-û

suffix. masculine suffix

A suffix used to form masculine nouns from common or neuter nouns (SD/435). Another common variant was -ô (SD/438).

û

interjection. no

adv. or interj. no, not (of fact).

û

adverb/interjection. no, not, no, not, [G.] nor

û

noun. voice

ū

root. denial of fact, privation, negative element, denial of fact, privation, negative element, [ᴱ√] not

A negative root first mentioned as ᴱ√Ū “not” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with various derivatives in Qenya and Gnomish (QL/96, 98; GL/73). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it became {ᴹ√ƷŪ >>} ᴹ√GŪ or ᴹ√MŪ “no, not”, and in this document had “evil connotations” (Ety/GŪ, MŪ; EtyAC/ƷŪ), but in later writings it again became √Ū (PE17/143; PE22/153). For much of its existence this root was in competition with invertible √LA for negation, but in notes from 1959 Tolkien decided √Ū was the only negative root (PE17/143), though √LA was briefly restored in 1969 (PE22/160) only to be abandoned again (VT44/4). For a full history of Tolkien’s shifting conceptions of negation in Elvish, see the Quenya entry on the negative.