√N(D)IL “to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to; [ᴹ√] love, devotion; friend” This root for friendship and devotion first appeared as ᴹ√NIL or strengthened ᴹ√NDIL “friend” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with a number of Quenya derivatives of similar meaning, the most significant being the suffixes
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: NDAB-NDEW
√NDAB/NDEB “endeavor, try, seek opportunity” This is one of various roots that Tolkien considered for “try”. It first appeared as √NDEB in notes from around 1967, but Tolkien noted that this was “too obviously = endeavor”, and followed this with a new root √RIK “strive”, though √NDEB was not explicitly
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: NAP-NAY
√NAP “take (hold), pick up, grasp, seize quickly (with fingers)” A root appearing in notes from the late 1960s on hands and fingers variously glossed as “grasp, seize quickly (with fingers)” (VT47/20), “take hold” (VT47/28) or “take, pick up” (VT47/29). It seems Tolkien introduced this root as part of his
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: NĀ-NAM
√NĀ “be (the same as another), exist” Tolkien used this root as the basis for Elvish “to be” verbs for much of his life. ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like the verb ᴱQ. ná- “to be” and ᴱQ. nasta “existence, being,
Eldamo v0.7.9
I’ve released Eldamo v0.7.9 which collects the discussion of Elvish roots A through M. https://eldamo.org/
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: MṆGṆ-MUY
ᴱ√MṆGṆ “*butter” An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. mange “grease” and ᴱQ. manya “butter” (QL/62). G. mang “butter” from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon is also almost certainly related (GL/56). In Qenya Word-lists from the 1920s Tolkien gave ᴱQ. mingwe “butter” (PE16/141). For purposes
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: MI-MIW
√MI/IMI “in, within, [ᴹ√] inside” This invertible root had the basic sense “in(side)” for all of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√IMI² “in, into” and ᴱ√MĪ² in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. imi “in, inside” and ᴱQ. mitta- “enter” (QL/42, 61). Deleted Gnomish forms
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: MEHE-MET
ᴱ√MEHE “(?)ooze, *gore” A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “ooze”, but Tolkien marked that gloss with a “?”, and its Qenya and Gnomish derivatives all had to do with “gore”: ᴱQ. mear, G. †mais, and G. mechor (QL/60; GL/56-57). There are no signs of this root
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: MBELEK-(M)BUD
√MBELEK “mighty, powerful, strong; power as force or strength; great, large” The most notable uses of this root were as the basis for the name Q. Melkor and (sometimes) the adjective S. beleg “great”. This root first appeared as ᴱ√mbelek, belek or melek in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s,
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: (M)BAD-MBAW
ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” The most notable derivative of this root is Q. Mandos, which in Tolkien’s earlier writings was the name of the Vala, but in later writings technically only the name of his halls. The first iteration of this root was unglossed {ᴱ√MANÐAN >>} ᴱ√Mᵇ(A)NÐ(A)N from