ua- negative verb "not do, not be". If a verb is to be negated, ua (coming before the verb) receives any pronominal endings (and presumably also any endings for plurality or duality, -r or -t), whereas the uninflected tense-stem of the verb follows: With the ending -n for "I", one can thus have constructions like uan carë "I do not" (aorist), uan carnë "I did not" (past), uan cára "I am not doing" (present), uan caruva "I shall not do" (future). The verb ua- can itself be fully conjugated: #ua aorist (or present?), únë (past), úva "(future), #uië (perfect) (the aorist and perfect are attested only with the ending -n "I"). In "archaic Quenya" these tense-forms could be combined with an uninflected aorist stem, e.g. future *úvan carë = later Quenya uan caruva, "I shall not do". In later Quenya, only the forms ua (present or aorist) and "occasionally" the past tense form #únë were used in normal prose (únen* "I did not, was not"). (PE17:144; compare FS for úva** as a future-tense negative verb "will not")
Quenya
u-
not do, not be
ua-
not do, not be
ua-
verb. to not be, to not do
Element in
- Q. álamë tulya úsahtienna “[and] lead us not into temptation” ✧ VT43/21; VT43/21
- Q. uan carë “I do not make” ✧ PE17/144
- Q. uan cára “I am not making” ✧ PE17/144
- Q. uan carnë “I did not make” ✧ PE17/144
- Q. uan caruva “I am not going to make” ✧ PE17/144; PE17/144
Variations
- ua ✧ PE17/144
ui-
verb. to not be, to not do
Derivations
Element in
- Q. epetai i hyarma ú ten ulca símaryassen “consequently the left hand was not to them evil in their imaginations” ✧ VT49/13
- Q. ui “no, it is n[ot]”
- Q. uin carë “I do not make” ✧ PE17/068; PE22/152
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √ū̆gu/gū > ū- [ugu-] > [uɣu-] > [ū-] ✧ VT49/29 √ū̆gu/gū > ui [ugi] > [uɣi] > [ui] ✧ VT49/29 ✶ugilme > uilme [ugilme] > [uɣilme] > [uilme] ✧ VT49/29 Variations
- ú ✧ VT49/13
- ū- ✧ VT49/29 (
ū-)
ú-
verb. not-, un-, in-
ú- (2) prefix "not-, un-, in-", denying presence or possession of thing or quality (VT39:14, UGU/UMU/VT46:20, GŪ, LT1:272), or simply suggesting something bad or immoral (see #úcar-, Úmaiar). Tolkien at one point considered redefining ú- as an element signifying "bad, uneasy, hard"; the already-published form únótima would then mean "difficult/impossible to count" rather than simply "uncountable" (VT42:33). However, Tolkien's very last word on the matter seems to be that ú- was to remain a mere negative (VT44:4). Compare úa, q.v. According to the Etymologies, the prefix ú- usually has a "bad sense", whereas according to early material u- (uv-, um-, un-) is a "mere negation" (UGU/UMU vs. VT42:32) According to a later source, ú- could be used as an uninflected verbal prefix, mainly in verse, but in a normal style the prefix was "verbalized" as ua-, q.v. (PE17:144). The stem Ū, as a negation, was accompanied by "pursed lips and shaking of the head" (PE17:145).
ú-
prefix. no, not, un-, in-; hard, difficult, bad, uneasy; hardly, with difficulty, ‘badly’
Cognates
- S. ú- “no, not, negative; impossible, no, not, negative; impossible; [N.] bad-” ✧ PE17/062
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺQ. úpuhta- “to fornicate”
- ᴺQ. úhep- “to lose, (lit.) to un-keep”
- ᴺQ. únet- “to lose, (lit.) to un-get”
- Q. úcalima “dim, murky, dim, murky, *not bright” ✧ PE22/156
- Q. úcar- “*to trespass, do wrong, sin”
- Q. úcarë “*sin, debt, trespass”
- Q. úcárima “hard to do, difficult” ✧ PE22/156
- Q. úcarnë “not red” ✧ PE22/152
- ᴺQ. úcim- “disregard”
- ᴺQ. úfailië “unrighteousness”
- Q. úfantima “not concealable”
- Q. úfanwëa “not veiled, unveiled”
- ᴺQ. úhandë “unreason, incomprehension”
- Q. úχarin “unmarred” ✧ PE17/150
- Q. Úlairi “Ring-wraiths, (lit.) ?Un-living, Un-summer”
- ᴺQ. úlaita- “to dishonour”
- ᴺQ. úlévima “paralyzed, lame”
- Q. Úmaiar “Evil Spirits”
- Q. úmaitë “clumsy(-handed), unskilled”
- Q. Úmaneldi “*Elves not of Aman”
- Q. Úmanyar “Those not of Aman”
- Q. úmara “bad, ill-used, evil, sinister” ✧ VT49/15
- Q. úmárë “not good = evil” ✧ PE22/152
- Q. únat “thing impossible to be or to be done”
- Q. únehta “*atom”
- Q. Úner “Noman” ✧ UT/211
- Q. únotë(a) “not counted, uncounted” ✧ PE17/143; VT39/14
- Q. únótima “numberless, innumerable, countless, difficult/impossible to count” ✧ PE17/062; PE17/063; PE17/143; PE22/156; PE22/160; VT39/14; VT42/33
- ᴺQ. únut- “to untie”
- Q. únyárima “impossible to recount”
- Q. úpa “dumb [unable to speak]”
- Q. úpahtëa “speechless”
- ᴺQ. úpoica “unclean”
- ᴺQ. úqua “nothing”
- ᴺQ. úquen “nobody, no one”
- Q. úquétima “unspeakable, impossible to say or put into words, unpronounceable”
- Q. úsahtië “inducement to do wrong, *temptation”
- Q. úsië “on the contrary” ✧ VT49/18
- Q. úsir “on the contrary” ✧ VT49/18
- ᴺQ. útancië “uncertainty”
- ᴺQ. útulya- “to mislead”
- ᴺQ. útúrima “unruly”
- Q. úvana “marred”
- Q. úvanë(a) “without beauty”
- Q. úvanima “not fair, ugly; hard to call beautiful, hideous” ✧ PE17/143; PE22/156; VT39/14
- Q. úvanimo “monster, corrupt or evil creature”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √UG > ú [ugu-] > [uɣu-] > [ū-] ✧ PE22/160 √û > ú [ū-] ✧ VT42/33 Variations
- ū- ✧ PE17/062; PE17/144; PE22/152; PE22/156
- ū ✧ PE22/156; PE22/167; VT44/04
- ú ✧ PE22/160; VT42/33
- Ú- ✧ UT/211 (Ú-)
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.
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.
-ro
he
-ro pronominal ending "he", in antaváro, q.v. In Tolkiens later Quenya, the ending -s covers both "he", "she" and "it".
uin
uin
uin (1) see #u-.
ala-
not
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.
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)
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.
essë
he
essë (2) pron? "he" (and also "she, it"?), possible emphatic 3rd sg. emphatic pronoun, attested in the sentence essë úpa nas "he is dumb" (PE17:126)
la
no, not
la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)
lacaraite
adjective. impossible
lacaraitë
adjective. impossible, *inactive; impossible
Changes
alákăraite→ lắkăraite “impossible” ✧ PE22/156Elements
Word Gloss la- “not, in-, un-” caraitë “active, busy, active, busy; [ᴹQ.] able to make, handy, crafty, craftsmanlike, skilled” Variations
- lắkăraite ✧ PE22/156
- alákăraite ✧ PE22/156 (
alákăraite)
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.
se
he, she, it
se (1) pron. "he, she, it" also object "him, her, it", 3rd person sg. Used "of living things including plants" (VT49:37; the corresponding inaimate pronoun is sa). The pronoun comes directly from se as the original stem-form (VT49:50). Stressed form sé, VT49:51, attested in object position in melin sé "I love him" (VT49:21). Ósë "with him/her", VT43:29; see ó-. Long dative/allative sena "[to/for] him" or "at him", VT49:14, allative senna "to him/her" (VT49:45, 46). Compare the reflexive pronoun insë *"himself, herself".
#u- vb. "not do, not be" (1st pers. aorist uin "I do not, am not"), pa.t. úmë (UGU/UMU). A late (ca. 1968) source gives the forms uin, uin(yë) "I am not", uil(yë) "you are not", uis "it is not", uilmë "we are not", uir "are not" and endingless ui *"is not" (VT49:29, 36); these forms were however struck out. The example uin carë "I dont" (PE17:68) combines this negative verb with a following verb in the "simplest aorist infinitive". Compare ua in another late source. See also ui, which (despite its use as an interjection "no") seems to be the endingless 3rd person aorist.