The Elvish language reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Elvish language

An elvish language is a constructed language used typically by elves in a fantasy setting.

Table of contents

1 Elvish Languages of Middle-earth 1.1 Pronunciation 2 Other Elvish languages 3 External links

Elvish Languages of Middle-earth

Several languages were created for his Elves by author J. R. R. Tolkien to complement his books set in the fictional universe of Middle-earth. His interest was primarily philological, and he said his stories grew out of his languages. The two most complete of them are Quenya (High-elven) and Sindarin (Grey-elven).In addition to these two he also created several other (partially derived) languages.

In Tolkien's mythology, these languages originated as follows:

• Primitive Quendian (used by Elves in Cuiviénen)
  • Avarin
    • Various Avarin languages
  • Common Eldarin (the early language of all the Eldar)
    • Quenya (the language of the Noldor and the Vanyar)
    • Common Telerin (the early language of all the Lindar)
      • Telerin (the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands)
      • Nandorin (language of the Nandor)
      • Sindarin (language of the Sindar)
        • Dialect of Doriath
        • Dialect of Mithrim
        • Dialect of Falas

Professor Tolkien also created the Tengwar and Cirth scripts for his languages.

Pronunciation

Sindarin and Quenya have the same pronunciation, which differs significantly from English.

• Vowels are pronounced the same, regardless of context. For instance, in Oromë, the pronunciation of the second 'o' is not affected by the presence of the final e. (This is not a very good illustration, because the diaeresis over the e demands the same pronunciation.)
  • Adjacent vowels are usually pronounced distinctly; for example, Nienor is pronounced nee-en-or, not nee-nor. However, Aiglos is pronounced eye-gloss.

• The letter c is always pronounced like the letter k; for instance, Celeborn is pronounced Keleborn.
• The letter g is never pronounced in the soft form, as in giant. For instance, Region is pronounced unlike the English word region.
• The letter r is lightly trilled, as in Spanish.
• The digraph dh, as in Caradhras, is prounounced like the th in this.

It's important to remember that, while Tolkien developed many forms of the Elvish language, most of them used Tengwar as a script. Tengwar can be used to write many languages with the basic Roman letters, such as English, French, Italian, and German.

See also: Languages of Middle-earth

Other Elvish languages

Tolkien was not the only one to create an Elvish race and language, but his is by far the best known. Other Elvish languages include:

• Ssamath, the language of the Dark Elves or Drow of Dungeons & Dragons,
• Common Elvish, the language of the surface Elves of D&D
• Elvish language of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher saga, based on English and Celtic languages

External links

• TL'Ilythiiri Zhaun'ol — - The D&D Drow Dictionary
• Very complete source for learning Elvish
• - Elvish fonts for Windows
• - Elvish.org
• - Various Tolkien resources
• - A downloadable course in Quenya
• - Elvish & Dwarf fonts for Mac Classic
• - List of available books about Elvish
• - Elvish fonts
• - Pronunciation guide
• - Learn Tengwar

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