A verb in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 based on the root ᴹ√KAP “leap”, illustrating the conjugation of basic verbs with stems ending in p (PE22/102). Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. kap- “leap” (PE16/132, 134), and the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. kapin “I jump” under the early root ᴱ√KAPA “leap, spring” (QL/45). The survival of related Sindarin words like cabed “leap” in Tolkien’s later writings (S/224) indicate the ongoing validity of Q. cap- “leap”.
Qenya
kapta-
verb. to make spring, scatter
kap-
verb. to leap, to leap, [ᴱQ.] jump
A verb appearing in the initial drafts of Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s as ᴹQ. kapta- “make spring, scatter”, a combination of ᴹ√KAP “leap” with the causative suffix ᴹ✶-tā so more literally “make leap”, and having a variant kapsa- in the Lindarin dialect (PE19/41-43, note #79). Tolkien rejected the relevant section while exploring other possible phonetic developments of *pt* (PE19/41).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. kapta- was glossed {“swallow” >>} “startle” under the early root ᴱ√KAPA “leap, spring”, though Tolkien marked this word with a “?” (QL/45). In documents from the 1920s, ᴱQ. kapta- was glossed “leap” (PE14/56, 58, 66).
Neo-Quenya: Since kapta- is consistent with the phonetic rules described in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s, I would retain ᴺQ. capta- (pronounced [kaɸta]) with the senses “to make spring, scatter; to startle”. In ordinary use I would assume capta- mainly means “startle, (orig.) make leap”. To emphasize that the startled individuals actually scatter away, I would combine it with the adverb öa “away”: captalvet oa = “we scattered them, (lit.) we startled them away”.