lala-

verb. to laugh

al-

prefix. no, not

gladh-

verb. to laugh, to laugh [at a joke], *guffaw

This word is not compatible with the name Lalaith “Laughter” attested in The Silmarillion. The most likely explanation of this name is that it is the unattested verb ✱lala- “laugh” with the abstract noun suffix -th seen in tirith “watch(ing)” and sirith “flowing”. This indicates a primitive form ✶lala- instead of ✶glada- (both primitives produce Quenya lala-). If you were to accept gladh- as the Sindarin word for “laugh”, then the word for “laughter” would perhaps be the equivalent abstract noun ✱gladhath, and the name Lalaith might be a mix of Quenya and Sindarin. @@@ Neo-Sindarin uses

baw

interjection. no, don't!

gladh-

verb. to laugh

ú

prefix. no, not (negative prefix or particle)

û

interjection. no

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

û

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

baw!

no

! (interjection expressing refusal or prohibition, not denying facts) baw! (dont!) Prefix

baw!

no

(don’t!) Prefix

gladha

laugh

(verb) gladha- (i **ladha, in gladhar**)

gladha

laugh

(i ’ladha, in gladhar)

gú

no, not

also ú

gú

no, not

gú-, also ú-

lall

noun. laugh

lala-

verb. to laugh

lala-

verb. laugh

lala-(1) vb. "laugh" (PM:359), possibly with pa.t. *landë because the stem is given as g-lada-.

lala-

verb. to deny

lala- (2) vb. "to deny" (LA)

lala

no indeed not, on the contrary

lala (3) negation "no indeed not, on the contrary" ("also used for asking incredulous questions") (LA)

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

lalda

noun. laugh

lalamma-

verb. to chatter, babble

@@@ frequentative

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

no, not

la negation "no, not" (see lá); also prefix la- as in lacarë, q.v. (VT45:25)

lau

no indeed not, on the contrary

lau negation "no indeed not, on the contrary" ("also used for asking incredulous questions") (LA)

laumë

no indeed not, on the contrary

laumë < lá umë negation "no indeed not, on the contrary" ("also used for asking incredulous questions")This is a combination of the negation lá "not" and the negative verb umë "is not, does not" (LA)

lá umë

no indeed not, on the contrary

lá umë > laumë negation "no indeed not, on the contrary" ("also used for asking incredulous questions"). This is a combination of the negation lá "not" and the negative verb umë "is not, does not" (LA)

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.

cacarpa-

verb. to chatter

lal

root. laugh

A root for “laugh” appearing in notes written around 1959 (PE17/159), likely connected to S. Lalaith “Laughter”, the name of Túrin’s deceased sister (S/198). Some possible precursors appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: unglossed ᴱ√LALA whose derivatives had to do with babbling (QL/50), and ᴱ√KAKA “laugh” with derivatives in both Qenya and Gnomish (QL/44; GL/24).

Tolkien gave a different primitive form ✶glada- as the basis for “laugh” words in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s; this produced S. glað- but still resulted in Q. lala- (PM/359). This new primitive had two problems (1) it is not compatible with S. Lalaith and (2) it shows a rather unusual assimilation of primitive d to preceding l in Quenya rather than the normal change to r: ✶(g)lada- > laða- > Q. lala- instead of ✱✱lara-. Elsewhere such assimilation did not occur, for example Q. lerembas < ✶led(e)mbasse (PE17/52).

Thus for purposes of Neo-Eldarin I think it is preferable to assume √LAL was the root for “laugh” words. However, I also think it is worth retaining √GLAD as a Sindarin-only root for similar concepts, perhaps “guffaw” and “joke”, given the limited semantic space we have in Elvish roots.

glada-

verb. laugh

al-

prefix. no, not

al-

prefix. no, not

@@@ the phrase “the only place in Noldorin where the primitive prefix is preserved” was deleted (EtyAC/AR²)

mû

interjection. no

glada-

verb. to laugh