lit

root. *(fine) grit

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. litse/N. lith “sand” (Ety/LIT). Elsewhere N. lith was translated “ash” (TI/208), so perhaps the meaning of the root was something like “✱(fine) grit”. Tolkien’s continued use of S. lith “ash” indicates its ongoing validity (RC/765; SA/lith).

(s)lit

root. swiftly[?] speed[?]

The forms √SLIT and √LIT appear in a rejected page of roots from the 1948 Quenya Verbal System (QVS) with some unclear glosses, probably “swiftly, speed”; they were the basis for the past-tense form lhinte “sped” of otherwise unattested verb ᴹQ. lhit- (PE22/127). This root might be connected to later Q. linta “swift” from the Namárië poem (LotR/377; PE17/63), though elsewhere Tolkien indicated that Q. linta (< ✱lim-tā?) was the equivalent of S. lim “quick, swift” (PE17/147).

gālæ

noun. light

kalat

noun. light

k’lā

noun. light

etsiri

noun. mouth of a river

ithil

noun. moon

ranā

proper name. Moon

tuilelindō

noun. spring-singer, swallow

yen

root. year

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “year” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yén/N. în “year” (Ety/YEN). Tolkien’s ongoing use of words like Q. yén and S. ínias “annals” indicate its ongoing validity (LotR/377; MR/200), but in Quenya at least the meaning shifted to that of an “Elvish long year”, equal to 144 solar years (LotR/1107; MR/471; NM/84).

yenrinde

noun. year

am

root. mother

amī̆l

noun. mother

angwa

root. snake

The root √ANGWA “snake” with variant √ANGU appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the basis for the words ᴹQ. ango “snake” (Ety/ANGWA) and angulóke “dragon” (Ety/LOK). The Noldorin equivalent am- seems to have survived only as a prefix (Ety/ANGWA), and is a good example of how [[on|[ŋgw] > [mb]]] in that language. There are a variety of other words for “snake” in Tolkien’s later writings, so whether this root remained valid is unclear.

anār

noun. Sun

besnō

noun. husband

dēr

noun. man

dōmilindē

noun. nightingale

galan

root. bright

ilpirin

adjective. immortal

khar

root. helmet

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “helmet” with extended forms √KHÁRAP and √KHÁRAN (EtyAC/KHAR); one of its derivatives ᴹQ. Eldahar seems to be a precursor to Q. Eldacar “Elfhelm”. There are many other words for “helmet” in Tolkien’s later writing, and this root was probably abandoned.

kharan

root. helmet

kharap

root. helmet

kwen(ed)

root. Elf

kwenedē

noun. Elf

lak

root. swallow

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “swallow” with variant ᴹ√LANK and derivatives ᴹQ. lanko/N. lhanc “throat” (Ety/LAK¹, LANK), the latter an element in N. tarlanc “stiff-necked, obstinate” (Ety/TÁRAG). This last word was changed to S. tarlang in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/92; RC/536), consistent with an earlier but rejected form ᴹ√LANG for ᴹ√LANK in The Etymologies (Ety/LANK).

In later writings, Q. lango/S. lang meant “neck” rather than “throat”, so it is tempting to retain ᴹ√LAK for “throat” and other swallow-words. But it would be very confusing to have such similar but unrelated words for “neck” and “throat”, so I recommend using the root ᴹ√SLUK for “swallow” instead, and Q. lango, S. lang for both “neck” and “throat”.

lank

root. swallow

morókō

noun. bear

ndūne

noun. west

olosphantur

masculine name. Lórien

randā

noun. cycle, age (100 Valian Years)

sluk

root. swallow

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with no derivatives (Ety/SLUK).

srō

root. east

A root appearing in a rejected page of roots from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) written in 1948 (PE22/127), possibly as a variant of √RŌ/ORO that Tolkien introduced to explain S. rhûn “east” after he decided initial r- did not become rh- in Noldorin/Sindarin; see the entry on S. rhûn for discussion.

thar

root. stand

tār(ō)

noun. king

tārī

noun. queen

wínda-

verb. fade

ṇdūnē

noun. sunset