-un

suffix. masculine subjective suffix

The subjective suffix for singular masculine-nouns (SD/430, 436), reduced to -n when the noun ends in a vowel.

ú-

prefix. un, bad-

nū/unu

root. down, under; go down, sink

This root and ones like it were used for Elvish words for “under” and “(going) down” for much of Tolkien’s life. Probably the first appearance of this root was ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down; stoop, sink” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variant ᴱ√NŪ appearing in parenthesis, though marked by Tolkien with a “?” (QL/68). The most notable derivative of this root was ᴱQ. núme “west”, and Q. núme(n) remained the Quenya word for “west” for the remainder of Tolkien’s life. Elsewhere in the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien compared the root ᴱ√Ū “under” to the short form of this root ᴱ√NŪ, but went on to note that “Ū- = not” (QL/96), perhaps the inspiration for him later transferring the sense “under” to √NŪ. As for the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, the root ᴱ√NŪ/NUHU had derivatives like G. nûmin “the west” and G. nunthi “downward” (GL/61). Of ᴱ√Ū¹ “under” there is no sign, though there are plenty Gnomish derivatives of ᴱ√Ū “not” (GL/73).

Indeed, by the Markiya poem of the late 1920s, Tolkien was using ᴱQ. nu for “under” (MC/214), though in the drafts he initially used no (PE16/62, 72). In The Etymologies of the 1930s he had the unglossed invertible root ᴹ√NU/UNU with derivatives like ᴹQ. nu/N. no “under” (Ety/NU). The only notable derivative of its inverted form was ᴹQ. undu “down, under, beneath” (Ety/UNU), which reemerged in the Q. Namárië poem in Q. undulav- “swallow, (lit.) down-licked” (LotR/377; PE17/72; RGEO/58).

In The Etymologies Tolkien also gave a new strengthened form of this root ᴹ√NDŪ “go down, sink, set (of Sun, etc.)”, now serving as the basis for words for “west” like ᴹQ. númen, N. dûn or N. annûn, though strictly speaking the latter was the cognate of ᴹQ. andúne “sunset” (Ety/NDŪ), a Quenya word that was also frequently used for “The West”. All these Quenya and Noldorin words reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings, with the caveat that in Sindarin Tolkien used S. nu for “under” as in S. Taur-nu-Fuin “Forest under Nightshade” (S/155). The root √NU, its inversion √UNU and its strengthened form √NDU appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writing, consistently with senses like “under, (go) down, sink”.

al(a)-

prefix. in-, un-, not; †-less, without

ala-

prefix. un-; -less; non-, without

ar hísië untúpa calaciryo míri oialë

and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya forever

End of the thirteenth and the fourteenth lines @@@

ar hísië untúpa calaciryo míri oialë

and mist covers (lit. down-roofs) Calacirya’s jewels forever

The 14th phrase in the prose Namárië, which is essentially the same as its poetic version, differing only in its more literal translation. There is nothing particularly notable about its word order.

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.

la-

prefix. not, in-, un-, not, in-, un-; [ᴹQ.] none, not any

un-

in evil sense

un- intensive prefix used before qu; the assimilated variant um- is said to occur before p, and "b" (the latter evidently = v developed from prehistoric b, but following um- its original quality would be preserved so that we would see umb-). This prefix is reportedly only used "in evil sense"; otherwise the intensive prefix is an- (and assimilated variants thereof). (VT45:5)

undu

adverb. down, under, down, under, [ᴹQ.] beneath

An adverb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “down, under, beneath” under the root ᴹ√UNU, parallel to amba “up(wards)” (Ety/UNU). It was also used as a prefix meaning “down, under” in unduláve “swallowed = down-licked” from the Namárië “poem” (LotR/377; PE17/72). As a prefix, it had a shorter form un(u)- as in untup- “cover down” (PE17/73) and [ᴹQ.] unutikse “under dot [in writing]” (Ety/TIK).

Conceptual Development: A rejected page of verbal roots from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 had ᴹQ. undu “down from on high” (prefixal form unu-) and ᴹQ. undo “down, low down”, both based on ᴹ√NDŪ (PE22/127).

untup-

verb. to cover (over or up), lie as a covering upon, (lit.) to cover down

A verb appearing in the Namárië poem (LotR/377; RGEO/58), a combination of un- “down” and tup- “cover” (PE17/73). The poem translates this word as “covers”, but notes elsewhere indicate the actual meaning is “lies as a covering upon” (PE17/73).

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’

úlairi

collective name. Ring-wraiths, (lit.) ?Un-living, Un-summer

Quenya name of the Nazgûl, of unclear meaning (S/296, PM/175). The first element is likely the negative prefix ú-. The second element resembles a plural form of the noun lairë “summer”, so perhaps it means “✱Un-summer”, referring to their cold and undead nature. Alternately, the second element could a derivative of an unattested primitive noun ✱lay-ro “living one” from the root √LAY (having to do with life), so that the name means “✱Un-living”. Both these derivations are quite speculative.

úhep-

verb. to lose, (lit.) to un-keep

únet-

verb. to lose, (lit.) to un-get