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 ulanyë/u hé *“I love him but uI do not love/u him” another person VT49:15. Present tense laia, past lánë, perfect alaië, future lauva. 2 prep. “athwart, over, across, beyond” PE17:65, also used in phrases of comparison, e.g. "A ná calima lá B", A is bright beyond = brighter than B VT42:32. 3 interjection? "please" reading of gloss uncertain VT45:25