Primitive elvish

ur

root. heat, be hot

This root was connected to “heat” for most of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√URU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, with derivatives like ᴱQ. úrin “(blazing) hot”, ᴱQ. uru “fire”, G. urin “hot, very hot”, and G. urna- “blaze, burn” (QL/98; GL/75). In this early period it was blended with the root ᴱ√UŘU with variant ᴱ√USU which had derivatives like ᴱQ. urna “oven” and ᴱQ. usta- “burn” (QL/98). This second root had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. gund “boil, pus” and gusta- “burn, destroy” from primitive ✱gudh (GL/42), indicating the actual root form was ✱ᴱ√ƷUÐU.

✱ᴱ√ƷUÐU seems to have been abandoned in Tolkien’s later writings, but ᴹ√UR “be hot” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. úr/N. ûr “fire” and ᴹQ. urya- “blaze” (Ety/UR). This entry was deleted and replaced by ᴹ√UR “wide, large, great”. This was likely a transient change, however, as ᴹQ. Úrin as a name of the Sun remained in contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts (LR/240). Indeed primitive √UR appeared several times in later writings as the basis for words for “sunlight”, “fire” and “heat” (PE17/120, 148; PE21/71; PE22/160).

Primitive elvish [PE17/120; PE17/148; PE17/188; PE22/160; SA/ur] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ūr

noun. a fire (on hearth)

Primitive elvish [PE21/71] Group: Eldamo. Published by

urku/urkō

noun. orc

Primitive elvish [WJ/390] Group: Eldamo. Published by

urun

root. copper

Primitive elvish [PM/366] Group: Eldamo. Published by

urkā

adjective. horrible

Primitive elvish [WJ/390] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ñgurū

noun. death

Primitive elvish [PE17/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hor

root. urge, impel, move

gor

root. deep, profound; warn, counsel; urge, impel, move, deep, profound; warn, counsel; urge, impel, move; [ᴹ√] impetus, haste, violence

The root ᴹ√GOR “violence, impetus, haste” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. orme “haste, violence, wrath” and N. gorn “impetuous” (Ety/GOR), along with a variant ᴹ√ƷOR whose only derivative was ᴹQ. orro or horro “ugh, alas!, ow!” (EtyAC/ƷOR). The root √GOR reappeared in 1968 notes on Gender and Sex with the gloss “deep, profound”, and there it served as the basis for órë (see below) along with other derivatives like Q. orda “profound”, S. gœria- “to ponder”, and S. gordh “deep thought” (NM/176). The root appeared again in another essay from 1968 on the topic of órë (VT41/11-15; NM/219-224), where Tolkien explained its meaning as follows:

> Nearest to the original sense is “warn”, but (a) it did not refer only to dangers, evils, or difficulties ahead; and (b) though it could be used of the influence of one person upon another by visible or audible means (words or signs) — in which case “counsel” was nearer to its sense — this was not its chief use. This can best be explained by consideration of its principal derivative. This was in Common Eldarin ✱gōrē: Quenya óre, Telerin ōre, Sindarin gûr (NM/219).

Tolkien went on to explain Q. órë as the source of deep emotions, that “advises, but is never represented as commanding”, roughly analogous to one’s conscience; see the entry on Q. órë for further details. Note that when this essay on órë was first published in Vinyar Tengwar 41 in the year 2000, Carl Hostetter gave the root and the primitive form as √ƷOR and ✱ʒōrē (VT41/11), but in his book The Nature of Middle-earth (NM) from 2021, he corrected them to √GOR and ✱gōrē (NM/219).

In rough notes after the main essay, Tolkien altered the root to √HOR with glosses “urge, impel, move” specifically limited to “mental impulses” (VT41/13; NM/221). This revised form might be a later iteration of ᴹ√KHOR “set going, put in motion, urge on” from The Etymologies (Ety/KHOR) as suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT41/17 note #9). Tolkien gave the Quenya derivative of this revised form as (h)óre but did not specify its Sindarin derivative (VT41/13; NM/222). In another rough note in the same bundle he gave [primitive?] hor- “warn” as the basis for T. hŏra or ora and Q. óre (VT41/15).

Neo-Eldarin: The root √HOR is problematic and difficult to reconcile with either Q. óre and S. gûr, since typically primitive h- survived in Quenya but vanished in Sindarin. I think it is preferable to assume the root remaining √GOR. As for its meaning, I would assume the basic sense was “warn, council” as well as “mental impulse”, with ✶gorē serving as the source of deep-seated thoughts and emotions. This interpretation would allow the continued use of the majority of the root’s attested derivatives from both the 1930s and 1960s, including various 1930s words having to do with “haste” and “impetousness”.

Primitive elvish [NM/176; NM/219; VT41/11; VT41/13; VT41/15] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nar

root. fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame

A root for “fire” first appearing as ᴹ√NAR “flame, fire” in The Etymologies of the 1930s along with derivatives like ᴹQ. nár(e)/N. naur “flame” (Ety/NAR¹). There was also an augmented variant ᴹ√ANÁR that served as the basis for “Sun” words: ᴹQ. Anar and N. Anor (Ety/ANÁR). These roots and the various derivatives continued to appear in Tolkien’s later writings in the 1950s and 60s (PE17/38; Let/425), and in one place Tolkien specified that nār- was “fire as an element” as opposed to √RUYU for an actual blaze.

Primitive elvish [Let/425; PE17/038; PE17/147; PE17/166] Group: Eldamo. Published by

der

root. hard, difficult

A root in linguistic notes from 1959 used for the sense “hard, difficult” in Sindarin because other roots like √GUR > S. gor- gained a very negative sense due to collision with the roots √ÑGOR “horror” and √ÑGUR “death” (PE17/154). Tolkien first gave this root as √DIR before switching it to √DER. There is no indication of its use in Quenya, so it is probably a Sindarin-only innovation.

Primitive elvish [PE17/151; PE17/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sal

root. [unglossed], *harp(ing), lyre

The unglossed root ᴱ√SALA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salma “lyre, small harp” and ᴱQ. salumbe “harping, music” (QL/81). The root √SAL appeared again Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s to illustrate the reformed perfect form of its verb Q. asálie (PE22/132), but since these later forms are unglossed it is unclear whether they have the same meaning (“✱harp(ing)”) as the earlier version of the root.

Primitive elvish [PE22/133] Group: Eldamo. Published by

tig

root. [unglossed]

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as the basis for the verb Q. tinga- “go (for a long while)” (PE22/157). The etymology was marked with an “X” and so was probably a transient idea (PE22/157 note #70).

Primitive elvish [PE22/157] Group: Eldamo. Published by

uk

root. nasty

The root √OKO was mentioned a couple times in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 with glosses like “wicked, evil” and “evil, bad” serving as the basis for Q. olca/S. ogol “bad, wicked, evil” along with similar words (PE14/149, 170). In other notes from this period Tolkien said √OKO “evil” influenced the meaning of the Sindarin root √AK “hostile return” (PE17/167). In one of these 1959 notes, Tolkien wrote UK, UKLA below OKO with derivatives Q. ulca and S. ogl, all unglossed (PE17/149); Q. ulca was the word Tolkien used most frequently for “evil” in Quenya. In notes from 1968, Tolkien mentioned √UK “nasty” in passing, without giving any derivatives (VT48/25); Patrick Wynne suggested this form of the root may have been connected to 1969 √UG “dislike” (VT48/32 note #15; PE22/160).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer Q. ulca for “evil”, but I think √OKO “wicked” might coexist with it as variant to salvage other words from that root.

Primitive elvish [PE17/149; PE17/188; VT48/25; VT48/32] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ugrā

adjective. nasty

Primitive elvish [PE22/160] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ñgūr

noun. wolf

Primitive elvish [PE21/82] Group: Eldamo. Published by

anār

noun. Sun

Primitive elvish [SA/nár] Group: Eldamo. Published by

añkal-

verb. to blaze

dērā

adjective. hard, difficult

Primitive elvish [PE17/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lemek

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s illustrating certain phonetic combinations (PE19/98), and therefore possibly not a “real” root.

Primitive elvish [PE19/098] Group: Eldamo. Published by

morokō

noun. bear

Primitive elvish [PE21/82] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nāro

noun. fire

Primitive elvish [PE17/039] Group: Eldamo. Published by

phut

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) as an etymological variation of √PUT (PE18/90).

Primitive elvish [PE18/090] Group: Eldamo. Published by

srak

root. hard, difficult

stuk

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected section of the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, serving to illustration certain phonetic developments: ✶stuknā > Q. thúna (PE19/86).

Primitive elvish [PE19/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yad

root. wide

graw Reconstructed

root. [unglossed], [ᴹ√] dark, swart

This root appeared as a primitive form grawa serving as the basis of the word Q. roa “bear” >> “dog” in notes on monosyllabic roots from 1968 (VT47/35); a Sindarin derivative S. graw “bear” appeared in other notes written around the same time (VT47/12). Patrick Wynne suggested that in the sense “bear” grawa might be connected to the root ᴹ√GRAWA “dark, swart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/GRAWA).

Primitive elvish [VT47/35] Group: Eldamo. Published by