rik

root. twist, twist; [ᴹ√] jerk, sudden move, flirt

This root first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√RIQI or ᴱ√RIKI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. riqi- “wrench, twist” and ᴱQ. marikta “wrist” (QL/80). This root also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such G. raig “awry, twisted, distorted, perverse, wrong, leering (of face)”, G. rig “a snarl, a sneer”, and G. rig- “twist, contort” (GL/64-65). These forms were also linked to G. grinn “ankle (talgrin), wrist (mabrin)” (GL/42) and G. arc “fierce, harsh, ill tempered; awkward, difficult” < ᴱ✶r̄k- (GL/20). The latter reappeared as ᴱN. arch “rough, fierce” >> “rough” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (GL/137), though in the somewhat later Early Noldorin Dictionary, ᴱN. arch “rough” was given a new derivation from ᴱ✶a-rak-wa (PE13/160), and thus was no longer tied to ᴱ√RIKI.

The root ᴹ√RIK reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/RIK(H)) but it was revised to ᴹ√RIK(H) “jerk, sudden move, flirt” with derivatives like ᴹQ. rinke “flourish, quick stroke” and ᴹQ. rihta-/N. rhitha- “jerk, twitch” (Ety/RIK(H)). In notes from 1959-60 the root appeared again as √RIK “twist” with a derivative Q. raika “crooked” (VT39/7), a word that in The Etymologies of the 1930s was derived from ᴹ√RAYAK. This 1959-60 appearance seems to be harkening back to its meaning in the 1910s.