Primitive elvish

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.

Derivatives

  • S. caras “city, fort or dwelling surrounded by bulwarks, circular earthwall with dike, city, [N.] city (built above ground); [S.] (orig.) fort or dwelling surrounded by bulwarks, circular earthwall with dike” ✧ PE17/084
  • kar- “do, make” ✧ PE18/095
    • Q. car- “to do, make, to do, make, [ᴹQ.] build” ✧ PE17/129; PE22/167
    • S. car- “to do, make” ✧ WJ/415
    • T. car- “to do”
  • ᴺQ. caira “eager [to do]”
  • ᴺQ. car “act, an action”
  • Q. caraitë “active, busy, active, busy; [ᴹQ.] able to make, handy, crafty, craftsmanlike, skilled” ✧ PE22/155
  • Q. carasse “built fort or dwelling surrounded by bulwarks” ✧ PE17/084
  • Q. carasta- “to build, to build, construct” ✧ PE17/084
  • Q. cárima “feasible, possible (to do), able to be done, feasible, possible (to do), able to be done, [ᴹQ.] able to be made” ✧ PE22/155
  • Q. carma “tool, implement, means, weapon” ✧ PE17/114
  • ᴺS. carf “tool, implement, weapon”
  • ᴺS. caur “action, doing, making; verb”
  • ᴺS. ceiria- “to cause, bring about”
  • ᴺS. cranna- “to accomplish, finish, complete, [G.] achieve”

Element in

Variations

  • CAR ✧ PE17/084; PE17/150
Primitive elvish [PE17/084; PE17/114; PE17/150; PE17/156; PE18/095; PE22/155] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kas

root. head

The root for “head” was established very early in Tolkien’s Elvish languages, appearing in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√KASA “head” (QL/45), though in this period its Qenya derivative was ᴱQ. kar (kas-) because [[eq|final [s] became [r]]] in Early Quenya (PE12/26). It had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. cas “head, skull” (GL/25), a word that reappeared in Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s as ᴱN. cas “skull” (PE13/140).

The root ᴹ√KAS “head” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, still with the form ᴹQ. kár (kas-) “head” (Ety/KAS), but Tolkien eventually abandoned the Early Qenya phonology and the Quenya form became Q. kas after some vacillation (PE19/103). The root √KAS “head” continued to appear frequently in Tolkien’s later writing (PE17/114; PE21/70; VT42/12).

Derivatives

  • kas “head”
    • Q. cas “head, head, [ᴱQ.] top, summit” ✧ PE17/188
  • kasd(a) “to the head”
    • Q. cas(ta) “to(wards) the top, upwards” ✧ PE21/76; PE21/76
  • kasma “?helm” ✧ PE17/114
    • Q. carma “helm” ✧ PE17/114; PE17/114; PE17/114
  • S. cast “cape, headland”

Element in

  • kasraya “a tressure” ✧ VT42/12

Variations

  • kas ✧ PE21/70
  • cas ✧ VT42/12
Primitive elvish [PE17/114; PE17/156; PE21/70; VT42/12] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kas

noun. head

Derivations

  • KAS “head”

Derivatives

  • Q. cas “head, head, [ᴱQ.] top, summit” ✧ PE17/188

Element in

Variations

  • kāza ✧ PE17/188
Primitive elvish [PE17/188; PE19/102; PE21/75] Group: Eldamo. Published by