring away

A neologism for “to deport” coined by Helge Fauskanger in his NQNT (NQNT), a combination of au- “away (from)” and tulya- “lead”, appearing primarily in its noun form ᴺQ. autulyalë “deportation”.

öapsar-

verb. to wipe away

Helge Fauskanger coined this neologism as aupsar- “wipe away” for his NQNT (NQNT), a combination of au- “away” and psar- “rub”. This neologism is rather dubious because normally a diphthong like au cannot occur before a consonant cluster like ps. I think it would be better to use öapsar- where the initial element is öa “away”.

auhanta

noun. refuse, trash, garbage, (lit.) thing thrown away

@@@ “trash, garbage” suggested by Orondil in VLDS, 2023-05-04

aupsar-

verb. to wipe away

auquer-

verb. to reject, (lit.) turn away

autaila

adjective. going away, passing away

öatarië

noun. apostasy, (lit.) away-standing

arrongo

adverb. right away, promptly, very soon

aucol-

verb. to remove, (lit.) bear away

gwa-

prefix. *away

gwahae

adjective. *far away

au

adverb. away

au-

prefix. away

avad

adverb. away from

ho-

prefix. away, from, from among

êphalak

adjective. far away

A combination of êphal “far” and the suffix -ak (SD/247, 312), which could either mean “away” or be some kind of intensifier. See the entry for -ak for further discussion.

êphalak îdô yôzâyan

far away now (is) the Land of Gift

The 13th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The first word êphalak “far away” is an adverb or emphatic adjective; see the entry for -ak for further discussion. The second word îdô “now” is an adverb. The last word Yôzâyan “Land of Gift” is one of the names for Númenor. There is no subjective noun or a verb, so this phrase is a fragment rather than a full sentence.

The typescript version (and all earlier versions) had īdōn “now (is)” instead of īdō “now”. See the entry for îdô for further discussion.

êphal êphalak îdô hi-akallabêth

far far away now (is) She-that-hath-fallen

The 14th (and final) phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (VT24/12). The first two words êphal “far” and êphalak “far away” are repeated adjectives (or adverbs), the second with the added suffix -ak. This suffix either means “away” or is some kind of emphatic marker; see the -ak entry for further discussion. The third word îdô “now” is an adverb. The last word Akallabêth “The Downfallen” is the Adûnaic name for Númenor after its destruction. It is prefixed with the pronoun hi “she”, turning the name into a small sentence “She that hath fallen”.

The typescript version (and all earlier versions) had īdōn “now (is)” instead of īdō “now” (SD/247, 312). See the entry for îdô for further discussion.

ēphalek īdōn akallabēth

far away lo!now is She-that-is-fallen

The first draft of the 13th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). It differs from the final version mainly in its use of ēphalek “far away” for later êphalak and akallabēth instead of later Yôzâyan (Akallabêth appears instead in the last sentence of the final version). Like the final typescript version but unlike the final manuscript version, it uses īdōn “lo! now is” instead of īdō “now”. This is may be a combination of the adverb īdō “now” and the predicate suffix -n “is” used elsewhere in the draft version.

ēphal ēphalek īdōn athanātē

far far away is now the Land of Gift

The first draft of the 14th (and final) phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312). It differs from the final version mainly in its use of ēphalek “far away” for later êphalak and athanātē “Land of Gift” instead of later Akallabêth. In the final version of the Lament, another word for “Land of Gift” (Yôzâyan) appears in the second-to-last sentence instead. Like the final typescript version but unlike the final manuscript version, is uses īdōn “is now” instead of īdō “now”. This is likely a combination of the adverb īdō “now” and the predicate suffix -n “is” used elsewhere in the draft version.

-ak Reconstructed

preposition. away

A suffix in the word êphalak “far away”, a derivative of êphal “far” (SD/247). Some authors have suggested that -ak is an intensive suffix “very” instead of suffix meaning “away” (LGtAG, NBA/32). However, the corresponding Quenya word vahai(y)a “far away” is a combination va “(away) from” and haiya “far”, so it seems to me that the literal translation “away” is more likely to be correct (this translation of va was published after LGtAG and NBA were written).