Quenya
Quenya | |
---|---|
Eldarin | |
Created by | J. R. R. Tolkien |
Date | c. 1910–1973 |
Setting and usage | The fictional world of Middle-earth |
Purpose | |
Latin Tengwar Cirth Sarati | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | qya |
qya | |
Glottolog | quen1234 |
Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, long years numberless as the wings of trees! The beginning of the Quenya poem Namárië written in Tengwar and in Latin script | |
Quenya (pronounced
Tolkien began devising the language around 1910, and restructured its grammar several times until it reached its final state. The vocabulary remained relatively stable throughout the creation process. He successively changed the language's name from Elfin and Qenya to the eventual Quenya. Finnish had been a major source of inspiration, but Tolkien was also fluent in Latin and Old English, and was familiar with Greek, Welsh (the latter being the primary inspiration for Sindarin, Tolkien's other major Elvish language), and other ancient Germanic languages, particularly Gothic, during his development of Quenya.
A notable feature of Tolkien's Elvish languages was his development of a complex internal history of characters to speak those tongues in their own fictional universe. He felt that his languages changed and developed over time, as with the historical languages which he studied professionally—not in a vacuum, but as a result of the migrations and interactions of the peoples who spoke them.
Within Tolkien's legendarium, Quenya is one of the many
. Of these two groups of Elves, most of the Noldor returned to Middle-earth where they met the Sindarin-speaking Grey-elves. The Noldor eventually adopted Sindarin and used Quenya primarily as a ritual or poetic language, whereas the Vanyar who stayed behind in Eldamar retained the use of Quenya.In this way, the Quenya language was symbolic of the high status of the Elves, the firstborn of the races of Middle-earth, because of their close connection to Valinor, and its decreasing use also became symbolic of the slowly declining Elvish culture in Middle-earth. In the
The Quenya language featured prominently in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, as well as in his posthumously published history of Middle-earth
External history
J. R. R. Tolkien began to construct his first Elvish tongue c. 1910–1911 while he was at the King Edward's School, Birmingham.[1] He later called it Qenya (c. 1915), and later changed the spelling to Quenya. He was then already familiar with Latin, Greek, Spanish, and several ancient Germanic languages, such as Gothic, Old Norse, and Old English.[T 2] He had invented several cryptographic codes, and two or three constructed languages. Tolkien took an interest in the Finnish mythology of the Kalevala, then became acquainted with Finnish, which he found to provide an aesthetically pleasing inspiration for his High-elvish language. Many years later, he wrote: "It was 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] Regarding the inspiration for Quenya, Tolkien wrote that:
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 had 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 never intended Quenya or any of his constructed languages to be used in everyday life as an
From the onset, Tolkien used
Development
In his lifetime, Tolkien experimented ceaselessly with his constructed languages, and they were subjected to many revisions. Quenya had many grammars with substantial differences between the different stages of its development. During the first conceptual stage of early Quenya c. 1910 to c. 1920, the language was called Elfin in English and Eldarissa in Qenya proper. While its development was a continuous process, Quenya underwent a number of major revisions in its grammar, mostly in conjugation and the pronominal system. The vocabulary, however, was not subject to sudden or extreme change. Tolkien sometimes changed the meaning of a word, but he almost never discarded it once invented, and he kept on refining its meaning, and countlessly forged new synonyms. Moreover, Elvish etymology was in constant flux. Tolkien delighted in inventing new etymons for his Quenya vocabulary. But after the publication of The Lord of the Rings (finished c. 1949–1950, published in 1954–1955), the grammar rules of Quenya went through very few changes and this version was then defined as late Quenya (c. 1950–1973).
The spelling Qenya is sometimes used to distinguish early Quenya from later versions. Qenya differs from late Quenya by having different internal history, vocabulary, and grammar rules as described in the "Qenyaqetsa".[7] Examples include a different accusative or the abolition of final consonant clusters in later Quenya.[8] Fimi suggests that Qenya as it appears in the "Qenyaqetsa" was supposed to be a mystic language, as the Lexicon contains a number of words with clear Christian religious connotations, such as anatarwesta "crucifixion" and evandilyon "gospel" – these words were not part of late Quenya.[9]
In the early 1930s, Tolkien decided that the proto-language of the Elves was
Valarin
|
Qenya | Lindarin | Telerin
|
---|---|---|---|
mb | m, umb | m, umb | m, emb |
nd | n, and | n, and | n, end |
ŋg | ŋ > n, ing | n, ing | ŋg, eng |
ŋgj | ny, iny, indy | ñ, ind | g, ang |
ŋgw | ŋw > nw, ungw | m, ungw | m, emb |
Another characteristic of Quenya reminiscent of ancient natural languages like Old Greek, Old English or Sanskrit is the dual grammatical number which is used in addition to singular and plural. It has been suggested that Tolkien used the dual to give Quenya an "archaic feel" in its role as an ancient language of the Elves.[10]
About ten years later, Tolkien changed his mind about the origin of the Elvish proto-language. Instead of learning from the Valar, the Elves had created an original language Quenderin which had become the proto-language of the Elvish language family.
These groups in Quenya normally became simplified to nasals initially. (In Telerin they became b, d, g.)
Thus:
In contrast to early Qenya, the grammar of Quenya was influenced by Finnish,
Tolkien almost never borrowed words directly from real languages into Quenya. The major exception is the name
Some linguists have argued that Quenya can be understood as an example of a particular kind of artificial language that helps to create a fictional world. Other such languages would include Robert Jordan's Old Tongue and the Klingon language of the Star Trek series invented by Marc Okrand. It was observed that they form "a sociolinguistic context within which group and individual identities can be created."[13]
Publication of linguistic papers
Two journals,
Scholarship
In 1992, according to the linguist
- seeking to label and describe a unique function for each "grammatical inflection", such as the so-called "respective case"[16]
- seeking to "fill in gaps" that a linguist of English or Latin might expect[16]
- seeking to avoid "(supposed) 'clashes' and 'ambiguities'"[16]
- being willing "to reject or even ascribe to authorial error" grammatical forms that did not seem to fit in[16]
- seeking to complete or extend the languages by creating new forms[16]
- being willing to declare Tolkien's early words or forms "obsolete" if later forms seemed to have the same meanings[16]
- being willing to conflate forms from different Tolkien stages when these seemed to be "useful"[16]
In 2008, the computational linguist Paul Strack created the Elvish Data Model (abbreviated to "Eldamo") to provide a lexicon – both a dictionary and an analysis of language development – of all Tolkien's languages (despite the name, not limited to Elvish). Eldamo groups Tolkien's creative work into three real-world periods: up to 1930 ("Early"); from then to 1950 ("Middle"); and from then to 1973 ("Late"). Forms of Quenya occur in each of these periods, as follows:[18]
Early (1910 to 1930) | Middle (to 1950) | Late (to 1973) |
---|---|---|
Early Primitive Elvish |
Middle Primitive Elvish |
Primitive Elvish |
The linguist Alexander Stainton published an analysis of Quenya's prosodic structure in 2022.[19]
Use of Quenya
Attempts by fans to write in Quenya began in the 1970s, when the total corpus of published Elvish comprised only a few hundred words. Since then, the use of Elvish has flourished in poems and texts, phrases and names, and even tattoos. But Tolkien himself never made his languages complete enough for conversation. As a result, newly invented Elvish texts require conjecture and sometimes the coinage of new words.[20] The use of Quenya has expanded over the years as new words have been created, forming a Neo-Quenya language that is based on Tolkien's original Quenya but incorporates many new elements.[21]
Internal history
The Elvish languages are a family of several related languages and dialects. The following is a brief overview of the fictional internal history of late Quenya as conceived by Tolkien. Tolkien imagined an Elvish society with a vernacular language for every-day use, Tarquesta, and a more educated language for use in ceremonies and lore, Parmaquesta.[22]
The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger observed that the "degree of proximity" to the light of the Valar affected the development of both languages in terms of phonology, morphology and semantics. The division between Light Elves and Dark Elves that took place during the Sundering of the Elves is reflected in their respective languages.[23]
Primitive Quendian
The Elves at first shared a common language, Primitive Quendian, called Quenderin in Quenya. Among the
Quenya's older form, first recorded in the sarati of Rúmil, is called Old or Ancient Quenya (Yára-Quenya in Quenya). In Eldamar, the Noldor and Vanyar spoke two slightly different though mutually intelligible dialects of Tarquesta: Noldorin Quenya and Vanyarin Quenya.[T 15] Later Noldorin Quenya became Exilic Quenya, when most of the Noldor Elves followed their leader Fëanor into exile from Eldamar and back to Middle-earth, where the immortal Elves first awoke.[T 16]
Use by Elves, Valar, and Men
Quenya was used by the godlike Valar. The Elves derived some
According to "Quendi and Eldar: Essekenta Eldarinwa", Quendya was the usual Vanyarin name given to the Quenya language, since in Vanyarin, the consonant groups ndy and ny remained quite distinct.[T 18] In Noldorin, ndy eventually became ny. Tolkien explained that "the word Quenya itself has been cited as an exempla (e.g. by Ælfwine), but this is a mistake due to supposition that kwenya was properly kwendya and directly derived from the name Quendi 'Elves'. This appears not to be the case. The word is Quenya in Vanyarin, and always so in Parmaquesta."[T 19]
The Elves of the Third Clan, or
The rebellious
From the
Phonology
Tolkien described the pronunciation of the Elvish languages by Elves, Men and Hobbits in a variety of sources. The documentation about late Quenya phonology is contained in the Appendix E of the Lord of the Rings and the "Outline of Phonology", one of Tolkien's texts, published in Parma Eldalamberon No. 19.[T 23]
Tolkien based Quenya pronunciation more on
The tables below list the consonants (Q. ólamar) and vowels of late colloquial Noldorin Quenya, i.e. Quenya as spoken among the Exiled Noldor in Middle-earth. They are written using the International Phonetic Alphabet, unless otherwise noted.[T 23]
Consonants
The Quenya consonant system has 6 major places of articulation:
2. Quenya consonants[T 25] Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m nŋ Plosive p b dk ɡ Fricative f v s (ç) x h Trill rSemivowel (ʍ) w j Lateral l
Quenya orthography (using the Latin script) follows the IPA, but uses ⟨c⟩ as an alternative to ⟨k⟩, writes [ŋ] not followed by another velar as ⟨ñ⟩ (in early Quenya when this still can occur, as in Ñoldor; otherwise it is written ⟨n⟩), and represents the consonants [ç ʍ] using the digraphs ⟨hy hw⟩. Similarly, the digraphs ⟨ty ndy⟩ may represent palatal stop allophones of [t ⁿd], namely [c ⁿɟ], although they are not independent phonemes. In addition, ⟨h⟩ in the cluster ⟨ht⟩ represents [ç] after ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ and [x] after other vowels. In some instances ⟨x⟩ was used for the combination /ks/ as in Helcaraxë.[T 23]
Morphophonemics and allophony
Some consonants are realised differently when they occur in clusters with certain other consonants. This particularly concerns clusters that involve the approximants /w, j/ or the glottal fricative /h/. Clusters where the second consonant was /j/ are realised as palatalised consonants, and clusters where the second consonant was /w/ are realised as labialised. Consonant clusters where the initial consonant is /h/ are realised as preaspirated and devoiced.[T 23]
Palatal clusters
The pronunciation of the consonant cluster ⟨hy⟩ is [ç] in Noldorin Quenya, which is a "strong voiceless y, similar to, but more frictional than the initial sound in English huge".[T 26] In Vanyarin Quenya, ⟨hy⟩ is pronounced [ʃ].[T 26]
According to Tolkien, the cluster /cj/ ⟨ty⟩ is pronounced as "a 'front explosive' [c], as e.g. Hungarian ty, but it is followed by an appreciable partly unvoiced y-offglide".[T 27]
Tolkien stated that the cluster ⟨ny⟩ is pronounced as in English "new" [njuː].[T 28] In the Vanyarin dialect, ⟨ty⟩, ⟨dy⟩, and ⟨hy⟩ were realised as [tʃ], [dʒ], and [ʃ] respectively. Tolkien wrote about ⟨py⟩: "In Vanyarin Quenya and among some Ñoldor the cluster ⟨py⟩ was sounded with voiceless y, sc. as [pç], which later in Vanyarin became [pʃ]";[T 29] cf. Hungarian lopj [lopç] 'steal'.[T 23]
Labial clusters
The cluster ⟨hw⟩ is realised as [ʍ], a "
Glottal clusters
The clusters ⟨hl⟩ and ⟨hr⟩ are realised as [ɬ] and [r̥], the same as ⟨lh⟩ and ⟨rh⟩ in Sindarin. These, like their Sindarin equivalents, derived from Primitive Elvish sl- and sr-. The primitive consonant clusters sm- and sn- came out in Quenya as ⟨m⟩ and ⟨n⟩; it has been suggested that there was an intermediate stage of ⟨hm⟩ and ⟨hn⟩, the voiceless versions [m̥] and [n̥], in Common Eldarin; these soon merged with the voiced ⟨m⟩ and ⟨n⟩. Voiceless hl and hr have a complex history which Tolkien describes thus: "Among the Noldor hr, hl became voiced to r, l before the Exile, and the use of r, l in these cases was normal in Tarquesta, as spoken, tho' the spelling was usually maintained. Since later the Exiles were familiar with voiceless hr, hl in their Sindarin speech many of them restored this sound in Tarquesta, according to the traditional spelling. The learned had, of course, at all times retained hr, hl in reading or reciting Parmaquesta."[T 30]
Simplification of clusters
In the late Ancient Quenya period, when vowels were lost in long compound words, the clusters thus created, or the consonants that became final, were as a rule changed or reduced:[T 23]
- -m > -n;
- all stops > -t;
- -d > -r;
- -th > -t;
- -nd > -n;
- -mb, -ng > -n;
- -ñ > -n;
- any combination with s (as -ts, -st, -ss) > -s;
- any combination with -ht > -t.
Vowels
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i(ː) | u(ː) |
Close-mid | eː | oː |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
Open | a(ː) |
Quenya has five
Late Noldorin Quenya has 6 diphthongs (Quenya ohloni): /iu, eu, ai, au, oi, ui/. All of these are falling, except for /iu/ ([ju]) which is rising.[32] In Old Quenya, all diphthongs were falling. Tolkien wrote: "It is probable that before the Exile Vanyarin and Noldorin [Quenya] in common shifted iu, ui to rising diphthongs,[T 32] (...) but only /iu/ is reported as a rising diphthong [ju] similar to the beginning of English yule [juːɫ]. On the other hand, ui remained in Exilic Quenya a falling diphthong as reported".[T 32]
Offglide | ||
---|---|---|
Front | Back | |
i | ju | |
e | ew | |
a | aj | aw |
o | oj | |
u | uj |
Syllables and stress
In Quenya, the stressing of a syllable is predictable and non-phonemic (i.e. the meaning of a word never changes depending on the stress), but it is partly determined by
Phonotactics
Tolkien also devised phonotactical rules for late Quenya, governing the way in which the sounds could be combined to form words:
- Only the following consonants have phonemically geminated forms, i.e. elongated consonants:
- pp, tt, cc, mm, nn, ss, ll, rr. (However, Quenya for "death" is effírië,[33] featuring a geminated f.)
- These occur only medially.[T 34] The geminated occlusives pp, tt, cc are aspirated.
- Tolkien wrote that in Common Eldarin as final consonants only the "dentals t, s, d, th, n, r, l (all frequent except th) and the labial nasal m (frequent). In addition the combination -nt (though usually a coalescence of more than one inflexional element) seems also to have been permitted; possibly also st. No other consonant groups were tolerated. y, w are not included, since they naturally took the syllabic forms i, u as suffixed elements."[T 35] These evolved from Common Eldarin to Quenya Tolkien explains on the same page thus: m > n ; t, n, r and s remained without change ; final C.E. th became Quenya t and final d > r, and so: "the list of 'permissible finals':
- n, r, l, s, t, nt
- remained constant in Quenya speech-feeling".
- Quenya tolerates only the following initial consonants:
- p, t, c, f, s, h, hy, hw, m, n, ñ, v, l, hl, r, hr, y, w.[T 36]
- Quenya tolerates only the following initial groups:
- x, ps, ty, ny, ly, qu, ñw (became nw in Noldorin Quenya)[T 36]
- Quenya tolerates only the following medial biconsonantal groups (those especially common are bolded):
- ht, lc, ld, lf, lm, lp, lqu, lt, lv, lw, ly, mb, mn, mp, my, nc, nd, ng, nt, nw (ñw initial only), ny, ps, pt, qu, rc, rd, rm, rn, rp, rt, rs, rv, rw, ry, sc, st, sw, ts, tw, ty, x.[28]
- Quenya does not tolerate triconsonantal (or longer) combinations, except c, h, g followed by w, or h, t, d followed by y. So, Quenya permits the following 12 triconsonantal groups only:
- nqu, lqu, rqu, squ, ngw, rhw, nty, lty, hty, rty, sty, lhy.
- Differences in triconsonant pronunciation:
- Quenya does not tolerate the combination of two different occlusives. "Where these anciently occurred, as in pt, ct, one of the two, or both, became opened and spirantal."[T 39]
- As in Sindarin, the combination ft is avoided.[T 37]
Grammar
The grammar of Quenya is
Nouns
Quenya nouns can have up to four numbers: singular, general plural ("plural 1"), particular/partitive plural ("plural 2"), and dual.[34] In late Quenya Tarquesta, the plural is formed by a suffix to the subjective form of the noun: for plural 1 the suffix is -i or -r; for plural 2 the suffix is -li.[T 40] Quenya nouns are declined for case. Parmaquesta Quenya has ten cases. These include the four primary cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, and instrumental; three adverbial cases: allative (of which the dative is a shortened form), locative (also with a shortened form), and ablative; and a possessive or adjectival case.[35] The accusative was however only used for Parmaquesta and had been replaced by nominative in late colloquial Quenya.[36]
Adjectives
In late Quenya, the singular endings are -a, -ë, -ëa, and a rare form -in that may be seen as a shortened form of -ina. The corresponding plural forms are -ë, ,-i, ië, and possibly -inë. The latter version is however not attested.[37] Quenya adjectives may be freely used as nouns,[T 41] in which case they are also inflected like a noun: e.g. vinya, "new", may be used as vinyar, "news".[38]
Prepositions and adverbs
In Quenya, there are many similarities in form between prepositions and adverbs since the grammatical case already determines the relation of verb and object. Thus:[39]
- an i falmali = i falmalinna(r) "upon the many waves"
The preposition an is related to the -nna case ending.
Pronouns
As with all parts of Quenya grammar, the pronominal system was subject to many revisions throughout Tolkien's life, and the available corpus was not systematic until a list of endings was published in Vinyar Tengwar No. 49 in 2007.[40] In late Quenya, pronouns have both separate or independent forms, and suffix forms.[T 42][T 43]
The separate pronouns have both a short and long form that are used for
"I love him" (or "her") can be expressed in Quenya as Melinyes or Melin sé.[T 44] "I love them" would be then Melinyet or Melin té (these two forms are reconstructed). If a pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it becomes tied to the verb either as separate word directly before the verb, or as a suffix after the inflected verb. In the suffixed form, an -s (singular) and a -t (plural and dual) may be added to the long subjective pronouns as objectives of the 3rd person:[T 45][43]
- utúvie-nye-s, literally "have found-I-it",White Tree.[T 46])
- utúvie-lye-s, "You have found it/him/her".
- utúvie-lye-t, "You have found them".
It is debated whether certain attested special male and female pronouns that were exclusively used for the description of persons are still applicable to late Quenya as found in The Lord of the Rings.[45]
Possessive determiners
The possessive determiners (analogous to English my, his, etc.) are used to indicate the possessor of the noun they determine. They mark the person and number of the possessor, and are inflected to agree with the noun they are attached in number and case. While the English language distinguishes between masculine and feminine singular possessors (his vs. her), late Quenya generally does not.[46]
"Since by Quenya idiom in describing the parts of body of several persons the number proper to each individual is used, the plural of parts existing in pairs (as hands, eyes, ears, feet) is seldom required. Thus mánta "their hand" would be used, (they raised) their hands (one each), mántat, (they raised) their hands (each both), and mánte could not occur".[T 47]
- Ortanentë manta. "They raised their hands."
- Ortaner manta. "They raised their hands."
- Varda ortanë máryat. "Varda has uplifted her (two) hands."[T 48]
The usual plural ending is -r, hildinyar, "my heirs".[47]
Demonstrative
The demonstrative makes a three-way distinction between entities the speaker is referring to:
- sina, "this";
- tana, "that (over there)";
- enta, "that (over there, away from both of us)".[48]
Verbs
According to Tolkien, "the inflections of [Qenya] verbs are always pretty regular",[T 49] and Quenya verbs are either in a personal form or an impersonal form. Usually in linguistics, an impersonal verb is a verb that cannot take a true subject, because it does not represent an action, occurrence, or state-of-being of any specific person, place, or thing. This is not how Tolkien intended the use of "impersonal." An impersonal verb form is a verb to which no pronoun has been attached, as carë (sg.) or carir (pl.); carin, "I do (habitually)", is a personal form (with -n, a short suffix for "I, me"). As explained by Tolkien, verbs in Quenya are negated by using a "negative verb" ua- in front of the proper verb in the impersonal tense form.[T 50]
Tolkien noted that "when the emphatic pronoun is used separately the verb has no inflexion (save for number)."[T 51]
- Finwë cára. "Finwëis making (right now)."
- Quendi cárar. "The Elves are making."
- Cáranyë. "I am making."
- Cárammë. "We are making."
- Essë cára. "He/She is (really) making."
- Emmë cárar. "We are (really) making."
Late Quenya verbs have also a dual agreement morpheme -t:
- Nai siluvat elen atta. "May two stars shine."[T 52]
In the imperative mood, plurality and duality are not expressed. There is no agreement. The verb stays singular.[T 53]
The copula in late Quenya is the verb na-. Tolkien stated that it was used only in joining adjectives, nouns, and pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have certain quality, or to be same as another, and also that the copula was not used when the meaning was clear.[T 54] Otherwise, the copula is left out, which may provide for ambiguous tenses when there is no further context:
- Eldar ataformaiti, can be translated in English either as "Elves are ambidexters", or "Elves were ambidexters".[T 55]
- A mára. "A is good", or "A was good".[T 54]
Syntax
Quenya allows for a flexible word order because it is an inflectional language like Latin. Nevertheless, it has word order rules. The usual
Vocabulary
Because many of Tolkien's writings on the Elvish languages remain unpublished it is difficult to know how large a vocabulary he devised. By 2008, about 25,000 Elvish words had been published.[50]
English | Quenya | Sindarin equivalent |
---|---|---|
earth | ambar, cemen | amar, ceven |
sky | menel | menel |
water | nén | nen |
fire | nár | naur |
man (male) | nér | benn |
female | nís | bess |
eat | mat- | mad- |
drink | suc- | sog- |
tall, great | alta, halla | beleg, daer |
small | pitya, titta | niben, tithen |
night | lóme | dû |
day | aurë, ré | aur |
Proper nouns
Quenya's proper nouns are names of people and things in Middle-earth.[T 45][T 56]
- Estë "Rest"; Indis "Bride";
- Aicanáro "Fell Fire"; Ancalimë "Most Bright Lady";
- Yavanna "Giver of fruits."[T 56]
Some prepositions and adverbs
- ala: [place] beyond; [time] after.
- ama: up(wards).
- an: towards, upon.
- et: forth, out of [with the complement noun in ablative case]
- haila: [static] far beyond.
- haiya: far, far off, far away.
- han: [addition] beyond ; over and above, in addition to.
- ní: [not touching] beneath, under.
- no: 1. under. 2. upon. 3. after (of place), behind.
- nu: under, beneath.
- ono: 1. in front of, ahead, before [in all relation but time]. 2, after [of time only].
Greetings
The word used as a form of polite address to an Elf (male or female) is Tar. Among the Númenoreans it became "King/Queen" and used as a form of address for a superior, especially a King or a Queen; cf. Tarinya, used by Prince Aldarion to address his father, King Tar-Meneldur.[T 57]
- Namárië [naˈmaːri.ɛ] is a reduced form of Quenya á na márië, literally "be well". It is a formula used in Tarquesta for greetings and also for farewell.[T 58]
- The most usual formula used by the Noldor for greeting each other is (Hara) máriessë! "(Stay) in happiness!"[T 58]
- In The Lord of the Rings, the hobbit Frodo Baggins used another address of welcome: Elen síla lúmenn' omentielmo!, corrected by Tolkien in the Second Edition to Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo! This was a traditional formula in an elevated style, used between people going on crossing paths: "A star shines upon the hour of the meeting of our ways".[T 59]
- The most usual formula used by the Noldor in farewells is Áva márië! "Go happily!", or Márienna! "To happiness!".[T 58]
Numerals
According to Christopher Tolkien, "the Eldar used two systems of numerals one of sixes (or twelves), and one of fives. (or tens)."[51] That is a duodecimal counting (base 12), and a decimal system. The Quenya word made by J. R. R. Tolkien for the 'decimal system of counting' is maquanotië - "hand counting".[T 60]
The known numbers for 1–20 are presented below; those from early Quenya ("Early Qenya Grammar") are in bold.
Cardinal numbers | Ordinal numbers | Fractional numbers
| ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Quenya | English | No. | Quenya | English | No. | Quenya | English |
1 | min | One | 1st | minya | First | 1/1 | kaina, quanta | Whole |
2 | atta, tata | Two | 2nd | attëa, tatya | Second | 1/2 | peresta, perta | Half |
3 | neldë, nel | Three | 3rd | neldëa, nelya | Third | 1/3 | nelesta, neldesta, nelta, nelsa | Third |
4 | canta, can | Four | 4th | cantëa | Fourth | 1/4 | canasta, casta, cansat | Fourth, quarter |
5 | lempë, lemen, maqua | Five | 5th | lempëa | Fifth | 1/5 | lepesta, lepsat | Fifth |
6 | enquë | Six | 6th | enquëa | Sixth | 1/6 | enquesta | Sixth |
7 | otso | Seven | 7th | otsëa | Seventh | 1/7 | otosta, osta, otsat | Seventh |
8 | toldo, tolto | Eight | 8th | toldëa, toltëa | Eighth | 1/8 | tolosta, tosta, tolsat | Eighth |
9 | nertë | Nine | 9th | nertëa | Ninth | 1/9 | neresta, nesta, nersat | Ninth |
10 | quëan, quain, maquat | Ten | 10th | quainëa | Tenth | 1/10 | *quaista, caista | Tenth |
11 | minque | Eleven | 11th | *minquëa, minquenya | Eleventh | 1/11 | minquesta | Eleventh |
12 | yunquë, rasta | Twelve | 12th | *yunquëa, *rastëa | Twelfth | 1/12 | yunquesta, *rastasta | Twelfth |
13 | *nelquë, quainel, yunquenta | Thirteen | 13th | *nelquëa, *yunquentëa | Thirteenth | 1/13 | *nelquesta, *yunquentesta | Thirteenth |
14 | canquë, quaican | Fourteen | 14th | *canquëa | Fourteenth | 1/14 | *canquesta | Fourteenth |
15 | lepenquë, quailepen | Fifteen | 15th | *lepenquëa | Fifteenth | 1/15 | *lepenquesta | Fifteenth |
16 | enenquë, quainquë | Sixteen | 16th | *enenquëa | Sixteenth | 1/16 | *enenquesta | Sixteenth |
17 | otoquë | Seventeen | 17th | *otoquëa | Seventeenth | 1/17 | *otoquesta | Seventeenth |
18 | tolquë, nahta | Eighteen | 18th | *tolquëa | Eighteenth | 1/18 | *tolquesta | Eighteenth |
19 | neterquë, húkea | Nineteen | 19th | *neterquëa, hukaiya | Nineteenth | 1/19 | *neterquesta | Nineteenth |
20 | *yuquain, yukainen | Twenty | 20th | *yuquainëa, yukainenya | Twentieth | 1/20 | *yuquaista, yukainentya | Twentieth |
Other attested number words include esta and inga for 'first'. Tolkien was dissatisfied with esta, the definition is marked with a query in the "Etymologies".[T 61] Maqua means specifically a group of five objects, like the English word "pentad"; similarly maquat "pair of fives" refers to a group of ten objects. The word yunquenta for thirteen literally means "12 and one more".[T 62]
Quenya | English | Quenya | English |
---|---|---|---|
Min elen Er elen |
One star A single star |
Min Eleno Er eleno |
Of one star Of a single star |
Elen atta | Two stars | Elen atto | Of two stars |
Eleni neldë | Three stars | Elenion neldë | Of three stars |
Eleni canta | Four stars | Elenion canta | Of four stars |
No. | "Qenya" | Quenya | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinal | Ordinal | Fractional | ||
20 | yukainen | *yuquain | *yuquainëa | *yuquaista |
21 | min(ya) yukainen | *min yuquain | *min yuquainëa | *min yuquaista |
2_ | _ yukainen | *_ yuquain | *_ yuquainëa | *_ yuquaista |
30 | nel(de)kainen | *nelquain | *nelquainëa | *nelquaista |
40 | kan(ta)kainen | *canquain | *canquainëa | *canquaista |
50 | leminkainen | *lepenquain | *lepenquainëa | *lepenquaista |
60 | enekkainen | *(en)enquain | *(en)enquainëa | *(en)enquaista |
70 | otsokainen | *otoquain | *otoquainëa | *otoquaista |
80 | tol(to)kainen | *tolquain | *tolquainëa | *tolquaista |
90 | huekainen | *neterquain | *neterquainëa | *neterquaista |
100 | tuksa pínea (lit. small gross) | *tuxa | *tuxëa | *tuxasta |
100/144 | tuksa | |||
200 | yúyo tuksa | *tuxa atta | *tuxëa atta | *tuxasta atta |
_00 | _ tukse | *tuxar _ *tuxe _ |
*tuxëa _ | *tuxasta _ |
1k 103 |
húmë tuksa kainen, tuksainen |
*húmë *quaituxa |
*húmëa *quaituxëa |
*húmesta *quaituxasta |
2k | yúyo húmi | *húmë atta | *húmëa atta | *húmesta atta |
_k | _ húmi | *húmi _ | *húmëa _ | *húmesta _ |
106 | mindóre, sóra (Large number) | *mindórë | *mindórëa | *mindóresta |
109 | yundóre | *yundórë | *yundórëa | *yundóresta |
1012 | neldóre | *neldórë | *neldórëa | *neldóresta |
1015 | kantóre | *candórë | *candórëa | *candóresta |
1018 | lemindóre | *lependórë | *lependórëa | *lependóresta |
1021 | enqendóre | *enquendórë | *enquendórëa | *enquendóresta |
1024 | otsondóre | *otondórë | *otondórëa | *otondóresta |
"Qenya" numerals above twenty show that the smaller units come first, min yukainen "21" being "one-twenty", and also reflects in how it's written in Tengwar.[52]
Writing systems
Most of the time, Tolkien wrote his invented languages using the Latin script,[53] but he devised his own writing systems to match the internal histories of his languages.[54]
Elvish writing systems
Tolkien imagined many writing systems for his Elves. The best-known is the "Tengwar of Fëanor" but the first one he created c. 1919 was the "Tengwar of Rumil", also called the sarati. He decided that, prior to their Exile, the Noldorin Elves first used the sarati of Rúmil to record Ancient Quenya. In Middle-earth, Quenya appears to have been rarely written using the "Elvish runes" or cirth, named certar in Quenya.[54]
Latin script
Tolkien's spelling in Latin script of Quenya was largely phonemic, with each letter corresponding to a specific phoneme in the language. However, the vowels varied in pronunciation depending upon their length.[55] Specific rules for consonants were provided in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings, e.g. the letter c is always pronounced k, qu stands for kw,[T 63] Orqui is Orkwi. Tolkien's standard orthography for Quenya uses all the letters of the Latin script except j, k, and z, together with the acute and diaeresis marks on vowels; the letters ñ, þ and z only appear in early Quenya. Occasionally, Tolkien wrote Quenya with a "Finnish-style" orthography (rather than the standard Latin-Romance version), in which c is replaced by k, y with j, and long vowels written double. The acute accent marks long vowels, while the diaeresis indicates that a vowel is not part of a diphthong, for example in ëa or ëo, while final e is marked with a diaeresis to remind English-speakers that it is not silent.[56]
Corpus
The poem "
Other Quenya poems spoken by Tolkien in public but never published in his lifetime are Oilima Markirya ("The Last Ark"), Nieninqe, and Earendel in his lecture
See also
- Elvish languages (Middle-earth)
- Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Sarati
- Sindarin
References
Primary
- The entries in the journals Vinyar Tengwarcontain Tolkien's previously-unpublished accounts of the language, annotated by scholars, so these are not purely primary sources.
- Parma Eldalamberon19, p. 74) dedicated to the phonology of Quenya: ⟨ny⟩ is "a sound as in English new". In Quenya ⟨ny⟩ is a combination of consonants, ibidem., p. 81.
- ^ a b Letter #163, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien.
- ^ Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 135.
- ^ a b Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings "Foreword to the Second Edition".
- ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. 1997. The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays. p. 212
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 61.
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, pp. 18–28
- Parma Eldalamberon(18), p. 71: "The Elves began to make in the beginning of their being [a language] and it is one with their being, since it was of their nature and the first of all their gift to devise names and words."
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 76.
- ^ Tolkien wrote about Quenya: "It might be said to be composed on a Latin basis with two other (main) ingredients that happen to give me 'phonaesthetic' pleasure: Finnish, and Greek". Letter No. 144. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 14.
- ^ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, ch. 6 "Of Feanor and the Unchaining of Melkor", see also "Quenya" in the annotated Index p. 346
- Parma Eldalamberon18, p. 72. "The most ancient structure of the tongue common to all the Qendelie [Elvish race] is ... not known to the Elves, through some things may be guessed or discovered by those who will compare one with another the written forms of Eldarin languages of Valinor, together with such records of the Avari as we here in Eressëa have set down in these later days."
- ^ Tolkien 1994, p. 421.
- Parma Eldalamberon(18), p. 75.
- Parma Eldalamberon17, p. 128.
- ^ Tolkien 1994, "Part Four. Quendi and Eldar: Appendix D. *Kwen, Quenya, and the Elvish (especially Ñoldorin) words for 'Language': Note on the 'Language of the Valar'", p. 398
- ^ Tolkien 1994, p. 361.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 93.
- ^ The Silmarillion, chapter 15
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 129.
- ^ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F: "Of the Elves".
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, pages 68-107
- ^ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, #223: "I remain in love with Italian, and feel quite lorn without a chance of trying to speak it."
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 88.
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 75
- ^ Parma Eldalamberon(22), p. 66.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 74.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 86.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 79.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 106.
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 107.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 88.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 81.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 80.
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 103.
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 84.
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 87.
- ^ Parma EldalamberonNo. 19, p. 82.
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 135.
- Parma Eldalamberon(14), p. 77,
- Vinyar Tengwar(49), p. 51.
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 57.
- Vinyar Tengwar(49), p. 15.
- ^ Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 110.
- ^ a b J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Steward and the King".
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 161.
- ^ From the "Namárië" poem by J. R. R. Tolkien.
- Parma Eldalamberon(14), p. 56.
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 144.
- Parma Eldalamberon, (17), p. 76.
- Vinyar Tengwar(49), p. 43.
- Parma Eldalamberon(17), pp. 93–94.
- ^ Vinyar Tengwar(49), p. 9.
- Vinyar Tengwar(49), p. 7.
- ^ a b c d e The Silmarillion, "Index" (annotated by Christopher Tolkien as a glossary), pp. 313-365
- ^ The Silmarillion, "Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names", tar-.
- ^ Parma Eldalamberon(17), p. 162.
- ^ Tolkien 1994, p. 367.
- Vinyar Tengwar, n° 47, p. 10.
- The Lost Road, p. 356.
- Vinyar Tengwarn° 47, p. 15.
- ^ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, part I.
- ^ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, #230.
- ^ The Return of the King, ch. 1
- ^ J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, chapter 20
Secondary
- ISBN 978-0-313-33188-6.
- ^ Solopova 2009, p. 76
- ^ Fimi 2010, pp. 95–99
- ^ Solopova 2009, p. 75
- ^ Solopova 2009, pp. 75–76
- ^ Fimi 2010, p. 97
- Parma EldalamberonNo. 12.
- ^ ISBN 978-9197350013.
- ^ Fimi 2010, p. 98
- ^ Solopova 2009, p. 77
- ISBN 978-0-618-05702-3.
- ^ DuBois, Tom; Mellor, Scott (2002). "The Nordic Roots of Tolkien's Middle Earth". Scandinavian Review (Summer). The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- S2CID 144894796.
- Parma Eldalamberon(...), Quettar (...), Tengwestië (...), Vinyar Tengwar (...)."
- ISBN 1-56308-518-6.
- ^ S2CID 170601512.
- ^ Appleyard, Anthony (7 March 1995). "Quenya Grammar Reexamined". Tolklang.quettar.org. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ a b Strack, Paul (11 December 2022) [2008]. "Eldamo – An Elvish Lexicon". Eldamo.org. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
v0.8.4.2
- ^ Stainton, Alexander (2022). "Quenya Prosodic Structure". Western Papers in Linguistics. 5 (1).
- ISBN 9789197350020.
- ^ Scull, Christina; Hammond, Wayne G. (2006). The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide. Vol. 2 Reader's Guide. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 476–82.
- S2CID 170945020.
- ^ Flieger 2002, p. 87
- ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1.
- ^ Flieger 2002, p. 136
- ^ Renk, Thorsten. "What is Vanyarin Quenya like?". Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 75
- ^ a b c Fauskanger, Helge K. "Quenya – the Ancient Tongue. Elementary Phonology". University of Bergen.
- ^ Pesch 2003, pp. 75, 188
- ISBN 3-404-20498-0.
- ISBN 978-3-638-71087-9.
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 76
- ^ "Quenya-English Dictionary" (PDF). Ambar Eldaron. April 2009. p. 12.
- ^ Pesch 2003, pp. 78–79
- ^ Pesch 2003, pp. 79–80
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 80
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 87
- ^ Fauskanger, Helge K. "Quenya – The Ancient Tongue: The Adjective". Ardalambion. University of Bergen. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 90
- ^ Fauskanger, Helge K. "Quenya – the Ancient Tongue: Pronouns". Ardalambion. University of Bergen. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ Pesch 2003, pp. 91–92
- ^ Renk, Thorsten. "The Quenya Pronominal System – a summary". Tengwesta eldalambion – Investigations into Elvish grammar. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 98
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 100
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 93
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 94
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 95
- ^ Pesch 2003, p. 91
- ^ Pesch 2003, pp. 117–119
- ISBN 978-2-84228-325-4.
- ^ Quettar n° 13, p. 9.
- ^ Omentielva: Arda Philology 2 http://www.omentielva.com/ardaph2.htm
- ^ Solopova 2009, p. 88
- ^ ISBN 9789197350037.
- ^ Krege 2003, p. 36
- Parma Eldalamberon(16), p. 104.
- Vinyar TengwarNo. 40, April 1999
Sources
- OCLC 222251097.
- ISBN 0-87338-744-9.
- ISBN 3-608-93185-6.
- ISBN 3-404-20476-X.
- ISBN 978-0-9816607-1-4.
- ISBN 0-395-71041-3.
- Parma Eldalamberon(19).
Further reading
- Appleyard, Anthony (1992). "Quenya Grammar Re-Examined". Quettar 43, pp. 3–21.
- Derzhanski, Ivan A. (1997). "E man i yulma oi enquanta men?" Vinyar Tengwar38, pp. 14–18.
- Foster, Robert and Glen GoodKnight (1971). "Sindarin and Quenya Phonology". Mythcon I: Proceedings, 54–56. Los Angeles: Mythopoeic Society.
- Gilson, Christopher and Vinyar Tengwar36, pp. 7–29.
- Gilson, Christopher and Patrick Wynne (1991). "The Elves at Koivienéni: A New Quenya Sentence". Mythlore 17(3), pp. 23–30.
- Vinyar Tengwar21, pp. 6–10.
- ISBN 0-415-96942-5.
- Kloczko, Edward (1995). Dictionnaire des langues elfiques, volume 1 (Quenya-Français-Anglais/Quenya-French-English). Toulon: Tamise.
- Rautala, Helena (1993). "Familiarity and Distance: Quenya's Relation to Finnish '". In Battarbee, K. J. (ed.). Scholarship and Fantasy: Proceedings Of The Tolkien Phenomenon, May 1992, Turku, Finland. Turku: ISBN 951-29-0087-4.
- Welden, Bill (2001). "Negation in Quenya". Vinyar Tengwar42, pp. 32–34.
- Wynne, Patrick H. and Christopher Gilson (1993). "Trees of Silver and of Gold: A Guide to the Koiveinéni Manuscript". Vinyar Tengwar27, pp. 7–42.
External links
- The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
- Parma Eldalamberon
- Vinyar Tengwar
- [1] – Helge Fauskanger's site on Tolkien languages, with Quenya course and materials
- Thorsten Renk's page on Elvish Languages
- "The s-case" – Ales Bican examines the evidence for the shortened form of the locative (-s).
- Quenya–English dictionary