av-

depart

#av- vb. "depart" (cited in the form avin "he departs", read "I depart" in LotR-style Quenya), pa.t. ambë (QL:33). The word may perhaps be used to translate "leave" with a direct object, since "depart" is at least vaguely transitive in English.

vanya-

go, depart, disappear

vanya- (2) vb. "go, depart, disappear", pa.t. vannë (WAN). The verb auta- may have replaced this word in Tolkien's later conception.

elda

of the stars

elda 1. originally adj. "of the stars", but wholly replaced (WJ:362) by: 2. noun (Elda) = one of the people of the Stars, (high-)elf, an Elf (SA:êl, elen, Letters:281, ELED, ÉLED; notice that Tolkien abandoned a former etymology with "depart"), chiefly in the pl. Eldar (WJ:362, cf. GAT(H), TELES).The primitive form Tolkien variously cited as ¤eledā / elenā(Letters:281, PE17:152) and ¤eldā(WJ:360). Partitive pl. Eldali (VT49:8), gen. pl. Eldaron (WJ:368, PM:395, 402);dative pl.eldain "for elves", for Eldar (FS); possessive sg. Eldava "Elf's" (WJ:407); possessive pl. Eldaiva (WJ:368), Eldaivë governing a plural word (WJ:369). The word Eldar properly refers to the non-Avari Elves only, but since Eldar rarely had any contact with the Avari, it could be used for "elves" in general (in LT1:251, Elda is simply glossed "Elf"). See also Eldo. The plural form Eldar should not require any article when the reference is to the entire people; i Eldar refers to a limited group, "(all) the Elves previously named"; nevertheless, Tolkien in some sources does use the article even where the reference seems to be generic (i Eldar or i-Eldar, VT49:8).

auta-

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)

auta-

verb. go away

auta-

verb. to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away

Cognates

• S. gwae- “to go, depart” ✧ PE17/148
• T. auta- “to go, depart, pass away” ✧ WJ/366

Derivations

• √WĀ/AWA “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” ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; PE17/148; WJ/365
• ✶awta- ✧ PE17/063; WJ/366; WJ/366
  • √WĀ/AWA “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”

Element in

• ᴺQ. autaila “going, passing, nearly gone”
• Q. auta i lómë “The night is passing!” ✧ S/190; WJ/166
• Q. áva márië “go happily” ✧ PE17/162
• Q. vanwa “gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, [ᴹQ.] gone for good; [ᴱQ.] on the road” ✧ PE17/063; WJ/366
• ᴺQ. autamar “museum, (lit.) hall of the past”
• Q. yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier “the years have passed like swift draughts” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. yéni avánier ve lintë yuldar “years have passed away like swift draughts” ✧ RGEO/58

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√AWA > auta-	[awta] > [auta]	✧ PE17/063
✶wāne > vāne	[wāne] > [βāne] > [vāne]	✧ PE17/063
√AWA > auta-	[awta] > [auta]	✧ PE17/063
√AWA/WĀ > auta	[awta] > [auta]	✧ PE17/148
√AWA > auta-	[awta] > [auta]	✧ WJ/365

Variations

• auta- ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; WJ/366
• av|va ✧ PE17/063
• auta ✧ PE17/148

elena

of the stars

elena adj. "of the stars" (SA:êl, elen); also elenya

lenna-

verb. to come, to come; [ᴹQ.] to go, depart

Cognates

• S. glenna- “*to travel”

Derivations

• √LED “go, proceed, go, proceed, [ᴹ√] fare, travel” ✧ PE17/139

Element in

• Q. i·oromandi tanna lendë “*the wood-spirits came thither” ✧ PE16/096
• Q. lendes lann’ i sír “he came (to a point) beyond the river” ✧ PE17/065
• Q. lendes pallan(na) i sír “he came (to a point) far beyond the river” ✧ PE17/065
• Q. lendë tanna Nieliccilis “*thither came little Niéle” ✧ PE16/096

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√LED > (e)lende	[lende]	✧ PE17/139

lesta-

leave

lesta- (1) vb. "leave", pa.t. lendë (which is also the pa.t. of lelya-, q.v.) (ELED)

lelya-

go, proceed (in any direction), travel

lelya- (1) vb. "go, proceed (in any direction), travel", pa.t. lendë / elendë (WJ:363, VT14:5, PE17:139) At one point Tolkien assigned a more specific meaning to the underlying root LED: "go away from the speaker or the point in mind, depart" (PE17:52), which would make lelya- a near synonym of auta-. The same source denies that the derivatives of _LED _were used simply for "go, move, travel", but elsewhere Tolkien assigns precisely that meaning to lelya-.

lenna-

go

lenna- vb. "go", pa.t. lendë "went" (LED; cf. lelya-). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word lenna- wrongly appears as **linna-; see VT45:27.

vanya-

verb. to pass, to pass, [ᴹQ.] go, depart, disappear

Element in

• Q. merin sa haryalyë alassë nó vanyalyë Ambarello “I hope that you have happiness before you pass from the world” ✧ MS/01

avaquet-

refuse, forbid

avaquet- ("q")vb. "refuse, forbid" (KWET)

lenweta-

go away, migrate, leave ones abode

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

au-

prefix. away (from)

Cognates

• T. au- “away” ✧ WJ/365

Derivations

• √WĀ/AWA “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” ✧ PE17/024; VT49/24
• ✶awa- “away” ✧ WJ/365
  • √WĀ/AWA “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” ✧ PE17/143; WJ/365

Element in

• ᴺQ. aucelië “sewer, (lit.) away-flowing”
• Q. aucir- “to cut off (and get rid of or lose a portion)” ✧ WJ/365
• ᴺQ. auhanta “refuse, trash, garbage, (lit.) thing thrown away”
• ᴺQ. aulerya- “to rid, free somebody of something”
• ᴺQ. aumanca- “to sell, (lit.) trade away”
• ᴺQ. aumapando “abductor, (lit.) away-seizer”
• ᴺQ. aumenta- “to dismiss, divorce, (lit.) away-send”
• ᴺQ. aupenya “complete, without lack”
• ᴺQ. aupsar- “to wipe away”
• ᴺQ. auquer- “to reject, (lit.) turn away”
• ᴺQ. ausatië “especially, (lit.) setting aside”
• ᴺQ. autulya- “to deport, (lit.) bring away”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶au/awa > au-	[au-]	✧ WJ/365

Variations

• au ✧ VT49/24; WJ/368
• o ✧ VT49/24

ava-

verb. refuse, forbid

men-

go

#men- (4) vb. "go" (VT47:11, cf. VT42:30, VT49:23), attested in the aorist (menë) in the sentence imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië "between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon". In the verb nanwen- "return" (or go/come back), -men- is changed to -wen- following nan- "back" (etymological form cited as nan-men-, PE17:166). In examples from VT49:23, 24, Tolkien used men- in the sense of "go as far as": 1st person sg. aorist menin (menin coaryanna "I arrive at [or come/get to] his house"), endingless aorist menë, present tense ména- "is on point of arrival, is just coming to an end", past tense mennë "arrived, reached", in this tense usually with locative rather than allative (mennen sís "I arrive[d] here"), perfect eménië "has just arrived", future menuva "will arrive". All of these examples were first written with the verb as ten- rather than men-, Tolkien then emending the initial consonant.

tul-

verb. to come, to come, [ᴱQ.] move (intr.); to bring, carry, fetch; to produce, bear fruit

Derivations

• √TUL “come, approach, move towards (point of speaker), come, approach, [ᴹ√] move towards (point of speaker); [ᴱ√] fetch, bear, bring; (originally) uphold, support, bear, carry”

Element in

• Q. [[q|[?it/itē] kestallen, tuluvanye]] “if you ask me, I shall come” ✧ PE22/138
• Q. (ai)que kestanellen, (ai) tullenye “if you had asked me, I should have come” ✧ PE22/139 ({(au)que >>} (ai)que kestanellen, (ai) tullenye)
• Q. [[q|aite[?] kestuvallen, tuluvanye]] “now supposing you asked me, a thing unlikely {or ridiculous} to suppose...” ✧ PE22/138
• Q. ai tulinye sinar (entan) “I may come today (tomorrow)” ✧ PE22/139 (ai tulinye sinar (entan))
• Q. ai tuluvanye “I may come” ✧ PE22/138 (ai tuluvanye)
• Q. aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie’n aurë “Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!” ✧ S/190; WJ/166
• Q. aranielya na tuluva “thy kingdom come” ✧ VT43/14; VT43/14; VT43/14; VT43/14
• Q. á tule “do come!” ✧ PE22/140
• Q. au túlielde (las)! “if only you had come (were here)” ✧ PE22/140
• Q. au tuluvanye “I wish/would I were coming” ✧ PE22/138 (au tuluvanye)
• Q. cé tulis, ní nauva tanomë “*if he/she comes, I will be there” ✧ VT49/19
• Q. cé tulis, tanomë nauvan “*if he/she comes, I will be there” ✧ VT49/19
• Q. entul- “to come again, *return”
• Q. et Eärello Endorenna utúlien “Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come” ✧ LotR/0967; PE17/103
• ᴺQ. etulya- “to pour forth, pour out”
• Q. hótul- “to come away” ✧ WJ/368
• Q. itas la tuluvanyë “in that case I shan’t come (something will prevent me)” ✧ PE22/162
• Q. itas vá tuluvanyë “in that case I won’t come” ✧ PE22/162
• ᴺQ. maitulië “welcome thing, happy arrival”
• ᴺQ. maitulya “welcome”
• Q. alatulya “welcome”
• Q. nauva túlë “he will try to come” ✧ PE22/151
• Q. quenten tulil márië nin “I said: you come happily (for me)” ✧ PE22/158
• Q. quīlas tūleste san inye tūle “*suppose he came (he did not), then I came” ✧ PE22/140; PE22/140
• Q. quíta céla tuldes, quíta ✧ PE22/158
• Q. quí(ta) la tuldes, nánë márië (nin) “[if he had not come], it was well to me (I was glad)” ✧ PE22/158
• ᴺQ. túlima “[ᴱQ.] bringable, worth bringing, able to be brought”
• ᴺQ. tulussë “future tense, (lit.) coming tense”
• Q. tulusta “advent, arrival”
• Q. tulya- “to lead, to lead; [ᴱQ.] to bring, send”
• Q. utúlie’n aurë “The day has come!” ✧ S/190; WJ/166
• Q. vá tulinye ✧ PE22/162
• Q. vá tuluvanyë “I won’t come” ✧ PE22/162
• Q. vá tuluvásë “he is not to come, he shan’t come” ✧ PE22/162
• ᴺQ. etetulië “outcome”

Variations

• Utúlie ✧ S/190
• utúlie ✧ S/190
• tul ✧ VT49/23

gwae-

verb. to go, depart

This highly irregular verb appeared in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 as the Sindarin equivalent of Q. auta- “go (away), depart”, itself very irregular, both verbs derived from the invertible root √WĀ/AWA (PE17/148). The Sindarin verb has a present tense form gwaen “I go” and past forms 1st. sg. anwen “✱I went” and 3rd. sg. anu/awn “✱he/she went”, with these past forms apparently based on an ancient nasal-infixed strong past ✶anwē (from which the archaic Q. strong past †anwe “went” was derived). It has two more forms gwanu/gwawn. These seem to be the equivalent of Q. vanwa “lost” < ✶wanwā.

The present tense form gwaen “I go” is especially peculiar. Compare this to the more regular present tenses cewin “I taste” < kawin(e) (PE22/152) and galon “I grow” < galān(e) (PE17/131). I think the likeliest explanation is that gwaen is derived from an ancient aorist form wa-i-nĭ, with ai becoming ae as was usual of Sindarin’s phonetic developments. If so, the presents of this verb would be based on √WA and the pasts based on √AW.

A final twist is that in the note from DLN Tolkien mentions u-intrusion, a sound change parallel to the more common i-intrusion, whereby a final u moved before a preceding consonant. The forms awn and gwawn are thus the u-intruded results of anu and gwanu. This u-intrusion would not occur in forms with further suffixes, like anwen “I went”.

A probably related form gwanwen “departed” appears in the Quendi and Eldar (Q&E) essay from 1959-60 (WJ/378). This could be an independent adjective, but could also be a passive participle of gwae- (or some variant of it), possibly a strengthened or elaborated form of gwanu/gwawn. Note that Q&E also states 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).

Some people believe this indicates that Tolkien rejected other derivatives like gwae-, but since Q&E also contains gwanwen, I think this statement only applies to direct derivatives of AWA, as opposed to gwae- and gwanwen which are derived from the inverted root WĀ.

Neo-Sindarin: How to handle this verb in the context of Neo-Sindarin is unclear. Given the extreme irregularity of this verb, it is tempting to discard it. Unfortunately, we have no other attested Sindarin verbs for “to depart”. Furthermore, common verbs like “go” tend to be irregular in many languages (such as English as “go” vs. “went”), so it makes sense the same would be true of Sindarin. As such, I propose the following conjugation for this verb (hat tip to Gilruin for most of this paradigm; he suggested much better forms than my original ideas):

• Present tense ✱gwae “go” < primitive ✶gwa-ĭ, with inflections added to this form: gwaen “I go”, ✱gwael “you go”, etc.

• Past tense awn “went” < ✶anwē with u-intrusion. Inflected forms are based on non-intruded anw-: anwen “I went”, ✱anwel “you went”, etc.

• Past/passive participle gwanwen “departed”, an elaboration of the older (archaic?) perfective participle gwanu/gwawn.

• Future ✱gwatha “will go”, ✱gwathon “I will go”, < ✶wa-thā, wa-thā-nĭ.

• Gerund ✱gwaed (< ✶wa-itā) and active participle ✱gwaul (< ✶wa-ālā) “departing”.

• Imperative ✱gwaw “go!” < ✶wa-ā, as with baw “don’t!” < ✶bā (WJ/371-2).

Finally, this verb means “go” specifically in the sense “depart”, that is: “go away”. For “go (generally and in any direction)”, use the verb men-.

If you dislike this irregularity of gwae- or you believe that Tolkien’s note in Q&E (see above) indicates this verb was rejected along with (most) Sindarin derivatives of AWA, then the neologism haena- “to leave, depart” gives an alternative verb.

Cognates

• Q. auta- “to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away” ✧ PE17/148

Derivations

• √WĀ/AWA “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” ✧ PE17/148

Element in

• S. gwanwen “departed, departed, *gone, lost [to time], past” ✧ WJ/378

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√AWA/WĀ > gwaen	[wain] > [gwain] > [gwaen]	✧ PE17/148
√AWA/WĀ > anwen	[anwen]	✧ PE17/148
√AWA/WĀ > anu	[anwe] > [anw] > [anu]	✧ PE17/148
√AWA/WĀ > awn	[anwe] > [anw] > [aun]	✧ PE17/148
√AWA/WĀ > gwanu	[wanwa] > [gwanwa] > [gwanw] > [gwanu]	✧ PE17/148
√AWA/WĀ > gwawn	[wanwa] > [gwanwa] > [gwanw] > [gwaun]	✧ PE17/148

boda

verb. refuse, forbid

gavar

noun. *Refuser

men-

verb. to go

Derivations

• √MEN “go, move, proceed (in any direction); make for, go towards; have as object, (in)tend; direction, object, point moved toward; region”

Element in

• S. dadwen- “to return, go back”
• S. nidhin mened “I have a mind to go, I intend to go” ✧ PE22/165

tol-

verb. to come

Derivations

• √TUL “come, approach, move towards (point of speaker), come, approach, [ᴹ√] move towards (point of speaker); [ᴱ√] fetch, bear, bring; (originally) uphold, support, bear, carry”

Element in

• S. dandol- “to return, come back”
• ᴺS. maedol “welcome”
• ᴺS. ordolel “tomorrow”
• ᴺS. ostol- “to circumnavigate, come around”
• S. rhudol “unwelcome, coming with evil omen or intent”
• S. tôl acharn “vengeance comes” ✧ PE17/166; WJ/254; WJ/301
• ᴺS. toled “coming, arrival”
• S. tolen cared “I am coming, drawing near to eating [doing], I am going to eat/shall eat [do]” ✧ PE22/168
• S. tolo i arnad lín “thy kingdom come” ✧ VT44/25
• ᴺS. túliel “come, arrived”

gwanna

depart

gwanna- (i **wanna, in gwannar**) (die)

gwanna

depart

(i ’wanna, in gwannar) (die)

haena-

verb. to leave, depart, (lit.) be(come) distant

A neologism for “leave, depart” coined by Elaran on 2023-07-02 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), derived from ✱khay-nā and thus a verbal variant of hae “far”, originally “become distant”. Elaran proposed this verb to replace gwae- “to depart” for those who think that Tolkien discarded this irregular verb in his later notes. I prefer to retain gwae-, but I think it can coexist with haena- as an easier-to-conjugate alternative.

Derivations

• ᴹ√KHAY “far, distant, remote”

bad

go

#bad- (i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.

bad

go

(i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.

auta-

verb. to go, depart, pass away

Cognates

• Q. auta- “to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away” ✧ WJ/366

Derivations

• √WĀ/AWA “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” ✧ WJ/365

yad-

verb. to go

A verb appearing in the Lament of Akallabêth in the form ayadda “(it) went” (SD/247, VT24/12). Its initial element is the 3rd persons neuter plural suffix a- “it”. This leaves the basic verb form yadda, which is the past tense according to the theories used here.

Conceptual Development: It appeared in the form yadda in the first draft version of the Lament, and this form was also briefly considered as a replacement for unakkha “he-came” in the first sentence of the Lament (SD/312).

Element in

• Ad. adûn izindi batân tâidô ayadda “[the] road west once went straight, (lit.) west straight road once went” ✧ SD/247; SD/312

nakh-

verb. to come

A verb translated in the past tense as “came” (SD/247, 311), so probably meaning “to come”. Like kalab-, this is one of the few Adûnaic verbs attested in more than one conjugation. As such, it is useful in the study of Adûnaic verbs, in this case biconsonantal-verbs as opposed to triconsonantal kalab-.

It is attested in two forms, unakkha “he-came” and yanākhim “are at hand”. The initial elements in these forms are the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u- and the 3rd-pl neuter pronominal prefix ya-, respectively, while the latter form has the plural verbal suffix -m. Removing these elements leaves the conjugated forms nakkha and nākhi, which are the past and continuative-present tenses according to the theories used here. If the second form is the continuative-present, its literal meaning may be “are coming”.

Conceptual Development: In the draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth, this verb stem was apparently nek-, with past forms hunekkū >> unekkū “he-came”, with Tolkien vacillating on the proper form of the 3rd-sg masculine pronominal prefix u-.

Derivations

• √Ad. NAKH “come, approach”

Element in

• Ad. kadô Zigûrun zabathân unakkha “and so [Sauron] he came humbled” ✧ SD/247
• Ad. Kadō zigūrun zabathān {hunekkū >>} unekkū “and so ‽ humbled he-came” ✧ SD/311
• Ad. narîka ’nBâri ’nAdûn yanâkhim “The Eagles of the Lords of the West are at hand” ✧ SD/251

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).

Derivatives

• Ad. bâ “don’t”
• ✶aba- “refuse, forbid” ✧ PE22/163; WJ/370
  • Q. ava- “to refuse, forbid” ✧ PE22/163; WJ/370
  • S. ava- “will not, do not” ✧ WJ/372
  • T. aba- “to refuse, will not”
• ✶abar(o) “refuser, recusant, one who refuses to act as advised or commanded” ✧ WJ/361; WJ/411
  • Q. Avar “Refuser, Elf who did not journey to Aman” ✧ VT47/13; VT47/24; WJ/371; WJ/380
  • S. Avar “Refuser” ✧ VT47/13; VT47/24; WJ/380
  • T. Abar “Dark Elf; (lit.) Refuser” ✧ VT47/24; WJ/380
• ✶abta “refuse, deny, say no” ✧ PE19/090
  • Q. apta- “to refuse, deny, say nay” ✧ PE19/090
• ✶bāta- “to ban, prohibit, refuse, forbid” ✧ PE22/161
  • S. boda- “to ban, prohibit, refuse, forbid” ✧ PE22/161; WJ/372
• Q. áva “don’t, negative imperative” ✧ PE17/143
• Q. ava- “to refuse, forbid” ✧ PE22/162; PE22/164; VT49/13
• Q. ava- “negation (refusing or forbidden)” ✧ PE17/143; WJ/370
• Q. avanwa “refused, forbidden, banned” ✧ PE17/143
• Q. Avar “Refuser, Elf who did not journey to Aman” ✧ PE17/143
• Q. vá “will not, do not, shall not” ✧ PE17/143; PE17/145; PE22/162; WJ/370
• S. ava- “will not, do not” ✧ PE17/143
• S. avad “refusal, reluctance” ✧ PE17/143
• S. baw “no, do not!” ✧ PE17/143; PE17/145; WJ/370; WJ/372
• S. boda- “to ban, prohibit, refuse, forbid” ✧ PE17/143
• T. aba- “not” ✧ WJ/370
• T. bá “I will not, Do not!” ✧ WJ/370

Element in

• ✶bākwet- “to refuse, prohibit, say no”
• ✶bāta- “to ban, prohibit, refuse, forbid” ✧ WJ/372
• T. abá “don’t” ✧ WJ/370

Variations

• ABA ✧ PE17/143; PE19/090; PE22/161; PE22/162; PE22/163; PE22/164; PE22/165; VT49/13; WJ/361; WJ/370; WJ/372; WJ/411
• BĀ ✧ PE17/143; PE17/145; PE17/149
• BA ✧ PE19/090; PE22/162; WJ/370
• AB ✧ PE22/151
• aba ✧ VT42/32; WJ/370
• bā ✧ VT42/32; WJ/370; WJ/372
• abā ✧ WJ/370

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.

Derivatives

• ✶au- “away” ✧ WJ/361
• ✶awa- “away” ✧ PE17/143; WJ/365
  • Q. au- “away (from)” ✧ WJ/365
  • Q. ú “without, destitute of” ✧ PE17/144
  • T. au- “away” ✧ WJ/365
• ✶awā “away” ✧ WJ/361; WJ/365
  • Q. öa “away (of movement)” ✧ WJ/366
  • T. au “away” ✧ WJ/366
• ✶ăwă “from” ✧ PE17/148
  • Q. o “from” ✧ PE17/148
  • S. o “from, of” ✧ PE17/148
• ✶awta-
  • Q. auta- “to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away” ✧ PE17/063; WJ/366; WJ/366
• ✶wanwa “gone, taken away, lost, departed” ✧ PE17/143
  • Q. vanwa “gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, [ᴹQ.] gone for good; [ᴱQ.] on the road” ✧ PE17/143; PE22/137
• Q. au- “away (from)” ✧ PE17/024; VT49/24
• Q. au “away, off, not here (of position)” ✧ PE17/143; PE17/148
• Q. auta “ago” ✧ PE22/168
• Q. auta- “to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away” ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; PE17/148; WJ/365
• Q. autas “a former occur[rence]” ✧ PE22/168
• Q. ava “*outer, [ᴹQ.] outside, beyond; outer, exterior”
• Q. öa “away (of movement)” ✧ PE17/024
• Q. öar “away from” ✧ WJ/364
• Q. va “(away) from, (away) from, [ᴹQ.] away, [ᴱQ.] gone forth; with” ✧ VT49/24
  • ᴹQ. va “away”
• S. gwae- “to go, depart” ✧ PE17/148
• ᴺS. gwanwas “the past, past days, olden times”
• S. gwanwen “departed, departed, *gone, lost [to time], past”
• S. o “from, of” ✧ PE17/024; WJ/366
• T. auta- “to go, depart, pass away” ✧ WJ/365

Element in

• ᴺQ. avatup- “to uncover, expose”

Variations

• awa ✧ PE17/024; PE22/168 (awa); PE22/168; VT49/24; WJ/366
• AWA ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; PE17/148; PE22/167; WJ/361; WJ/364; WJ/365; WJ/368
• AWA/WĀ ✧ PE17/143; PE17/148; PE17/148
• WĀ ✧ PE17/189
• awa/wā ✧ VT42/32
• wā- ✧ WJ/361
• wā ✧ WJ/366

gwanna-

verb. to depart, die

gwanna-

verb. to depart, die, to die, depart

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing in its (Noldorin) infinitive form gwanno with the gloss “depart, die” and derived from primitive ᴹ✶wanta- under the root ᴹ√WAN “depart” (Ety/WAN). Its use for “to die” could be euphemistic or could refer to the departure of Elvish spirits to Valinor.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I was use this as the normal verb for “to die” among Elves, and limit S. fir- to the death of mortals.

Derivations

• ᴹ✶wanta- “to depart, die” ✧ Ety/WAN
  • ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” ✧ Ety/WAN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶wanta- > gwanno	[wanta-] > [wantʰa-] > [wanθa-] > [gwanθa-] > [gwanna-]	✧ Ety/WAN

tol-

verb. to come

Cognates

• ᴹQ. tul- “to come” ✧ Ety/TUL

Derivations

• On. tul- “should have done it, if ..., should have done it”
  • ᴹ√TUL “come, approach, move towards (point of speaker)”
• ᴹ√TUL “come, approach, move towards (point of speaker)” ✧ Ety/TUL

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√TUL > tôl	[tul-] > [tol-]	✧ Ety/TUL

ledh-

verb. to go, to go, *travel, journey

@@@ extended meanings suggested by Fiona Jallings

Derivations

• On. led- “to fare”
  • ᴹ√LED “go, fare, travel” ✧ Ety/LED; EtyAC/LED

Element in

• N. neledh- “*to go in, enter” ✧ TAI/150