rī

root. *edge, border

rinki

noun. flourish, quick stroke

ris

root. slash, rip

riy

root. *scatter, [ᴱ√] scatter

This root first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√RIẎI “scatter” (gloss marked with a “?” by Tolkien) with derivatives like ᴱQ. ríma “line of seeds planted, row, series, furrow”, ᴱQ. rísima “scattered, ubiquitous, universal”, and ᴱQ. rista “shoot (sowing), plant, seedling” (QL/80). Tolkien also linked it to the root ᴱ√ORO⁽⁾, which he said could be analyzed as o- (“over”) + RIẎI; that root had derivatives like ᴱQ. ore (ori-) “seed, grain” and ᴱQ. orya- “sow” (QL/70). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien gave the root form ᴹ√RĪI̯ as the basis for ᴹQ. rí “reed, grass-stem” (PE21/38). There are no signs of this root thereafter.

Neo-Eldarin: In later writings, ᴹ√RED seems to be the basis for “scatter, sow” (PE19/91, Ety/RED), but I think it might be worth retaining the root √RIY as the basis for random scattering as opposed to intentionally scattering for purposes of planting = √RED. In theory ᴹ√RIY would conflict with ᴹ√RĪ “✱edge” (Ety/RĪ), but Tolkien revised that root to ᴹ√SRI.

rim

root. abound; large number

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “abound” with derivatives such as ᴹQ. rimbe/N. rhim “crowd, host” (Ety/RIM). A likely precursor to this root appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√‘(A)ṚM(A)R and ᴱ√‘ṚMṚ with a Gnomish form ᴱ√grimri· (QL/32), indicating the actual primitive form was ✱ᴱ√ƷṚMṚ. Derivatives of this early root include ᴱQ. arm- “gather, collect” and G. grim “host, folk”, the last of these the likely precursor to N. rhim.

The root ᴹ√RIM also appeared in Primitive Quendian Structure: Final Consonants from 1936, glossed “host, large number” >> “number, plenty” (PE21/57). Quenya and Sindarin forms Q. rimbë and S. rim continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writing (Let/382; PE17/50; UT/318), so it is likely the root √RIM remained valid, especially given the prevalence of suffix -rim in Sindarin collective names.

rin

root. *circle

This root first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√RINI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. rin (rind-) “year, circle” and ᴱQ. rinko “disc, orb, circle” (QL/80). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. rin- “revolve, return, come back; do again” and G. rinc “circular; disc, rondure” (GL/65), but also strengthened forms like G. †drinn “ring, disc” and G. drintha- “to turn (tr.), twist” (GL/30). The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. rinda/N. rhenn “circular” and ᴹQ. rinde/N. rhinn “circle” (Ety/RIN).

rip

root. rush, fly, fling, hurl

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “rush, fly, fling” with derivatives like ᴹQ. rimpa “rushing, flying” and N. rhib- “to flow like a (?torrent)”, the latter an element in the name N. Rhimdath “Rushdown” (Ety/RIP). This river name appeared in early maps from Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (RS/205), but the river was unlabeled in the published version of The Lord of the Rings. As for the root ᴹ√RIP, it reappeared with the gloss “fling, hurl (of something long like an arrow, spear, shaft)” in a rejected list of roots from Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s, having a single derivative in the past form ᴹQ. rimpe “hurled” (PE22/127 note #141). In this list ᴹ√RIP appeared immediately above the root ᴹ√KHAT “hurl”, which also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/KHAT).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is better to use the better-known root ᴹ√KHAT for “hurl, fling”, which derivatives like Q. hatal “spear” as late as the 1960s. If ᴹ√RIP is used, it is probably best to give it the meaning of its derivatives from The Etymologies: “rush, fly”.

rig

root. *crown

rik(h)

root. jerk, sudden move, flirt

ril

root. glitter

rimbā

adjective. frequent, numerous

rimbē

noun. crowd, host

ringi

root. cold

risse-

noun. a ravine

rista-

verb. cut

riʒ

root. *crown

srip

root. scratch

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “scratch” with a single derivative N. thribi “to scratch” (Ety/SRIP).

(s)ri

root. *edge, border

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. ríma “edge, hem, border” and N. rhîf “brink, brim” (Ety/RĪ). Tolkien then added a note “alter to SRI-” without revising the derivatives (EtyAC/RĪ). Given that all its derivatives indicate primitive rīm-, it is almost certainly a later iteration of the unglossed root ᴱ√RIMI from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. rim- “border on, lie at edge, neighbour” and ᴱQ. rímen “border, shore”, given in the same entry with the root ᴱ√RIPI with which it was apparently confused (QL/80). ᴱ√RIMI likewise had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. rim “a stripe, line; border, fringe” (GL/65), though blending with ᴱ√RIPI complicates the analysis; see that entry for further details.

kiris

root. cut

ari

noun. day

yenrinde

noun. year

lar

root. rich, fat

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “rich, fat” (EtyAC/LAR), a later iteration of the root ᴱ√LARA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which had derivatives like ᴱQ. laru “fat, grease” and ᴱQ. laruke “fat, rich” (QL/51). The 1930s root includes the derivative ᴹQ. larma “[?pig-]fat, flesh” so it likewise seems to refer to fatty flesh and rich food, but in the 1930s it replaced a deleted entry with both ᴹ√LAR and ᴹ√LAS whose derivatives had glosses connected to blessedness and luck (EtyAC/LAR), so it seems Tolkien was vacillating somewhat on the meaning of this root.

keper

root. ridge; knob, head, top

A rejected (Noldorin-only?) root in The Etymologies of the 1930s initially glossed “knob, head, top”, perhaps replacing the also rejected root ᴹ√KOPAR of the same meaning (Ety/KEPER; EtyAC/KEPER, KOPAR). Tolkien changed the gloss of ᴹ√KEPER to “ridge” before he rejected the entry. The most notable derivative of this root was N. ceber in N. Sarn Gebir, whose gloss is unclear but might be “?limestone, -rock”. Despite his rejection of this root, S. Sarn Gebir did appear in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/391) and was in one place translated as “Stone-spikes” (RC/327), so perhaps Tolkien restored the root, though what it might mean is unclear.

phor

root. right-hand

This root appeared as ᴹ√PHOR “right-hand” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives having to do with “right [vs. left]” and also “north” such ᴹQ. formen and N. forod “north” (Ety/PHOR). These words for “north” reappeared in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1123), and the connection between “north” and “right” was reaffirmed in Tolkien’s discussion of the Ambidexters Sentence from the late 1960s, since the Elves aligned the cardinal directions by facing west towards Aman (VT49/6-8). ᴹ√PHOR was likely a later iteration of the early root ᴱ√PO from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with various derivatives having to do with “north” (QL/74).

kelun

noun. river

lokko

noun. ringlet

nyel

root. ring, sing, give out a sweet sound

phoroti

adjective. right or north

rō/oro

root. rise, up, high

nyol

root. ring

oro

root. rise, up, high

skel

root. *strip

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. helda/N. hell “naked”, ᴹQ. helma “skin, fell” and N. helf “fur” (Ety/SKEL). The root was initially given as ᴹ√SKAL, and various forms had a >> e after ᴹ√SKAL >> ᴹ√SKEL (EtyAC/SKEL).

kalaryā

adjective. brilliant

orta-

verb. to rise

rattā̆

noun. course, river-bed

tēra

adjective. straight, right

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).

ar

root. day

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “day” with various derivatives like ᴹQ. are, N. aur “day” and ᴹQ. arin “morning” (Ety/AR¹). In Tolkien’s later writings, the Quenya word for “day” became aurë (RC/727; S/190), and in 1957 Quenya Notes he devised a new etymology for these day-words from the root √UR “heat” as in ✶auri “heat, period of sun” (PE17/148). That opens the question whether the various 1930s Quenya “morning” words from ᴹ√AR remain valid, but many Neo-Quenya writers (including me) retain them since there aren’t really any good alternatives. They might be salvageable as derivatives of the later root √AS “warmth” (so that “day” = “hot” and “morning” = “warm”).

lag

root. *cut

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the derivatives ᴹQ. lango “broad sword; prow of a ship” and N. lhang “cutlass, sword” (Ety/LAG), so probably meaning something like “✱cut”.

snar

root. tie

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tie” with derivatives ᴹQ. narda/N. nardh “knot” (Ety/SNAR).

snur

root. twist

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “twist” with derivatives N. norð “cord” and N. norn ““twisted, knotted, crabbed, contorted” (Ety/SNUR).

srō

root. east

A root appearing in a rejected page of roots from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (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.

thel(es)

root. sister

Tolkien gave this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√THEL and extended form ᴹ√THELES with the gloss “sister” and derivatives like ᴹQ. seler and N. thêl of the same meaning, both derived from the extended root as made clear by the Noldorin plural thelei < ON. thelehi (Ety/THEL). Hints of the roots continued use appear in the 1959 term Q. meletheldi “love-sisters” for close female friends (NM/20). In notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien gave Q. nésa and S. nethel as the words for “sister”, both from the root √NETH. Nevertheless, I think it is worth retaining ᴹ√THEL(ES) to represent more abstract notions of “sisterhood” for the purposes of Neo-Eldarin, for “metaphorical sister”s as opposed to Q. nésa/S. nethel for sisters by blood.

yur

root. run

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “run” with derivatives like ON. yur- “run” and N. iôr “course” (Ety/YUR). It was a later iteration of ᴱ√ẎURU “run” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. yuro “a run, race” and ᴱQ. yuru- “run” (QL/106). For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, it is probably better to stick to the better attested root √NOR.

tārī

noun. queen

kor

root. round

rīg-anna

feminine name. crown-gift

rīgē

noun. crown

rīʒende

feminine name. queen, lit. ‘crowned’ or crowned-lady

am

root. up

bányā

adjective. beautiful

kir

root. cleave

kuilez

noun. quiet

lepet

root. finger

lin

root. pool

lisge

noun. reed

lī

noun. number

magā

noun. hand

mapā

noun. hand

maʒ

root. hand

māʒ

noun. hand

nē̆n

noun. water

ortā-

verb. to raise

raph

root. snatch

reddā

noun. ‘sown’, sown field, acre

sir

root. flow

ub

root. abound

yakta-

noun. neck

lak

root. swift