tul

root. come, approach, move towards (point of speaker), come, approach, [ᴹ√] move towards (point of speaker); [ᴱ√] fetch, bear, bring; (originally) uphold, support, bear, carry

The root √TUL was used for Elvish words having to do with motion towards a speaker for much of Tolkien’s life, but the precise meaning evolved over time. The earliest appearance of this root was as ᴱ√TULU “fetch, bear, bring; move, come”, but with an original sense = “uphold, support, bear, carry” (QL/95). It had a derived verb ᴱQ. tulu- matching the verbal sense of the root along with an added sense “produce, bear fruit”, but it had other derivatives like ᴱQ. tulma “bier, tray” and ᴱQ. tulwe “tall thin pillar, standard, pole; banner” connected to the older “support” sense of the root. It had a similar divergence of meaning in its derivatives from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, such as G. taul “a pillar” vs. G. tul- “bring; come to” (GL/69, 71). This 1910s root ᴱ√TULU may also have been connected to ᴱ√TḶPḶ which likewise had derivatives having to do with “support” (QL/93).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√TUL had the gloss “come, approach, move towards (point of speaker)” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tul-/N. tol- “come” and ᴹQ. tulta-/N. toltha- “send for, fetch, summon” = “(orig.) make come” (Ety/TUL); in the 1930s the “support” words seem to have been transferred to (probably unrelated) ᴹ√TULUK. √TUL “come” was mentioned regularly in Tolkien’s later writings (PE22/103; PE17/188; PE22/156), in one 1969 note with the extra gloss “approach” (PE22/168), so the 1930s senses for the root seem to have been retained thereafter.

Derivatives

• ✶tultā- “to make come, fetch, send (from point of view of receiver)” ✧ PE22/156; PE22/157
  • Q. tulta- “to send (from point of view of receiver), to send (from point of view of receiver), [ᴹQ.] to send for, send hither, fetch, summon, (lit.) cause to come” ✧ PE22/156; PE22/164
• ✶tulyā- “to cause to come, send for, fetch, summon”
  • Q. tulya- “to lead, to lead; [ᴱQ.] to bring, send”
• Q. tul- “to come, to come, [ᴱQ.] move (intr.); to bring, carry, fetch; to produce, bear fruit”
• ᴺQ. tulya “coming, approaching, future”
• S. tol- “to come”

tul-

verb. come, is coming, has come, is here

Element in

• ✶le tulir “come ye!” ✧ PE22/140
• ✶lḗ tuli, tuli lḗ, āle tuli! “come (you)!, now you, come!” ✧ PE22/140; PE22/140; PE22/140
• ✶sē tuli, tuli sḗ, āse tuli! “let him come! etc.” ✧ PE22/140; PE22/140; PE22/140