S. car- v. “to do, make” (Category: to Do, Make)
Car- is the Sindarin verb for “do, make”, derived from the root √KAR of the same meaning. Tolkien often used it for examples of verb inflections in his writings.
Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this verb was G. {car- >>} cartha- “make, finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with past tense côri (GL/25), reappearing as cartha- “to finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document with past tense cair- or cawr- (PE13/111). A set of rough verb forms caron, {cur}, côr, {carn}, crantha, cor and cranthi appear in the margin of a page of the Early Noldorin Grammar, which the editors suggested might be related to the (unglossed and rejected) sentence ᴱN. on gós i·bhelon ar cranthi gwaist ’worin o nomad othra, perhaps meaning “*he made everyone aware of your sinking” (PE13/128 and note #76).
In the Early Noldorin Dictionary, also from the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. cara- “to make, do, perform, act (trans. and absolute)” with a new past form agor (PE13/161). Hints of the verb N. car- can be found in The Etymologies of the 1930s in words like N. ceredir “doer, maker” and N. osgar “cut round, amputate” (Ety/DER, OS). The verb appeared regularly in conjugation charts and sentences Tolkien’s later writings of the 1950s and 60s (VT50/22; PE17/132).
References ✧ PE17/68, 132, 144-145, 148, 170; PE22/168; VT44/21-22, 25, 30; VT50/14, 18, 21-22; WJ/371, 415
Variations
Related
Changes
Inflections
| cared | gerund | ✧ PE17/68: general infinitive | |
| cared | gerund | ✧ PE17/132; PE22/168 | |
| caro | imperative | “*be done” | ✧ VT44/25 |
| úgar | negated soft-mutation present 3rd-sg; c-mutation | “he does not do/make” | ✧ PE17/145: or ú-gár |
| ugar | negative-quasi-participle | “(generally) idle” | ✧ PE17/144 |
| agor | past | “made, did” | ✧ WJ/415 |
| agorech | past 1st-pl-inclusive | “*we have done” | ✧ VT50/21 |
| agoren | past plural | ✧ VT50/18 | |
| agorer | past plural | “*made” | ✧ VT50/14; VT50/18 |
| cerim | present 1st-dual-exclusive | “D 1a” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerim | present 1st-dual-exclusive | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerim/cerim(m)id | present 1st-dual-exclusive | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerich | present 1st-dual-inclusive | “D [1b]” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerich | present 1st-dual-inclusive | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerinc/ceringid | present 1st-dual-inclusive | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerim | present 1st-pl-exclusive | ✧ PE17/132; VT50/22 | |
| cerim(ir) | present 1st-pl-exclusive | “P 1a” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerich | present 1st-pl-inclusive | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerich(ir) | present 1st-pl-inclusive | “P 1b” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerinc | present 1st-pl-inclusive | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerin | present 1st-sg | ✧ PE17/132; VT50/22 | |
| cerin | present 1st-sg | “S 1a” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| [?cerith] | present 2nd-dual | “D 2a” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerich | present 2nd-dual | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerith(ir) | present 2nd-dual | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerist | present 2nd-dual-polite | “D 2b” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerist | present 2nd-dual-polite | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerið(id) | present 2nd-dual-polite | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerigir | present 2nd-pl | ✧ PE17/132: as singular, but may be pluralized | |
| cerinc/t | present 2nd-pl | “P 2a” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerith(ir) | present 2nd-pl | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| †cerint | present 2nd-pl-polite | “P 2b” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerint | present 2nd-pl-polite | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerithir | present 2nd-pl-polite | “P 2b” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| ceriðir | present 2nd-pl-polite | ✧ PE17/132: as singular, but may be pluralized | |
| cerig | present 2nd-sg | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerig | present 2nd-sg | “S 2a” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerith | present 2nd-sg | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| ceris | present 2nd-sg-polite | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerith | present 2nd-sg-polite | “S 2b” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerið | present 2nd-sg-polite | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerid | present 3rd-dual | “D 2b” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerid | present 3rd-dual | ✧ VT50/22 | |
| cerist | present 3rd-dual | ✧ PE17/132 | |
| cerir | present 3rd-pl | ✧ PE17/132; VT50/22 | |
| cerir | present 3rd-pl | “P 3” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| câr | present 3rd-sg | ✧ PE17/132; VT50/22 | |
| câr | present 3rd-sg | “S 3” | ✧ VT50/22 |
| cerir | present plural | ✧ VT44/22 | |
| gar | soft-mutation; c-mutation | ✧ PE17/145 | |
| #gar | soft-mutation; c-mutation | “to do” | ✧ PE17/148 |
| garol | soft-mutation active-participle; c-mutation | “now doing or making” | ✧ PE17/144 |
| garol | soft-mutation active-participle; c-mutation | “doing” | ✧ PE17/170 |
| garo | soft-mutation imperative; c-mutation | “do [it]” | ✧ WJ/371 |
| garer | soft-mutation present plural; c-mutation | ✧ VT44/21 | |
| gerir | soft-mutation present plural; c-mutation | “*they do” | ✧ VT44/30 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶akāra > agor | [akāra] > [akǭra] > [akaura] > [akaur] > [agaur] > [agor] | ✧ WJ/415 |
N. #car- v. “to do, make” (Category: to Do, Make)
References ✧ Ety/DER, OS
Inflections
| cere | present | ✧ Ety/DER |
| gar | soft-mutation present; c-mutation | ✧ Ety/OS |
Element In
Derivations
ᴱN. cara- v. “to make, do, perform, act (trans. and absolute)” (Category: to Do, Make)
References ✧ PE13/161, 163
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| carach | infinitive | “to make oneself, become” | ✧ PE13/161 |
| agarn | passive-participle | ✧ PE13/161: pp. | |
| agor | past | ✧ PE13/161: pa.t. | |
| agori | past plural | ✧ PE13/161: pl. | |
| egerni | past plural | ✧ PE13/161 |
Element In
Derivations
ᴱN. #car- v. “*to make” (Category: to Do, Make)
References ✧ PE13/128
Inflections
| carn | past | ✧ PE13/128 |
| crantha | past | ✧ PE13/128 |
| cranthi | past | ✧ PE13/128 |
| cranthi | past | ✧ PE13/128 |
| caron | present 1st-sg | ✧ PE13/128 |
| cur | present 3rd-sg | ✧ PE13/128 |
| côr | present 3rd-sg | ✧ PE13/128; PE13/128 |
Element In
Derivations
G. cartha- v. “to finish, make” (Category: to Finish)
References ✧ GL/25; PE13/111
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Inflections
| cair- | past | ✧ PE13/111 |
| cawr- | past | ✧ PE13/111 |
| côri | past | ✧ GL/25 |
Elements
| cara | “deed, act” | ✧ GL/25 |
| #-tha¹ | “verb suffix” | ✧ GL/25 (#-tha) |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations