ug

root. dislike

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 entry negative for a more information on the conceptual development of this and other negative roots.

Derivatives

• ✶ugrā “nasty” ✧ PE22/160
  • Q. úra “torrid, sultry, unpleasantly hot” ✧ PE22/160
  • S. oer “nasty” ✧ PE22/160
• Q. ú- “no, not, un-, in-; hard, difficult, bad, uneasy; hardly, with difficulty, ‘badly’” ✧ PE22/160
• Q. uhta- “to dislike, feel disgust with, avoid as painful or nasty” ✧ PE22/160
• Q. úra “nasty” ✧ VT43/24
• Q. urra “bad”
• S. ú- “no, not, negative; impossible, no, not, negative; impossible; [N.] bad-” ✧ PE22/160

ugu

root. expressing privation