In a 1969 essay on negation, Tolkien restored √LA as basis for the “negative of fact”, and altered the meaning of Q. ú to be “bad, uneasy, hard” as a sort of “negative with a bad sense” based on this new root √UG “dislike” (PE22/160). This is similar to the usage of these ú-forms in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where the root ᴹ√GŪ was a negative root, but its derivative ᴹQ. ú- was “not (with evil connotation)” (Ety/GŪ), though in the 1930s it seems to have been a true negative, as opposed to 1969 where it meant “difficult” or “impossible”. See the entry on the Quenya negative for a more information on the conceptual development of this and other negative roots.
Primitive elvish
la
root. no, not; negative; not to be
lā-
verb. to not be
(au)be
adverb. not so
ala
root. no, not; negative; not to be
hek-wā
preposition and adverb. leaving aside, not counting, excluding, except
lasa
adverb. not it = it is/was not so
lāni/lanjē karnē-sa
I did not do it
lā̆-ni
I (am/do) not, not me
ndī
preposition. beneath, not touching, under
nuktā-
verb. stunt, prevent from coming to completion, stop short, not allow to continue
wini
noun. child not yet full grown
ñgwaurō
noun. wolf (not wild wolves)
ug
root. dislike
au-
prefix. away
awa-
prefix. away
awā
adverb. away
bani
adjective. fair
khyē̆
pronoun. other person
mat-
verb. to eat
melā-
verb. to love
mō
noun. person
te
pronoun. they
tī
pronoun. they
ugu
root. expressing privation
wanyā
adjective. fair
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.