sap-

dig

sap- or sapa- vb. "dig", pa.t. sampë (PE16:145, QL:82); cf. sampa, and sapsanta below.

sap-

verb. to dig

Cognates

• ᴺS. sab- “to dig”

Derivations

• ᴺ✶. SAP “[ᴱ√] dig, excavate”

sampa

spade

sampa noun "spade" (QL:82, PE16:145); cf. the verb sapa- "dig"

felco

cave, mine, underground dwelling

felco noun "cave, mine, underground dwelling" (PE17:118); also felca, felehta

felya

cave

felya noun "cave" (PHÉLEG), "mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]" (PE17:118)

rotelë

cave

rotelë noun "cave" (LT2:347)

rotto

cave, tunnel

rotto noun "cave, tunnel" (VT46:12), "a small grot or tunnel" (PM:365)

saca-

draw, pull

saca- (þ) ("k") (2) vb. "draw, pull" (VT43:23; this word must come from older *þaca- because it is said to be related to sahta-, older þahta-, "induce", q.v.)

tuc-

draw

tuc- ("k")noun "draw" (1st pers. aorist tucin "I draw") (TUK)

sab-

verb. to dig

Cognates

• ᴺQ. sap- “to dig”

Derivations

• ᴺ✶. SAP “[ᴱ√] dig, excavate”

feleg

noun. cave

n. cave, mine, underground dwelling. Q. felco. Q.

groth

noun. cave, tunnel, large excavation

groth

noun. delving, underground dwelling

rond

noun. cave roof

rond

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

roth

noun. cave

n. cave. Q. rondo.

fela

cave

(pl. fili). In the Etymologies (LR:381 s.v. PHÉLEG) the name Felagund is said to include this word, but since Tolkien later re-explained this name as a borrowing from Dwarvish, some would consider fela as a word for ”cave” conceptually obsolete.

groth

cave

(i ’roth) (delving, large excavation), pl. gryth (in gryth) (VT46:12)

grôd

cave

1) grôd (i **rôd, construct grod) (delving, excavation, underground dwelling), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414), 2) groth (i **roth) (delving, large excavation), pl. gryth (in gryth) (VT46:12), 3) rond (construct ron) (cavern, vault, vaulted ceiling, hall with vaulted roof), pl. rynd (idh rynd), coll. pl. ronnath, 4) roth (delving, large excavation), pl. ryth, 4) gathrod (i **athrod), pl. gethryd (i ngethryd = i ñethryd), 5) fela (pl. fili). In the Etymologies (LR:381 s.v. PHÉLEG) the name Felagund is said to include this word, but since Tolkien later re-explained this name as a borrowing from Dwarvish, some would consider fela** as a word for ”cave” conceptually obsolete.

grôd

cave

(i ’rôd, construct grod) (delving, excavation, underground dwelling), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414)

othronn

fortress in a cave/caves

(pl. ethrynn for archaic öthrynn) (underground stronghold). Cited in archaic form othrond in the source (WJ:414).

rhûd

artificial cave

(construct rhud, with article ?i thrûd or ?i rûd – *the lenition product of rh- is uncertain) (dwelling underground, rockhewn hall, mine), pl. rhuid (?idh ruid). (PM:365)*

rond

cave

(construct ron) (cavern, vault, vaulted ceiling, hall with vaulted roof), pl. rynd (idh rynd), coll. pl. ronnath

roth

cave

(delving, large excavation), pl. ryth, 4) gathrod (i ’athrod), pl. gethryd (i ngethryd = i ñethryd)

teitha

draw

teitha- (i deitha, i theithar) (write)

teitha

draw

(i deitha, i theithar) (write)

sap

root. *dig

This root first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√SAPA “dig, excavate” with derivatives like ᴱQ. sapa- “dig” and ᴱQ. sat (sap-) “hole” (QL/82). At some later point Tolkien wrote ÐAPA as a replacement above this root, but that is not reflected in any of its derivatives. Indeed, the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon has a base form sab- and derivatives like G. sabli “spade, shovel” and G. saptha- “to dig, to bite into” (GL/67), indicating ᴱ√SAPA not ᴱ√ÐAPA. Later hints of ᴱ√ÐAPA can be seen in the root ᴹ√DAG “dig” from The Etymologies of the 1930s, but this root was deleted (EtyAC/DAG).

The root √SAP reappeared in a list of roots from the Outline of Phonology (OP2) of the early 1950s with the derivative ✶sapnā > Q. samna “delved hole, pit” (PE19/86). This list was rejected but only because Tolkien revised his thinking on the demonstrated phonetic developments, not the roots themselves. Indeed, the appearance of S. -habar (soft-mutated ✱sabar) “delving” in various late words like S. Anghabar “Iron-delvings” (S/138) and S. Nornhabar “Dwarrowdelf” (WJ/209) indicate Tolkien probably never really abandoned √SAP “dig”.

Derivatives

• ✶sapnā “delved hole, pit” ✧ PE19/086
  • ᴺQ. sapta “(delved) hole, pit; [ᴱQ.] grave”
  • Q. samna “delved hole, pit” ✧ PE19/086
• S. sabar “delving”

rot

root. cave; delve underground, dig, excavate, tunnel, [ᴹ√] bore; [ᴱ√] hollow, delve underground, dig, excavate, tunnel, [ᴹ√] bore; [ᴱ√] hollow; [√]cave

The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√ROTO “hollow” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. rotl “cave, hollow” and ᴱQ. rotse “pipe, tube” (QL/80). The primitive root ᴱ√roto also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon with derivatives like G. rod “tube, stem” and G. †roth “cave, grot” (GL/65). The root reappeared as ᴹ√ROT “bore, tunnel” as a late addition to The Etymologies of the 1930s that Christopher Tolkien omitted from the published version of The Lost Road; it had with derivatives ᴹQ. rotto/N. (g)roth “cave, tunnel” (EtyAC/ROT), and was also an element in the name N. Nogrod (EtyAC/NAUK).

The root appeared as √ROT “cave” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/49), as ✱groto “dig, excavate, tunnel” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/414), as unglossed (g)roto in other notes associated with that document (VT39/9) and as rot, s-rot “delve underground, excavate, tunnel” in notes associated with The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 (PM/365 note #56). Thus in later writings the root √ROT had variants √GROT and √SROT.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin I would ignore the gloss “cave” which seems to be a loose translation, and stick with the meaning “excavate, tunnel, bore” for the root √ROT; I’d also retain the meaning “hollow” from the 1910s to allow salvaging similar early words from the Qenya and Gnomish Lexicon.

Derivatives

• ✶grottā “(large) excavation, underground dwelling” ✧ VT39/09; WJ/414; WJ/415
  • Q. rotto “small grot, tunnel, tunnel, small grot, [ᴹQ.] cave”
  • S. groth “large excavation, delving, underground dwelling, large excavation, delving, underground dwelling; [N.] cave, tunnel, [G.] grot” ✧ WJ/414; WJ/415; WJ/415
• Q. hróta “dwelling underground, artificial cave or rockhewn hall” ✧ PM/365
• ᴺQ. rotsë “pipe, tube”
• ᴺQ. rotta- “to bore (a hole or tunnel)”
• Q. rotto “small grot, tunnel, tunnel, small grot, [ᴹQ.] cave” ✧ PM/365
• S. groth “large excavation, delving, underground dwelling, large excavation, delving, underground dwelling; [N.] cave, tunnel, [G.] grot” ✧ PE17/049
• ᴺS. rhûd “dwelling underground, artifical cave, rockhewn hall, mine”
• ᴺS. rod “tube, stem, *pipe”

Variations

• s-rot ✧ PM/352
• rot/s-rot ✧ PM/365
• (g)roto ✧ VT39/09
• rot ✧ VT39/09
• groto ✧ WJ/414; WJ/415

grot

root. dig, excavate, tunnel

fela

noun. cave

fela

noun. cave

Cognates

• ᴹQ. felya “cave” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

Derivations

• On. phelga “cave” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG
  • ᴹ√PHELEG “cave” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

Element in

• N. Felagund “Lord of Caves” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. phelga > fela	[pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ Ety/PHÉLEG
On. phelga > fili	[pʰelgi] > [ɸelgi] > [ɸelɣi] > [felɣi] > [filɣi] > [filī] > [fili]	✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

gathrod

noun. cave

gathrod

noun. cave

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “cave”, apparently a combination of N. gath “cavern” and ᴹ√ROT “tunnel” (Ety/GAT(H)). Its initial element also appeared in the name N. Doriath “Land of the Cave”, but in later writings S. Doriath was redefined as “Land of the Fence” with final element S. iath “fence” (WJ/370), so N. gathrod “cave” was probably abandoned.

Elements

Word	Gloss
gath	“cavern”
ROT	“bore, tunnel”

rhond

noun. cave roof

rhond

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

rhonn

noun. cave roof

rhonn

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

rond

noun. cave