op

root. (opening of) mouth

A root associated with the mouth in late notes on speech of unclear date, given as {√OK >>} √OP described as the “opening of which the lips, or pempi, are the edges: {√ōka >>} ōpa ({√OK >>} √OP). [versus] The closed mouth, pē” (PE17/126). Tolkien’s exact intent is hard to decipher, but it seems ōpa is the opening of the mouth as opposed to the lips surrounding that opening, probably in reference to its function as one of the articulatory mechanisms for speech. Its only other derivative was Q. ūpa “dumb [mute]” < ✶ūopa, used in the phrase Q. essë úpa nas “he is dumb”. Elsewhere in Tolkien’s late writings, primitive √OPO was glossed “before, ahead, in front of place” (PE22/168), so √OP might also simply refer to the front of the (open) mouth.

opo

root. before of place, ahead, in front

This primitive form was noted in the margins and rough notes from Late Notes on Verbs from 1969, glossed “before of place” (PE22/167) and “before, ahead, in front of place” (PE22/168). Primitive or Quenya forms opo/pō “before, in front of” and pōna/ompa “forward” appear in other late notes from this period associated with the Q. Ambidexters Sentence, as part of an explanation for Q. potai “therefore” (VT49/12), though this word was eventually revised to Q. epetai (VT49/8). Quenya or primitive forms opo, po, pono, poto “in front, of place” appeared in notes from the mid-1950s (VT49/32 note #12), and as suggested by Patrick H. Wynne might be a reemergence of the early root ᴱ√POT-I “after, behind (of place)” with a reversal in its meaning (QL/75). Other similar roots in the same semantic space are √APA and √EPE.

Neo-Eldarin: Tolkien’s treatment of “before” and “after” words was wildly inconsistent, but I generally prefer ✶epe for “after (of time); before (of space)” and ✶nō for its opposite. However, I think √APA and √OPO can serve as variants of √EPE, with √OPO more specifically referring to the front of things, especially given Tolkien’s use of √OP as a root referring to the front of the (open) mouth (PE17/126).

lat

root. open, unenclosed, free to entry; low, lowlying, at ground level, open, unenclosed, free to entry, [ᴹ√] lie open; be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area); [√] low, lowlying, at ground level

This root has a lengthy history in Tolkien’s development of the Elvish languages.

Its development seems to have begun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with unglossed ᴱ√LAHA which had derivatives like ᴱQ. lá “moor, heath, open space” and ᴱQ. lāta- “spread, extend, lie (of country)” (QL/50). This root was compared to a variety of other roots: ᴱ√ALA, ᴱ√AŘA, ᴱ√ṆŘṆ, ᴱ√LAŘA and ᴱ√LATA, but the last of these was a later addition, both to the list and as an entry in the lexicon (QL/51). This newer entry had derivatives like ᴱQ. latwa “smooth, glossy” and ᴱQ. latsin(a) “level, smooth”, the latter transferred from ᴱ√LAHA. This new root also had Gnomish derivatives such as G. lad “a level, a flat; fair dealing” and G. ladin “level, smooth; fair, equitable” (GL/52).

After the 1910s it seems ᴱ√LAHA “✱open” faded out of use (though it may have remerged much later as √LAƷ “cross, pass over, go beyond”: PE17/91), but ᴱ√LATA “✱level, smooth” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√LAT “lie open” with derivatives like ᴹQ. latin(a) “open, free, cleared (of land)” and N. lhand “open space, level” (Ety/LAT). It is also evident in N. -lad “plain” from names like N. Lithlad “Plain of Ash” and N. Dagorlad “Battle Plain” from Lord of the Rings drafts (TI/208, 389), both of which reappeared in the published version (LotR/243, 636).

The root appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s with the gloss “be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area)” and a Quenya verb ᴹQ. lat- of similar meaning (PE22/126). In this document it was compared to ᴹ√LAD “lie flat, be flat”, and Tolkien said the two roots were confused in Noldorin as a way of explaining N. laden “flat (and wide)”.

The next appearance of √LAT is in etymological notes from 1959-60 with the gloss “open, unenclosed, free to entry” and contrasted with √PAK “shut” (VT41/5-6). In these notes the derivative Q. latina also reappeared with a meaning similar to the one it had in The Etymologies: “free (of movement), not encumbered with obstacles”. The last appearance of √LAT in currently published materials is in 1968 notes on D/L variations in Common Eldarin, where it was glossed “at ground level, low; lowlying” and compared to √DAT “fall down” (VT48/24); in this document it had no derivatives.

All this amounts to considerable conceptual variation in the meaning of this root. To summarize:

• 1910s ᴱ√LATA “✱level, smooth” as alternate to ᴱ√LAHA “✱open” (QL/50-51).

• 1930s ᴹ√LAT “lie open” compared to (unglossed) ᴹ√LAD (Ety/LAD, LAT).

• 1940s ᴹ√LAT “be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area)” contrasted with ᴹ√LAD “lie flat, be flat” (PE22/126).

• 1959-60 √LAT “open, unenclosed, free to entry” contrasted with √PAK “shut” (VT41/5-6).

• 1968 √LAT “at ground level, low; lowlying” contrasted with √DAT “fall down” (VT48/24).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume this root has the sense “(lie) open, be extended, unenclosed”, as this is consistent with the largest number of derivatives of the root.

thag

root. oppress, crush, press

Tolkien used a variety of similar roots for “(com)press”, often used as a way of explaining the initial element of the name Q. Sangahyando “Throng-cleaver”. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had the root ᴱ√SAŊA “pack tight, press” with derivatives like ᴱQ. sanga “throng, tight mass, crowd” and ᴱQ. sanga- “pack tight, compress, press” (QL/81). Its Gnomish cognate G. thang “a crowd, crush, herd” implies the actual root was ✱ᴱ√ÞAŊA (GL/72).

The Etymologies of the 1930s had the root ᴹ√STAG “press, compress” with derivatives like ᴹQ. sanga “crowd, throng, press” and N. thang “compulsion, duress, need, oppression” (Ety/STAG). In etymological notes associated with Quenya prayers from the 1950s, Tolkien gave √THAG “oppress, crush, press” (along with a deleted fourth gloss “force”) with the derivatives Q. sahtië “pressure or force (to do something against one’s will or conscience)” (VT43/22). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. sanga “press, throng” and S. thang “pressure, oppression” indicate the ongoing validity of the root √THAG or √STAG.

etr-

verb. open (intransitive)

tuilu

verb. open (of buds, flowers)

ke/eke

root. may (be); have chance, opportunity or permission; it is open

This root appeared in various notes from the late 1960s as the basis for the particle of uncertainty Q. cé. This particle meant “if” or “maybe” in various contexts, but in notes from 1969 √KE was given the sense “may (be)” and paired with √KWI “suppose”, which was the basis for qui “if” (PE22/158). This can be compared to another paradigm also from 1969 associated with the Ambidexters Sentence where cé meant “if” and it seems the root √keye (with derived verb cíta-) meant “suppose” (VT49/19). Of the two paradigms, I think √KE “maybe”/√KWI “if, suppose” is more useful for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, but it seems Tolkien’s own thoughts on the subject were in flux.

In notes written in 1967, Tolkien gave what was apparently an inverted form of this root, √ek “it is open”, from which the impersonal Quenya verb ec- “may, can” in the sense “have the opportunity to” is derived (VT49/20). This inverted form is almost certainly related to √KE, as suggested by Patrick Wynne.

(ñ)gay

root. gape, become wide, open, vast

A root appearing in notes on words and phrases from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s, serving as an explanation for √GAY(AR) “sea” (PE17/27). Its gloss was “gape, become wide, open, vast”, but elsewhere “sea” words were generally attached to roots meaning “awe, dread”, so I think this was likely a transient idea. See the entry on √GAY(AR) for further discussion.

anak

adverb. against, opposite

tuilu-

verb. to open (of buds, flowers)

ad(a)

root. by (the side of), beside, alongside; against, opposed to, opposite

eph Reconstructed

root. emerge (especially from water, opp[osite] of dive)

ṇ̃kwalē

noun. torment

[rejected because primitive nasal-voiceless-stop clusters no longer valid]

ay(ar)

root. sea

ekka

noun. hole

khan

root. back

ler

root. free

A root appearing twice in a list of roots from 1959-60, the first time described as “free (of moveable things or moving things), able to move as willed, unimpeded, unhampered, loose, not fixed fast or static” and the second time as “am free to do, sc., am under no restraint (physical or other)” (VT41/5-6). In the second instance it was compared to √POL which had the sense of being physically able to do something. It seems that √LER = “able to do something because there is nothing preventing it” vs. √POL = “able to something because of physical ability”. It might also be contrasted with √LEK which has the sense of freeing something that was once bound, whereas with √LER the thing that is free may have never been bound in the first place.

phen

root. door

The root ᴹ√PHEN first appeared (unglossed) in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. fenda “threshold” and N. fenn “threshold, door” (Ety/PHEN). The root √PHEN “door” reappeared in etymological notes from 1959 as the basis for Q. fendë/S. fen “door” (PE17/181). The most notable name associated with this root was S. Fen Hollen “Closed Door” from The Lord of the Rings (LotR/826; RC/550) along with its precursors in LotR drafts: N. Fenn Forn(en) and N. Fenn Uiforn (WR/338, 341).

stīrē

noun. face

tō/oto

root. back

A root in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, which Tolkien specified as meaning: “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). But Tolkien crossed this all through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).

nom Reconstructed

root. place

A hypothetical root serving as the basis for Q. nómë “place”.

stir Reconstructed

root. face

The root ✱√STIR is implied by the names Elestirnë “Star-brow” (UT/184) and Carnistir “Red-face” (PM/353), as well as the primitive word ✶stīrē “face” (VT41/10). It is probably an s-fortification of the root TIR “watch”. It likely replaces the root ᴹ√THĒ “look (see or seem)” from The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. thio “to seem” and N. thîr “look, face, expression, countenance”, the latter providing an earlier etymology for N. Cranthir “Ruddy-face” (Ety/THĒ). The original gloss of this 1930s root was “perceive, see” (EtyAC/THĒ). This deleted gloss in turn indicates that 1930s ᴹ√THĒ was itself a later iteration of 1910s ᴱ√SEHE [þeχe] from the Qenya Lexicon, which was mostly connected to eye-words but also had derivatives like ᴱQ. sehta-/G. thê- “see” (PE12/21; QL/82; GL/72); see the entry √KHEN for the later derivation of eye-words.