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Elvish language

constructed language used typically by elves in a fantasy setting.

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 (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 Ñoldor and the Vanyar)
      • Quendya (also Vanyarin Quenya) (daily tongue of the Vanyar: closest to archaic Quenya)
      • Ñoldorin 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

Both Sindarin and Quenya (as transcribed in the Latin alphabet) 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.)
  • The letters ie are always pronounced distinctly; for example, Nienor is pronounced nee-en-or, not nee-nor.
  • Ai, as in Aiglos is pronounced like a long i. Ae as in Aegnor can also be pronounced like this.
  • Ei as in Eilinel has the sound of ey in the word grey.
  • Oe as in Noegyth may be prounced as oy in employ.
  • The letters au have the sound of ou as in cloud, so the first syllable in Sauron is prounced sour, not sore.
  • Er, ir, and ur before a consonant or at the end of a word should have the sounds air, eer, and oor, thus Emeldir is pronounced em-el-deer, not em-el-dur.
  • The letters ui as in Cuiviénen has the sound of english ruin.
• The letter c is always pronounced like the letter k, even before i and e.; for instance, Celeborn is pronounced Keleborn, and Cirth is pronounced Kirth.
• 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 pronounced like the th in this.
• The digraph ch, as in Orch, is pronounced as in German ach.

It's important to remember that, while most samples of the Elvish language are written with the Latin alphabet, within the fiction the languages were written using Tengwar, or occasionally carved in Cirth. Tengwar can however be used to write many other languages.

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