Primitive elvish

aw

root. possess, own, keep (have in hand, use or with one)

A root appearing in some late notes on verbs from around 1969, with the sense “possess, own, keep” (PE22/151). It seems to be a restoration of a much earlier root from the 1910s, which appeared as ᴱ√AW̯A in the Qenya Lexicon with derivatives having to do with wealth, such as ᴱQ. ausie “wealth” and ᴱQ. aute “rich” (QL/33), as well as Gnomish and Early Noldorin cognates G. avos “wealth” (GL/20) and ᴱN. awes “rich” (PE13/137). This root is a good example of how certain linguistic ideas could lay dormant for many years in Tolkien’s writing, only to reemerge much later. This makes it difficult to say for certain whether Tolkien really abandoned a particular idea.

Derivatives

  • Q. aura “possession, thing owned” ✧ PE22/151
  • Q. auvië “possession (abstract), *the act of possessing” ✧ PE22/151
  • Q. öa- “to possess, own, keep” ✧ PE22/151

Element in

  • Q. auvië “possession (abstract), *the act of possessing”
Primitive elvish [PE22/151] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sam

root. to have, have; [ᴹ√] unite, join

The root ᴹ√SAM “unite, join” was a later addition to The Etymologies of the 1930s with the derivative ᴹQ. samnar “diphthongs” (Ety/SAM). There is also evidence for it in the word ᴹQ. sampane “combination” as in ᴹQ. Lámasampane “Combination of Sounds”, a term used in the first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ1) from the 1930s (PE18/40), and again in the second version (TQ2) from around 1950 (PE18/90). In an isolated note from the late 1930s, Tolkien gave ᴹ√kam “bind, join” as a replacement for √sam along with a new word ᴹQ. okamna “diphthong” (VT44/13), but given the reappearance of Q. sampanë in TQ2 this may have been a transient idea, and in any case Tolkien used the word Q. ohlon for “diphthong” in the 1950s and 60s (VT39/9; VT48/29).

In notes grouped with Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, Tolkien gave √SAM as the basis for Elvish verbs for “to have”, with Q. samin and S. sevin “✱I have” (PE17/173). Whether this was connected to 1930s ᴹ√SAM “unite, join” is unclear. In notes associated with the 1959-60 essay Ósanwe-kenta, Tolkien gave the root √SAM with the gloss “mind, think, reflect, be aware” (VT41/5), but in later writings he used √SAN for “think, use mind” instead (PE22/158); see that entry for discussion.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d use √SAM = “have”.

Derivatives

  • Q. sam- “to have” ✧ PE17/173
  • S. sav- “to have” ✧ PE17/173

Element in

Variations

  • SAM ✧ PE17/173; PE17/183
Primitive elvish [PE17/173; PE17/183] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kher

root. possess, possess, [ᴹ√] rule, govern, [ᴱ√] have power

The basic root for rulership was √KHER for most of Tolkien’s life. The root appeared as ᴱ√HERE “rule, have power” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, and in this period already had the derivative ᴱQ. heru “lord” and ᴱQ. heri “lady” (QL/40), words that retained the same form and meaning throughout Tolkien’s life. Gnomish derivatives from this period include G. herma “protection, lordship, sway”, G. hermon “lord”, G. hîr “care, anxiety; heed”, and G. hiril “queen†, princess” (GL/49).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s these last two Gnomish words became N. hîr “master” and N. hiril “lady” as derivatives of ᴹ√KHER “rule, govern, possess”; the words ᴹQ. heru/ᴹQ. heri reappeared as well (Ety/KHER). All four of these words reappeared frequently in Tolkien’s later writing, though S. hîr was more typically glossed “lord” (PM/210; SD/129; VT41/9; Let/382; UT/318). The root √KHER itself reappeared in a 1954 letter to Naomi Mitchison with the gloss “possess” (Let/178).

Derivatives

  • Ad. khôr “lord”
  • khēr “lord, master”
    • Q. heru “lord, master” ✧ Let/282; VT41/09
    • S. hîr “lord, master” ✧ Let/282; VT41/09
  • kherī “lady”
  • kheru- “to lord it over, be master of, own”
    • ᴺQ. heru- “to lord it over, be master of, own, [ᴱQ.] rule”
  • kherū “lord, master”
    • Q. heru “lord, master” ✧ Let/282; PE17/097
  • ᴺQ. hérë “lordship”
  • ᴺS. herf “protection, lordship, sway”

Element in

Variations

  • kher- ✧ Let/178
Primitive elvish [Let/178] Group: Eldamo. Published by