Q. as(a)- [þ] pref. “easily” (Category: Easy)
A prefix meaning “easy” appearing in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 and based on the root √ATHA (PE17/148). Tolkien specified that the normal form of the prefix was asa-, but that it became as- before p, t, c, q, s. Tolkien gave two examples of its use: asalaste “easily heard” and ascénima (or ascene) “easily seen”.
Conceptual Development: In a rejected page from the same set of notes, Tolkien had hra, hrai and hraia “easy” derived from the root √SRA(YA) of the same meaning (PE17/172), of which the first two were probably prefixes and the last an adjective. But Tolkien seems to have altered the root to √SRAG “difficult” and √RAY “smile”. Further down on the page Tolkien had asanóte next to the root AÞA, unglossed but probably meaning “easily counted” and representing his new idea for the prefix as(a)- “easy”, given above.
References ✧ PE17/148, 172
Glosses
Variations
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Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| √ATHA > asa- | [atʰa-] > [aθa-] > [asa-] | ✧ PE17/148 |
| √AÞA > asa- | [atʰa-] > [aθa-] > [asa-] | ✧ PE17/172 |