Quenya 

tac-

verb. fasten

tac- ("k") vb. "fasten" (the form tacë given in the Etymologies is translated "he fastens", evidently the 3rd person sg. aorist), pa.t. tancë (TAK)

tar-

affix. high, high; [ᴹQ.] king or queen (in compounds)

A prefix (and sometimes suffix) meaning “high” as in Tarcil “High Man” or Tarmenel “High Heaven”. It is often used in reference to royalty and nobility, as in Tarumbar “King of the World” or Sorontar “Lord of Eagles”, as well as the names of Númenorean kings and queens. It is related to the adjective tára “high” based on the root √TĀ/TAƷ of similar meaning (Ety/TĀ).

Quenya [PE22/148; SA/tar] Group: Eldamo. Published by

arata

high, lofty, noble

arata adj. "high, lofty, noble" (PE17:49, 186). Also used as a a noun with nominal pl. form Aratar "the Supreme", the chief Valar, translation of the foreign word Máhani adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:402). Aratarya "her sublimity"; Varda Aratarya "Varda the lofty, Varda in her sublimity" (WJ:369). In one source, Aratar is translated as a singular: "High One" (PE17:186)

carasta-

verb. to build, to build, construct

A verb meaning “to build” derived from √KAR “do, make” and related to carassë “built fort or dwelling” (PE17/84).

halda

adjective. high, tall

Quenya [PE 22:103; PE 22:148] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

panya-

verb. fix, set

panya- vb. "fix, set" (PAN). The verb napan- (q.v.), "add" or literally *"to-set", may argue the existence of a shorter stem #pan- as well.

tulca-

verb. fix, set up, establish

tulca- (2) ("k") vb. "fix, set up, establish" (LT1:270)

high

2) adj. "high" (LT1:264; there spelt . This is hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya, but cf. tára "lofty".)

tána

high, lofty, noble

tána (meaning unclear, probably adj. "high, lofty, noble") (TĀ/TA3). Compare tára.

arata

high, lofty, noble

arata adj. "high, lofty, noble" (PE17:49, 186). Also used as a a noun with nominal pl. form Aratar "the Supreme", the chief Valar, translation of the foreign word Máhani adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:402). Aratarya "her sublimity"; Varda Aratarya "Varda the lofty, Varda in her sublimity" (WJ:369). In one source, Aratar is translated as a singular: "High One" (PE17:186)

Sindarin 

tag-

verb. to fix, to fix, *fasten, [G.] make firm, construct

This verb appeared in some rough notes from around 1969 in various past forms such tanc “fixed”, tancher/tanker “they fixed” and tanchen “I fix” (PE23/138 note #12). See the discussion of the Sindarin past tense for more detail on these past forms. The verb ✱tag- is clearly based on the root √TAK “fix, fasten”.

Conceptual Development: The verb G. tag- “fix, make firm, construct” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/68), likely based on the early root ᴱ√TAKA “fix, fasten” (QL/88).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use tag- only in the later sense of its root: “to fix, ✱fasten”. For “make firm” I would use [N.] tangad(a)- and for “construct” I would use [ᴱN.] adaba- “build”.

Sindarin [PE23/138] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Ara-

prefix. high, noble, royal

Sindarin [S/428] Reduced form of , element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Group: SINDICT. Published by

ar-

prefix. high, noble, royal

Sindarin [S/428] Reduced form of , element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Group: SINDICT. Published by

andrath

high pass

(literally "long climb"), pl. endraith.

brand

tall

(lofty, noble, fine), lenited vrand, pl. braind.

duinen

high tide

(i dhuinen), pl. duinin (i nuinin). (VT48:26).

gondrath

highway

(i ’ondrath) (street of stone, causeway), pl. gendraith (i ngendraith = i ñendraith). Archaic pl. göndreith. (WJ:340). Possibly the pl. can also be gondraith, without umlaut of the first element.

hall

tall

(exalted); lenited chall; pl. hail. Note: a homophone means ”veiled, hidden, shadowed, shady”.

or

high

(adjectival pref.) or- (above, over), also ar- (noble, royal). In the form ar(a)- this is an element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Nouns:

or

high

(above, over), also ar- (noble, royal). In the form ar(a)- this is an element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. Nouns:

penia

fix

penia- (i benia, i pheniar) (set);

penia

fix

(i benia, i pheniar) (set);

pân

fixed board in a floor

(i bân, o phân, construct pan) (plank), pl. pain (i phain). Not to be confused with the adj. ✱pân ”all”.

raud

tall

(eminent, noble), in compounds -rod,  pl. roed. Also used as noun ”champion, eminent man, [a] noble”.

taetha

fasten

taetha- (tie) (i daetha, i thaethar)

taetha

fasten

(tie) (i daetha, i thaethar)

taur

tall

(also tor-, tar- in compounds) (lofty, high, sublime, noble; vast, masterful, mighty, overwhelming, huge, awful), lenited daur, pl. toer. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”great wood, forest”.

telu

high roof

(i delu, o thelu) (dome), pl. tely (i thely).

Noldorin 

penia-

verb. to fix, to set

Noldorin [Ety/380] Group: SINDICT. Published by

taetha-

verb. to fasten, tie

Noldorin [Ety/389] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Primitive elvish

tā/taʒ

root. high, high, [ᴹ√] lofty; noble

This root and ones like it were used for “high” things for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√TAHA in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. “high; high above, high up”, ᴱQ. tahōra or tayóra “lofty”, and ᴱQ. tāri “queen”; it had a variant form ᴱ√TAʕA where the ʕ might be a malformed Y (QL/87). The corresponding forms in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon were G. “high” and G. dara “lofty” (GL/29), indicating the true form of the root was ᴱ√DAHA, since initial voiced stops were unvoiced (d- > t-) in Early Qenya (PE12/17). Primitive forms like ᴱ✶dagá > ᴱN. /ᴱQ. “high” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s indicates the root continued to begin with D for the following decade (PE13/141, 161).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave this root as ᴹ√TĀ/TAƷ “high, lofty; noble” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tára “lofty, high”, ᴹQ. tári “queen” and N. taen “height, summit of high mountain” (Ety/TĀ). In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien gave the root as √TAG or Tā- “high”, and in notes from around 1967 Tolkien gave √TAƷ as the explanation of the initial element of Q. Taniquetil and contrasted it with √TĂR “stand” (PE17/186). In 1970 green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2), Tolkien wrote a marginal note giving √TAƷ > “high”, but this note was rejected with a statement “transfer to Gen. Structure. No [ʒ] existed in Eldarin” (PE19/72-73 note #22).

This last rejection seems to be part of Tolkien’s general vacillation on the nature and phonetic evolution of velar spirants in Primitive Elvish in 1968-70. For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume the root form was √TAH or √TAƷ > √ as the basis for “high” words, much like √MAH or √MAƷ > ✶ was the basis for “hand” words.

Primitive elvish [PE17/186; PE19/073] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tāra

adjective. high

Primitive elvish [PE17/067; PE17/186] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Adûnaic

mag- Speculative

verb. to build

A hypothetical verb from which the agental-formation magân “wright, ✱builder” is derived, itself attested only as an element in the name Balkumagân “Shipwright”. It may be related to the Elvish root ᴹ√MAG “use, handle”, as suggested by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/MAG).


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!

Qenya 

tak-

verb. to fasten, to fasten, [ᴱQ.] fix

A verb appearing as take “he fastens” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√TAK “fix, make fast” (Ety/TAK).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. tak- “to fasten” appeared in Early Qenya Phonology derived from ᴱ√tak- “stick (in), fix” (PE14/66), ᴱQ. tak- “fix” appeared in Qenya Verb Forms from the 1910s (PE14/28), and ᴱQ. tak- “fix, fasten” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√TAKA of the same meaning (QL/88). The root √TAK “fasten, fix” also appeared in Tolkien’s writings of the 1950s (PE18/100; PE19/83).

ampana-

verb. to build

A verb for “to build” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948, attested only in its imperfect passive participle form {ampananta >>} ampanaina “while it was being built” (PE22/108). A longer and better attested verb of the same meaning is ᴹQ. ampanóta-.

Early Quenya

tak-

verb. to fix, fasten

taka-

verb. to fix, fasten

Early Quenya [PE14/028; PE14/066; QL/088] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Ilkorin

tak

adjective. high

tök

adjective. high

Early Ilkorin [PE13/141; PE13/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

atak-

verb. to build, establish

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/158; PE14/066] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ataqa-

verb. to build, establish

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

atāqa

verb. to build, establish

Early Primitive Elvish [PE13/132; PE13/136; PE13/158] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

bada-

verb. to build

adjective. high

Gnomish [GL/29; LT1A/Qalmë-Tári; LT1A/Taniquetil; PE13/112] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

adab-

verb. to build, establish

adjective. high

A word glossed “high” in Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s derived from ᴱ✶dagá (PE13/141, 161). The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s also had G. “high” (GL/29), while the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document had G. da “high” also derived from ᴱ✶dagá (PE13/112). In Tolkien’s later writings, the root became √TĀ/TAƷ, so these d-forms would have been abandoned.

Early Noldorin [PE13/141; PE13/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tangod-

verb. to fix

tenged-

verb. to fix

Solosimpi

daga

adjective. high

Solosimpi [PE13/141; PE13/161] Group: Eldamo. Published by