rai

noun. rai

raika

adjective. crooked

raitē

noun. peculiar hue, (special) fashion

khal

root. raise; lift up or extend upwards, raise; lift up or extend upwards, [ᴹ√] uplift, erect, lift from ground, (make) stand up

This root was the basis for the word Q. halla “tall” (PE17/184), and appeared as ᴹ√KHAL as far back as The Etymologies of the 1930s where it was glossed “uplift” (Ety/KHAL). The root also appeared in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 (PE22/103), and in this document was given the gloss “to erect, lift from ground, (make) stand up”, though that particular section was rejected (PE22/127 note #152). The root appeared again in etymological notes probably from the mid-1960s, where it had the gloss “raise; lift up or extend upwards” (PE17/184).

ortā-

verb. to raise

ros-

verb. to rain

rossē

noun. dew, spray (of fall or fountain), rain

rossētā-

verb. to rain

tol

root. stick up or out, stand up (out and above neighboring things), raise the head

This was the root for islands and other things that “stick up” for much of Tolkien’s life. This root appeared as unglossed ᴱ√TOLO in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. tol “an island”, ᴱQ. tolda “hill with a flat top; town on a hill”, and ᴱQ. tolmen “boss (of shield), isolated round hill” (QL/94). The derivative G. tol “an isle (with high steep coasts)” appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as well (GL/71). The root appeared as ᴹ√TOL in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. tol/N. toll “island” (Ety/TOL²); the alternate root ᴹ√TOL was the basis for words for “eight” in this document. The root was mentioned several times in writings on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s, with glosses like “stand up (out and above neighboring things)” (VT47/10) or “stick up or out” (VT47/28), and Tolkien said it:

> mostly applied to things that were, relatively to those that they were contrasted with, also larger and thicker: e.g. mountain-tops, very tall trees, or a tall strong man (VT47/10).

In this last respected it was the basis for various words for “thumb” and “big toe”, and could be contrasted with √TIL used for the tips of smaller things, including the smaller fingers and toes. √TOL also had extended form √TOLOB with derivative ✶tolbā “a protuberance, esp. one designed for a purpose: a knob or rounded tool-handle” (VT47/11), and in these 1960s documents (unlike in the 1930s) it was the basis for the root √TOLOD “eight” due to the prominence of the middle finger (finger 3 and 8) in counting (VT47/11).

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.

ray

root. smile

lemek

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s illustrating certain phonetic combinations (PE19/98), and therefore possibly not a “real” root.

nēnā

adjective. wet

orya-

verb. to rise

pharalē

noun. hunting

phut

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) as an etymological variation of √PUT (PE18/90).

ras

root. horn, horn; [ᴹ√] stick up

This root first appeared as ᴹ√RAS “stick up (intr.)” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. rasse and N. rhas or rhasg “horn (especially on living animal, but also applied to mountains)” (Ety/RAS; EtyAC/RAS). It reappeared as ᴹ√RASA “stick up” on an rejected page of roots in the Quenya Verbal System from the 1940s (PE22/127). Finally, √RAS “horn” appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure of the early 1950s, but that was merely the last appearance of the root in Tolkien’s published writings. Q. rassë and S. rass “horn” continued to appear regularly as an element in mountain names in the 1950s and 60s.

rass

noun. horn

sal

root. [unglossed], *harp(ing), lyre

The unglossed root ᴱ√SALA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salma “lyre, small harp” and ᴱQ. salumbe “harping, music” (QL/81). The root √SAL appeared again Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s to illustrate the reformed perfect form of its verb Q. asálie (PE22/132), but since these later forms are unglossed it is unclear whether they have the same meaning (“✱harp(ing)”) as the earlier version of the root.

spar

root. hunt, hunt, [ᴹ√] pursue

The root ᴹ√SPAR “hunt, pursue” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. faro “to hunt” and N. feredir “hunter” (Ety/SPAR). Tolkien first considered making this root ᴹ√PHAR⁽²⁾ (EtyAC/PHAR²). The root ᴹ√SPAR “hunt, pursue” reappeared in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 with the derived verb ᴹQ. fara- “hunt” (PE22/113). √SPAR “hunt” was mentioned a couple times in Tolkien’s later writings as well (PE17/83; PE18/94).

stuk

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected section of the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, serving to illustration certain phonetic developments: ✶stuknā > Q. thúna (PE19/86).

tig

root. [unglossed]

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as the basis for the verb Q. tinga- “go (for a long while)” (PE22/157). The etymology was marked with an “X” and so was probably a transient idea (PE22/157 note #70).

graw Reconstructed

root. [unglossed], [ᴹ√] dark, swart

This root appeared as a primitive form grawa serving as the basis of the word Q. roa “bear” >> “dog” in notes on monosyllabic roots from 1968 (VT47/35); a Sindarin derivative S. graw “bear” appeared in other notes written around the same time (VT47/12). Patrick Wynne suggested that in the sense “bear” grawa might be connected to the root ᴹ√GRAWA “dark, swart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/GRAWA).

swar

root. crooked