ai

adverb. possibility

aiwē

root. (small) bird

A “root” (more likely just a primitive word) appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the basis for the words ᴹQ. aiwe, N. aew “small bird” (Ety/AIWĒ). A precursor ᴱ√aı̯ to this root appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. aiwe, G. aigli “bird” (GL/17). The continued appearance of Q. aiwë (UT/401) and S. aew (S/119) in later writings strongly indicates this primitive form remained valid in Tolkien’s later writings.

ailin

noun. pool, lake

aikwā

adjective. tall, steep

maiga

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the first version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from the 1930s (TQ1) to illustrate certain patterns of root formation (PE18/66). It may have serving as the basis for ᴹQ. Maia, though this word was given different derivations later.

gais-

verb. to dread

vaiā

noun. sea

wilwā

noun. air, lower air

wis

root. air

alar-si

interjection. hail!

men

root. go, proceed; purpose, aim (at), intend; [rejected] place, spot

nayak

root. pain

gos

root. dread

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dread” with two variations: ᴹ√GOS and ᴹ√GOTH (Ety/GOS). It was an element in quite a few names in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, such as ᴹQ. Mandos “Dread Imprisoner” (Ety/MBAD), ᴹQ. Osse (Ety/GOS), N. Gothmog (Ety/MBAW), N. Tauros “Forest-Dread” (Ety/TÁWAR), and N. Dor-Daideloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread” (LR/405), the last of these containing N. deloth “abhorrence, detestation, loathing” = ᴹ√DYEL + ᴹ√GOTH (Ety/DYEL).

In Tolkien’s later writings, many of these names were given new forms or etymologies: Q. Mandos “Castle of Custody” = mando + osto (MR/350); Q. Ossë as an adaptation of his Valarin name Oš(o)šai (WJ/400); S. Tauron “Forester” (PM/358). This calls into question whether ᴹ√GOS or ᴹ√GOTH survived as a root. It does have a few useful derivatives for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, however, such as N. gosta- “fear exceedingly”.

ayak

root. sharp, pointed

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sharp, pointed”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. aika/N. oeg “sharp” and ᴹQ. aiqa “steep” (Ety/AYAK). Similar forms appear in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s such as ᴱQ. aiqa “steep” and ᴱQ. aiko “cliff”, though Tolkien did not produce an explicit early root for these words, marking it instead as “?” (QL/29). The early root might have been ✱ᴱ√AIK(W)-. Early Noldorin forms from the 1920s such as ᴱN. aig “high, steep” and ᴱN. aiglir “peak, mountain top” indicate the root was also adopted in the other branches of the Elvish languages (PE13/158).

The evolution ᴱN. aiglir >> N. oeglir >> S. aeglir “mountain peaks” indicate this root’s continued validity in Tolkien’s later conception of the language, as seen in S. Hithaeglir “Misty Mountains” (Let/180; RC/11; S/54). The element S. aeg “sharp” (<< N. oeg) appears in a variety of other late names such as S. Aeglos “Snow-point” (S/294) and S. Aegnor “Sharp Flame” (MR/323). Tolkien gave an alternate etymology for the last name as a phonetic adaptation of Q. Aicanáro “Fell Fire” (PM/346-347), but that variant was based on a different root √GAYA “awe” > ✶gayakā “fell, terrible” (PM/363), so it did not necessarily invalidate √AYAK “sharp, pointed”.

sliw

root. sickly

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “sickly”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. laiwa/N. flaew “sickly, sick, ill” and ᴹQ. líve/N. fliw “sickness” (Ety/SLIW). The root was first written as ᴹ√LIW (EtyAC/LIW). It is probably a later iteration of the unglossed root ᴱ√LEẆE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. leuke “sick, ill; pallid, wan” and ᴱQ. leume “sickness” (QL/53).

karan

root. red

This root appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “red” (Ety/KARÁN), a later iteration of ᴱ√KṚN of the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s of the same meaning, but with syllabic ṛ (QL/48). Its main Quenya derivative, Q. carnë, retained the same form throughout Tolkien’s life, but its Gnomish forms G. carn(in) “scarlet” and G. crintha “rosy, pink” (GL/25, 27) became N. caran “red” in the 1930s, and retained that form thereafter.

stal

root. steep

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “steep” with derivatives like Ilk. thall “steep, falling steeply (of river)” and Ilk. thalos “torrent”, the latter used for the river name Ilk. Thalos (Ety/STAL). Tolkien continued to use the name S. Thalos in later versions of The Silmarillion, but the name was translated nowhere else, making its continued connection to the 1930s root uncertain.

(a)yan

root. *holy

ala

root. *blessed

ay(ar)

root. sea

aya

root. other, different (of larger numbers)

aı̯an-

adjective. holy

gwar-

prefix. other, different

lin

root. pool

sel(d)

root. child, child; *daughter

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s, initially glossed “daughter” but later “child” with derivatives ᴹQ. selde, ᴹQ. seldo, ᴹQ. selda = female, male and neuter “child” (Ety/SEL-D). 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).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer √YEL for “daughter” as a variant of ᴹ√SEL(D) under the influence of √YON “son”, mostly so I can still use the 1930s “child” words for other genders, at least in the Quenya branch. I would still use Q. seldë and S. sell for “daughter”, however, with a bit of semantic drift, with “girl” words becoming Q. nettë and S. neth.

tyulussē

noun. poplar-tree

iw

root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish

alkwā

noun. swan

arʒā

noun/adjective. dread

auluta-

verb. [unglossed]

bay

root. [unglossed]

ethe

root. other

ista-

verb. to know

kaltwa

?. [unglossed]

karani

adjective. red

khlip

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected paragraph from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) written in 1948 (PE22/112 note #78).

khrassē

noun. precipice

kuldā

adjective. red

kōmā

noun. [unglossed]

makla

noun. sword

man

root. holy spirit

mit

root. small

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small” with various Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of similar meaning (Ety/MIT).

mitra

adjective. small

phan

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/PHAN).

skil

root. [unglossed]

A root mentioned in passing in as a variant of ᴹ√KIL “divide” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but it had no derivatives and appeared nowhere else (Ety/KIL).

slīwē

noun. sickness

stin

root. [unglossed]

stā

root. [unglossed]

A deleted root reference in The Etymologies apparently serving as the basis for the verbal action suffix ᴹ✶-stā “-ing” in ᴹ✶khau̯-stā “rest-ing” (Ety/KHAW; EtyAC/KHAW). See the entry on ✶-stā for further discussion.

ta

root. that

torōmā

noun. [unglossed]

tundā

adjective. tall

uruk

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/URUK).

us

root. [unglossed]

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no glosses or derivatives and no clear function (EtyAC/US).

yan

root. *holy