ᴹQ. atwa conj. “double; either/or” (Category: Two)
This word appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “double” under the root ᴹ√AT(AT) “again, back” (Ety/AT(AT)). It also appeared with this gloss in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 40s (PE22/23, 52). However, in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948, Tolkien said it was used for “either ... or” (PE23/107) as in atwa carne atwa luine “either red or blue”. It could also be used by itself to mean “or” as in á anta nin macil atwa ehte “give me a sword or a spear”. In DRC, atwa served as the basis for a variety of similar words such as matwa “which (of two)” or enatwa “the second (of two)”.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would mostly use atwa in the sense “either ... or”. For simple “or” I would prefer hya from the 1960s. For “double” I would use atatya, also from the 1960s.
References ✧ Ety/AT(AT); PE22/23, 52; PE23/107
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| ᴹ√AT(AT) > atwa | [atwa] | ✧ Ety/AT(AT) |