Quenya 

áva

don't!

áva, avá (the latter stressed on the final syllable) "Don't!", negative imperative particle (compare ala, #ála). Cf. ávan "I won't" (also ván, ványë); áva carë! ("k") "don't do it!" (WJ:371)

áva

particle. don’t, negative imperative

Cognates

  • S. ava- “will not, do not” ✧ PE17/143; WJ/371; WJ/371; WJ/371
  • T. abá “don’t” ✧ WJ/371
  • T. aba- “to refuse, will not” ✧ WJ/371

Derivations

  • BĀ/ABA “refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), [ᴹ√] deny; away, go away, depart” ✧ PE17/143

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
á“imperative particle”
“will not, do not, shall not”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ABA > avá[abā] > [aβā] > [avā]✧ PE17/143

Variations

  • avá ✧ PE17/143; WJ/371
  • ává ✧ PE17/143
Quenya [PE17/143; WJ/371] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ava-

was not

ava- (4) vb with pa.t. avanë. This verb is not clearly glossed; apparently meaning refuse or prohibit(WJ:370). Cf. áva, Avamanyar. What is seems to be more or less the same verb has its principal tenses listed (with the ending -n "I") in VT49:13: aorist avan, present ávan (ávëan), future auvan for older avuvan, past avanen or auvan, perfect avávien. In one version of the paradigm, the present tense ávëan and past avanen are marked as archaic/poetic forms. One text seemingly uses the pa.t. aunë in the sense "was not", as a negative verb, but this may have been a short-lived idea of Tolkiens (the text was revised).

á

immediate time reference

a (3), also á, imperative particle. An imperative with "immediate time reference" is expressed by á in front of the verb (or "occasionally after it, sometimes before and after for emphasis"), with the verb following in "the simplest form also used for the uninflected aorist without specific time reference past or present or future" (PE17:93). Cf. a laita te, laita te! "[o] bless them, bless them!", á vala Manwë! "may Manwë order it!", literally "o rule Manwë!" (see laita, vala for reference); cf. also á carë "do[!]", á ricë "try!", á lirë "sing[!]", á menë "proceed[!]", a norë "run[!]" (PE17:92-93, notice short a in this example), á tula "come!" (VT43:14). In the last example, the verb tul- "come" receives an ending -a that probably represents the _suffixed form of the imperative particle, this apparently being an example of the imperative element occurring both "before and after" the verbal stem "for emphasis" (PE17:93)_. This ending may also appear on its own with no preceding a/á, as in the command queta "speak!" (PE17:138). Other examples of imperatives with suffixed -a include cena and tira (VT47:31, see cen-, tir-); the imperatives of these same verbs are however also attested as á tirë, á cenë (PE17:94) with the imperative particle remaining independent and the following verb appearing as an uninflected aorist stem. This aorist can be plural to indicate a 3rd person pl. subject: á ricir! "let them try!" (PE17:93). Alyë (VT43:17, VT44:9) seems to be the imperative particle a with the pronominal suffix -lyë "you, thou" suffixed to indicate the subject who is to carry out the command; attested in the phrase alyë anta "give thou" (elided aly' in VT43:11, since the next word begins in e-: aly' eterúna me, *"do thou deliver us"); presumably other pronominal suffixes could likewise be added. The particle a is also present in the negative imperatives ala, #ála or áva, q.v.

Quenya [Quettaparma Quenyallo] Group: Quettaparma Quenyallo. Published by

ala

not

ala, #ála (1) imperative particle á, a combined with the negation , -la "not" to express a prohibition (VT43:22; see #1). Also with 1st person suffix -lyë (alalyë and álalyë, VT43:10, 22, VT44:8) and 1st person pl. object suffix - (alamë and álamë, "do not [do something to] us", as in ála 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.

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.

auta-

verb. to go (away), depart, leave; to disappear, be lost, pass away

Cognates

  • S. gwae- “to go, depart” ✧ PE17/148
  • T. auta- “to go, depart, pass away” ✧ WJ/366

Derivations

  • WĀ/AWA “away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago, away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago; [ᴹ√] forth, out” ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; PE17/148; WJ/365
  • awta- ✧ PE17/063; WJ/366; WJ/366
    • WĀ/AWA “away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago, away (from); go (away), depart, pass away, move (from speaker); before (of time), ago; [ᴹ√] forth, out”

Element in

  • ᴺQ. autaila “going, passing, nearly gone”
  • Q. auta i lómë “The night is passing!” ✧ S/190; WJ/166
  • Q. áva márië “go happily” ✧ PE17/162
  • Q. vanwa “gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, gone, lost, departed, vanished, past, over, no longer to be had, passed away, dead, [ᴹQ.] gone for good; [ᴱQ.] on the road” ✧ PE17/063; WJ/366
  • ᴺQ. autamar “museum, (lit.) hall of the past”
  • Q. yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier “the years have passed like swift draughts” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
  • Q. yéni avánier ve lintë yuldar “years have passed away like swift draughts” ✧ RGEO/58

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
AWA > auta-[awta] > [auta]✧ PE17/063
wāne > vāne[wāne] > [βāne] > [vāne]✧ PE17/063
AWA > auta-[awta] > [auta]✧ PE17/063
AWA/WĀ > auta[awta] > [auta]✧ PE17/148
AWA > auta-[awta] > [auta]✧ WJ/365

Variations

  • auta- ✧ PE17/063; PE17/063; WJ/366
  • av|va ✧ PE17/063
  • auta ✧ PE17/148
Quenya [LotR/0377; PE17/063; PE17/148; PE17/162; PE22/164; RC/341; RGEO/58; S/190; WJ/166; WJ/366] Group: Eldamo. Published by

úa

do not thou lead us

úa, with 1st person suffix úalyë, imperative particle á, a combined with the negation ú- to express a prohibition (úalyë mittanya me, *"do not thou lead us", VT43:9, 21-22). However, Tolkien apparently abandoned úa in favour of ala, alalyë, q.v. (later he also used the form áva for "don't"). Compare ua.

Sindarin 

al-

prefix. not

pref. not. >> alfirin

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:101:146] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

ú

not

(adverbial prefix) ú-, u- (followed by lenition, e.g. ú-chebin ”I do not keep”) (without). Verb

ú

not

u- (followed by lenition, e.g. ú-chebin

ava

will not

(i ava, in avar).

al

not

al- (prefix) as in alfirin "not-mortal", immortal.

al

not

(prefix) as in alfirin "not-mortal", immortal.

law

adverb. not

Derivations

  • LA “no, not; negative; not to be”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

said

not common

(lenited haid; no distinct pl. form) (separate, private, excluded) (VT42:20)

Telerin 

aba-

prefix. not

Cognates

  • Q. ava- “negation (refusing or forbidden)” ✧ WJ/370

Derivations

  • BĀ/ABA “refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), [ᴹ√] deny; away, go away, depart” ✧ WJ/370

Element in

Variations

  • aba- ✧ WJ/371

abá

don’t

Cognates

  • Q. áva “don’t, negative imperative” ✧ WJ/371

Element in

Adûnaic

particle. don’t

A particle glossed “don’t” in the phrase bâ kitabdahê “Don’t touch me!”. It may be a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√AB “refuse, deny, say no”, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Adûnaic). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (VSH/25, AAD/13) it is an example of the optative mood mentioned by Tolkien SD/439, where “optative” is an expression of a desire or wish. If so, it expresses a negative wish. A positive wish might be expressed by the particle du.

Cognates

  • Q. “will not, do not, shall not”
  • S. baw “no, do not!”
  • T. “I will not, Do not!”

Derivations

  • BĀ/ABA “refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), refuse, forbid, prohibit, say nay (in refusal or denial), [ᴹ√] deny; away, go away, depart”

Element in

Variations

  • ✧ SD/250

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Early Primitive Elvish

ū

root. not

Derivatives

  • G. untha “no, none”
  • G. u- “negative prefix”
  • G. û- “not to be, not to do”
  • G. u “no, not, nor”
  • G. ug- “negative verb”
  • G. ub “no, none”
  • G. unt “nothing”

Element in

  • ᴱ√UMU “*negative” ✧ QL/098

Variations

  • Ū- ✧ QL/096
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/096; QL/098] Group: Eldamo. Published by