Eldamo : Primitive Elvish : KEN

√KEN root. “see, perceive, note”

√KEN root. “see, perceive, note, [ᴹ√] look at, observe, direct gaze”: ᴱ√ÞEHE “*see”

Tolkien first introduced this root in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a variant of ᴹ√KHEN “look at, see, observe, direct gaze” along with ᴹ√KYEN (EtyAC/KHEN). In The Etymologies it had no derivatives, but in the Quenya Verbal System it appeared with the gloss “see, perceive” as the basis for the verb ᴹQ. ken- of the same meaning (PE22/103). √KEN “see, perceive” appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writing thereafter (PE17/156, 187; PE22/155; VT41/5).

References ✧ PE17/156, 187; PE22/155; VT41/5

Glosses

“perceive, see” ✧ PE17/156; PE17/187
“see” ✧ PE22/155
“see, perceive, note” ✧ PE17/156; VT41/5

KHEN “base of eye-words” ✧ PE17/187

Derivatives

> ᴺQ. !cecenna- “to visit”
> ᴺQ. !cemma “picture, (lit.) something seen”
> ᴺQ. !cenya- “to study”
⇒ ᴺQ. !ehten “outlook, sight, view, spectacle”
> Q. cen- “to see, behold, look”
- ⇒ 14 compounds
> Q. cenda- “to watch (intensively), observe (for some time); to read” ✧ PE17/156; VT41/5
- ⇒ Q. cendelë “face”
> Q. cénima “visible” ✧ PE22/155
- ⇒ 6 compounds
> Q. cenítë “seeing, *able to see” ✧ PE22/155
- ⇒ ᴺQ. lacenítë “unseeing, blind”
- ⇒ Q. lacenítë “unseeing, blind” ✧ PE22/153
> Q. centa “enquiry, *essay”
- ⇒ Q. Essecenta Eldarinwa “Enquiry (into the origins) of the Elvish names” ✧ WJ/359
- ⇒ Q. Ósanwe-centa “[Enquiry into] Communication of Thought” ✧ MR/415
> S. #cen- “to see, perceive, look”
- ⇒ 5 compounds

ᴹ√KEN¹ root. “see, perceive, look at, observe, direct gaze”

See √KEN for discussion.

References ✧ EtyAC/KHEN; PE22/103

Glosses

“look at, see, observe, direct gaze” ✧ EtyAC/KHEN
“see, perceive” ✧ PE22/103

Variations

KEN ✧ EtyAC/KHEN; PE22/103
KYEN ✧ EtyAC/KHEN

KHEN “look at, see, observe, direct gaze” beside KEN “look at, see, observe, direct gaze” ✧ EtyAC/KHEN

Derivatives

> ᴹQ. #ken- “to see” ✧ PE22/103
- ⇒ ᴹQ. kénima “visible, able to be seen”
> ᴹQ. kenya- “to see”