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.
Quenya
la
no, not
il-
verb. no, *un-
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.
lá
adverb. no, not
Derivations
- √LA “no, not; negative; not to be” ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33
Element in
- Q. ála “do not”
- Q. alasaila ná lá carë tai mo nave mára “it is unwise not to do what one judges good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. itas la tuluvanyë “in that case I shan’t come (something will prevent me)” ✧ PE22/162
- Q. lá asanyë “I don’t wish to, I don’t agree” ✧ PE22/166
- Q. lá carita i hamil mára alasaila ná “not to do (in this case) what you judge good (would be) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. lá caritas alasaila cé nauva “not doing this may be/prove unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. lá caritas, navin, alasaila ná “not doing this would be (I think) unwise” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. la navin caritalyas mára “I do not advise you to do so, (lit.) I don’t judge your doing (it) good” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/33
- Q. láquet- “to deny (fact or accusation); (lit.) to say ‘it is not’”
- Q. lá istan “I suppose so, I don’t know” ✧ PE22/158
- Q. quí(ta) la tuldes, nánë márië (nin) “[if he had not come], it was well to me (I was glad)” ✧ PE22/158
- Q. lasir “rather the reverse” ✧ VT49/18
- ᴺQ. yola “neither, nor”
- ᴺQ. yúla “neither, nor”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √ALA > lā [lā] ✧ PE22/153 √ala > la [lā] ✧ VT42/33 Variations
- lā ✧ PE22/153; VT49/13
- la ✧ PE22/154; PE22/158 (la); PE22/160; PE22/162; VT42/33; VT49/18
- lá ✧ PE22/154; PE22/158; PE22/160; PE22/161; PE22/166; PE22/166; VT42/33; VT42/33
Endien
autumn
Endien noun, alternative term for "autumn" (PM:135). In the Etymologies, the word Endien was assigned a quite different meaning: "Midyear, Midyear week", in the calendar of Valinor a week outside the months, between the sixth and seventh months, dedicated to the Trees; also called Aldalemnar (YEN, LEP/LEPEN/LEPEK)
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.
yávië
autumn
yávië noun "autumn" (SA:yávë); "autumn, harvest", in the calendar of Imladris a precisely defined period of 54 days, but also used without any exact definition (Appendix D). Noun yáviérë *"Autumn-day", a day outside the months in the Steward's Reckoning, inserted between Yavannië and Narquelië (September and October) (Appendix D)
la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)