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Elvish languages of Middle-earth

The Elvish languages of Middle-earth, constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien, include Quenya and Sindarin. These were the various languages spoken by the Elves of Middle-earth as they developed as a society throughout the Ages. In his pursuit for realism and in his love of language, Tolkien was especially fascinated with the development and evolution of language through time. Tolkien created two almost fully developed languages and a dozen more in various beginning stages as he studied and reproduced the way that language adapts and morphs. A philologist by profession, he spent much time on his constructed languages. In the collection of letters he had written, posthumously published by his son, Christopher Tolkien, he stated that he began stories set within this secondary world, the realm of Middle-earth, not with the characters or narrative as one would assume, but with a created set of languages. The stories and characters serve as conduits to make those languages come to life. Inventing language was always a crucial piece to Tolkien's mythology and world building. As Tolkien stated:

The invention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows.[T 1]

Tolkien created scripts for his Elvish languages, of which the best known are Sarati, Tengwar, and Cirth.[1]

External history edit

Language construction edit

 
The first stanza of Tolkien's Quenya poem "Namárië", written in his Tengwar script.

J. R. R. Tolkien began to construct his first Elvin tongue c. 1910–1911 while he was at the King Edward's School, Birmingham and which he later named Quenya (c. 1915). At that time, Tolkien was already familiar with Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish, and several ancient Germanic languages, Gothic, Old Norse and Old English. He had invented several cryptographic codes such as Animalic, and two or three constructed languages including Naffarin. He then discovered Finnish, which he described many years later as "like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me."[T 2] He had started his study of the Finnish language to be able to read the Kalevala epic.

The ingredients in Quenya are various, but worked out into a self-consistent character not precisely like any language that I know. Finnish, which I came across when I first begun to construct a 'mythology' was a dominant influence, but that has been much reduced [now in late Quenya]. It survives in some features: such as the absence of any consonant combinations initially, the absence of the voiced stops b, d, g (except in mb, nd, ng, ld, rd, which are favoured) and the fondness for the ending -inen, -ainen, -oinen, also in some points of grammar, such as the inflexional endings -sse (rest at or in), -nna (movement to, towards), and -llo (movement from); the personal possessives are also expressed by suffixes; there is no gender.[T 3]

Tolkien with his Quenya pursued a double aesthetic goal: "classical and inflected".[T 4] This urge, in fact, was the motivation for his creation of a 'mythology'. While the language developed, he needed speakers, history for the speakers and all real dynamics, like war and migration: "It was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the necessary background of 'history' for Elvish tongues".[T 5][2]

The Elvish languages underwent countless revisions in grammar, mostly in conjugation and the pronominal system. The Elven vocabulary was not subject to sudden or extreme change; except during the first conceptual stage c. 1910–c. 1920. Tolkien sometimes changed the "meaning" of an Elvish word, but he almost never disregarded it once invented, and he kept on refining its meaning, and countlessly forged new synonyms. Moreover, Elven etymology was in a constant flux. Tolkien delighted in inventing new etymons for his Elvish vocabulary.

From the outset, Tolkien used comparative philology and the tree model as his major tools in his constructed languages. He usually started with the phonological system of the proto-language and then proceeded in inventing for each daughter language the many mechanisms of sound change needed.

I find the construction and the interrelation of the languages an aesthetic pleasure in itself, quite apart from The Lord of the Rings, of which it was/is in fact independent.[T 6]

In the early 30s Tolkien decided that the proto-language of the Elves was Valarin, the tongue of the gods or Valar: "The language of the Elves derived in the beginning from the Valar, but they change it even in the learning, and moreover modified and enriched it constantly at all times by their own invention."[T 7] In his Comparative Tables, Tolkien describes the mechanisms of sound change in the following daughter languages: Qenya, Lindarin (a dialect of Qenya), Telerin, Old Noldorin (or Fëanorian), Noldorin (or Gondolinian), Ilkorin (esp. of Doriath), Danian of Ossiriand, East Danian, Taliska, West Lemberin, North Lemberin, and East Lemberin.[T 8]

In his lifetime J.R.R. Tolkien never ceased to experiment on his constructed languages, and they were subjected to many revisions. They had many grammars with substantial differences between different stages of development. After the publication of The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955), the grammar rules of his major Elvish languages Quenya, Telerin and Sindarin went through very few changes (this is late Elvish 1954–1973).

Publication of Tolkien's linguistic papers edit

Two magazines (Vinyar Tengwar, from its issue 39 in July 1998, and Parma Eldalamberon, from its issue 11 in 1995) are exclusively devoted to the editing and publishing of J.R.R. Tolkien's gigantic mass of previously unpublished linguistic papers (including those omitted by Christopher Tolkien from "The History of Middle-earth"). However, no new publications have appeared since 2015. Access to the unpublished documents is severely limited, and the editors have yet not published a comprehensive catalogue of the documents they are working on.

Internal history edit

Internal history of Tolkien's Elvish languages
Primitive Quendian
the tongue of all Elves at Cuiviénen
Common Eldarin
the tongue of the Elves during the March
Avarin
combined languages of the Avari (at least six), some later merged with Nandorin
Quenya
the language of the Ñoldor and the Vanyar
Common Telerin
the early language of all the Lindar
Quendya
also Vanyarin Quenya, daily tongue of the Vanyar
Exilic Quenya
also Ñoldorin Quenya, colloquial speech of the Noldor
Telerin
the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands; a dialect of Quenya
Sindarin
language of the Sindar
Nandorin
languages of the Nandor, some were influenced by Avarin


The Elvish languages are a family of several related languages and dialects. Here is set briefly the story of the Elvish languages as conceived by Tolkien around 1965. They all originated from:

  • Primitive Quendian or Quenderin, the proto-language of all the Elves who awoke together in the far east of Middle-earth, Cuiviénen, and began "naturally" to make a language. All the Elvish languages are presumed to be descendants of this common ancestor.

Tolkien invented two subfamilies (subgroups) of the Elvish languages. "The language of the Quendelie (Elves) was thus very early sundered into the branches Eldarin and Avarin".[T 9]

  • Avarin is the language of various Elves of the Second and Third Clans, who refused to come to Valinor. It developed into at least six Avarin languages.
  • Common Eldarin is the language of the three clans of the Eldar during the Great March to Valinor. It developed into:
    • Quenya, the language of the Elves in Eldamar beyond the Sea; it divided into:
      • Vanyarin Quenya or Quendya, colloquial speech of the Vanyar, the Elves of the First Clan;
      • Noldorin Quenya (and later Exilic Quenya), colloquial speech of the Noldor, the Elves of the Second Clan.
    • Common Telerin, the early language of all the Teleri
      • Telerin, the language of the Teleri, Elves of the Third Clan, living in Tol Eressëa and Alqualondë.
      • Nandorin, the language of the Nandor, a branch of the Third Clan. It developed into various Nandorin and Silvan languages.
      • Sindarin is the language of the Sindar, a branch of the Third Clan, who dwelt in Beleriand. Its dialects include Doriathrin, in Doriath; Falathrin, in the Falas of Beleriand; North Sindarin, in Dorthonion and Hithlum; Noldorin Sindarin, spoken by the Exiled Noldor.

The acute accent (á, é, í, ó, ú) or circumflex accent (â, ê, î, ô, û, ŷ) marks long vowels in the Elvish languages. When writing Common Eldarin forms, Tolkien often used the macron to indicate long vowels. The diaeresis (ä, ë, ö) is normally used to show that a short vowel is to be separately pronounced, that it is not silent or part of a diphthong. For example, the last four letters of Ainulindalë represent two syllables, and the first three letters of Eärendil represent two syllables.

Internal development of the Elvish word for "Elves" edit

Below is a family tree of the Elvish languages, showing how the Primitive Quendian word kwendī "people" (later meaning "Elves") was altered in the descendant languages.[T 10]

Time Period Languages
The Awakening Primitive Quendian
The tongue of all Elves at Cuiviénen
kwendī
The Westward March Quenya
Vanyar and Noldor
Quendi
Common Eldarin
The tongue of the Elves during the March
Kwendī
Avarin
Avari, those Elves who stayed at Cuiviénen and from there spread across Middle-earth (many languages)

Kindi, Cuind, Hwenti, Windan, Kinn-lai

The First Age of the Sun Telerin
Teleri in Aman Pendi
Sindarin
Elves of the Third Clan in Beleriand did not use it: "P.Q. *kwende, *kwendī disappeared altogether."[T 10] The exiled Noldor used in their Sindarin:
Penedh, pl. Penidh[T 11]
Nandorin
Elves of Ossiriand sg. Cwenda[T 11]
   
Silvan[a]
The Wood-elves of the Vale of Anduin
Penni
 

The languages can thus be mapped to the migrations of the sundered elves.[T 10]

 
Elvish Languages mapped to the Sundering of the Elves: Languages (such as Quenya) are shown in Boldface Blue; examples are the words for "Elves" in those languages (such as "Quendi"), shown in Italic Black. These are overlaid on a map of Arda, with Aman on the left, Middle-earth on the right, the arrows and Green labels showing the migrations of the Elvish kindreds. The lowest Elves, the Avari, fragmented into many kindreds with different languages.[T 10] Locations are diagrammatic.

Fictional philology edit

A tradition of philological study of Elvish languages exists within the fiction of Tolkien's frame stories. Elven philologists are referred to by the Quenya term Lambengolmor. In Quenya, lambe means "spoken language" or "verbal communication."

The older stages of Quenya were, and doubtless still are, known to the loremasters of the Eldar. It appears from these notices that besides certain ancient songs and compilations of lore that were orally preserved, there existed also some books and many ancient inscriptions.[T 12]

Known members of the Lambengolmor were Rúmil, who invented the first Elvish script (the Sarati), Fëanor who later enhanced and further developed this script into his Tengwar, which later was spread to Middle-earth by the Exiled Noldor and remained in use ever after, and Pengolodh, who is credited with many works, including the Osanwe-kenta and the Lhammas or "The 'Account of Tongues' which Pengolodh of Gondolin wrote in later days in Tol-eressëa".[T 13]

Independently of the Lambengolmor, Daeron of Doriath invented the Cirth or Elvish-runes. These were mostly used for inscriptions, and later were replaced by the Tengwar, except among the Dwarves.

Pronunciation of Quenya and Sindarin edit

Sindarin and Quenya have similar pronunciations. The following table gives pronunciation for each letter or cluster in international phonetic script and examples:

Vowels

Letter / Digraph Pronunciation IPA Further comment
a as in father, but shorter. [ɑ] never as in cat [*æ]
á as in father [ɑˑ] .
â (in Sindarin) as in father, but even longer [ɑː] .
ae (in Sindarin) the vowels described for a and e in one syllable. [ɑɛ̯] Similar to ai
ai a diphthong, similar to that in eye, but with short vowels [ɑɪ̯] never as in rain [*eɪ]
au a and u run together in one syllable. Similar to the sound in house [ɑʊ̯] never as in sauce [*ɔ]
aw (in Sindarin) a common way to write au at the end of the word [ɑʊ̯] .
e as in pet [ɛ] .
é the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German) S: [ɛˑ], Q: [eˑ] Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English rain
ê (in Sindarin) the vowel of pet especially lengthened [ɛː] Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English rain
ei as in eight [ɛɪ̯] never as in either (in neither pronunciation) [*i] [*aɪ]
eu (in Quenya) e and u run together in one syllable [ɛʊ̯] never as in English or German [*ju] [*ɔʏ]
i as in machine, but short [i] not opened as in fit [*ɪ]
í as in machine [iˑ] .
î (in Sindarin) as in machine, but especially lengthened [iː] .
iu (in Quenya) i and u run together in one syllable [iʊ̯] later by men often as in English you [ju]
o open as in sauce, but short [ɔ] .
ó the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German) S: [ɔˑ], Q: [oˑ] Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English cold [oː]
ô (in Sindarin) the same vowel especially lengthened [ɔː] Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English cold [oː]
oi (in Quenya) as in English coin [ɔɪ̯] .
oe (in Sindarin) the vowels described for o and e in one syllable. [ɔɛ̯] Similar to oi. Cf. œ!
œ (in early Sindarin) as in German Götter [œ] in published writing, has been incorrectly spelt oe (two letters), as in Nírnaeth Arnoediad. Later became e.
u as in cool, but shorter [u] not opened as in book [*ʊ]
ú as in cool [uˑ] .
û (in Sindarin) the same vowel as above, but especially lengthened [uː] .
y (in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß, but short [y] not found in English; like the vowel sound in "lure", but with pursed lips.
ý (in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß [yˑ] .
ŷ (in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß, but even longer [yː]

Consonants (differing from English)

  • The letter c always denotes [k], even before i and e; for instance, Celeborn is pronounced Keleborn, and Cirth is pronounced Kirth; thus, it never denotes the soft c [*s] in cent.
  • The letter g always denotes the hard [ɡ], as in give, rather than the soft form [*d͡ʒ], as in gem.
  • The letter r denotes an alveolar trill [r], similar to Spanish rr.
  • The digraph dh, as in Caradhras, denotes [ð] as in English this.
  • The digraph ch, as in Orch, denotes [χ] as in Welsh bach, and never like the ch [*t͡ʃ] in English chair.
  • The digraph lh denotes [ɬ] as in Welsh ll.

Elvish scripts edit

 
"Sarati" in Tolkien's first Elvish script, Sarati

Tolkien wrote out most samples of Elvish languages with the Latin alphabet, but within the fiction he imagined many writing systems for his Elves. The best-known are the "Tengwar of Fëanor", but the first system he created, c. 1919, is the "Tengwar of Rúmil", also called the sarati. In chronological order, Tolkien's scripts are:[3]

  1. Tengwar of Rúmil or Sarati
  2. Gondolinic runes (Runes used in the city of Gondolin)
  3. Valmaric script
  4. Andyoqenya
  5. Qenyatic
  6. Tengwar of Fëanor
  7. The Cirth of Daeron

Prior to their exile, the Elves of the Second Clan (the Noldor) used first the Sarati of Rúmil to record their tongue, Quenya. In Middle-earth, Sindarin was first recorded using the "Elvish runes" or Cirth, named later certar in Quenya. A runic inscription in Quenya was engraved on Aragorn's sword, Andúril. The sword's inscriptions were not shown in the movie trilogy, nor in the book.

The Etymologies edit

The Etymologies is Tolkien's etymological dictionary of the Elvish languages, written during the 1930s. It was edited by Christopher Tolkien and published as the third part of The Lost Road and Other Writings, the fifth volume of the History of Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien described it as "a remarkable document." It is a list of roots of the Proto-Elvish language, from which J. R. R. Tolkien built his many Elvish languages, especially Quenya, Noldorin and Ilkorin. The Etymologies do not form a unified whole, but incorporate layer upon layer of changes. It was not meant to be published. In his introduction to The Etymologies, Christopher Tolkien wrote that his father was "more interested in the processes of change than he was in displaying the structure and use of the languages at any given time."[T 14]

The Etymologies has the form of a scholarly work listing the "bases" or "roots" of the protolanguage of the Elves: Common Eldarin and Primitive Quendian. Under each base, the next level of words (marked by an asterisk) are "conjectural", that is, not recorded by Elves or Men (it is not stated who wrote The Etymologies inside Middle-earth) but presumed to have existed in the proto-Elvish language. After these, actual words which did exist in the Elvish languages are presented. Words from the following Elvish languages are presented: Danian, Doriathrin (a dialect of Ilkorin), Eldarin (the proto-language of the Eldar), (Exilic) Noldorin, Ilkorin, Lindarin (a dialect of Quenya), Old Noldorin, Primitive Quendian (the oldest proto-language), Qenya, Telerin.

The following examples from The Etymologies illustrate how Tolkien worked with the "bases":

  • BAD- *bad- judge. Cf. MBAD-. Not in Q [Qenya]. N [Noldorin] bauð (bād-) judgement; badhor, baðron judge.
  • TIR- watch, guard. Q tirin I watch, pa.t. [past tense] tirne; N tiri or tirio, pa.t. tiriant. Q tirion watch-tower, tower. N tirith watch, guard; cf. Minnas-tirith. PQ [Primitive Quendian] *khalatirnō 'fish-watcher', N heledirn = kingfisher; Dalath Dirnen 'Guarded Plain'; Palantir 'Far-seer'.

This organization reflects what Tolkien did in his career as a philologist. With English words, he worked backwards from existing words to trace their origins. With Elvish he worked both backward and forward. The etymological development was always in flux but the lexicon of the Elvish tongues remained rather stable. An Elvish word (Noldorin or Quenya) once invented would not change or be deleted but its etymology could be changed many times.

Tolkien was much interested in words. Thus The Etymologies are preoccupied with them, and only a few Elvish phrases are presented. The Etymologies discuss mainly the Quenya, Old Noldorin, and Noldorin languages. The text gives many insights into Elvish personal and place names which otherwise would remain opaque.

Christopher Tolkien stated that his father "wrote a good deal on the theory of sundokarme or 'base structure' ... but like everything else it was frequently elaborated and altered".[T 14] In 2003 and 2004, Vinyar Tengwar issues 45 and 46 provided addenda and corrigenda to the original published text.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The origin of the Silvan language is uncertain. Some sources state that the Silvan language was Avarin in origin, some that it descended from the language of the Nandor. Culturally, the Silvan Elves were certainly a mix of Avari, Nandor, and Sindar.

References edit

Primary edit

  1. ^ Carpenter 1981 #165 to Houghton Mifflin, June 1955
  2. ^ Carpenter 1981 #214 to A. C. Nunn, late 1958
  3. ^ From a letter to W. R. Matthews, dated 13–15 June 1964, published in Parma Eldalamberon 17, p. 135.
  4. ^ Parma Eldalamberon 17, p. 135
  5. ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings, "Foreword to the Second Edition".
  6. ^ Letter from Tolkien to a reader, published in Parma Eldalamberon 17, p. 61
  7. ^ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Lambion Ontale: Descent of Tongues", "Tengwesta Qenderinwa" 1, Parma Eldalamberon 18, p. 23.
  8. ^ Parma Eldalamberon, 19, pp. 18–28
  9. ^ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Tengwesta Qenderinwa", Parma Eldalamberon 18, p. 72
  10. ^ a b c d Tolkien 1994, "Quendi and Eldar"
  11. ^ a b Tolkien 1987, "The Etymologies"
  12. ^ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Outline of Phonology", Parma Eldalamberon 19, p. 68.
  13. ^ Tolkien 1987, "The Lhammas"
  14. ^ a b Tolkien 1987, pp. 378–379

Secondary edit

  1. ^ Hostetter, Carl F. (2013) [2007]. "Languages Invented by Tolkien". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 332–343. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1.
  2. ^ Hostetter, Carl F., "Elvish as She Is Spoke". Republished with permission from The Lord of the Rings 1954–2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder 2006-12-09 at the Wayback Machine (Marquette, 2006), ed. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.
  3. ^ Smith, Arden R. "Writing Systems". The Tolkien Estate. Retrieved 26 January 2021.

Sources edit

Bibliography edit

This section lists the many sources by Tolkien documenting Elvish texts.

Books edit

A small fraction of Tolkien's accounts of Elvish languages was published in his novels and scholarly works during his lifetime.

The Hobbit (1937) and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) contain a few elvish names (Elrond, Glamdring, Orcrist), but no texts or sentences.

Posthumous articles edit

Many of Tolkien's writings on his invented languages have been annotated and published by Carl F. Hostetter in the journals Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon, as follows:

"Ataremma" (Pater Noster in Quenya) versions I–VI, p. 4–26
"Aia María" (Ave Maria in Quenya) versions I–IV, pp. 26–36
"Alcar i Ataren" (Gloria Patri in Quenya), pp. 36–38
  • 2002 "Words of Joy: Five Catholic Prayers in Quenya (Part Two), Vinyar Tengwar 44:
"Litany of Loreto" in Quenya, pp. 11–20.
"Ortírielyanna" (Sub tuum praesidium in Quenya), pp. 5–11
"Alcar mi tarmenel na Erun" (Gloria in Excelsis Deo in Quenya), pp. 31–38.
"Ae Adar Nín" (Pater Noster in Sindarin) Vinyar Tengwar 44, pp. 21–30.

See also Douglas A. Anderson, Carl F. Hostetter: A Checklist, Tolkien Studies 4 (2007).

External links edit

elvish, languages, middle, earth, elvish, languages, general, elvish, languages, constructed, tolkien, include, quenya, sindarin, these, were, various, languages, spoken, elves, middle, earth, they, developed, society, throughout, ages, pursuit, realism, love,. For Elvish languages in general see Elvish languages The Elvish languages of Middle earth constructed by J R R Tolkien include Quenya and Sindarin These were the various languages spoken by the Elves of Middle earth as they developed as a society throughout the Ages In his pursuit for realism and in his love of language Tolkien was especially fascinated with the development and evolution of language through time Tolkien created two almost fully developed languages and a dozen more in various beginning stages as he studied and reproduced the way that language adapts and morphs A philologist by profession he spent much time on his constructed languages In the collection of letters he had written posthumously published by his son Christopher Tolkien he stated that he began stories set within this secondary world the realm of Middle earth not with the characters or narrative as one would assume but with a created set of languages The stories and characters serve as conduits to make those languages come to life Inventing language was always a crucial piece to Tolkien s mythology and world building As Tolkien stated The invention of languages is the foundation The stories were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse To me a name comes first and the story follows T 1 Tolkien created scripts for his Elvish languages of which the best known are Sarati Tengwar and Cirth 1 Contents 1 External history 1 1 Language construction 1 2 Publication of Tolkien s linguistic papers 2 Internal history 2 1 Internal development of the Elvish word for Elves 2 2 Fictional philology 3 Pronunciation of Quenya and Sindarin 4 Elvish scripts 5 The Etymologies 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 8 1 Primary 8 2 Secondary 8 3 Sources 9 Bibliography 9 1 Books 9 2 Posthumous articles 10 External linksExternal history editLanguage construction edit nbsp The first stanza of Tolkien s Quenya poem Namarie written in his Tengwar script J R R Tolkien began to construct his first Elvin tongue c 1910 1911 while he was at the King Edward s School Birmingham and which he later named Quenya c 1915 At that time Tolkien was already familiar with Latin Greek Italian Spanish and several ancient Germanic languages Gothic Old Norse and Old English He had invented several cryptographic codes such as Animalic and two or three constructed languages including Naffarin He then discovered Finnish which he described many years later as like discovering a complete wine cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before It quite intoxicated me T 2 He had started his study of the Finnish language to be able to read the Kalevala epic The ingredients in Quenya are various but worked out into a self consistent character not precisely like any language that I know Finnish which I came across when I first begun to construct a mythology was a dominant influence but that has been much reduced now in late Quenya It survives in some features such as the absence of any consonant combinations initially the absence of the voiced stops b d g except in mb nd ng ld rd which are favoured and the fondness for the ending inen ainen oinen also in some points of grammar such as the inflexional endings sse rest at or in nna movement to towards and llo movement from the personal possessives are also expressed by suffixes there is no gender T 3 Tolkien with his Quenya pursued a double aesthetic goal classical and inflected T 4 This urge in fact was the motivation for his creation of a mythology While the language developed he needed speakers history for the speakers and all real dynamics like war and migration It was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the necessary background of history for Elvish tongues T 5 2 The Elvish languages underwent countless revisions in grammar mostly in conjugation and the pronominal system The Elven vocabulary was not subject to sudden or extreme change except during the first conceptual stage c 1910 c 1920 Tolkien sometimes changed the meaning of an Elvish word but he almost never disregarded it once invented and he kept on refining its meaning and countlessly forged new synonyms Moreover Elven etymology was in a constant flux Tolkien delighted in inventing new etymons for his Elvish vocabulary From the outset Tolkien used comparative philology and the tree model as his major tools in his constructed languages He usually started with the phonological system of the proto language and then proceeded in inventing for each daughter language the many mechanisms of sound change needed I find the construction and the interrelation of the languages an aesthetic pleasure in itself quite apart from The Lord of the Rings of which it was is in fact independent T 6 In the early 30s Tolkien decided that the proto language of the Elves was Valarin the tongue of the gods or Valar The language of the Elves derived in the beginning from the Valar but they change it even in the learning and moreover modified and enriched it constantly at all times by their own invention T 7 In his Comparative Tables Tolkien describes the mechanisms of sound change in the following daughter languages Qenya Lindarin a dialect of Qenya Telerin Old Noldorin or Feanorian Noldorin or Gondolinian Ilkorin esp of Doriath Danian of Ossiriand East Danian Taliska West Lemberin North Lemberin and East Lemberin T 8 In his lifetime J R R Tolkien never ceased to experiment on his constructed languages and they were subjected to many revisions They had many grammars with substantial differences between different stages of development After the publication of The Lord of the Rings 1954 1955 the grammar rules of his major Elvish languages Quenya Telerin and Sindarin went through very few changes this is late Elvish 1954 1973 Publication of Tolkien s linguistic papers edit Two magazines Vinyar Tengwar from its issue 39 in July 1998 and Parma Eldalamberon from its issue 11 in 1995 are exclusively devoted to the editing and publishing of J R R Tolkien s gigantic mass of previously unpublished linguistic papers including those omitted by Christopher Tolkien from The History of Middle earth However no new publications have appeared since 2015 Access to the unpublished documents is severely limited and the editors have yet not published a comprehensive catalogue of the documents they are working on Internal history editFurther information Sundering of the Elves Internal history of Tolkien s Elvish languagesPrimitive Quendian the tongue of all Elves at CuivienenCommon Eldarin the tongue of the Elves during the March Avarin combined languages of the Avari at least six some later merged with NandorinQuenya the language of the Noldor and the Vanyar Common Telerin the early language of all the LindarQuendya also Vanyarin Quenya daily tongue of the Vanyar Exilic Quenya also Noldorin Quenya colloquial speech of the Noldor Telerin the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands a dialect of Quenya Sindarin language of the Sindar Nandorin languages of the Nandor some were influenced by AvarinThe Elvish languages are a family of several related languages and dialects Here is set briefly the story of the Elvish languages as conceived by Tolkien around 1965 They all originated from Primitive Quendian or Quenderin the proto language of all the Elves who awoke together in the far east of Middle earth Cuivienen and began naturally to make a language All the Elvish languages are presumed to be descendants of this common ancestor Tolkien invented two subfamilies subgroups of the Elvish languages The language of the Quendelie Elves was thus very early sundered into the branches Eldarin and Avarin T 9 Avarin is the language of various Elves of the Second and Third Clans who refused to come to Valinor It developed into at least six Avarin languages Common Eldarin is the language of the three clans of the Eldar during the Great March to Valinor It developed into Quenya the language of the Elves in Eldamar beyond the Sea it divided into Vanyarin Quenya or Quendya colloquial speech of the Vanyar the Elves of the First Clan Noldorin Quenya and later Exilic Quenya colloquial speech of the Noldor the Elves of the Second Clan Common Telerin the early language of all the Teleri Telerin the language of the Teleri Elves of the Third Clan living in Tol Eressea and Alqualonde Nandorin the language of the Nandor a branch of the Third Clan It developed into various Nandorin and Silvan languages Sindarin is the language of the Sindar a branch of the Third Clan who dwelt in Beleriand Its dialects include Doriathrin in Doriath Falathrin in the Falas of Beleriand North Sindarin in Dorthonion and Hithlum Noldorin Sindarin spoken by the Exiled Noldor The acute accent a e i o u or circumflex accent a e i o u ŷ marks long vowels in the Elvish languages When writing Common Eldarin forms Tolkien often used the macron to indicate long vowels The diaeresis a e o is normally used to show that a short vowel is to be separately pronounced that it is not silent or part of a diphthong For example the last four letters of Ainulindale represent two syllables and the first three letters of Earendil represent two syllables Internal development of the Elvish word for Elves edit Below is a family tree of the Elvish languages showing how the Primitive Quendian word kwendi people later meaning Elves was altered in the descendant languages T 10 Time Period LanguagesThe Awakening Primitive QuendianThe tongue of all Elves at CuivienenkwendiThe Westward March QuenyaVanyar and NoldorQuendi Common EldarinThe tongue of the Elves during the MarchKwendi AvarinAvari those Elves who stayed at Cuivienen and from there spread across Middle earth many languages Kindi Cuind Hwenti Windan Kinn laiThe First Age of the Sun TelerinTeleri in Aman Pendi SindarinElves of the Third Clan in Beleriand did not use it P Q kwende kwendi disappeared altogether T 10 The exiled Noldor used in their Sindarin Penedh pl Penidh T 11 NandorinElves of Ossiriand sg Cwenda T 11 Silvan a The Wood elves of the Vale of AnduinPenni The languages can thus be mapped to the migrations of the sundered elves T 10 nbsp Elvish Languages mapped to the Sundering of the Elves Languages such as Quenya are shown in Boldface Blue examples are the words for Elves in those languages such as Quendi shown in Italic Black These are overlaid on a map of Arda with Aman on the left Middle earth on the right the arrows and Green labels showing the migrations of the Elvish kindreds The lowest Elves the Avari fragmented into many kindreds with different languages T 10 Locations are diagrammatic Fictional philology edit Further information Philology and Middle earth A tradition of philological study of Elvish languages exists within the fiction of Tolkien s frame stories Elven philologists are referred to by the Quenya term Lambengolmor In Quenya lambe means spoken language or verbal communication The older stages of Quenya were and doubtless still are known to the loremasters of the Eldar It appears from these notices that besides certain ancient songs and compilations of lore that were orally preserved there existed also some books and many ancient inscriptions T 12 Known members of the Lambengolmor were Rumil who invented the first Elvish script the Sarati Feanor who later enhanced and further developed this script into his Tengwar which later was spread to Middle earth by the Exiled Noldor and remained in use ever after and Pengolodh who is credited with many works including the Osanwe kenta and the Lhammas or The Account of Tongues which Pengolodh of Gondolin wrote in later days in Tol eressea T 13 Independently of the Lambengolmor Daeron of Doriath invented the Cirth or Elvish runes These were mostly used for inscriptions and later were replaced by the Tengwar except among the Dwarves Pronunciation of Quenya and Sindarin editSindarin and Quenya have similar pronunciations The following table gives pronunciation for each letter or cluster in international phonetic script and examples Vowels Letter Digraph Pronunciation IPA Further commenta as in father but shorter ɑ never as in cat ae a as in father ɑˑ a in Sindarin as in father but even longer ɑː ae in Sindarin the vowels described for a and e in one syllable ɑɛ Similar to aiai a diphthong similar to that in eye but with short vowels ɑɪ never as in rain eɪ au a and u run together in one syllable Similar to the sound in house ɑʊ never as in sauce ɔ aw in Sindarin a common way to write au at the end of the word ɑʊ e as in pet ɛ e the same vowel lengthened and in Quenya more closed as in German S ɛˑ Q eˑ Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English raine in Sindarin the vowel of pet especially lengthened ɛː Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English rainei as in eight ɛɪ never as in either in neither pronunciation i aɪ eu in Quenya e and u run together in one syllable ɛʊ never as in English or German ju ɔʏ i as in machine but short i not opened as in fit ɪ i as in machine iˑ i in Sindarin as in machine but especially lengthened iː iu in Quenya i and u run together in one syllable iʊ later by men often as in English you ju o open as in sauce but short ɔ o the same vowel lengthened and in Quenya more closed as in German S ɔˑ Q oˑ Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of long English cold oː o in Sindarin the same vowel especially lengthened ɔː Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of long English cold oː oi in Quenya as in English coin ɔɪ oe in Sindarin the vowels described for o and e in one syllable ɔɛ Similar to oi Cf œ œ in early Sindarin as in German Gotter œ in published writing has been incorrectly spelt oe two letters as in Nirnaeth Arnoediad Later became e u as in cool but shorter u not opened as in book ʊ u as in cool uˑ u in Sindarin the same vowel as above but especially lengthened uː y in Sindarin as in French lune or German suss but short y not found in English like the vowel sound in lure but with pursed lips y in Sindarin as in French lune or German suss yˑ ŷ in Sindarin as in French lune or German suss but even longer yː Consonants differing from English The letter c always denotes k even before i and e for instance Celeborn is pronounced Keleborn and Cirth is pronounced Kirth thus it never denotes the soft c s in cent The letter g always denotes the hard ɡ as in give rather than the soft form d ʒ as in gem The letter r denotes an alveolar trill r similar to Spanish rr The digraph dh as in Caradhras denotes d as in English this The digraph ch as in Orch denotes x as in Welsh bach and never like the ch t ʃ in English chair The digraph lh denotes ɬ as in Welsh ll Elvish scripts edit nbsp Sarati in Tolkien s first Elvish script SaratiMain article Tolkien s scripts Tolkien wrote out most samples of Elvish languages with the Latin alphabet but within the fiction he imagined many writing systems for his Elves The best known are the Tengwar of Feanor but the first system he created c 1919 is the Tengwar of Rumil also called the sarati In chronological order Tolkien s scripts are 3 Tengwar of Rumil or Sarati Gondolinic runes Runes used in the city of Gondolin Valmaric script Andyoqenya Qenyatic Tengwar of Feanor The Cirth of DaeronPrior to their exile the Elves of the Second Clan the Noldor used first the Sarati of Rumil to record their tongue Quenya In Middle earth Sindarin was first recorded using the Elvish runes or Cirth named later certar in Quenya A runic inscription in Quenya was engraved on Aragorn s sword Anduril The sword s inscriptions were not shown in the movie trilogy nor in the book The Etymologies editThe Etymologies is Tolkien s etymological dictionary of the Elvish languages written during the 1930s It was edited by Christopher Tolkien and published as the third part of The Lost Road and Other Writings the fifth volume of the History of Middle earth Christopher Tolkien described it as a remarkable document It is a list of roots of the Proto Elvish language from which J R R Tolkien built his many Elvish languages especially Quenya Noldorin and Ilkorin The Etymologies do not form a unified whole but incorporate layer upon layer of changes It was not meant to be published In his introduction to The Etymologies Christopher Tolkien wrote that his father was more interested in the processes of change than he was in displaying the structure and use of the languages at any given time T 14 The Etymologies has the form of a scholarly work listing the bases or roots of the protolanguage of the Elves Common Eldarin and Primitive Quendian Under each base the next level of words marked by an asterisk are conjectural that is not recorded by Elves or Men it is not stated who wrote The Etymologies inside Middle earth but presumed to have existed in the proto Elvish language After these actual words which did exist in the Elvish languages are presented Words from the following Elvish languages are presented Danian Doriathrin a dialect of Ilkorin Eldarin the proto language of the Eldar Exilic Noldorin Ilkorin Lindarin a dialect of Quenya Old Noldorin Primitive Quendian the oldest proto language Qenya Telerin The following examples from The Etymologies illustrate how Tolkien worked with the bases BAD bad judge Cf MBAD Not in Q Qenya N Noldorin baud bad judgement badhor badron judge TIR watch guard Q tirin I watch pa t past tense tirne N tiri or tirio pa t tiriant Q tirion watch tower tower N tirith watch guard cf Minnas tirith PQ Primitive Quendian khalatirnō fish watcher N heledirn kingfisher Dalath Dirnen Guarded Plain Palantir Far seer This organization reflects what Tolkien did in his career as a philologist With English words he worked backwards from existing words to trace their origins With Elvish he worked both backward and forward The etymological development was always in flux but the lexicon of the Elvish tongues remained rather stable An Elvish word Noldorin or Quenya once invented would not change or be deleted but its etymology could be changed many times Tolkien was much interested in words Thus The Etymologies are preoccupied with them and only a few Elvish phrases are presented The Etymologies discuss mainly the Quenya Old Noldorin and Noldorin languages The text gives many insights into Elvish personal and place names which otherwise would remain opaque Christopher Tolkien stated that his father wrote a good deal on the theory of sundokarme or base structure but like everything else it was frequently elaborated and altered T 14 In 2003 and 2004 Vinyar Tengwar issues 45 and 46 provided addenda and corrigenda to the original published text See also edit nbsp Speculative fiction portalLanguages constructed by J R R Tolkien A Elbereth Gilthoniel LhammasNotes edit The origin of the Silvan language is uncertain Some sources state that the Silvan language was Avarin in origin some that it descended from the language of the Nandor Culturally the Silvan Elves were certainly a mix of Avari Nandor and Sindar References editPrimary edit Carpenter 1981 165 to Houghton Mifflin June 1955 Carpenter 1981 214 to A C Nunn late 1958 From a letter to W R Matthews dated 13 15 June 1964 published in Parma Eldalamberon 17 p 135 Parma Eldalamberon 17 p 135 Tolkien J R R The Lord of the Rings Foreword to the Second Edition Letter from Tolkien to a reader published in Parma Eldalamberon 17 p 61 J R R Tolkien Lambion Ontale Descent of Tongues Tengwesta Qenderinwa 1 Parma Eldalamberon 18 p 23 Parma Eldalamberon 19 pp 18 28 J R R Tolkien Tengwesta Qenderinwa Parma Eldalamberon 18 p 72 a b c d Tolkien 1994 Quendi and Eldar a b Tolkien 1987 The Etymologies J R R Tolkien Outline of Phonology Parma Eldalamberon 19 p 68 Tolkien 1987 The Lhammas a b Tolkien 1987 pp 378 379 Secondary edit Hostetter Carl F 2013 2007 Languages Invented by Tolkien In Drout Michael D C ed The J R R Tolkien Encyclopedia Routledge pp 332 343 ISBN 978 0 415 86511 1 Hostetter Carl F Elvish as She Is Spoke Republished with permission from The Lord of the Rings 1954 2004 Scholarship in Honor of Richard E Blackwelder Archived 2006 12 09 at the Wayback Machine Marquette 2006 ed Wayne G Hammond and Christina Scull Smith Arden R Writing Systems The Tolkien Estate Retrieved 26 January 2021 Sources edit Carpenter Humphrey ed 1981 The Letters of J R R Tolkien Boston Houghton Mifflin ISBN 978 0 395 31555 2 Tolkien J R R 1994 Christopher Tolkien ed The War of the Jewels Boston Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0 395 71041 3 Tolkien J R R 1987 Christopher Tolkien ed The Lost Road and Other Writings Boston Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0 395 45519 7 Bibliography editThis section lists the many sources by Tolkien documenting Elvish texts Books edit A small fraction of Tolkien s accounts of Elvish languages was published in his novels and scholarly works during his lifetime The Hobbit 1937 and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 1962 contain a few elvish names Elrond Glamdring Orcrist but no texts or sentences 1954 1955 The Lord of the Rings 1968 The Road Goes Ever On 1981 the Oath of Cirion in Unfinished Tales 1983 A Secret Vice in The Monsters and the Critics with Oilima Markirya Nieninqe and Earendel 1985 Firiel s Song in The Lost Road and Other Writings p 72 1985 Alboin Errol s Fragments in The Lost Road and Other Writings p 47 Posthumous articles edit Many of Tolkien s writings on his invented languages have been annotated and published by Carl F Hostetter in the journals Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon as follows 1989 The Plotz Quenya Declensions first published in part in the fanzine Beyond Bree and later in full in Vinyar Tengwar6 p 14 1991 Koivieneni Sentence in Vinyar Tengwar 14 pp 5 20 1992 New Tengwar Inscription in Vinyar Tengwar 21 p 6 1992 Liege Tengwar Inscription in Vinyar Tengwar 23 p 16 1993 Two Trees Sentence in Vinyar Tengwar 27 pp 7 42 1993 Koivieneni Manuscript in Vinyar Tengwar 27 pp 7 42 1993 The Bodleian Declensions in Vinyar Tengwar 28 pp 9 34 1994 The Entu Declension in Vinyar Tengwar 36 pp 8 29 1995 Gnomish Lexicon Parma Eldalamberon 11 1995 Rumilian Document in Vinyar Tengwar 37 pp 15 23 1998 Qenya Lexicon Parma Eldalamberon 12 1998 Osanwe kenta Enquiry into the communication of thought Vinyar Tengwar 39 1998 From Quendi and Eldar Appendix D Vinyar Tengwar 39 pp 4 20 1999 Narqelion Vinyar Tengwar 40 pp 5 32 2000 Etymological Notes Osanwe kenta Vinyar Tengwar 41 pp 5 6 2000 From The Shibboleth of Feanor written ca 1968 Vinyar Tengwar 41 pp 7 10 A part of the Shibboleth of Feanor was published in The Peoples of Middle earth pp 331 366 2000 Notes on ore Vinyar Tengwar 41 pp 11 19 2000 Merin Sentence Tyalie Tyalieva 14 p 32 35 2001 The Rivers and Beacon hills of Gondor written 1967 1969 Vinyar Tengwar 42 pp 5 31 2001 Essay on negation in Quenya Vinyar Tengwar 42 pp 33 34 2001 Goldogrim Pronominal Prefixes Parma Eldalamberon 13 p 97 2001 Early Noldorin Grammar Parma Eldalamberon 13 pp 119 132 2002 Words of Joy Five Catholic Prayers in Quenya Part One Vinyar Tengwar 43 Ataremma Pater Noster in Quenya versions I VI p 4 26 Aia Maria Ave Maria in Quenya versions I IV pp 26 36 Alcar i Ataren Gloria Patri in Quenya pp 36 382002 Words of Joy Five Catholic Prayers in Quenya Part Two Vinyar Tengwar 44 Litany of Loreto in Quenya pp 11 20 Ortirielyanna Sub tuum praesidium in Quenya pp 5 11 Alcar mi tarmenel na Erun Gloria in Excelsis Deo in Quenya pp 31 38 Ae Adar Nin Pater Noster in Sindarin Vinyar Tengwar 44 pp 21 30 2003 Early Qenya Fragments Parma Eldalamberon 14 2003 Early Qenya Grammar Parma Eldalamberon 14 2003 The Valmaric Scripts Parma Eldalamberon 14 2004 Si Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings ed Smith Gilson Wynne and Welden Parma Eldalamberon 15 2005 Eldarin Hands Fingers amp Numerals Part One Edited by Patrick H Wynne Vinyar Tengwar 47 pp 3 43 2005 Eldarin Hands Fingers amp Numerals Part Two Edited by Patrick H Wynne Vinyar Tengwar 48 pp 4 34 2006 Pre Feanorian Alphabets Part 1 ed Smith Parma Eldalamberon 16 2006 Early Elvish Poetry Oilima Markirya Nieninqe and Earendel ed Gilson Welden and Hostetter Parma Eldalamberon 16 2006 Qenya Declensions Qenya Conjugations Qenya Word lists ed Gilson Hostetter Wynne Parma Eldalamberon 16 2007 Eldarin Hands Fingers amp Numerals Part Three Edited by Patrick H Wynne Vinyar Tengwar 49 pp 3 37 2007 Five Late Quenya Volitive Inscriptions Vinyar Tengwar 49 pp 38 58 2007 Ambidexters Sentence Vinyar Tengwar 49 2007 Words Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings edited by Gilson Parma Eldalamberon 17 2009 Tengwesta Qenderinwa ed Gilson Smith and Wynne Parma Eldalamberon 18 2009 Pre Feanorian Alphabets Part 2 Parma Eldalamberon 18 2010 Quenya Phonology Parma Eldalamberon 19 2010 Comparative Tables Parma Eldalamberon 19 2010 Outline of Phonetic Development Parma Eldalamberon 19 2010 Outline of Phonology Parma Eldalamberon 19 2012 The Quenya Alphabet Parma Eldalamberon 20 2013 Qenya Declension of Nouns Parma Eldalamberon 21 2013 Primitive Quendian Final Consonants Parma Eldalamberon 21 2013 Common Eldarin Noun Structure Parma Eldalamberon 21 2015 The Feanorian Alphabet Part 1 Parma Eldalamberon 22 2015 Quenya Verb Structure Parma Eldalamberon 22 See also Douglas A Anderson Carl F Hostetter A Checklist Tolkien Studies 4 2007 External links editElvish org FAQ Article by Carl F Hostetter Succinct citations of Tolkien s own views of the purpose completeness and usability of his languages The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship Publishes the journals Parma Eldalamberon Tengwestie and Vinyar Tengwar Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Elvish languages of Middle earth amp oldid 1179035983 Internal history, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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