ritha-
verb. to try, strive
raitha-
verb. try
an e is written above raitha, prob. Indicating alternative forms reitha or retha.
raitha-
verb. to try, strive
reitha-
verb. to try, strive
raetha-
verb. to reach at, reach for; to reach, extend (intr.)
rítha-
verb. to try, strive
rig-
verb. to try, strive
Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!
raitha-
verb. to reach at, reach for; to reach, extend (intr.)
A verb appearing as G. raitha- in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, meaning both “[trans.] reach at, reach for” and “intr. reach, extend” (GL/65). It was likely based on the early root ᴱ√RAHA “stretch forward” (QL/32, 78).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would update this noun to ᴺS. raetha-, basing it on the later root ᴹ√RAK “stretch out, reach” with the Sindarin phonological result of *aeth* < *aith* from the vocalization of ancient *akt(h)*. In its transitive sense it seems that it does not require a preposition, so i adan raethant i vegil “the man reached [for] the sword”, with “for” not expressed in the Sindarin phrase.
A verb for “to strive, ✱try” based on the root √RIK in notes from the 1960s (PE17/167). As suggested by Christopher Gilson, this appears to be a draft of Tolkien’s attempt to define the phrase “try harder” in Quenya (ultimately á ricë amrícië). This Sindarin verb has a number of difficult-to-interpret forms. The base verb was given as {reitha >>} raitha, cognate to Q. rihta and thus probably derived from ✶riktā-. However the expected result of primitive ✶riktā- would be S. rítha- or ritha- because of how spirants vocalized and became vowels, so that [ikt] > [ixθ] > [īθ] > [iθ]; compare [N.] critha- “reap” < ᴹ✶k’rikta- (Ety/KIRIK).
Indeed, Tolkien gave several inflicted forms of this verb, all showing ritha-: rithant, rithas, rithessin, rithanen, apparently various transitive and intransitive past forms. Perhaps the uninflected verb form {reitha >>} raitha indicates some kind of a-affection occurring only in the uninflected verb form: [-ikta] > [-ixθa] > [-exθa] > [-eiθa], but if so the expected result would be the deleted {reitha} and not raitha, since [[s|[ei] > [ai] only in final syllables]] in Sindarin.
Neo-Sindarin: Given the rather tenuous nature of this verb, various Neo-Sindarin alternatives have been proposed, including ᴺS. rítha- by Elaran and ᴺS. rig- by myself [Paul Strack] as a direct cognate of Q. ric- “try”. However, I have gradually become more comfortable using S. ritha- as given by Tolkien, since I retain the use of some similarly derived Noldorin verbs such as [N.] critha- “reap” and ᴺS. ritha- “jerk, twitch, snatch” [from N. rhitha-].