la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)
Quenya
la-
prefix. not, in-, un-
Derivations
- √LA “no, not; negative; not to be”
Element in
- Q. lacalima “not possible to be kindled (made to shine)” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. lacaltaima “not possible to be kindled” ✧ PE22/155
- Q. lacaraitë “impossible, *inactive; impossible”
- Q. lacarë “not-doing, inaction”
- ᴺQ. lacárima “not feasible, impossible”
- Q. lacárima “not feasible, impossible” ✧ PE22/153
- Q. lacarina “undone, undone, *unfinished” ✧ PE22/156
- Q. lacenítë “unseeing, blind” ✧ PE22/153
- ᴺQ. lahlaraitë “deaf, (lit.) unable to hear”
- Q. laista “ignorance, (lit.) not-knowing” ✧ PE22/153
- ᴺQ. lalevítë “lame”
- Q. lamate “fasting, a fast”
- Q. lamélima “unlovable” ✧ PE22/156
- ᴺQ. lanéya “recently, not long ago”
- Q. lanotoitë “innumerable”
- ᴺQ. latanca “unsure, insecure”
- ᴺQ. lavéla “different, dissimilar”
Variations
- la ✧ PE22/153; PE22/153 (la)
- lă ✧ PE22/156 (lă)
ala-
not
lá-
verb. to not be
Changes
lamin→ lanye ✧ VT49/13Derivations
Element in
- Q. ála “do not” ✧ VT43/22
- Q. epetai i hyarma ú ten ulca símaryassen “consequently the left hand was not to them evil in their imaginations” ✧ VT49/13
- ᴺQ. laitë “false”
- Q. melin sé apa lanyë hé “I love him but not him (the other)” ✧ VT49/15
- Q. melinyes apa la hé “I love him but not him (the other)” ✧ VT49/15
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶lā > lanye [lanye] ✧ PE22/153 ✶lājā > laia [lājā] > [laijā] > [laija] > [laia] ✧ PE22/153 √(A)LA > lā- [lā-] ✧ PE22/156 √ala > lá [lā-] ✧ VT42/33 √ala > lā [lā-] ✧ VT49/13 ✶lājā > laia [lājā] > [laijā] > [laija] > [laia] ✧ VT49/13 Variations
- la ✧ PE22/154; VT43/22; VT49/15
- lā- ✧ PE22/156
- lá ✧ VT42/33; VT49/13; VT49/13
- lā ✧ VT49/13
- lamin ✧ VT49/13 (
lamin)
la
no, not
ala
not
ala, #ála (1) imperative particle á, a combined with the negation lá, -la "not" to express a prohibition (VT43:22; see lá #1). Also with 1st person suffix -lyë (alalyë and álalyë, VT43:10, 22, VT44:8) and 1st person pl. object suffix -më (alamë and álamë, "do not [do something to] us", as in álamë tulya, "do not lead us", VT43:12, 22). In the essay Quendi and Eldar, negative imperatives are rather indicated by áva, q.v., but this form can well coexist with ala, #ála.
il-
verb. no, *un-
il- (prefix) "no, *un-" (LA); cf. ilfirin "immortal" (vs. firin "dead"). This prefix "denotes the opposite, the reversal, i.e. more than the mere negation" (VT42:32). But il- can also mean "all, every"; see ilaurëa, ilqua, ilquen.
lá
no, not
lá (1) adv. "no, not" (LA, VT45:25) According to VT42:33, lá is the stressed form, alternating with la when the negation is unstressed. In another conceptual phase of Tolkien's, lá had the opposite meaning "yes" (VT42:32-33), but this idea is contradicted by both earlier and later material: usually lá is conceived as a negation. The negation can receive tense markers and be used as a negative verb "when [another] verb is not expressed" (VT49:13), apparently where the phrase "is not" is followed by a noun or an adjective as a predicate, or where some verb is understood, as in English "I do not" (i.e. "I do not do whatever the context indicates"). With pronominal endings la- in the aorist, e.g. lanyë "I do not, am not" (etc.) (Tolkien abandoned the form lamin.) Exemplified in the sentence melin sé apa lanyë hé *"I love him but I do not [love] him" (another person) (VT49:15). Present tense laia, past lánë, perfect alaië, future lauva.
lá
adverb. no, not
Derivations
- √LA “no, not; negative; not to be” ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33
Element in
- Q. ála “do not”
- Q. alasaila ná lá carë tai mo nave mára “it is unwise not to do what one judges good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. itas la tuluvanyë “in that case I shan’t come (something will prevent me)” ✧ PE22/162
- Q. lá asanyë “I don’t wish to, I don’t agree” ✧ PE22/166
- Q. lá carita i hamil mára alasaila ná “not to do (in this case) what you judge good (would be) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. lá caritas alasaila cé nauva “not doing this may be/prove unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. lá caritas, navin, alasaila ná “not doing this would be (I think) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. la navin caritalyas mára “I do not advise you to do so, (lit.) I don’t judge your doing (it) good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. láquet- “to deny (fact or accusation); (lit.) to say ‘it is not’”
- Q. lá istan “I suppose so, I don’t know” ✧ PE22/158
- Q. quí(ta) la tuldes, nánë márië (nin) “[if he had not come], it was well to me (I was glad)” ✧ PE22/158
- Q. lasir “rather the reverse” ✧ VT49/18
- ᴺQ. yola “neither, nor”
- ᴺQ. yúla “neither, nor”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √ALA > lā [lā] ✧ PE22/153 √ala > la [lā] ✧ VT42/33 Variations
- lā ✧ PE22/153; VT49/13
- la ✧ PE22/154; PE22/158 (la); PE22/160; PE22/162; VT42/33; VT49/18
- lá ✧ PE22/154; PE22/158; PE22/160; PE22/161; PE22/166; PE22/166; VT42/33; VT42/33
ui
no
ui interjection "no" (originally an endingless negative verb in the 3rd person aorist: "it is not [so]"; see #u-). Apparently this is the word for "no" used to deny that something is true (compare vá, which is rather used to reject orders, or to issue negative orders). (VT49:28) Compare uito.
ala- (2) negative prefix "not", "un-", reduced to al- before a vowel (VT42:33, GALA, VT45:25), though the example Alcorin would suggest that al- can sometimes appear before a consonant as well. In a deleted entry in Etym, al(a)- was defined as "not" and said to be a "pure negative" (VT45:5). In alahasta, Alamanyar, alasaila, Alcorin.