√SAT root. “divide, apportion, mark off; space, place”
The root √SAT appeared in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69 glossed “space, place, a limited area naturally or artificially defined” as well as “divide, mark off”, having various derivatives like Q. sati-/S. seidia- “set aside, appropriate to a special purpose or owner”, Q. satya/S. said “private, separate, not common, excluded”, and S. sad “place, spot” (VT42/19-20). Tolkien said the root “also applied to recognized periods or divisions of time”, though he also indicated that this temporal usage only applied to Quenya.
The same root appeared in notes on fractions from 1968 with the gloss “divide, apportion”. It was likely also connected to the primitive suffix ✶-stā ( PE18/35; PE21/57, 82) that was the basis for the Sindarin/Noldorin collective suffix -ath, as well as the Quenya suffix Q. -sta often seen in place names like the regions of Númenor, and apparently meaning “any particular arrangement, grouping or collection [of things]” (VT39/16, 20 note #27).
A possible early precursor is the (hypothetical) root ᴱ√SATA needed to explain words in Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s such as G. sad- “reck, care, value, esteem, show respect for, consider” and G. sâd “riches, wealth” (GL/66), but the apparent meaning “*value” is far removed from the later meaning of the root √SAT = “apportion; space”. There was, however, another root √SAT(AR) Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 with the gloss “faithful, trust, loyal, rely, steadfast” and derivatives like Q. astar/S. astor “faith, loyalty” and Q. satar/S. sadron “trusty follower, loyal companion” (PE17/183), the last appearing as an element in the name S. Echad i Sedryn “Camp of the Faithful” (UT/153). This 1957 root is a bit closer in meaning to ᴱ√SATA “*value”, though still not an exact match.
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume √SAT = “apportion; space” and unrelated √SATAR = “faithful, loyal”.
References ✧ VT42/19; VT48/11
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√SAT(AR) root. “faithful, trust, loyal, rely, steadfast”
References ✧ PE17/145, 183
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