Elvish languages of Middle-earth

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For Elvish languages in general, see Elvish languages.

The Elvish languages of Middle-earth,

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

Language construction

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

Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish, and three 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

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

Two magazines (

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

Further information: Sundering of the Elves
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
    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:
    • 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
        Alqualondë
        .
      • Nandorin, the language of the
        Silvan
        languages.
      • Hithlum
        ; Noldorin Sindarin, spoken by the Exiled Noldor.

The

Eärendil
represent two syllables.

Internal development of the Elvish word for "Elves"

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
Cuiviénen

kwendī
The Westward March
Vanyar and Noldor

Quendi
Common Eldarin

The tongue of the Elves during the March
Kwendī
Cuiviénen and from there spread across Middle-earth
(many languages)

Kindi, Cuind, Hwenti, Windan, Kinn-lai

The First Age of the Sun Telerin
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] 		   
Anduin

Penni 		 

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

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

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 Rúmil, who invented the first Elvish script (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

Dwarves
.

Pronunciation of Quenya and Sindarin

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)

Elvish scripts

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

Andúril
. The sword's inscriptions were not shown in the movie trilogy, nor in the book.

The Etymologies

The Etymologies is Tolkien's

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

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".

Vinyar Tengwar
issues 45 and 46 provided addenda and corrigenda to the original published text.

See also

Notes

  1. Sindar
    .

References

Primary

  1. ^ Carpenter 2023, #165 to Houghton Mifflin, June 1955
  2. ^ Carpenter 2023, #214 to A. C. Nunn, late 1958
  3. 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. Parma Eldalamberon
    17, p. 61
  7. Parma Eldalamberon
    18, p. 23.
  8. Parma Eldalamberon
    , 19, pp. 18–28
  9. Parma Eldalamberon
    18, p. 72
  10. ^ a b c d Tolkien 1994, "Quendi and Eldar"
  11. ^ a b Tolkien 1987, "The Etymologies"
  12. Parma Eldalamberon
    19, p. 68.
  13. ^ Tolkien 1987, "The Lhammas"
  14. ^ a b Tolkien 1987, pp. 378–379

Secondary

  1. 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 Archived 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

Bibliography

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

Books

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

Orcrist
), but no texts or sentences.

Posthumous articles

Many of Tolkien's writings on his invented languages have been annotated and published by

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" (
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 "Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings", ed. Smith, Gilson, Wynne, and Welden,
    Parma Eldalamberon
     15.
  • 2005 "Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals (Part One)." Edited by Patrick H. Wynne.
    Vinyar Tengwar
     47, pp. 3–43.
  • 2005 "Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals (Part Two)." Edited by Patrick H. Wynne.
    Vinyar Tengwar
     48, pp. 4–34.
  • 2006 "Pre-Fëanorian 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 & 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
    Parma Eldalamberon
    17.
  • 2009 "Tengwesta Qenderinwa", ed. Gilson, Smith and Wynne,
    Parma Eldalamberon
     18.
  • 2009 "Pre-Fëanorian 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 Fëanorian 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

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