sovo

root. wash

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱ√SOVO and ᴱ√SOW̯O glossed “wash”, having derivatives like ᴱQ. sovo- “wash” and ᴱQ. saune “bath” (QL/85), the latter a result of the Early Qenya sound change whereby [[eq|[ei], [ou] became [ai], [au]]] (in later Quenya phonology, these generally became [ī], [ū]). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, the primitive form was given as soƀ with derivatives like G. sô- “wash, clean, bathe” and G. sôn “pure, clean” from primitive ᴱ✶sou̯na (GL/68). This last primitive form reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s where it had derivatives like ᴱQ. sauna “clean” and ᴱN. hûn “polished, burnished, shining” (PE13/148).

Neo-Eldarin: I think it is worth positing an Neo-Root ᴺ√SOW “wash” and variant ᴺ√SAW “bath” to salvage some of these early words.

Derivatives

• ᴱ✶souna ✧ GL/68
  • Eq. sauna “clean” ✧ PE13/148
  • En. hûn “polished, burnished, shining” ✧ PE13/148
  • G. sôn “pure, clean” ✧ GL/68
  • Et. súna “clean” ✧ PE13/148
• ᴱ✶sou̯þ- ✧ GL/68
  • G. soth “bath” ✧ GL/68
• Eq. soile “cleansing” ✧ QL/086
• Eq. soina “clean” ✧ QL/086
• Eq. saune “bath, small pool” ✧ QL/086
• Eq. sausa “bath water, hot water” ✧ QL/086
• Eq. sovo- “to wash” ✧ QL/086
• Eq. sovalna- “to cleanse, purify” ✧ QL/086
• Eq. sovallu- “to cleanse, purify” ✧ QL/086
• G. sovri “cleansing” ✧ GL/68
• G. sô- “to wash, clean, bathe” ✧ GL/68; GL/68

Variations

• soƀ ✧ GL/68; GL/68 (soƀ)
• SOW̯O ✧ QL/086

fasa Speculative

root. wash

A hypothetical early root to explain words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s such as G. fas- “wash” and G. fôs “bath” (GL/34). It seems to have at least one Qenya derivative as well in the 1910s-name: ᴱQ. Faskala-númen “Bath of the Setting Sun” (LT1/187). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

Derivatives

• Eq. faskalan “bath”
• G. fas- “to wash”
• G. fasc “clean”
• G. fasca- “to splash, sprinkle”
• G. fôs “bath”
• G. fast “wash, cleaning”