An invertible root, √LA or √ALA, used for negation. Its earliest iteration was as the primitive negative prefix ᴱ✶ḷ- from the 1910s (GL/50; PE12/11; QL/97). Its first appearance as ᴹ√LA “no, not” was in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/LA), and it regularly appeared in documents from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Tolkien then abandoned this form of negation in 1959 (PE17/143), but restored it again around 1969 (PE22/160) only to abandon it again shortly after (VT44/4). For a full history of Tolkien’s shifting conceptions of negation in Elvish, see the Quenya entry on the negative.
Primitive elvish
ala
root. no, not; negative; not to be
al(a)
root. good (physically), blessed, fortunate, prosperous, health(y)
Changes
ALA→ ALA “good, prosperous, healthy, fortunate” ✧ PE17/146Derivatives
- √LĀ “interjection of pleasure/assent”
- Q. (a)lá “yes” ✧ PE17/158; VT42/33
- Q. al(a)- “well, happily” ✧ PE17/146; PE17/172
- Q. alima “fair, good” ✧ PE17/146
- Q. alla “welcome, hail” ✧ PE17/146
- Q. almë “good (or blessed) thing, blessing, piece of good fortune” ✧ PE17/146; PE17/153
- Q. alya “fair, good, [ᴹQ.] rich, prosperous, abundant, blessed; [Q.] fair, good” ✧ PE17/146
- Q. alya- “to cause to prosper, bless (a work), help one” ✧ PE17/146
- S. al- “well, happily” ✧ PE17/146
- S. alu “wholesome, wholesome, *healthy” ✧ PE17/146
- ᴺS. alvar “(good) luck, fortune”
- S. elia- “to cause to prosper, bless (a work), help one” ✧ PE17/146
Variations
- AL ✧ PE17/059; PE17/146; PE17/146; PE17/150
- ALA ✧ PE17/146; PE17/146 (
ALA); PE17/146; PE17/149; PE17/153; PE17/158; PE17/162; PE17/170; PE17/172 (ALA)- ala ✧ VT42/33
la
root. no, not; negative; not to be
Derivatives
- ✶lā- “to not be” ✧ PE22/153
- Q. al(a)- “in-, un-, not; †-less, without” ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33
- Q. ala- “to deny”
- Q. la- “not, in-, un-”
- Q. lá- “to not be” ✧ PE22/156; VT42/33; VT49/13
- Q. lá “no, not” ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33
- ᴺQ. lana “no, not any, not (a); none”
- S. al- “no, not”
- ᴺS. lad “nothing, zero”
- ᴺS. law “not”
Variations
- AL ✧ PE17/143 (
AL); PE17/146; PE22/140- al ✧ PE18/088; PE22/140; VT42/32 (
al)- la ✧ PE18/088; VT42/32 (
la)- lā ✧ PE22/140
- LĀ ✧ PE22/153
- ALA ✧ PE22/153
- (A)LA ✧ PE22/156
- ala ✧ VT42/33; VT49/13
- al/la ✧ VT48/25
-il
suffix. old tool and weapon names
Element in
Variations
- al ✧ PE21/71
- il ✧ PE21/71
as(a)
preposition. and
Changes
as(a)→ ad(a) “and” ✧ PE17/041Derivations
- √AS “beside” ✧ VT47/31
Derivatives
Variations
- as ✧ VT43/30; VT47/31
manrā
adjective. good
Derivations
- √MAN “good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil, good (morally), blessed, holy, unmarred, free from evil; [ᴹ√] holy spirit” ✧ PE17/162
Derivatives
- Q. mára “good, proper, good, proper; [ᴹQ.] useful, fit, good (of things), [ᴱQ.] excellent; mighty, power, doughty” ✧ PE17/162
A root variously meaning “blessed, fortunate, prosperous” (PE17/146) and in some circumstances “healthy” and “good (physically)” (PE17/149, 172) or just simply “good” (PE17/146, 150, 153, 158). It was first mentioned in The Etymologies of the 1930s in association with the root ᴹ√ALAM “elm” to which it might be related “since the elm was held blessed and beloved by the Eldar” (Ety/ÁLAM). In Quenya at least its sense was influenced by √GAL “grow, be healthy, flourish” (PE17/146, 153). At one point Tolkien said “this stem was less used in Sindarin, but occurs in a few old forms”, notably S. elia- “to cause to prosper, bless” and S. alw [alu] “wholesome (PE17/146).
The existence of this root is one of reasons that Tolkien decided to abandon la-negation around 1959, saying “AL, LA have too much to do”. Tolkien’s vacillations on the nature of la-negation might therefore have pushed this root in and out of favor, but it is difficult to tell for certain.