ú-

2 prefix "not-, un-, in-", denying presence or possession of thing or quality VT39:14, UGU/UMU/VT46:20, GŪ, LT1:272, or simply suggesting something bad or immoral see \#úcar-, Úmaiar. Tolkien at one point considered redefining ú- as an element signifying "bad, uneasy, hard"; the already-published form únótima would then mean "difficult/impossible to count" rather than simply "uncountable" VT42:33. However, Tolkien's very last word on the matter seems to be that ú- was to remain a mere negative VT44:4. Compare úa, q.v. According to the Etymologies, the prefix ú- usually has a "bad sense", whereas according to early material u- uv-, um-, un- is a "mere negation" UGU/UMU vs. VT42:32 According to a later source, ú- could be used as an uninflected verbal prefix, mainly in verse, but in a normal style the prefix was “verbalized” as ua-, q.v. PE17:144. The stem Ū, as a negation, was accompanied by “pursed lips and shaking of the head” PE17:145.