The root ᴹ√RAPH “snatch” itself first appeared in the Quenya Verbal System with a derived verb of ᴹQ. raf- of the same meaning (PE22/102), but it might have been a reemergence of the very first (deleted) gloss of the early root ᴱ√RAPA the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: “handle hastily, snatch, grab” (QL/79). As for √RAPH, it reappeared in green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from around 1970 with the gloss “seize, grab” and a derivative Q. arpo “seizer, thief” (PE19/89 and note #101). On the original layer of composition for the same page (and therefore from the early 1950s) there is the verb Q. raf- “wave, brandish” which may be related, though if so it must represent some semantic drift (PE19/89).
Primitive elvish
map
root. take away, take hold of, grasp, take away, take hold of, grasp, [ᴹ√] lay hold of with hand, seize
raph
root. seize, grab, seize, grab, [ᴹ√] snatch
nap
root. take (hold), pick up, grasp, seize quickly (with fingers)
A root appearing in notes from the late 1960s on hands and fingers variously glossed as “grasp, seize quickly (with fingers)” (VT47/20), “take hold” (VT47/28) or “take, pick up” (VT47/29). It seems Tolkien introduced this root as part of his rather surprising decision to abandon √MAP “take hold, seize” after 50 years of use, stating that √NAP was the true primitive root and √MAP perhaps a Telerin-only variant of it (VT/7). It may be a restoration of the early root ᴱ√NAPA from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s which itself was said to be a variant of ᴱ√MAPA “seize” (QL/59, 64). The early root ᴱ√NAPA had no (Early) Qenya derivatives, but some Gnomish derivatives appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, such as G. nab- “take, lay hold of” and G. nabos “seizure” (GL/59). ᴱN. nabhru “booty” from Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s was probably also related (PE13/150).
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is preferable to retain the root √MAP “take hold, seize”, but √NAP can co-exist with it as a variant of similar meaning, both allowing its 1960s derivatives (mostly thumb words) and salvaging some of its Gnomish derivatives.
arphō
noun. seizer, thief
This root was connected to grabbing things by hand for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√MAPA “seize” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. map- “seize, take” and ᴱQ. maptale “robbery” (QL/59). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon its main derivative was G. mab “hand” (GL/55). In the Gnomish Lexicon, Tolkien did redefine mab as a dual form of G. mô “hand”, but it was later restored as an independent word and survived all the way into Sindarin as S. mâb “hand”.
The root reappeared as ᴹ√MAP “lay hold of with hand, seize” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a similar set of derivatives (Ety/MAP). √MAP was mentioned again in the late 1960s in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals, with glosses like “take hold of, grasp” (VT47/7) and “take away” (VT47/20). But in these same notes Tolkien made the somewhat shocking decision to abandon this root, proposing instead that S. mâb was derived from CE ✶makwā “handful” (VT47/6).
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore this very late idea, since √MAP appears so regularly in Tolkien’s earlier writings.