Eldamo : Primitive Elvish : LA

√LA root. “no, not; negative; not to be”

√LA root. “no, not; negative; not to be”: √LĀ “interjection of pleasure/assent”

An invertible root, √LA or √ALA, used for negation. Its earliest iteration was as the primitive negative prefix ᴱ✶ḷ- from the 1910s (GL/50; PE12/11; QL/97). Its first appearance as ᴹ√LA “no, not” was in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/LA), and it regularly appeared in documents from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Tolkien then abandoned this form of negation in 1959 (PE17/143), but restored it again around 1969 (PE22/160) only to abandon it again shortly after (VT44/4). For a full history of Tolkien’s shifting conceptions of negation in Elvish, see the Quenya entry on the negative.

References ✧ PE17/143, 146, 158; PE18/84, 88; PE22/140, 153, 156; VT42/32-33; VT48/25; VT49/13

Glosses

“neg. element” ✧ PE22/153 (LĀ)
“negative” ✧ PE22/156 ((A)LA)
“negative base” ✧ PE22/140 (AL)
“negative element” ✧ PE22/153 (ALA); VT49/13 (ala)
“no, not” ✧ VT48/25 (al/la)
“not” ✧ PE18/88 (al); PE17/143 (AL); VT42/32 (al)
“not to be” ✧ PE18/84 (LA)

Variations

LA ✧ PE17/146; PE17/158; PE18/88; PE17/143 (LA); PE18/84 (LA); VT42/32 (la)
AL ✧ PE17/146; PE18/88; PE22/140; PE22/140; PE17/143 (AL); VT42/32 (al)
lā ✧ PE22/140; PE22/153
ALA ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33; VT49/13
(A)LA ✧ PE22/156
al/la ✧ VT48/25

LĀ “neg. element” should be like (NĀ̆) only in form LĀ to avoid clash with GAL ✧ PE22/153
Ú “neg. element” is not a suitable negative element ... the negative element is to be ALA “negative element” ✧ PE22/153

Derivatives

> ᴺQ. !lana “no, not any, not (a); none”
> ᴺS. !lad “nothing, zero”
> ᴺS. !law² “not”
> ✶lā- “to not be” ✧ PE22/153
- > ᴺS. !lae- “to not be”
- ⇒ ✶lasa “not it = it is/was not so” ✧ PE22/140
  - > Q. las “it is/was not so” ✧ PE22/140
- > Q. lá- “to not be” ✧ PE22/153; PE22/153; VT49/13
  - ⇒ 5 compounds
> Q. al(a)-¹ “in-, un-, not; †-less, without” ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33
- ⇒ 33 compounds
> Q. ala-² “to deny”
> Q. la- “not, in-, un-”
- ⇒ 17 compounds
> Q. lá- “to not be” ✧ PE22/156; VT42/33; VT49/13
- ⇒ 5 compounds
> Q. lá¹ “no, not” ✧ PE22/153; VT42/33; VT42/33
- ⇒ 14 compounds
> S. al-¹ “no, not”
- ⇒ 6 compounds

ᴹ√LA root. “no, not; to be not”

See √LA for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/AR², LA; EtyAC/ALA, LA; PE18/60; PE22/126

Glosses

“no” ✧ EtyAC/ALA (LĀ)
“no, not” ✧ Ety/LA; EtyAC/ALA (ALA); EtyAC/LA (LA)
“to be not” ✧ PE18/60

Variations

LA ✧ Ety/AR²; Ety/LA; PE18/60; EtyAC/LA (LA)
ALA ✧ PE22/126; EtyAC/ALA (ALA); EtyAC/LA (ALA); EtyAC/LA (ALA)
LĀ ✧ PE22/126; EtyAC/ALA (LĀ)

LĀ “no” ✧ EtyAC/ALA

Derivatives

> ᴹ✶al “without” ✧ Ety/AR²
- > N. al- “no, not”
  - ⇒ N. Alchorin “Not-of-Kôr” ✧ Ety/LA
- ⇒ N. Alchorin “Not-of-Kôr” ✧ Ety/AR²
> ᴹ✶la- “no, not, negative prefix” ✧ Ety/LA; Ety/LA; EtyAC/LA
- > ᴹQ. al(a)- “not, negative prefix” ✧ PE19/56
  - ⇒ 11 compounds
- > ᴹQ. il- “no, not” ✧ Ety/LA; EtyAC/LA
  - ⇒ ᴹQ. ilfirin “immortal”
  - ⇒ ᴹQ. Ilkorin “Not of Kôr” ✧ Ety/LA; EtyAC/LA
- > N. al- “no, not” ✧ Ety/LA
  - ⇒ N. Alchorin “Not-of-Kôr” ✧ Ety/LA
- ⇒ N. Alchorin “Not-of-Kôr” ✧ EtyAC/LA
> ᴹQ. al(a)- “not, negative prefix” ✧ EtyAC/ALA; EtyAC/LA
- ⇒ 11 compounds
> ᴹQ. lá- “to not be” ✧ PE22/126
- ⇒ 15 compounds
> ᴹQ. lá¹ “no, not” ✧ Ety/LA; EtyAC/LA; EtyAC/LA
- ⇒ 10 compounds
> ᴹQ. lala- “to deny” ✧ Ety/LA; EtyAC/LA
⇒ ᴹQ. laqe[t]- “[unglossed]” ✧ EtyAC/LA