lá

preposition/adverb. beyond, across, athwart, over

A preposition for “beyond” and an element in better-known pella of similar meaning. Tolkien described it extensively in some notes from around 1965 trying to determine why pella was used as post-position (PE17/65). Tolkien first considered making lá a deictic (demonstrative) element referring to something like “far away [there]”, so that lá was also used as a post-position as in Andúne lá “beyond (distant) Andúne”, while pella had a more elaborate meaning as in Andúne pella “beyond the boundary fixed in or by Andúne”.

Tolkien was dissatisfied with this derivation, however, because of its similarity to French là = “there”. He instead decided that lā was a preposition or adverb meaning “across, over, beyond” based on √LAŊ. He decided pella should be modified to palla where the initial element was √PAL “broad, wide” also seen in palan “far”. This revision of pella >> palla did not appear elsewhere, however.

In this 1965 note Tolkien said that lá was static and had different moving forms like allative lanna, as in caitas lá i sír “it is [lies] beyond the river” vs. lendes lann’ i sír “he came [went] to a point beyond the river”.

The word lá “beyond” reappeared in notes on comparison from around 1967, where it was the normal way of saying “A is brighter than B”: A (ná) kalima lá B, more literally “A is bright beyond B” (PE17/90). In this note Tolkien derived lá from √LAƷA “cross, pass over, go beyond” similar to the conclusion of the 1965 note above (PE17/91), but in 1967 its elaboration was once again pella “beyond the boundary” (PE17/92).

Conceptual Development: The earliest precursor of this word was probably ᴱQ. la “before” appearing in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s (PE15/70). In the contemporaneous Early Qenya Grammar, this word was used in comparisons to mean “than” (PE14/48, 81). Contrast this with a 1957-59 document where epë “before” was used for comparison (PE17/56), and the 1967 document mentioned above where lá was again used for comparison but in its later sense “beyond” (PE17/90-92).

In drafts of the Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930, the similar word ᴱQ. ala appeared, first with the sense “before” (PE16/62, 68) and then with the sense “after” (MC/221). The final version of the Oilima Markirya presented in the “A Secret Vice” essay circa 1930 had ala with the translation “beyond” (MC/214). This last instance was the likely precursor to later lá “beyond”, and the version of Markirya poem from the 1960s used post-position pella instead of preposition ala.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume lá is a preposition or adverb meaning “beyond” or “across” in the sense “past or on the other side of”: i coa hare lá i síre “the house sits beyond/across/on the other side of the river (either close or far)”. It can be used of both physical and metaphorical position, and in this metaphorical sense can be used for comparison: Aragorn (ná) halla lá Gimli “Aragorn is tall beyond Gimli” = “taller than Gimli”. Lá can be used in the sense “over” as in “over there”, but for “over = above” I would instead use Q. or. In English “beyond” sometimes has a connotation of great distance due to its connection to “yonder” but that is not the case for simple lá in Quenya; “far beyond” would instead be haila.