This was the root for Elvish words meaning “yellow” for much of Tolkien’s life, though with some minor variations. It appeared as ᴱ√MALA “yellow” (usually mali-) in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. malina “yellow” and ᴱQ. malikon “amber” (QL/58). It also appeared in a list of M-roots at the end of that section (QL/63). It had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. malon “yellow” and G. malthos “butter cup” (GL/56).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s it seems Tolkien first gave this root as ᴹ√MAL (EtyAC/MAL) but rejected this and replaced it with ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” (Ety/SMAL). It had derivatives like ᴹQ. malina/N. malen “yellow”, ᴹQ. malta/N. malt “gold (as metal)” and ᴹQ. malo/N. hmâl “pollen, yellow powder” (< ᴹ✶smalu), with some revisions in Noldorin forms as Tolkien vacillated on whether or not primitive sm- resulted in voiceless nasal hm- or a voiced nasal m-.
This √SMAL vs. √MAL variation seems to have continued into Tolkien’s later writings, as seen in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s where ✶malu >> ✶smalu “dust, grit” (PE21/80), probably a later iteration of ᴹ✶smalu “pollen, yellow powder” from The Etymologies. But it seems Tolkien settled on √MAL as evidenced by the extended root √MALAT “gold” from The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 (PM/366).
This and similar roots were connected to Elvish words for maidenhood for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was unglossed {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wendi “maiden” and ᴱQ. ’wendele “maidenhood” (QL/103). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the primitive form was given as {ᴱ✶gw̯ene >>} ᴱ✶gu̯eđe having derivatives like G. gwennin “girl” and {G. gwendi >>} G. gwethli “maiden, little girl” (GL/45).
In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WEN “maiden” with extension ᴹ√WENED and derivatives like ᴹQ. venesse/N. gweneth “virginity” and ᴹQ. vende/N. gwenn “maiden” (Ety/WEN). In this entry Tolkien later wrote “transfer to GWEN”, indicating a relationship to ᴹ√GWEN, a root in The Etymologies with derivatives having to do with youth and freshness (Ety/GWEN). The root √WEN mostly retained the sense “maiden” in Tolkien’s later writings, though occasionally Tolkien said it was originally a more general feminine root before developing the more limit sense “young woman” (PE23/87; VT48/18).
The root √WEN(ED) appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings, mostly as the basis for Q. wendë/S. gwen(d) “maiden” (PE17/191; VT47/17; VT48/18). The frequency with which Tolkien used Q. wendë over Q. vendë indicates the primitive root may have been strengthened to ✱√GWEN(ED), since w derived from primitive gw survived longer in Quenya than ancient primitive w; see the entry on Q. vendë for further discussion.