tin

root. sparkle, emit slender (silver pale) beams

ting

root. ting (onomatopoeic)

An onomatopoeic root with variants ᴹ√TING and ᴹ√TANG appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. tinge or tango “twang”, ᴹQ. tinga- “to twang”, and N. tang “bowstring” (Ety/TING). The entry had a reference to a deleted variant ᴹ√THING (EtyAC/TING) and another variant ᴹ√TUNG was listed in the entry ᴹ√DING (EtyAC/DING). In the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√TAÑ as the basis for the verb ᴹQ. tanga- “twang”, which is probably another instance of this root (PE22/103).

tindōmiselde

feminine name. Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight

tinkō

root. metal

The “root” ᴹ√TINKŌ (more likely just a primitive word) appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “metal” and derivatives like ᴹQ. tinko/N. tinc of the same meaning (Ety/TINKŌ). The reappearance of Q. tinco “metal” in The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1122) strongly indicates its ongoing validity.

ᴹ√TINKŌ may have replaced the root ᴱ√SINI “pale blue” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. sink “mineral, gem, metal” and G. sinc “metal” (QL/83; GL/67); these early mineral words were originally attributed to ᴱ√SṆT͡YṆ “twinkle” before they were transferred to ᴱ√SINI, leaving only derivatives like ᴱQ. sintl “crystal” and ᴱQ. sinty- “sparkle” under ᴱ√SṆT͡YṆ (QL/85). However, in notes from the late 1960s Tolkien had primitive ✶sinki as an element ✶sinkitamo, the basis for Q. sintamo “smith” (PE17/108). Likewise there is evidence of the earlier root in Q. sinca “flint” as in Q. sincahonda “flint-hearted” (LotR/979), initially given as ᴹQ. tingahondo in Lord of the Rings drafts (SD/68).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would definitely use ✶tink- = “metal”, but I think it is worth keeping ✶sinki = “✱mineral = any inorganic solid including both stone and metal” as a variant.

tinmē

noun. spark, glint

tang

root. ting (onomatopoeic)

tung

root. ting (onomatopoeic)

tit

root. *little, tiny

An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. titta/N. tithen “little, tiny” (Ety/TIT).

miw

root. *small, tiny, frail

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives ᴹQ. míwa and N. mîw “small, tiny, frail” (EtyAC/MIW²).

dōmilindē

noun. nightingale

pik

root. *tiny

doʒ

root. night

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “night” that (along with ᴹ√DOM) was the basis for the ᴹQ. lóme/N. dû “night” (Ety/DOƷ). It replaced some rejected variants ᴹ√LOƷ and ᴹ√DAW (EtyAC/LOƷ). Many of the derivatives of ᴹ√DOƷ were later assigned to other roots: N. dûr “dark” became S. dûr “dark” < √NDU “under, down” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/152) and ᴹQ. lóna “dark” became Q. lúna (PE17/22). There are no signs of ᴹQ. ló “night” and N. daw “night-time, gloom” in Tolkien’s later writing. Future derivations of Q. lómë/S. dû only mention the root √DOM (PE17/152; PE22/153) and thus ᴹ√DOƷ may have been abandoned.

In a message to the Elfling mailing list from July 2012 (Elfling/362.96), David Salo suggested there might be a later root ✱√DU serving as the basis for Q. lúna “dark” and Q. lúmë “darkness”, though the latter might instead be from √LUM. Such a root ✱√DU is not attested in Tolkien writings, but if it existed, it could be a later iteration of ᴹ√DOƷ. Another possible example of the root ✱√DU is primitive ✶durnŭ “dark of hue”.

rauta

root. metal

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s, first glossed “copper” and then “metal”, with derivatives ᴹQ. rauta/N. rhaud “metal” and serving mainly to explain names like N. Angrod and N. Finrod (Ety/RAUTĀ). It might have reappeared in the name S. Rodëol “metal of Eöl” from later Silmarillion drafts (WJ/322), but by 1957 Tolkien was explaining the final element of S. Finrod as S. raud “noble” (PE17/49, 118), so I think it is likely that ᴹ√RAUTA “metal” was abandoned.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d use Q. tinco (LotR/1122) and its cognate [N.] tinc (Ety/TINKŌ) for “metal” words. For “copper” I'd use derivatives of √(U)RUS (VT41/10).

sel(d)

root. child, child; *daughter

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s, initially glossed “daughter” but later “child” with derivatives ᴹQ. selde, ᴹQ. seldo, ᴹQ. selda = female, male and neuter “child” (Ety/SEL-D). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 Tolkien gave sel-de “daughter” (PE17/170), while S. sel(l) = “daughter” appeared in both the King’s Letter from the late 1940s (SD/129) as well as the Túrin Wrapper from the 1950s (VT50/5). The diminutive form for “daughter” appeared as Q. selyë in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/10).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer √YEL for “daughter” as a variant of ᴹ√SEL(D) under the influence of √YON “son”, mostly so I can still use the 1930s “child” words for other genders, at least in the Quenya branch. I would still use Q. seldë and S. sell for “daughter”, however, with a bit of semantic drift, with “girl” words becoming Q. nettë and S. neth.

gilya

noun. star

lilt

root. dance

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dance” with derivative ᴹQ. lilta- of the same meaning (Ety/LILT). It is a later iteration of ᴱ√LḶTḶ “dance” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with both Qenya and Gnomish derivatives like ᴱQ. lilt and G. lalt “dance” (QL/55; GL/52).

mit

root. small

A deleted root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “small” with various Quenya and Noldorin derivatives of similar meaning (Ety/MIT).

mitra

adjective. small

neth

root. young

nethrā

adjective. young

nyol

root. ring

winyē

noun. evening