√TŌ/OTO root. “back”
The earliest iteration of this root seems to be ᴹ√TOTO- “repeat” from Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 (PE23/109). The root reappeared as √TŌ/OTO in a discussion of prefixes for “back” from around 1959, where Tolkien specified its meaning as “back as an answer, or return by another agent to an action affecting him, as in answering, replying, avenging, requiting, repaying, rewarding”; Tolkien also considered the forms √UTU/TŪ (PE17/166). In this 1959 note Tolkien crossed √TŌ/OTO through and seems to have replaced it with √KHAN. Tolkien mentioned the root √OT in a discussion of numbers from the late 1960s, but only to specify that “there was no primitive base OT-” (VT47/16).
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would retain ᴹ√TOT “repeat” since it has several useful derivatives, but would assume √TŌ/OTO “back” was rejected.
References ✧ PE17/166-167, 171, 187-189; VT47/16
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