car-

verb. to do, make

Car- is the Sindarin verb for “do, make”, derived from the root √KAR of the same meaning. Tolkien often used it for examples of verb inflections in his writings.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this verb was G. {car- >>} cartha- “make, finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with past tense côri (GL/25), reappearing as cartha- “to finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document with past tense cair- or cawr- (PE13/111). A set of rough verb forms caron, {cur}, côr, {carn}, crantha, cor and cranthi appear in the margin of a page of the Early Noldorin Grammar, which the editors suggested might be related to the (unglossed and rejected) sentence ᴱN. on gós i·bhelon ar cranthi gwaist ’worin o nomad othra, perhaps meaning “✱he made everyone aware of your sinking” (PE13/128 and note #76).

In the Early Noldorin Dictionary, also from the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. cara- “to make, do, perform, act (trans. and absolute)” with a new past form agor (PE13/161). Hints of the verb N. car- can be found in The Etymologies of the 1930s in words like N. ceredir “doer, maker” and N. osgar “cut round, amputate” (Ety/DER, OS). The verb appeared regularly in conjugation charts and sentences Tolkien’s later writings of the 1950s and 60s (VT50/22; PE17/132).

car-

verb. to do

carn

noun. deed

A Sindarin noun for a “deed”, attested only in its lenited form garn within the word othgarn “misdeed” (PE17/151). The alternate form carth “deed” is perhaps better attested.

caro

verb. do! make!

car

build

car- (i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (make, do) (WJ:415)

car

building

car or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (house), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car (or adab) may be preferred for clarity.

car

do

car- (i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (make, build) (WJ:415),

car

house

(building, dwelling-place) 1) car or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (building), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car may be preferred for clarity. 2) adab (building), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb. 3)

car

make

1. car- (i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (do, build) (WJ:415), 2) echad- (i echad, in echedir) (fashion, shape), pa.t. echant (VT45:19)

car

build

(i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (make, do) (WJ:415)

car

building

or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (house), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car (or adab) may be preferred for clarity.

car

do

(i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (make, build) (WJ:415)

car

house

or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (building), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car may be preferred for clarity.

car

make

(i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (do, build) (WJ:415)

cad-

z2# verb. to shape; mold

Derived from the primitive root '√KAT' found in compound of 'etkat-': Out-Shape (later becoming Sindarin Echad: To Fashion). Cognate of Quenya Cat-.

carth

noun. deed

Sindarin noun for a “deed”, attested only in its lenited plural form gerth within the word úgarth “trespass” (VT44/28), which probably more literally means “✱misdeed”. This word is not completely compatible with its Quenya cognate Q. carda “deed” from primitive ✶kardā, which in Sindarin should produce ✱cardh. Perhaps the Sindarin word had a slightly different primitive form ✱✶kartā. The expect form cardh might appear as an element in the variant form athragarð of S. athragared “interaction”.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursors of this word are G. cara “deed, act” and G. carm “act, deed, exploit” in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s (GL/25; PE13/111), the latter a cognate of contemporaneous ᴱQ. karma “shape, fashion; act, deed” (QL/45). Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s had ᴱN. carbh “deed” (PE13/140), reflecting Tolkien’s changing conception of the phonetic development of final -m in Noldorin. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the word appeared as N. carth or carð “deed” (cardh), but these forms were rejected and replaced by N. car(ð) “building” when Tolkien decided the root meant only “make, build” and not “do” (Ety/KAR), a decision he later reversed.

rachod

 noun. car, vehicle

di

preposition. with

_ prep. _with. Q. lé.

di

preposition. with

na

preposition. with, by (also used as a genitive sign)

na

preposition. to, towards, at

sennas

noun. guesthouse

adab

building

1. adab (house), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb_. _2)

adab

building

(house), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb. 2)

adab

house

(building), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb.

bâr

house

bâr (dwelling, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

bâr

house

(dwelling, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

cardh

deed

cardh (i gardh, o chardh), pl. cerdh (i cherdh). Note: cardh may also mean "house, building".

cardh

deed

(i gardh, o chardh), pl. cerdh (i cherdh). Note: cardh may also mean "house, building".

dadbenn

do

(downhill, sloping down, inclined), lenited dhadbenn, pl. dedbinn. Verb

echad

make

(i echad, in echedir) (fashion, shape), pa.t. echant (VT45:19)

gobel

village

(i ’obel) (enclosed dwelling, ”town”), pl. gebil (i ngebil = i ñebil). Archaic pl. ✱göbil.

heria

set vigorously out to do

(i cheria, i cheriar) (have an impulse, be compelled to do something, begin suddenly and vigorously) (VT45:22)

na

with

(in instrumental sense?) na (followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salos reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”

na

with

(followed by lenition), with article nan (followed by ”mixed mutation”, according to David Salo’s reconstruction). The preposition has various meanings: ”with, by, near” and also ”to, toward, at; of”

noriod

noun. car, automobile, (lit.) run-machine

A neologism for “car” coined by Luinyelle posted on 2025-06-03 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) as a combination of √nor- “run” and [N.] gaud “machine”.

noss

house

(family) 1) noss (construct nos, pl. nyss) (family, clan), 2) nost (pl. nyst) (family) (PM:360), 3) nothrim (family); no distinct pl. form (PM:360)

noss

house

(construct nos, pl. nyss) (family, clan)

nost

house

(pl. nyst) (family) (PM:360)

nothrim

house

(family); no distinct pl. form (PM:360)

sennas

guesthouse

(i hennas), pl. sennais (i sennais), coll. pl. sennassath (RC:523)

úgarth

ill deed

(sin), pl. úgerth (VT44:23)

car-

verb. to do, make, to do, make, *act [take action]; [ᴹQ.] to build

Car- is the Quenya verb for “do, make”, derived from the root √KAR of the same meaning, and was very well established in Tolkien’s mind. ᴱQ. karin “I do, make” dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), and appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writings thereafter. Tolkien frequently used car- in examples of conjugating basic verbs, so the inflections of car- are pretty representative of Tolkien’s evolving notations of the Quenya verb system.

The English verb “do” has many specialized functions, such as in the formation of questions like “do you want to go?”. Quenya car- does not share many of those functions. Quenya car- serves as a “generic action” verb, in some sense acting like verbal pronoun, which can be substituted for a more specific verb. For example, in phrases like A carnë ta yallë B (carnë) “A did that as / like B (did)” (PE17/74) or ecuva nin carë sa nöa “I may do that tomorrow” (VT49/20), the verb car- is a placeholder for the specific action done, in the same way that ta and sa is a pronominal placeholder for the action as a noun.

The English verb “do” often requires a generic object like “it”, but that is not the case for Quenya car-: consider English “don’t do it” [with object] vs. Quenya áva carë [without object] (WJ/371) or the Quenya phrase á carë ancárië “try harder” (PE17/94), more literally “✱do [it] with more doing”. When car- has a specific direct object, it generally has the sense “make” or “build”, as in ma caruvalwë ohta “shall we make war” (PE22/161) or i carir quettar ómainen “those who form [make] words with voices” (WJ/391).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had ᴹQ. karin “I make, build” under the root ᴹ√KAR {“make, do” >>} “make, build, construct” (Ety/KAR), and in this period kar- was more often glossed “make” rather than “do”, such as in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948. It could be that in the 1930s and 40s this verb was more limited in sense than it was earlier and later.

Neo-Quenya: Orondil suggested this verb can probably also be used intransitively for “to act” [= “take action”], especially given the suffix -carë often used as “action”. For a more distinctive verb for “to act, take action”, see [ᴺQ.] carta-.

car-

with

#car- (2) prep. "with" (carelyë "with thee"), prepositional element (evidently an ephemeral form abandoned by Tolkien) (VT43:29)

car-

verb. make, do, build, form

car- (1) vb. "make, do, build, form" (1st pers. aorist carin "I make, build"; the aorist is listed with all pronominal endings in VT49:16, also in pl. and dual forms carir, carit). Regarding the form carize- (PE17:128), see -s #1. Pa.t. carnë (KAR, PE17:74, 144). The infinitival aorist stem carë ("k") (by Patrick Wynne called a "general aorist infinitive" in VT49:34) occurs in ecë nin carë sa "I can do it" (VT49:34), also in áva carë "don't do it" (WJ:371) and uin carë (PE17:68); in the last example Tolkien calls carë an example of the "simplest aorist infinitive", the same source referring to carië as the "general infinitive" of the same verb. Pl. aorist carir "form" in the phrase i carir quettar ("k") "those who form words" (WJ:391, cf. VT49:16), continuative cára, future caruva (PE17:144), carita ("k"), infinitive/gerund "to do" or "doing" (VT42:33), with suffixes caritas "to do it" or "doing it", caritalya(s) "your doing (it)" in VT41:13,17, VT42:33. Past participle #carna, q.v.; VT43:15 also gives the long form carina ("k"), read perhaps *cárina. (Carima as a passive participle may be a mistake, VT43:15.) PE17:68 refers to a "simple past passive participle" of the form carinwa ("kari-nwa"). "Rare" past participle active (?) cárienwa* ("k") "having done" (PE17:68), unless this is also a kind of passive participle (the wording of the source is unclear). Some alternative forms in Fíriel's Song: past tense cárë ("káre") "made"; this may still be an alternative to the better-attested form carnë (LR:362) even in LotR-style Quenya. Cf. ohtacárë "war-made", made war (see #ohtacar-). Also cárië with various suffixes: cárier ("kárier") is translated "they made"; in LotR-style Quenya this could be seen as an augmentless perfect, hence "they have made", "they" being simply the plural ending -r. The literal meaning of cárielto* ("k") must also be "they made" (cf. -lto). Derived adjectives urcárima and urcarnë "hard to make / do", urucarin "made with difficulty" (PE17:154), saucarya "evil-doing" (PE17:68).

car-

verb. do, make

car

deed

car (card-) (3) ("k")noun "deed" (rewritten >) "building, house" (KAR). Cf. carda.

car

noun. act, an action

A neologism for “act, an action” by Helge Fauskange appearing in the VQP (VQP) derived from √KAR “do, make”. I prefer carda for an action.

carda

noun. deed, deed, *action

Quenya noun for a “deed”, a combination of the verb car- “to do” and the verbal suffix -da used for the product of an action (PE17/51; PE22/152), thus literally “✱a thing done” = “✱action”.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor of this word is ᴱQ. karma “shape, fashion; act, deed” in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s of similar derivation (QL/45). ᴱQ. ká “deed, act, fact” also appeared in that document, derived from a different root ᴱ√KAHA cause” (QL/43). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the word appeared as ᴹQ. kar (kard-) “deed” in a draft version for the entry of the root ᴹ√KAR “do, make”, but this word was revised to ᴹQ. kar (kard-) “building” when Tolkien decided the root meaning was only “make, build, construct” and not “do” (Ety/KAR), a decision he later reversed. The form karma “deed” also appeared in some later writings, but was rejected (PE22/138).

ampan-

verb. build

ampano

building

ampano noun "building" (especially of wood), "wooden hall" (PAN; alternative form umpano, VT45:36, which Tolkien in one case altered to ampano, VT46:8). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, ampano was also the name of tengwa #6 (VT46:8), which letter Tolkien would later call umbar instead (changing its value from mp to mb).

ampano

noun. building, construction, edifice

ampanóta-

verb. build, erect a building, construct

as

with

as prep. "with" (together with), also attested with a pronominal suffix: aselyë "with thee" (VT47:31, VT43:29). The conjunction ar "and" may also appear in assimilated form as before s; see ar #1.

as

with

o (2) prep. "with" (MC:216; this is "Qenya"; WJ:367 states that no independent preposition o was used in Quenya. Writers may rather use as.) See ó- below.

as

preposition. with

car(am)aite

adjective. able to make,handy,craftsmanlike,skilled

carasta-

build

carasta- vb. "build" (PE17:84)

carda

deed

carda noun "deed" (PE17:51). Cf. car #3. The word may contain the ending -da (q.v.) denoting the result of the corresponding verbal action.

carda

noun. deed

carma

noun. deed

finta-

verb. to make, finish off, or decorate a thing with delicate work

finta- (1) vb. "to make, finish off, or decorate a thing with delicate work" (PE17:17)

indo

house

indo (2) noun "house" (LT2:343), probably obsoleted by #1 above (in Tolkiens later Quenya, the word for "house" appears as coa).

lé

with

lé (2) prep. "with" (PE17:95)

lé

preposition. with

The preposition lé “with” was mentioned in a (rejected) etymology of S. di “with” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/94), from the phrase le nallon sí __di__’nguruthos (LotR/729), usually translated “here overwhelmed in dread of Death, I cry”. In this note, Tolkien eventually decided that S. (n)di actually meant “beneath”, and its Quenya equivalent was Q. nî.

Conceptual Development: Prepositional ᴹQ. le also appeared in the Lament of Atalante from the 1940s, in the phrase ᴹQ. Númeheruvi arda sakkante __le__néme Ilúvatáren “the Lords of the West broke the world by [or with] leave of Ilúvatar” (SD/246, 310). Here “with” seems to be used in the instrumental sense “by means of”.

The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. le “with (accompaniment)” under the early root ᴱ√LĒ (QL/52). Le was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the equivalent of G. li “with (of accompaniment only)”, but also used to mean “and” between nouns (GL/54). In this period the instrumental preposition seems to be ᴱQ. ma, which appeared in a few phrases from ᴱQ. Sí Qente Feanor from the 1910s: ᴱQ. __ma__lto ísier i nosta “✱by those from whom this birth was known” and ᴱQ. nalto fustúme __ma__ Melkon “✱they can be smelled out by Melko” (PE15/32). Compare G. ma “with instrument or by agent” from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/55).

Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. lé for purposes of Neo-Quenya as a rarely-used instrumental preposition meaning “with, by (means of)”, reconceived as a derivative of √LEÑ “✱way, method, manner” (PE17/74).

os

house, cottage

os (ost-) noun "house, cottage" (LT2:336; hardly valid in LotR-style Quenya writers may use coa or már)

umpano

build

umpano noun "build" (read: building), alternative form of ampano, which form is probably to be preferred (VT45:36, compare PAN; VT46:8 records how Tolkien in one case altered umpano to ampano)

ó

with, accompanying

car-

verb. to do

cava

noun. house

car-

verb. to do, make

car

noun. house, building

car(dh)

noun. house, house, *construction, structure

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing as car or carð with the gloss “house” under the root ᴹ√KAR “make, build, construct” (Ety/KAR). Its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. kar (kard-) was glossed “building, house”.

Neo-Sindarin: Given the meaning of its root, I would use cardh for any kind of building-like construction or structure for purposes of Neo-Sindarin. For an ordinary “house” where people live, I would use S. bâr.

adab

noun. building, house

an-

prefix. with, by

cardh

noun. house, building

cardh

noun. deed, feat

carth

noun. deed, feat

carth

noun. deed

gobel

noun. walled house or village, town

na

preposition. with, by (also used as a genitive sign)

na

preposition. to, towards, at

kar

root. do, make, build, do, make, build, [ᴹ√] construct

Tolkien introduced the root √KAR with the sense “do, make” very early, and it retained this form and meaning for his entire life. It appeared as ᴱ√KARA “do, make” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), as ᴹ√KAR “make, build, construct” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KAR), and in numerous other places in various notes, including a last known appearance in verbal notes from 1969 as √KAR “do” (PE22/155). Though its exact set of derivatives varied over time, the root itself was extremely stable in Tolkien’s mind.

dē

preposition. with

karani-stīrē

masculine name. Karani-stīrē

sha

preposition. with

-mâ

preposition. with

A prepositional suffix translated “with” (SD/247, 429).

Conceptual Development: At an earlier conceptual stage, it was the grammatical inflection -ma used for the draft-instrumental (SD/438).

zadan

noun. house

A noun translated “house” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).