hō

noun. shout

khoth

root. gather

khotsē

noun. assembly

kho(n)

root. heart (physical)

den

root. hole, gap, passage

A (Noldorin-only?) root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “hole, gap, passage” with the derivative dîn “opening, gap, pass in mountains” (< ✱dēnǝ) which is an element in a couple names from The Etymologies but appearing nowhere else (Ety/DEN).

lop

root. horse, [ᴱ√] *run (of animals), gallop, lope; [ᴹ√] horse

This root was the basis for horse words starting with the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where it appeared unglossed as ᴱ√LOPO (QL/56). It was compared to the root ᴱ√LOQO, and these roots include the verbs ᴱQ. lopo- “gallop, run (of animals)” and ᴱQ. loqo- “run (of human beings)”, and I think it likely that those were also the meanings of the roots (QL/56). In the Qenya Lexicon, ᴱ√LOPO had the derivatives ᴱQ. lōpa “horse or mare” and ᴱQ. lopsi “mare” (QL/56), but elsewhere in that document there was the word ᴱQ. lapatte “rabbit” < ᴱ✶lopatte, so I think that word is related as well, though Tolkien did mark the primitive form with a “?” (QL/51). The probably-related word ᴹQ. lopo “rabbit” appeared in a discussion of nouns from the early 1930s (PE21/31).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√LOP was glossed “horse”, and its derivatives ᴹQ. olombo and N. lobor had only that sense (EtyAC/LOP), but horse words were usually derived from ᴹ√ROK from the 1930s and later. The word Q. lopoldi “rabbits” appeared in some 1965 notes on Númenor, so it seems likely √LOP remained valid in some form. Another possibly related late word is S. ✱laba- “hop” as in S. Labadal “Hopafoot” (UT/60).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√LOP with a verbal sense “✱run (of animals), gallop, lope”. In this way, it can remain the basis for rabbit words based on their loping run. The horse words from this root might be specialized for heavier loping horses like destriers, since ᴹQ. rokko was more specifically referred to a “swift horse” (EtyAC/ROK).

tarak

root. horn (of animals)

The earliest manifestation of this root was unglossed ᴱ√TARA⁽⁾ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. taru “horn” and ᴱQ. tarukko “bull” (QL/89). It was originally given as ᴱ√TAŘA “chevaux de frise [fortifications of wooden spikes]”, but that sense and associated derivatives (“hedge” words) were transferred to ᴱ√TAÐA; see that entry for details. As for ᴱ√TARA² “✱horn”, it also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. târ “a horn” and G. tarog “ox” (GL/69).

The root ᴹ√TARAK “horn (of animals)” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. tarka/N. tarag of the same meaning, but the Noldorin word was also used of mountains, as seen in the name N. Taragaer “Ruddihorn” (Ety/TARÁK). The latter was an early precursor to the name S. Caradhras “Redhorn” in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s; Taragaer was eventually abandoned (RS/419, 433).

kab

root. hollow

angosse

noun. horror

aı̯an-

adjective. holy

barasā

adjective. hot, burning

dattā

noun. hole, pit

gassā

noun. hole, gap

glisi

noun. honey

khugan

noun. hound

lis

root. honey

madlī

noun. honey-eater

man

root. holy spirit

mart

adverb. homewards

telmē̆

noun. hood, covering

tundu

noun. hole

ñgaw

root. howl

ñgoroth

root. horror

(e)rek

root. thorn, holly

The root ᴹ√EREK appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “thorn” and derivatives meaning “prick” or “holly” in both Quenya and Noldorin (Ety/ERÉK). Elsewhere in the document it appeared in its unaugmented form ᴹ√REK (EtyAC/REK). It was the basis of the two names Ilk. Region and N. Eregion “Hollin”. The continued appearance of these names in the legendarium indicates the continued validity of these roots.

gar

root. keep, hold, possess; maintain, defend

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s, apparently a variant of ᴹ√ƷAR, and having extensions ᴹ√GARAD and ᴹ√GARAT (Ety/ƷAR). It was given various glosses in separate entries such as “hold, possess” and “keep, maintain, defend”, but these glossed entries were all deleted (Ety/GAR; EtyAC/GAR). Two notable derivatives of ᴹ√ƷAR/GAR were ᴹQ. arda “realm, region” and N. ardh “realm” (Ety/ƷAR), apparently transferred to here from the earlier root ᴱ√ƷARA “spread” (QL/32). Both these words reappeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 as Q. arda and S. gardh “region” from primitive ✶gardā (WJ/402), hinting at the continued validity of the root √GAR, though its later meaning is unclear.

rep

root. bend, hook

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bend, hook” with a single derivative ᴹQ. rempa “crooked, hooked” (Ety/REP). The root was initially writing as ᴹ√REK as a variant of ᴹ√RIKH, but this was rejected (EtyAC/REP).

rok

root. run on foot, *horse, run on foot

This root was the basis for Elvish “horse” words starting in the 1930s. It first appeared as unglossed ᴹ√ROK in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the derivatives ᴹQ. rokko/N. roch “horse” (Ety/ROK). The root was given the gloss “run on foot” in a page of roots from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) written in 1948, but that page was rejected. Primitive ✶rokkō “horse” was mentioned regularly in Tolkien’s later writing (Let/282; PE21/82; WJ/407), though in one place he clarified that it was more specifically a “swift horse for riding” (Let/382).

unuk

root. *hollow

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed with derivatives like ᴹQ. unka- “hollow out” and ᴹQ. unqa “hollow” (Ety/UNUK).

ʒar

root. have, hold

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “have, hold” with derivatives like ᴹQ. arda/N. ardh “realm”, ᴹQ. harma “treasure” and ᴹQ. harya- “possess” (Ety/ƷAN). The continued appearance of Q. harya- “have” (MS) and Q. harma “treasure” (LotR/1123) indicated this root remained valid in Tolkien’s later writings, though perhaps reconceived of as ✱√HAR after Tolkien replaced primitive ʒ with h. Some of its derivatives seems to have been transferred later to √GAR, notably Q. arda/S. gardh “region, realm” that were later derived from primitive ✶gardā (WJ/402).

(a)yan

root. *holy

(o)rom

root. loud noise, horn blast

gap

root. *hook

mardasē

adverb. at home

neg

root. *honey

rimbē

noun. crowd, host

ronyō

noun. ‘chaser’, hound of chase

syalmā

noun. shell, conch, horn of Ulmo

til

root. point, horn

wegtē

noun. manhood

yan

root. *holy

gayas

root. fear

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “fear” (Ety/GÁYAS). One of its derivatives, N. gaer “dreadful” (< ᴹ✶gaisrā), was given a new etymology in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, where S. gaer “awful, fearful” was derived from ✶gairā (WJ/400). However, it is conceivable that √GAYAS could have survived as an extension of the later root √GAY “astound, make aghast”.

gonod

root. stone

The Elvish words for “stone” were established very early as Q. ondo and S. gond. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien gave the root of these words as ᴱ√ONO “hard” with derivatives like ᴱQ. ondo “stone, rock” and ᴱQ. onin “anvil” (QL/70). But its Gnomish derivatives like G. gonn “stone” and G. gontha “pillar” (GL/41) indicate the actual root was ✱ᴱ√ƷONO, since initial ʒ &gt; g in Gnomish.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√GONOD or √GONDO “stone” with essentially the same Elvish forms: ᴹQ. ondo and N. gonn (Ety/GOND). The root itself did not appear in later writings, but Tolkien continued to state, with great frequency, that the primitive form of the word was ✶gondō (Let/410; PE17/28; PE18/106; PE21/81; PM/374; RC/347).

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”.

rap

root. bind

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bind” but without derivatives (EtyAC/RAP). The element S. raph (“?rope”) in S. Udalraph “Stirrupless” (“?without (U-) foot-rope”) might be related (UT/313).

skwar

root. crooked

This root appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√SKWAR “crooked” with derivatives like ᴹQ. hwarin “crooked” and Dan. swarn “perverse, obstinate, hard to deal with” (Ety/SKWAR). In red-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s Tolkien decided that the initial combination skw- was not possible (PE19/78 and note #51). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, this root might be salvaged by assuming its actual form was ᴺ√SWAR.

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.

tor

root. brother

Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√TOR “brother” with derivatives like ᴹQ. toron and N. tôr of the same meaning (Ety/TOR). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. melotorni “love-brothers” for close male friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. háno and S. hanar as the words for “brother”, both from the root √KHAN. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√TOR to represent more abstract notions of “brotherhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical” brothers as opposed to Q. háno/S. hanar for brothers by blood.

wed

root. bind

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “bind” with derivatives like ᴹQ. vére/N. gwaedh “bond, troth, compact, oath” and ᴹQ. vesta-/N. gwesta- “swear”, though Tolkien deleted Quenya derivatives of this root beginning with ves- saying they fell out of use due to conflict with ᴹ√BES “wed” (Ety/WED). This root might be a later iteration of the hypothetical early root ✱ᴱ√FEDE indicated by words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s like G. fedhin “bound by agreement; ally, friend” and G. fedhra- “unite in a band” (GL/34), but the 1910s and 1930s forms are rather dissimilar so it is hard to say.

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.

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).

arʒā

noun/adjective. dread

auluta-

verb. [unglossed]

bed

root. BED

b’rássē

noun. heat

gaisrā

adjective. dreadful

gondō

noun. stone, rock

kaima

noun. bed

kaltwa

?. [unglossed]

khōn

noun. heart

kōmā

noun. [unglossed]

lūme

noun. time

mat

root. eat

morókō

noun. bear

ndulna

adjective. secret

phal

root. foam

pheleg

root. cave

ragnā

adjective. crooked

rāmā

noun. wing

rǭda

noun. cave

torōmā

noun. [unglossed]

tundu

noun. hill, mound

tēra

adjective. straight, right

yondō

noun. son

ñōle

noun. odour

bay

root. [unglossed]

iw

root. [unglossed], [ᴱ√] *fish

khlip

root. [unglossed]

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

phan

root. [unglossed]

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

stin

root. [unglossed]

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).