Elvish languages

 

Elvish languages are constructed languages used typically by elves in a fantasy setting.

Tolkien's Elvish languages

Author J. R. R. Tolkien created many languages for Elves, which eventuated in the creation of a mythology (expounded in his books), complete with races, to speak the tongues he had constructed. His interest was primarily philological, and he said his stories grew out of his languages. The languages were the first thing Tolkien created for his mythos, starting with what he originally called "Qenya", the first primitive form of elvish. This was later called Quenya (High-elven) and is one of the two most complete of Tolkien's languages (the other being Sindarin, or 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 (language of the Elves in Cuiviénen)
  • Avarin
    • Various Avarin languages (some later merged with Nandorin)
  • Common Eldarin (the early language of all the Eldar)
    • Quenya (the language of the Noldor and the Vanyar)
      • Quendya (also Vanyarin Quenya) (daily tongue of the Vanyar: closest to archaic Quenya)
      • Noldorin Quenya (also Exilic Quenya) (the "Elven Latin" of Middle-earth)
    • Common Telerin (the early language of all the Lindar)
      • Telerin (the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands)
      • Nandorin (languages of the Nandor — some were influenced by Avarin)
        • Original language of Greenwood the Great
        • Original language of Lórinand
      • Sindarin (language of the Sindar)
        • Doriathrin (dialect of Doriath)
        • Falathrin (dialect of the Falas and Nargothrond)
        • North Sindarin (dialects of Dorthonion and Hithlum)

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

Pronunciation

Sindarin and Quenya have a very similar pronunciation. 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	[ɑː]	.
â	(in Sindarin) as in father, but even longer	[ɑːː]	.
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 [*ɒ]
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: [ɛː], Q: [eː]	Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English rain
ê	(in Sindarin) the vowel of pet especially lengthened	[ɛːː]	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	[iː]	.
î	(in Sindarin) as in machine, but especially lengthened	[iːː]	.
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 British got	[ɔ]	.
ó	the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German)	S: [ɔː], Q: [oː]	Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English cold [oː]
ô	(in Sindarin) the same vowel especially lengthened	[ɔːː]	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 Sindarin) as in German Götter	[œ]	in published writing, has been incorrectly spelt oe (two letters), as in Nírnaeth Arnoediad!
u	as in cool, but shorter	[u]	not opened as in book [*ʊ]
ú	as in cool	[uː]	.
û	(in Sindarin) the same vowel as above, but especially lengthened	[uːː]	.
y	(in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß, but short	[y]	not found in English
ý	(in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß	[yː]	.
ŷ	(in Sindarin) as in French lune or German süß, but even longer	[yːː]	not found in English

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 [g], as in give, rather than the soft form [*ʤ], as in gem.
• The letter r denotes an alveolar trill [r], similar to Spanish r.
• The digraph dh, as in Caradhras, denotes [ð] as in English this.
• The digraph ch, as in Orch, denotes [x] as in German ach, and never like the ch [*ʧ] in English chair.

Most samples of the Elvish language are written out with the Latin alphabet, but within the fiction the languages were written using Tengwar, or occasionally carved in Cirth. Tengwar can however be used to write many other languages.

The relationship between the Elvish languages

Below is given a simplified diagram over how the Elvish languages are said have developed from their common origin, Quendian. Where this is known, the descendant of the Quendian word kwendī 'people' is shown in italics for each language.

Time Period	Language
The Awakening	Quendian Common for all Elves at Cuiviénen kwendī
The Westward March	Quenya Vanyar and Noldor in Aman quendi [1]	Common Telerin Teleri during the march pendi			Avarin Avari, those who stayed at Cuiviénen and from there spread across Middle-earth (many languages) kindi, cuind, hwenti, windan, kinn-lai
The First Age		Amanya Telerin Teleri in Aman	Sindarin Teleri in Beleriand (Sindar), as well as the exiled Noldor after the speaking of Quenya was banned in Beleriand by Elu Thingol. *-bind, *-bin	Nandorin Teleri in Rhovanion, Eriador and Ossiriand (Nandor)
The Second Age				Silvan[2] The Wood-elves of the Vale of Anduin penni

1. ^ Actually cwendi, but Tolkien states in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings that he Latinized the spelling of the original language (which then should be spelled Cwenya).
2. ^ 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.

Other Elvish languages

Since Tolkien, others have invented Elvish languages in their own fiction. Several borrow sounds and forms (or even whole words) from Tolkien's Elvish languages, especially Quenya, while others are quite distinct.

• The Ancient Language The language of the elves in Eragon. Also used by the riders and other magic users to cast spells. Was the language of the now extinct Grey Folk. One can't lie in the Ancient Language and is bound by what he/she says in it.
• Common Elvish, the language of the surface Elves of Dungeons & Dragons (of which there are several dialects)
• Elvish language of Andrzej Sapkowski's Hexer saga, based on Welsh and English
• Eltharin, the language of the elves of Warhammer Fantasy setting:
  • Fan-Eltharin, the language of the Wood Elves
  • Tar-Eltharin, the language of the Sea Elves and High Elves
• Sperethiel, The language of elves in Shadowrun.
• Ssamath, the language of the Dark Elves or Drow of Dungeons & Dragons,
• Elvish language of Gael Baudino's Strands series. Seems to be based on the Romance languages.
• The Elvish language(s) of the Warcraft universe (Darnassian and Thalassian), which are not described in detail but superficially resemble Tolkien's
• The spiral-read language of the Artemis Fowl series

The Elvish language is also used in some of Finnish opera-metal band, 'Nightwish's lyrics. One such example is the usage of 'Elbereth' in Wishmaster.

See also

• Languages of Middle-earth

External links

• Elvish.org FAQ — Article by Carl F. Hostetter. Succint citations of Tolkien's own views of the purpose, completeness and usability of his languages.
• "Elvish as She Is Spoke" — Article by Carl F. Hostetter. A thorough examination of Tolkien's purposes in inventing his Elvish languages and his practices in describing them, their consequent nature, and the inherent pitfalls in any attempt to "speak Elvish". Republished with permission from The Lord of the Rings 1954–2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder (Marquette, 2006), ed. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.
• So You Want to Learn Elvish? - discussion on problems with Tolkienian Elvish
• Parma Tyelpelassiva - Quenya and Sindarin courses and compositions
• Ardalambion - a source for Tolkienian Elvish
• The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship: Publishes the journals Parma Eldalamberon, Tengwestië, and Vinyar Tengwar
• Pronunciation guide
• Learn Tengwar and Sarati
• Elvish & Dwarf fonts for Mac Classic
• Elvish fonts for T_EX
• Elvish fonts for Windows
• Interactive Elvish translator, a web page that allows you to write a sentence in English and see it transcribed into Tengwar in real time
• Tel'Mithrim Elven Language Resources based in D&D Common Elvish
• Aglardh A discussion board about Tolkienian languages
• EldarinWiki Wiktionary project for Tolkienian languages
• Write Your Name in Elvish in Ten Minutes

• Translations of English names, useful phrases an English/Elvish dictionary[1]

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