ARDA PHILOLOGY

1
Proceedings of the First Inter national Conference on
J.R.R.Tolkien's Invented Languages
OMENTlELVA MINYA
Stockholm, 2005

Published by the Arda Sociefy, 2007

ARDA PH ILOLOGY

C JPYnghted malenal
Copyrighted material
ARDA PHILOLOGY
1
P ROCEEDINGS OF THE F IRST INTERNATIONAL C ONFERENCE ON

J .R.R. T OLK1EN'S I NVI:NI'ED LANGUAGH.S

OMENTlELVA MINYA
STOCKHOLM, 4-8 AUG UST 2005

E DITOR: B EREGOND, A NDERS S TENSTROM

PUBLISHED BY TIlE A RDA SOC IETY, 2 007

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Quotations from works of J .R.R. To lkien are given by kind permi ssion of the
copyright holders, and in relevant cases of the editors of Parow Elda/amberon
and Vinyar Tengwar.

Copyrighl dd~il,;;

n", lIobbit Cl The J.R R Tolkien Copyri#tl Tn,S( 1937.1966

11",1.."..1 af'/Ie Ring< C Th~ J .RR. Tolki,," 19(,7 Dis<; ... 'il~"'ry s.." ]" me,,, "n~ 'h~ Tolk ie" TnlS' 1 9~.
1955,1966
n", Ro<~1 (~Elo'Q"o.. O The J.R.R. Tolki,," Copyright Tm,' 1968, 1978
n", ~1",arimQII Cl The J.R.II.. Tolkien Copyright Tn,", ~nd C,R Tolki"" 1977
Unfini.<lloo 'fnl'" Cl The .), Ir-R- ToTkien COJlyrigh' T",,' ~nrl (~ R Tolkien I 'JI:IO
11,., /"",,,,, IIf ), RR TlIlk;"" <C:l The J, H. R. "['olk;,." COJlyrigh' "['m" l<Jijj
n", MOfI.<I,,-, w,d /I,e Cnlir" rer Tlte J ,R.II.. Tolkien Copyright Tn(S( ~nd 'he Tolkien TnlSl 1983
IT", Los! Rood and 011, ... wririfl.tS e The J,RR. Tolkien Copyri#t' Tru" ""rl C II.. Tolkien 1987
IT", R..m", af II.. s/,nriow C The J .II..R Tolkien I,;opyright Tn,S! and 1,;.11.. Tolkien 19ij6
If", T''''''1Hl vf />mplTfl <0 Th ~ J ,R.R. Tolki,,,, Copyrighl Tn", And CR. Tolki"n 1989
Sau",,, D<'j..:u<,,<1 O TI,e J.R.R Tolkien Copyright TnlSl ~"d C.R. Tolki,'" 1992
If'" W.".o[ll", J<Wt')s Ci The J .R.R Tolki,'n Copyright Tn(S! ."d CR. Tolki'" 1994

"Q'",y.,,,,,,.,, The Qeny. Phon ology And l .e,i ~" n" (in Pa",,,, /i1rl,tl,u,J,..rOfl 12) otl The Tolki"n TmS!
,~"
'-Ih e Alphabet of M rn il" (in 1'w71'" t'Mal"mberon 13) C The Tolkim Tn." 200 1
"Drrly <)eny. Fragments" (in ",,"IO" I1d"/",,,I.....,., 14) Cl Tlte l'olkien T",", 2003
"Drrly <)eny" Gl'llmm.T" (in """I,,, tMd","i>""" 14) C The Tolki"n Tru st 2nlXl
"The V a~ ".ric Scrip," (in Prm"o t'lrinl""/b"",,, 14) Cl The Tolki'" TnlSl 2003

Text of", . "he fomrs of'C l~ssi c~ l" or Book Qlte"y." [P10lz Declcnsioru;] (in Viny.". T~W<lI" 6) CI The
Tolki,n Tn,,,, 1989
"From Qr,m,/i ,uul Iild<u-. Append ix D" (in Viny,u- Tf7W"<u- 39) Cl Th" Tolki"n Tmsl 1998
'111c. Rivers ~nd Duron_hills of Gondor" (in Viny"" Tf7W"<" ~2) Cl The Tolki"" Tn.S( 2001
"I:!darin I/"nd., fi'WT"'" Nlu"""h ~nd Ild.lerl writing.... - p"rr One r - P~" fl (in Viny'"
T~ 47) CI The "['olki" n 1m," ~ 1() 5
"E/,[,rrin II,,,,,!>, 1'i1lgf7> & Nw""",d, And Rd •• erI Wriring.'" _ P~n TwO 1_ PAns 11 III Ill] (ill Viny,u
T~W<lI" 4tI) 10 n,e Tolki.., Tn", 2005

© Arda-siil1skapet 2007
Pri nted in Sweden
Ki sta Sllabbtryck
ISSN 1654-5737
I~BJ [ 'J7r; -'JJ -'J7~'OOO-j-2

(;;rirkri ;;(fr.,r prinUn7,)

.,
 FOREWORD

The attractive glimpses of Elvish and odler languages inveuted by J.R.R.

Tolkien that appear in his works - in many names but also short texts - have
long inspi red serious enq uiries into the history, vocabulary and gram mar of
those languages. Over the last decades many more of the documents in which
Tolkien's inventions were embodied and developed have been published. TIle
primary material, olle might feel, has been growing more vigorously than the
body of comment and analysis. In the same period, the Internet with email
groups and the worldwide web of hypertext has given Tolkien philologists
every opportu nity to communicate and share their ideas - every opportunity
except that of act uaUy meeting. There are few groups like the Mellonath
Daeron, where I have the privilege to regularly meet other enthLlsia~s and tal k
about Tolkien's languages.
In 2003, Bill Welden suggested to me that a longteml series of international
conferences might serve to nourish posi tive interaction between the scattered
workers in the field. Scholarship thrives by mutual assistance, criticism and
respect, arising more readily in actual meetings than on the Internet. Said and
done. Professor Nils-Letman Johannesson opened the doors of the Department
of English at Stockholm University, and Omentielva Minya, the first interna-
tional conference on the invented languages of J.R.R. Tolkien, was held there
4- 8 August 2005. Omentielva is to reoccur biennally, and I write dlis shortly
before the 2007 conference opens at Lessius Hogeschool in Antwerp.
Arda Philology is a new periodical dlat will publish the proceedings of the
conference series. It is published by th e Arda Sociery and in many respeers has
the look and feel of the vo lumes of Arda, the most obvious difference being that
this younger sister is in English only.1
Current information about Omentielva and Arda Philology is available on
the worldwide web; go to < http://www.omentieiva.com >.

Arda Philology I contains seven papers from Qmentielva Miuya, in the

order they were presented in Stockholm. The eiglllh and last paper there, my
own, was a work in progress and too unfinished for publication.
Petri Tikka, first in this volume, propounds the thesis that in Tolkien's
development of Quenya, Finnish was not merely an initial inspiration, but an
abiding and progressively deepening influence.
Nils-Lennart Johannesson, next, shows that the respective beauty and
harshness ascribed to (and easily heard in) some of Tolkien's languages corre-
1 Atso , h~""' es in Ihis ",IOlm~ .", n<~ in ,,,,<> m lnm"-', .n i""",y" "i" ",-", for ",hid, I ~1'"tO!9"" bOlt
which could nOl be ~m""ded in ti""'_

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lale with the frequency of phonetically so norous sounds, This is the shortest
paper, but for his statistics Johannesson has painstakingly classified 11 79
speech sounds and 501 syllables.
The colltriblltion by Susanne Vejdemo is extracted and translmed from a
term paper deal ing with role·players ' versions of Quenya and the Black Speech,
and how they differ, in theory and (differently agai n) in practice, from the
models in Tolkien's works.
The known corpus of Dwarvish is comparatively small; the entire vocabu-
lary is listed on less than five pages at the end of Magnus Aberg's ingenious
analys is. While one would certainly wish for more mmerial, combining and
recombining the few pieces in this kind of puzzle is one of the great charms of
Tolkien philology.
Bertrand Bellet offe rs a rigorous study of vowe l affection in Noldorin and
Sindarin, solidly corroborated by evidence from the sources.
Study of Tolkien 's several invented writing systems is naturally inseparable
from the study of his languages. At Omentielva Minya it was represented by the
sixth paper, in wh ich Elros, Mans Bjorkman investigates features of the Teng-
war, Sarati and Valmaric, comparing them to various script systems in the
primary world,
The fi nal contribution, by Christopher Gilson, like the first one looks at Tol-
kien's develo pment of Quenya. He demonstrates that the High-elven poetry of
Galadriel's L.1.ment was achieved without ad hoc invention: it is composed with
words and devices thm were already part of the language, and obeying n lles
already conceived.

I wish to thank the writers for their pleasantly diverse contributions to the
conference and this volume, and for their patience with the editor. Mans Bjork-
man also made the graphic design of the cover.
Thanks likewise go to all who took responsibility for seminars and other
programme items at Omenlielva Minya, to Bill Welden through whose wisdom
and energy it came abou t, as well as to the Dep..1.rtment of English at Stockholm
Univers ity and the p.1.tish of Sollentuna, who between them provided us with
the venues we needed.

Stockholm 28 July, a.D, 2007

Beregond, Anders Stenstrom

editor

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 CONTENTS

petri Ti kka '

The Fjnnjeizatjon of Queny a,
Works Cited .. 13

N j[s. [,c nnart ,loh arlDc sso!l '

Quenya, the Black Spee<:h and the Sonority Scale ................................. 14
Works Cited , .. .. .. 2]

Susanne Vejderuo:
Tolklangs in the " Real ~ World ", .. ,"", .. ," " ', .. " .. ," " " " " " ', .. ,""""', .. , .,.. ",,22
Works Cjted 40

Magnus Aberg:
An Analysis of Dwarvish """"" """ " " " "" """""", .. ," " " " " '"" """ "" '" " ".42
Works Citcd 59
Appendix: J<huzdul glossary, with references.. , .... , .. ,60

Bertrand Bellet:
Vowel Affection jn S;lldar;n and Noldorin " .. ,66
Works Cited , .. 102

Mans Bjorkman:
The Scripts of Aman .. ..104
Works Cited ] 23

Christopher Gilson:
" Nam3rie ~ and the 1 exjcon of Quen y a 124

vii

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Bertrand Bellet (Fran ce) is an informalion specialist al tlle As.sociCltionfralll;a~
W/!fre les myopathies, He has published online abolll Siudarin, and is one of
the creators of Glrilll5Cmfu, < http://www.jrrvf.com/glaemocrafu/> . a
website with commented texts and audio records of Tolkien 's languages.

Elms, Mans Bjorkman (Sweden) is a member of the Arda Society and of the
Mellonath Daeron. He is a graphic designer, interested in Tolkien's works,
li nguistics in general, and wri ting systems, and he maintains the website
Amanye Tenceli, < http:// at.mansbjorkman.net > .

Christopher Gilson (USA) since twenty years is in charge of the serial PamlO
Eldalamberon, which publishes sc holarly editions of the documents in which
Tolkien wo rked out his languages.

Nils-Lennart Johannesson (Sweden) is a member of the Arda Society and

Professor of English Language at Stockholm University, and in charge of
the research wi thin the field of li nguistics at its Depart ment of English.
Petri Tikka (Fi nland) is an amateur theologian, poet and linguist. Beside his
interest in Tolkien's la nguages he loves Ilalure and swimming in the lake,
and intends to become a Lutheran pastor. He has created the website Mel!
Eldalambfnen: A Place in Elvi.sh , < http: //wv.rw.geocities.com/ petristikka/
eJvish/ot her/ q-essay.doc > .

Susanne Vejdemo (Sweden) is an assistant at the Department of Linguistics at

Stockholm Universi ty, with an active interest in live roleplaying.

Pippin , Magnus Aberg (Sweden) is a member of the MelJonath Daeron, with a

wide interest in languages and language constructi on, and specializi ng in
the st udy of K"l1Zdul. He works a s a ochool librarian,

vi ii

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 INDEX LOCORUM

Loci in Tolkien's works glossed or specifically referred to in this Arda

Philology are listed here. If the locus is quoted, the page number is in bold
italics; if the quotation is in a note, an " n ~ follows that pa.ge number.
References are structural; they indicate p..1.ragraphs or other textual units. A
paragra ph number preceded by "§H is so printed in the source. A number pre-
ceded by a colon or ""I~ is a pmagraph number given by the rderrer.
Stnlctural references are ordinarily independent of editions. At < http://
www.forodrim.orglarda/tbchron.html> there is an online bibliography of Tol-
kien 's writings, with the infomlatio n needed to find them in libraries.
The form of the references is mea.nt to be unambiguous, and intuitively
interpretable. The we b p..1.ge < http://www.forodri m.orglarda/ardaJef.html >
describes the usage in m ore detail. After the publication of this vo lume some
innovations made here will be introduced on the web p..1.ge. Notably:
To overcome the impasses presented by some works where the
structure is not obvious, the convention " [_ hh h "ltttJ :OO" indicates the
ClOth p..1ragraph starting from one beginning M m ~ that directly follows a
heading "hhh~. Any of the elemems ~hhh ", ""1m ", or '":00 " may be
omitted; thus M[ _ hhh]" is a part of the text headed by "hhhH, and " [_
"1m)" is a part starting with a 1)"1Tagraph beginning ··nC.
The convention "Etym. +AC, RRR~ means that the root RRR is to be
looked up in both "The Etymologies" (Etym. in LRW) and "Addenda a nd
Corrigenda to the Etymologies" (Etym.AC).

Works pubt;"h~d a. books, chronolosically

2!1:IH ... .. ... ..... .. ... ................. 14
(.1.., LRRC .fter 1J\ and Elym .AC .fler Elym.) ,
2!1:\.1 1 .. ... ... ... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .. ................ 8 4
2 H:210 .. ... ... ... .. ... .. ... ... ... ................. 90,94
H - "jll~ lIob1>il (J 9Cl7)
2Hl : ]02 ..... ..... ... .. .. ... ................. 6],64,65
prdalOT)' l10le .... .. .... ..... ...... ................. 105
2 Ill : 103 . ............. 6 1,65
1Il:41 ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... ................ 122
2 HI : 104 61
~ 111 :1 06 ......... w
LR - 11,. Lord of"I~ Rjnp (1954 - 55) nv, ill. (to ~~93 -98) ................... 108.118
litle·page ... .. .... ... .. ... ... .. .. ... .... ... .. .. ........ 108 2 JV:98 + ill. ........................ 88,90,9 1,90\
I [:26 .... .. ... ... ... ..... ... .. .. .... .. .................. 108 2 JV:207. ill . ..................................... 52, 64
1 [:122 ... ... ... ... ... .... ... .. ... ... ... .................. 15 2 V:5-6 .. .... .. ... ................. 63
I !l:72, ill ...................... ........... ............ 108 2 V];82 ... ........... ..... .................... 80, 88, 91
IIll:IOI'>-IOij 15-2 1 2VI : 113 ............ .... .. .......... ............... 86,92
1111:140 ......... 1:17 ~ Vlll :44 ...... 141
2[:16~ .................... 1 5-2 1 ,~7 2 VHl:77 ... .. .... .. ... ..... ....... 14
2 [:171 ... ... .. .... ... .... ... .. ... ... ... .................. 14 2 VHl:7fI....Hl .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... ... ............. ] 5-2]
2!1 : 14 ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .. .... ..... .. ... .............. 63 II 2 VHl:7S_S2 .. .. ... .. .... ... ... .. .. ... ... ... 126-'11
2 !I:ll:! ... ... ................... 15-2 1 ~ lX:107 .. .... .. ... ... .............. 7')

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 1...'Lli!i ... ... ... ........... ..... ........... ................ frl
1...X:.lll.12 .............................................. !lZ
.. ...... ~ '''--------------- ~~ l.2"l.l2'l..U!4 L!l!
b...l'i:.lI:! ..... ................... ZIi
!i..nl:AJ ... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .. .... .. ............. 9.1..!lZ
6 V:87-l:l8 .... .. .... .. ... .. ... ... ... .................... II
6...IlI.I.:ll < IIPI'.1I 1!i.il.:1. .................. '.!!l....'M
IIP1'A I (i):12 IT
App.A I fu1;Ji.l. + fOO/not e ............... 1M. 2!i
AW.A 1 W:.4lI. ........................................ 2J.
AW.D ~4 .... .... ..... ... .. ..... .... ... .... .............. Zf:t
AW' O ~ 9 .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .. .... ..... .. ... ........... 95.
AI'I,.D ~ I~ .... ..... ...... ..... ..... ... .... .............. &:I.
App . D ~ 17 ..... ........... ..... ...... ..... .............. 2J.
s-
IIPI' ,E I Conson~n1', Oil __________________ !!U.. 2:i
" .4.1. W.
AI'I"f. I Conson.n", \'H " .. " .. " .... " .. . " ... !!Ii
AW,E I Conson_IHs, R , ..... , .... , ..... " " , .iJ.11
Ap p,E I Conson.ms, S .. , .. ..... ........ , .. ... ,'" .4.l
III'1',E 1l'J:>wcls:.1 _.. , .. ..... ... ,""" l!ll
AW , E l~ .. ..... ... .. .. .. , ... ... , " " ' " " " n
App.E l!:fultl ..... ............. .. ............. :f.2.n
AW,E lll , .. ... , .. ........ , .... , .... , ........ l1LlJ.8
AI'I"f. 1l;,1 ... lQf,. ~
Aw, E II ( i), t . bl" ... ,,"""""""""" ll!8..1lIl
AW,E 1l liJ;2 " .. " ... ... ... " ... ,,"""""""'" ~
IIpp,E II £il;2. rOO/note __ .,,"""""""'" lJHl
IIW,E II (i);A li!!I.
111'I',E n £il;.H !1n
Aw,E II ffi;.lll ........ " ... " .... ,,"""""""" 112
AI'I',E II (i) lillre::L. fOO/note ... . ,,""""" liZ
LApp.E II Cin h - App.E II (ii), bm "(ii)" is
omitted in "Ider editi"",;]
App,E II Cinh ................... , .......... ,"""" 1Q5
App.E II Ci.nb.:.5. ........................... ," " .iJ. 1:;
IIl'I' ,f l OfOther ll.!l.!:l:l;;l II!!
AI'I',F10f(~h"r ~ .""", 116.!12.
AW,F I Of OIh~r Ila!:<:tll. .
....... ,.................... 15.16. 5J. :;n.. f>l. fi2
IIW,~' 1J ~1'J __ "" .. " .. _" ................. h2
Index, Thilll!", p"l~mir '!
Map of Middlc·eanh ... .... ....................... 89.
LRRC - 11", Lom oftl" Rjnp: A 11""<1.....'
C'" I~"mion, by W.yn~ G. Il>ommond ~nd
Chri"inh s<:"ll (:l005)
2 U1 1 n~-ed no mKJ,,7-8 , .. ... , .. ........ , ........ :if
2. III "I'!>ere the Mi"y ......:.:; _
1l!,. tl5:1. :ili,. 6.l.1!.1, !i5
Nom, PI.,,,,,. A5I,,,,, M,~<nfnin' II'! 'll
Nom, PI."eo, n",uwt11 ." .... " ... " .............. 8Ii
R _ I1'~II""dG_E,..,.On(t967)
Namaric, interlin~ar
N. m~ri~ [~~ .. Ahll: l :l_14 , .. " ............. l2Z
NamArii' [~ ~"AhIl: 1 5 ." ... " ................ .Lll
A Ell>ereth, imerli near ." ... " .. .. " ... " ......... 2Z
01 Flbemh ''i _____ 1!8. '.!Z
01 Flbemh 'iI
01 Elbt'!l']b-16 ~nd 1Z with " "",d fOO/note
"'-"
.. ....... ,......... ...... , .. ................. ..... .. ,"" 25.
01 ElbereJb ' 18 .......... .. .. ...... , .. ..... ...... ZlL.26
11,. Si/mflFil/ion, ed , ChrislOpher Tolkien
(1977)
OS 11 :7 ..... , .... , ..... , .... , ......... " .... , ..... , S in, 6:l.
QS..X;2 ... , .. .... .. .. , .. ... .. ...... ..... ..... ........ !i2. M
Q£.XX:J1:! f>l
QSXXl:P W.
O~XXl::l:l ..... . ," __ !i:.l..f>:1
QSXXlI:22 ....... , .. ..... ...... .. , .. ... ,""""""'" 6.1
App., annon " ..... ..... ,.... ,..... ,.............. I!li.21
AI'I'., "'- .. ...... , ....... ... , ....... ..... ........... 'll.'.!Z
ApI'" ",-(a). . .. .... ... , ...... ... .. ................ 20.. 21
App., <11", ... ....... ...... ........ ................. 20.. 21
App., rdeb .... ..... .......... ......... .. .. , .. ........... 811
Apl'_, do/ < Im<.-;: . " . ,, _________________ !!!l
Apl'" ,h1,- .. , .......... , ....... ..... ... , ..... , " " " " " ' , !!IJ.
AI'I'" ,..y,t"! ... ,.... ,..... ,.............. " .... ,.... , .. ... as.
App .. tW,t"! , .. ... ,............... ,...................... 1!8.
APl'_, P>/od/I ______ II!!. '11
AI'I'_, gunlr Zli
App.,gw<UI, ....................... .. ,""""""""" Z9.
ApI'" ia"J" ..... , .... , .... ,""""""""'" &20.. 2ft
App., kel- .... , .... " .... .. ... , .... , .. ... , .... , ..... ,"'" 1!6.
Apl'" n<n'8' ." .... " ... ,,""""""" Il::i,. BI:4.'ll. 25
ApI'" om , .. .. ....... , ..... ,"""""""'" oo..aa. 92.
AW·, "",,/ .. ....... ........ ... ....... .............. 1!9. '11
AI'I'_, min ~
Apl'_, "un "" .. ________ 'll
Apl'" ,,,I (,f,~) ." .... " ... " .... ,,"""'" 1IIl..'ll. 25
App., " .. " .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ......... " .... , .......... I!Z
Index, C"'r~""1 .... ..... ,............... ,.............. IH
!.-.dex,l/a<lor ___ "" ... lit!
Index, KI"",,,,/·,bl,,, .... ............... .. " .. " .. " .. !i2
index. Mitu!o//r/i" ." ........ ........ ... ..... ......... 26.
Index, Nam [ Ilfnl/linn ..... , .. ...... ..... .. , .. ... 20.
l.-.d~. , Q"m<ii .. " .... " ... " ... " ... . ,,""""""'" 22
Inde. ,I1I1<flngw.;rhil , .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ..... ,'" Z9.
Mhl'"fBd" ri~nd .. ....... , ...... .. .. , .... , .. ... ,"" /:!'l
C JPYnghted malenal
p _ Pi"""", by J.R.R. Tulk;m (1979) SV Othe r Vcn;;on,.W... .............. 77, 84. 95
24 (23 in hi cd.). 48 SVOthcrVcn;io",.3 .. 8 ..................... 130
'" SV OIh"T Ve"i",,,, J;l . . ...... 13
SV OIh.,. V~"i<.m':\:l, 16 ... . .................. 10
UT _ Unfiru,h",l Tal ... ed . ChriSloph"r Tolkien
SV Oth"r V~rsioll~:14 .. ",mm. 1.10 ... ...... (,
(l9l!O)
SVOIherVersions:16 .... .. ................... 5. II
II ~ll(, .. nOl,· IH ... . .. . ... ....... 7(,
SV OIher Versions:17 ................ 6
I IT C hildh, ~ "': 62 ... .... .. ... .. ... ... ... ............ 9 1
I IJ [)epa",,,,,
of T,\";n :52 .. .............. 55. 62
I II Mirn the Dw.rf:30 ... .. .... ..... .. .... ..... ... 64 liM - m""", of MirlrU"","l1., ed.
11, ~
I ll. nOle 16 .................. 95 ChriSlOl'l'her Tolkien (1983- '16)
111 App.53 ...... ............. .. ............ ........... 79 BLT _ 11..,II00k ojLosr TaJ<'S; BLT 1 _ 11M!
2 IV App.D:I I. fOOInOle ......................... 74 BLT l!!1 : 11 ........ .. ... ... .. .. ..... ................ 129
:2 IV App.E:4 .. .. .. .... .. ... ...... .. ....... . 80. 88. 92
.1 I. nore 16 .. .. .... .. ... .. ... ... ... .................... 79 LB _ TI,~ /.ny, 'if 11<1"';"",/ _ HI>! IT!
.1 I. nole 17 .... .. ........ ...... .. ...................... 9 1 [LO 11. = "Tho Loy of1.eilhi~ n" in Ul!!ll
4 I F,uther 1101",,8 .... ........... ....... 80.90.96 I.B 11., norc '0 l.395-t ... ... .......... ... ... ........ 79
411~G6 .................... 93 Ul IV ~ r ..como III com inned], I. 10 I
Inrlex. /!ffm (I) 64 90.95
Index, l).,,-·m ·F.Ini1 ... . .. . ... ...... 76 LR W _ TI,~ Lo.... RI,,,,,/ ",u! 0,/,...- Wri,;'W' _ HM V
Index, Emyl1 DI,ir ..... ... .. ... .. ... ... .. ............. 96 I HI m
Ch,H:27 , .......... ,""""" II, 128, 131
Index, S<lmi .. ... .. .... .. ..... ... ... .................... 9 1 1 HI ni), nore 12:3--4
Index, V;nyalood~ ... .. ... .. ................... 84, 95 1O,95.129, 131,135,I:.Il:I
:2 V Lomm~""lh~n. lable."1 '7 .................. 1
2V1Ch , IO~I:24 ................... ..... ............. ~ ~
L - 11i~ Let''''' of J.R.R. ToIki,"", ed. tlnrnphrey
:2 VI Ch , 17 §:j2 " .. .... .. ........ ............... 55.65
C~rponler (19R l)
Etynl. ~ LRW ::I
144: 11 ..... ...... .... .. .......... ..... .. ... .. ... ..... 2 _ 3 n
Elym , ,YI- ... , .... , ... .... ... , .... , ..... , .... , ... .. ," " " 9(,
/ 44 :19 ....... ........ ...... ...... ..... ...... ... .... . 86.92
Elyrn, AD· ................................. .... ..... 81'1.91
16J:6
1(>1:1:5 ... .... . ... .... ..... ........ 89n '" Ell"". AM'-
&l"" ...... A'·
........ 9
211:4 .. ... .. .... ..... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ... . 97
211:1 7 - 18 ..... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .... 81:1
Ell"". M·· ...... 'Xl, 9 1. 97
Elym, ATA- .. , ..... , .... , .... , ..................... 90. 9 ~
'"
230:5 ...... .... 78, 'J7, 'Jlj
Ell"", aAR- .. .... .. ... .. ... .. .... .. ................ 78. 9 7
2')7:10 91
Ell"" .• ARk>- ......................... ......... , 78, 129
332 ...... ...... ...... .... ............ ...................... 9 1
Elyln, BARA11... .. .... .. .. ... ... .. ... ... ........... 71'1. 99
3 47:4 ... ........... .... ... .. .. ..... .... ... .... .... ........ 711
Elym . "AT· ... .. ........ ........ ... ..... ................. 78
."H7:6 ... .... ... .... ..... ..... .. ... .. .... ...... .... ... 90, 94
Elym. BER- ... ........ ...... ..... .. ...................... 83
347:6, fin;1 f,~ ~",~e ... ..... 1:10, 1'19, 90. 92, 95
Ell"". a...·: t .. , . .. . .... ............ 19
.117:7 .. .. ... ... .... .... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .... .... .. ... .... 9 1
:>47:8, Ihinl (uomole ... .... ..... .................. 78
E'ym. IIQR- .... , ..... .. ... , ... .. .. . .... ... , .............. 13
Elym , +AC "",(\N. " ... " . .. " ... " .. .. " ...... 71'1.97
EIYIll. ()M- , .. .. , ... .... ... , ... .... ... .. ... , ... .. ,""'" 77
MeE _ 11", M<XL<t"' (lml ",~Cri,;c. fUU/ Orlo"" Ell"". "A"/- ............ 136
EMOY., ed. ChriSlOl,her Tolkien (J ')!O) (;tl"". D£R. 7')
SV :44 125 Elym. DOJ ... ....... ...... ........ ...... ................. 96
~V : 46 .... 13 Ell"", +AC oORor+ .. .. " .... " ... ,,"""""""'" 95
SV :46 - 51 ... .. .... .. ... ... .... .... ... .. 129, 135,138 EI)'Ill, txJI.- " ... .... ... , .... , ..... , ................ 9 1.97
SV: 46ff. ... ..... ... ... ... ..... .. ..... .... .. ... ............ 77 Elym , +AC Pli\.· " .. " .... " ... " ... " .... " ... " .... " 7 R
SV :56- 59 .. .... ... ... .. ... .. ... .... 6, 133, 135, 138
SV :bl
SV :61 _62
SV :72 ....... ............. .. .................... 126 . 141
12')
]38
Elym. [J. •••••• " ... .. ... ........ ....................... 128
(;tl"". F.Rfx.
Ell"". GAV,· , .................... (,
.,
EIYIn,'" .. ... , ....... ... , ... ... .. .. , .... , .... , .. .......... 8

C :<pynghted malenal
Elym. GALAD- .. ......... ........... ........... .... 90, 95 Ery'n . +AC WT· ...... ..... ..... ...... ..... ............ 76
Elym. G....... ... ............. ..... ............... ............ 9 Elym . MAJ· .... ............. .. ............ .... ... ........ 10
tlrym. G~T· .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 Etym . "",T· 7~, 110.90
Etym. (".'.N("~w"_ .. ........................ I:!\t, !K), % Etym . M ~ ..... ... .... .................. J:I>I
Etym. + AC Gl.- ... ... .. ... ... ........ 77,80,84,95 Etym . +AC MINI· ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ....... >14 , 85
Elym. GOt.oiI . ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... 141 Etym . """ . .... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .................. 126
tlrym. GOI.(':6. 128 Elym . """,. . ................ 12')
Elym ,AC MOR·
tlrym. JAR :I
Elym. JEL- .••••••• ••.•••••••••• .•••• .•••••• .. •... •• 80, %
Elym. ID- •••••••• .. ••• ... •• .. ••••• .•••••••••••••••••••••• S4
90, '14
Elym . ",,' . .... .......... ........... ................... 136
Elym . WJt'· ... ... ..... ... ... ..... ...... ..... 78 . tfl, 90
"
Elym . IL- ....... .. ... ... ... ... ..... ..... .. ... ........... 132 Elym . +AC NAUI<· . .•• . .•••• . .•••• .................... %
Etym . • -'I.- ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... ................... 12R Etym . ""....... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .. .. .... .... .. 87
Elym .• AT· •• . . .••• .. .••• .••• ... •• . .. ••• .. .•••••••••••••• 77 Elym . +AC NDAI: • .••• . .. •• •.. .•• ... . ... . ... . ... . ... . . 77
El ym. KAY· •••• .•••••••••• .•••• .•••••••••• .••• ............. 6 Elym . NOIS- ' NOrs4/sA ... ..... ........... .......... B3
~tym . • AC KAY· 6, iO ~tym ,,00· 12!:t
tlrym. I(F./d. . ... .. 75 Elym . N(OIL' . .. ................ 7~
Etym .•H..../ · ... •• • .. • •• .. •............. 110 Etym . 1<>;1>+ • •.. •• ... •• •.. ••• .. •• ... ••••••••••••••••• 1:«)
Elym. + AC KHAL'· .. •• . . .•• .... ••• .•••• . .•• . .. ••• . . .•• 77 Elym . NooL :fIoow!J . .. ... ... .. ... .................. 9 5
Elym . • HAN· ... •• .. •• •• .. •••.. •••• .••• ... ••• .. •••••••••• 97 Elym . NIP- •... •• .. •• •• ... •• .. ••• •.. ••... •••• .. •• ... •• •• •• tI:.I
tlrym . • i\C .....,... .. ... ................... 7ij Etym . NOT· .. ... ............ 'J I , 97. I n
El ym. K.....T· .••• .. ••••• .••• ... •••••••• .. •••••••••••••••• 77 Elym . >I\J"T • • .••••••••• ... •• ... •••• .•••• .••• ... ••••••••••• 86
Elym. KIIEN·DoE· •••••• ••.•••••••••••••• •••••• •••••• .••• 89 Elym . OH(). •• • •• • •• • ••••• •••••• •• •• • ••••••••••• •• •• 79,93
Ely"'. KHIS· ... ..... .. ... ... ..................... 76 . 129 Elym . ORO-:1 .. .......... .... ... .. .. .. .. .. 78, 'fl, 136
Etym. + AC "HOlt· . 7H,!II, 97 Etym . ORO-:<)RQT. . .. • •.. ••• .. •••••••••••••••• 11;/,;/1
Erym . • HtJc:AN· ... ••• .. ••• ... •• ... ••• ... ••••••••••••••• f(7 Etym . ORc>-:60-Nr· .. ... ... .. .............. 80, 89, 92
El ym. + AC " HYAR· •. .. ••• .. ••• . .. •• ... ••• .. .••••••••• 89 Elym . 0001< •.. .. ... .. ...... .. ... ... .. ... .. ..... .... .... . 9:l
tlrym ....· 14 0 Elym . .. AC <)ROIl· .. ................... . 'J2
~tym . KIR· 77,84, % n
Elym. Ktllfl(' tI:.I Etym QT. 80
Elym. KUl.· •.•••••••••• .. •• .. ••••• .•••• .••••••••••••••••• 8J Elym . o y· .. ... ... ..... ...... .... .. ............. 126, 1:J3
Elym. KUR· •... •• . . .••• ... ••• .••••• •. •• •. •• •. 7 5, &4, 8 7 Elym . PALl· ....... .... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... .... .... . 77
Elym. KURUM' •... •• •.. ••• .. ••• .. ••• •.. •••........ 75. tt."J Etym . PAL· ••• ... •• .. •• •• .. •••... ••• .••• .... •• .. •••• 7 8,98
Elym .• WAR· ... ..... .... .. ... .. ... ... .. ....... ..... .. ... t!O Elym . P........ • •.. •••.. .••• .. ••• .. .•• . .. ••••• •. •• •. •• •. •• • Tl
El ym. KWlG- •• .•••• .. ••• ... ••• .•••• ... •••••••••••••••••• 8J Elym . PD.{es) • .... .... ... ... ..... ..... ... ............ \38
Elym. KVIlE'- •• ••.•••••••••••• •• •••••••••••• .•••••••••• 80 Elym . +AC PEL("') • .. ...... ... ...................... 89
Elym. 1.>.. ua Etym PAN· 78,9I:t
Fiym . L>.\I. . .. ••.. • .. •• ... ••.. •• 77, 1.% FJym . PHAL- ... ... I :tII
Erym. lAS"•............................................. 79 Etym . PHm · .... .. ... .................. 76, 77, H4, 95
Elym. + AC lAS". ...................................... 79 Etym . !'HOIl- ... ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... ... ............. 91
tlrym. I.>.T· .. ... . ••... •. .. ••••••••••••••••••••• iO Elym . , ·AC ",lOt<. . . ... ••. ... . ••.. 'J5
~tym . ';:WAR- 1:10 ~tym PL!(· . ............ "
Elym. IH>- •• •••••• .••• •.•••• .•••• •.••••••••••••••••••••• tfl Elym . p ", • •.•• •••••• •.•••• •••••• .••• •. . ••. . ••. . ••. . ••. . •. 77
Elym . + AC IH>- •.•••••••••• .•••• .•••••••••• .•••••••••• 97 Elym . I'OR' 10
Elym. 1JiJ' . •.. •••... •• . .•••• ... •• .. .••• .•••• ........... 130 Elym . f'OT\). •.. .•• .................... 73, 89. 92. 99
Erym. lor • .. ... ... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ........ 76, flO Etym . FlAX· .... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ............. 92
El ym. lIN!)- •.•••• .•••• . .•••• . .•••• .••• .. .••••••••••••••• 76 Elym . !lAM . ..... ..... .. ... .. ... ..... ....... .. 78, 9 :1, 98
El ym. It';· .. .... .. ... ... ... ...... .. .. ....... 80, 90, 132 Elym . RAN· .. .... .. ..... .... ... ........ .. .......... 78,98
El ym. ......... &4
"~
.................... 76, as
Elym. U",'· %, 13~ Etym
Fiym . u.o;· .. .. ... .... . ... . ... .. H4 Etym . ~(). ... ... I :tII "
Elym. LUT· .... .. ... .. ... .. ... ...... .. ................... tfl Elym . ROY' - ... ..... ...... ..... .. ... ... ... .. ....... 90, 92

xii

C JPYnghted malenal
Elym. RUN· ... .... ..... ........... .. ......... 8 4 ,91. 95 Ely",. WA·N· ..... ...... ..... ........... .......... ....... 96
Elym. "", . ....... ..... ..... ....... .. . ... . ... . ... .. 8 1.86 Elym. W",,· ••• .••••••••• .••••••••••••••••••••••••• 78, 9 7
El yrn. "' ....}.. . ... .. .. 84 Efl"". W~ nt ·
Elym. s· ... .. ... .......... J:J5 Elym . wn.- ................. 76, 85
E!ym. $"'" ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... ... .................. 9 \ Elym . WIN· .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... ... ............. 84, 95
Elym. SJ- .... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ............. 77, 133 Elym . wo. .................................... .... .... . 6611
Elym. So.· .. ... ...... ...... ...... 76 . ~5 Ely", . fA · .. .... . . .......... 80, '10, ')6
El yrn. S!W.'· 80, %
Elym. suo· .. ............................................ 76
Elym . SUN· .. ... .. ... .. ... ... ..... ... ... ...... .. ... .. .... 77
" Ell"". VAT·
Elym. YEN· ... ... ........... ...... ....... .............. 128
Elym . YUl. • •• .. ••• ... •• .. ••••••••• ... ••• ................. 76
Elym. suo; . . . ... . . .... . .. .. .. ..... .. . ... . ... . ... . . 81 , 86 Etynl.AC _ ··Addend •• ,><\ (".orngend . 10 'h ~
E!ym. '",",",. :\ ... .. ... ... .. ...................... 80,92 Ety>, " ~ "gi"'", ed . e .rl F. Hosle UI,," . nd
E!ym. ''''"'"' :\ - 2 ..... ... ... ... ....................... 76 P.lri" k H. Wyru .. , in Viny«,. r...,gwn.. 4 5
E!ym. SJoW.·:2 .... .......... ..... .. .................... 90 (Nov. 20(3) IlJld 46 (July 20(4)
~I yrn. SPM<' 10, %. I~R E'l"".i\I: '.WIN· 12. R4
.. .. .. .. 79 Et l"" .AC MAD ... .... .. ... .... . .. .. ... .......... !::I2
Elym. ST"'" •.. •••... ••.. •....... 7!::1 Elym. AC ",,"- .... .... ... .... .... .. ... ... ... .. .... .. ... . 83
Elym. s1.....· .. .. .. ... .... .. ... ... .. ... .. ...... .. ... ...... 79 Elyrn. AC 000- ... ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ............. 98
Elym. '1"II<1A· .... .. ... .. ... ................ 7 6, 113. 65 Elym .AC 00c«· .. .................... 9l:I
Elym. SUK· .................... 76, 81, 86, tf7
E!yrn. ,CUJi; • ... .... .. ..... .... ... ........ .. ............ 8 4 RS _ 11 , ~ R.." ", "f rI , ~ SlU/J.Ww _ HM VI
Elym. T~·:1 ..... ............... .. ............ .... ... .... .. 6 XXV:124 .... ............... .. ............ ..... ...... .... . 64
Elym. TA·:2 .... .. .. .......... ..... .... ............ 90. 94 XXV, "OIe 36 .. ..... ... ... ..... .. ... .. ........... 54, 65
Elym. TA·:3 ... .. .... .. .......... J:JO XXV, "' ~ ~ :11>:2 .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. .......... 61
E!ym. T-'1.· .... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... .... 80,91, 95 XXV, ", ~e :1(,:2-.:l ... ... .. ...... ... .. ..... ..... .... .. 4 11
E!ym. T~N · .... .. ...... .. .... ..... .... ... ... ............. 77 XXV, n ole .16::l ... .. .............. .. 49,55,6 ) , M
Elym. "rIll.· ... .. ............. 87. 98,12') XXV, noI~ ~9 ...... ..... .......... 63,65
El yrn. nllK· ...................... !::I') Tl - '/lw '/MC"'" of /.« :ngan! - HM VI!
El yrn. nlIN· 13~ VIl!:36 .. ....... 61
Elym. TH .....· .. ........... .... .. ... ................ 79. 93 VIH. nOle 18 .. ...... ..... .. ... ... ... .. ... .... .. .. . 61-63
Elym. m.- ............................................... 10 VIll, nOl~. 21 .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ............. 46, 53, 61
Elym.1"lH- 128,136 VIll, n Ol~. 22 . 49, 54
E!ym. TIR· .. ... ...... ..... ..... ..... ... .... .............. 80 VIll , nol" 22:2 .... .. .. .. .. .. .............. 6 2, 6:1, 65
E!ym. TTT· ... .... .. ..... .... ... ........ .. ................ 85 VIll, " 01,, 22:2 -.:1 .... ...... .. ................ .. .. .. .. 65
Elym. rot'· ....................................... 89.92 VIll, n Ol~. 22:3 .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .................. 63, 65
Er yrn. "IQR' 73 XX!V, nOl e (, ... .. .. . .. .. ... .. ..... 64
Er)"Tn. nl~' ... .................. 76, 8 7 ApI" .... ..... ... .. ..... .. .... ..... ... .. .. ................ \05
E!ym. n .. • .. .. ... .. ................... 78, 8 1. ij(" fI7 ApI" l iP 109, /12
Elym. TUl.. .•• ... ••• .. ••• ... •• •.. ••• .. •• 78 , 81,86. tf7 AJlp. (i) :4 ...... 11 4
Elym. WlJJl( . . .......... 7 6,84, tf7
WR - )1" Warof tl",j/ing - 11 M VUI
~l yrn.

Elyrn.
Elym.
TIJMI'U-
TUN· .. ...... ...... ...... .... ............ .......... 76
TUR·:2 ......................... 78 , 81,86, tf7
" I J[:,,~ ... . .. . .. ................. hi , 6:1
211: 56 ... .. .. .... .. .. .... .. ... .. .... .. .... ................ 91
2 VHl, noI~ 47 ..... ... .. ...... ..... ...... ..... ... .. .. . 55
Elym. "1"'1-'1.' ..... .... .. ... .. ... ... .. ....... ........ 78,97
E!ym. TYl.l.- .. ••• ... •• ... ••• .. ••• ... ••• .. ••• ....... 1:17, 9 2 SO - S",."", Dif""lrri - HM IX
E!ym. lIB· .. .. .... .... ... ... .. .... ..... .. ... ........ R1, !I(, \V : 12 .. .......... ........ ........ .. .. ...... .............. 65
E!yrn. ucu· .... .... ... ... ..... .. ... ... .. ... ............ 132 1 XI The second version;65. 6 7, 7 1 ........ 92
~l yrn. ......... 8 4,91, ')5 I X! '1"\,.. " ,cond V<"rsinn: 67 ... til , ' jl). ,)(,
Er yrn. utIU· 136 1 Xl 'Ill< .....·ond v.,n;ion: (,7, 7t
Er yrn. 1<'; 1"" ... . .. .. ... ....................... 81, 86 .... .. .... .. .. .. .... .. .... .. .... ...... .. 7 4 , 90, 94, 97
Elym . ....... - 136 \ XI , Stnlnd ill . .. .............. .. .................. 118
3 (vi) IId,,"ak, (;oruonllJlIs:8 .. .. .... ....... 8

xii i

C JPYnghted malenal
MR _ MOQ:OI/'" Rift/: _ HM X OEApp,B:\ + N(Jf~23 ........ ........ ...... 86,91
2 Sct1ioo 1 1_ • ~I h~,'e):26 ... .. , .... 8~, 95 OEAp]>,B::J .. ... .... .......... ....... .... .. , 8(1, 91 .95
~ §!:II) .. " " 10<) QE 1I1'1>,H :~ , Nm~ 7 , ..... 85
:1 [6 §4(,. ." .. " ... ,,"'" HI') QF.ApI>,C:3 .,,"""""""" 1!7
:I II Lows Hnd Cu,I<>m<, n"'~ \2 " .... , ....... 99 QE AJ>I"f.::I-4 , .... , .... " .... .. ... , .. .. ," 7(" 86, 92
4 'Tale of Arl~nel':41 .. " .. .. ,,""""""" 116, 91 QEApv,C :6 ..... , ... .. .. ... .. ... , ... .. ,"""""""" 64
51::!o ... " ... ,,"""""""'" 'JO, '14 QE/\j)I',D:12 12
~ \::!o-2~ 'l() QEIIP1>,D:17 61,02
5[:22 ........ ............ .. ........... .. .................. 88 OE Aj)]>,D;2(l ..... ..... ....... ........ ............... 107
:; [V:2 .. .... ... , ...... ... ...... , .. ...... ...... ... .......... 98 OE 'Langll;tge oflh r. V~ I .r' :29
51V:5--6 .... , .......... , ......... , .. .. ...... , ............ 97 .... " ... " ... ,,"""""" 83, 88, 89, 92. 93, 99
Ind~x, FJ)" / (1i",,1) (Kg<1<"(Jf/, ~~'I' .... , 89, 9\ QE ·u.IlSU~!W <of ,he V.lar':54 """" .. 90,94
WJ _ 11", W'lTo/,/",j.,.,m _ HM XI QE ·[ .. nsu~ge oflhe V.I"r':6\ " ... ,,"""'" 8.~
I ~275 ..... 1:18 OE, Nut~ J ......... " ......................... " .......... :;
2\0:41 QE. NO(~ 15 117
QE, NO(~:.t1 , .............. 83
~ \():4".1 ", .. " . " . . ", .. " . "" 511, (':1
QF., N"'~27 '" .. " .. " .... " .. " .. . ,,' ............. 76
2 II [~ * 'I !IIm]:l7 " " " " " " " " " " , 89.92
2 14 [~ * ]:9 ... " ... "" .. " ... " .. . " .... " ......... I!O QE, NOIe28 " ..... ..... , .......... , .... , .... .. .. .. .. .. . 117
QE, NOI~:J() " ..... .. ... , .... , .. ... , .... , ............... 79
3 [:21 ... " .. . ,,"""""""'" III, tI6
3 [:3:1 + no/~ 9 " .. " .... " .. ... ..................... 79 looex, tiryr! (J:rffi) tnp;n &seqq, ." .. .. 8'1, 'JI
In.:kx, Nibin n....,\" .. " .. ...... ...... " .. .. ,,""""" 7~
:I [L2 + note:l ..... .. .. " ..... " .. " .. " .. " ... 83,85
3 !l:5, fOOInoie ... .. .. ... .. ... ........ ................ 90 PM - 11,~ Pt!qJles of M;.~U".Ml1I' - 11M XII
:1111:21 ." .. " .. " ............ ~ V[ r ~ \1 give in illuSlTH'ion1 , r;"" 1500 .80
:I m, ",~e9 ." .. " .... " ... " .... ,,""""""" 1!6, 9\ [X (IV): \.1 + nOle 1 .. " .. . " .... " ... ,,"""""" 65
.1 [J[ :t:l5~% " ... " .. .. " ... " ... ,,""""""" 61, 62 X: 12 .. , .... , ... .... ... , .... , .. ..... ... , ..... ,""""""" 42
3JJJ:I:J6 ......... 48 X::l3 ..... .. , .. ..... ... , ... .... ... .. ... , ... .. ,""""""" 53
:I V:67-68 ................. &4 X, note 7:10 ........................ 80
QE _ W.J4 X , not e ~1 64
QE A. 2 ................. " ......... .. .................... 88 X,noIe38 , .. ....... ........ ... ..... .................... 90
QE A '"WEN, Q"e"y~ I(b) ." .... " ... " ... " .... 99 X,note38:3 ......... .. ... .... , ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 9 4
OE A "WEN, Sindorin J(b) ..................... 91 XI Finwf:s rles<"endam.s;:l .... , .... " ....... 84,95
QE A · ...... ........ , .... , ..... , .... , .......... , .... , ...... fill XI Fi"w~'s ri.".." "riHn, ..,17 + n<~ e :16 ... .. 9.1
OE A 'DU, Queny. :I(b) .. ... .................... Sf! XI F i "w~'s dL'S<""d.llt.,\9 .... .. ... ... ... ..... " 1!3
OE A ·DU. Tderin :J(b) .. .... ... ................. 88 XI Dw~"'i.t'l origin;:l .... ... ...... .. .... .... .... ... 62
Q~ A ' 00., ~in r! .rin :l(b) .............. till Xl [)w~ ", ish ori~in : ~ • no" 56
(JE A · fJi.l. ~indHri n ~ (<:) , . " . ", . "" t!I:I, "l XI Sons <or F~..ono" 10 """""""" 114
QE A ·wo,Queny.: \ .... " .. " .. .. ,,"""""""" 5 XI, "'~e 21 : 1 ... " .... ,,""""""""'" SO, qo, 9(,
OE A 'wo,Sindorin ... " ... ,,"""""""" 79, 93 XI, not~ 43 .. " ... " .. . " .... " ... " .................... 93
(J1i A ·oo,Q"eny.:3 .. ..... ... , ... .. ,"""" 'JO, '14 XI, note 61 :6 ..•••••••••••••••••• ')6
Qff\' AiJA,Q"':n y~:4 .... 11 Xlll C[ rd~n :2 ...................... 77
Q~ A • AiJA, Sinnorin ............... ...... 79 XHl C[ rd~ n :3 ...................... 81:1
OE II Q"t~,y ~. 1 .. ... ......... .. ... .... . ,,""" 88, 91 Index. Zipl·,,1M ... .. .. .. ............... .. ..... ........ 6(l
OE II O"'."I'Y ~. 2 ................... " ... " ............ 99
QE II Queny., 4:1 " .. " .... " ... " .... " ... " ....... fill
AI _ J.R.R. T<>Ik;",,; Artist & J1/"str<ilat", by W~)' nc
QE II Te l"rin, 1:2 .. , .... , .. ... .. ... , .... , ..... , ...... fill
G. lt~'mn",Jd ~"d CI,riSl in~ Scull (1995)
OE II Tel~rin, 2: \ ... ......... .. .. .... ..... ... .. ...... Sf!
[V. note 6 .. , .. ........ , .... , ..... , ................ 88,91
Qf II Sinn.rin, 1:2 81:1, ~I
ill. IM .. , .......... , .... , ..... , .... , .................... 117
Q~ ~ SinMrin, 2:\ till
(JE C ]ljnldor::l .. ,,"""" t!I:I, 'II
QE AI~) . A: 5 ." .. " ................... 74,77,"4,95 ILRRC: .,," Hbo..., .r"'T 1.R1
OE App.S: 1 " .... " ... " ... ,,"""""""""" 74, 95

C :opynghted materoal
Work< publi<hed in P<1NIlO Eldol<llllbuon ; HlJRU ...................... ,.......... ,................... 1:17
OIOJ'" ... .. .. ... ... .... ....... ....... ... .. ................ 1 Zl
PE II, i,troll IUl'N!I',lrlnrl"""..t_ Ch';",~ >I,..r ,, ________ IJ(,
(,il""", P.,rick Wynne, Ank" R. Smi.h .... ... , .. .... .. , .. ..... ......... H
.n~ C." I F. H""~!I". (1995) ""'--6'" .. , ..... .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ..................... \.18

GG - "The GnOOli>h Gr~mm~r" 129.13"

____________ 7
__ I:.!'J
PO- 129, ViI
QtmIOfQATA .. ...... . ..... .. ........... .. ...... ...... 1:16
1'1:: 12, Qffiyaq"ua: 11.~ Qffiya I'ltonolo;O' <WI RAI'" ................... , ... ... .. .. , .... , .. ............... 127
Urir.fm, ed . Christnpher Gil""l1, CMII'_ RO, ROI-iO " •••• " •• •• " •• " .. ................... 128,1 3 7
UO!!ICltcr, l'atrit'1< Wyrme ~"d Ardcn R. SOW .. .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ... .... ... , .... , .............. 129
Smith (1998) <;ovo s. SO"[O " .......... , .... , .. ... , .... , ............ ]:11
SQ _ "The S<"'n~s ofQlI"ny . " T"'''' S. TAtA . .... . .. ......... .. ... .......... . .. ... .... . 127

SQI- jJ];I- , S . ];I -por f] """", I:l5 ............... 12'J

, ________ 127
QL _ "Thc Q"cny~ Lexicon"
." ... " .. .............. 128, ]:16
~. . ....................... 127
W
Me< (JAM.) .. " .. """'" 1.18 tlITIj ... , ... .... ... , .... , .. . .. .. ... , ... .. ....... .. .... ... .. 136
~VA - .... , ..... .. . .. , ... .. .. . .... ... , ... .... ... , .... ,""" 136 _____________________ 136
AWA ... , .... , ..... , .... , ... .... .. " .... , .... ," " " " " " " ' " 6
"I",,, " .. ...... ..... .. , .. ...... ................... 129,139
A'i~ ... " ... " .... " .. . " .................. 13 1, 138, 140
ll(J; ______ 8 v",,,,· ................ ........................ 7,1:11. \ 36
VALA- 128,129
FALA 128
"!IO'.' " .... " .. " ...,,' .. " .. " .. .,," ___ 127
fIN' .. ... , .. ......... ... .. ... .... ....... .. ... .. ,""""""'" 7
"..<:,) ••• ,•••• ,•••• ,••••• ,••• •,•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 138
O<IUA .... , ..... .. . .. , ... .. .. . .... ... , ... .... ... .. . .. ,""" 128 PI! J:l, TI,e "il~,<ih<>t of I/,l",il'" Enrly No/,/orio
' .... VA .. ... , .... , .. ... , .... , ... .... ... , .... , ..... , " " " " " " 8 f "W'"'''' (2001)
~A rA 1:16 AR = "The All'h~bN "fR(,m ll", " d AnI"n R.
KdiJ and KIS, I:.!'J Smilh

,-
~"
... 1:t7, 1:12, 1.13 '" \l.]l),IUlb, IH5
In? 109,112 , li S, 11 6,
lIS
11<l
~. 132 R171> , .. .. ... ... ........... , ........ ..... ................ 115
Wi. 132 R17b [right half] .. " .. . " ... . " ... " ... " .. ....... 114
....'·A 136,137 R24 , ... .. .... , .. ........ , .. ... .. ... .. ... , ................ 106

"
~ ,.

uru ........................................................
'"132
129
R24 (C,.-nmen'.ry) ... . " ... " ... " .. .. " .. .. " ... \11

", .. " . " . ", . " . " ... """",1.12 PI! \4, /inrly !}my" '" V,Ii"Hln. (200:1)
'"
I,OH() , .. ... , ... .. .. . .... ... , ... .... ... ,""""""'" 8, 137 EOI' _ "EMly Qeny" ~'f>\);InCnls" , cd. P.lrit"k
.... ""' or .... t" .. ,.... ,..... ,.......... .... " .... ," "'" 1:17 WY'UlC ~nd ChrisToph,'r Gilson
uil. 132 QVI' _ "Q<'np Veri> Ponas"
I:.!'J QVP Regul.r A<1 ive .. . " ... " .. .... .. ,," ______ \.17
127 QVF R"gul~r .... , .... " .... .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ..... \.16
127,129 QVF ReK"l~r P""iv~ [ ~ ~ ~dd] "" .... " .. 132
138 QVF Endings lIC1h'e, foo(lIOle 3 _______ 137
137 QVI' I::ndin8-< 1_ ~ I::ndin&] 136
"''''' ... , .... " .... .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ... .. ..... , .... , ..... ,' 7
M in<
...... .. ,.......... ,.... ,.......... ,.... ,.......... ,......... 136 '"I:.!'I
EQG - "Ellrly OenY" Grammar", ed, C>lrl F
Hostctl", ~nd Bill Weide"
__ 128 MS 1- Alph~bt1 of t,.,."scriptlon] ........... 8

C JPYnghted mater~1
 MS 1- Dedension ) ,... ", ............... 2,3,130 VT 42 (July 20(1)
MS [_ ',Adj,'CIives (cxttpl ... )] ,....... 6,132
Rivers - "The RivCfS and BCllcon-h m . of
MS J- Th~ "river"i.1 su(fi",,] . (Jonnn ..... ed_ Carl F. Hn" e"'''
", .... :1, 4 , 5, 6, 130, I:n , 135 II1',,:"ho~1ion:8.. 7
MS [_ Pmnmm<, PeTsol1hl,] Rivers '4 , .... , ..... .. ... , .... , ..... , .... , ............... 97
.. " .. ", ... " ... ", ... " ... " ... "", 9 , II, 13 4 . 135 Rivers En,i :3 .. ... , ... .... ... .. ... , .................... ')2
MS [_ I'.x>tmple[;[ of ",;:"I.r verbs] 137 Rive", En'i:3 - Semi _____________________ 77, 91
MS J- 1'""
ten ... ] 13(' Hilb C~lcnlMd .... ... .. .. ...... .. ............... %. 97
MS [ - . The '<"OOdit;o". 1"[ ....... ,,""""'" 133
11m" Halifiricn:2 .... ..... ..... ................... .. , 96
TS [_ o«l",,.;on) ." ... ", .. ,,""""""" 4. 130 AI'P, :5 .. .. ......... ... , ... ... .. .. , .... , .... ,""""""" 9 5
TS 1_ Adject ives) ,... " .. . " ,... . ,,""'" 132- 33 ed . n<~ e7 .. .... , .......... , ... .. .. ..... ... , ... .... .. .. .. .. . ?
TS 1- Th .. ~ d .."bi.1 ,u(fix.,,; or t"h,;e<] ed . n<~e 1:1 .... , .......... , .... , ..... , ................... 97
.,' ,... " .... ,... ,', .. ,', ... ,' ,.. ,""""" 5, 130, 1:15
vs - ~I'he Vallll",k Scri[>t~, ed. Arden R. ~"m i th
vr 43 (1"". 20(2) "nd 44 (June 20(2)
Intm<l"<:1ion Hi"ory:1 107
VI " .. '" .. " . " .. """"""" 114 Joy _ "'Words "f J"y'; FiVe CIOtholic Pt'PIycrs in
V3 , ............ .. .... ... , .. ............. ,"""""""" 11 6 QllenYII", ed, I'.trid Wynne, Arden II-
Srnilh "nd C. rl l'_ HoM ~ ft~r
A',I _ IV + [jn~I1l,,, ,,, .. ,II
Works published i u Vu,yar TOlgWDr. At , ll b-V + Lilt" 1, """,eI....
M : 1 ....... ...... 7
At, V- VI + Lin" 6. iiy<ll'f'ft .. " .................... 6
vr 6 (J"ly 19!19) At,Line~<l<I'Iy"'5 __ " .. .................. 3
PD _ Plulz Dt<:!,:n,ion< ....... " ... " ................. 3·6 AMUl_N + line? ................................. 11
1- m,'«:]:3 .. .... .......................... 3n, B- 9
vr 4 4 (J"ne 20(2)
vr 39 (J uly 1(98) Ae Ada .. _ "Ac AMr Nin: Tho Lord's P.. y~ t in
Fr.QE - "From Qu.",I; II1Id EM"" AI>p"ndix D", Sind~rin ... cd . Bill Welden. in Vi"yar
ed . C.r! F. 11<"":1'' ' Tengwnr 44 (.h",,, 41)O~)
\H .... ,.... " .. ....... ,.... , .. ... ,.... ,.......... ,.... ,"" liS ' i5 + lin" I, A,1n.- ... " ... " ... " .... " ........ 90,94
~21 118 ',5 + line~. enn, + Lin" 8. p-riF " " " " .. .. ?9
0.. - "6s.nwe·kema", ed, e.,1 F. fl""e1''''
1- "En'l"iryI:3 iO IVT 45_4(" Etym.AC : ""e hl~we hiler Et ym ,]

VI' 40 (IIprill'l9'J) vr 47 (feb, 20(5). 48 (De<:, 20(5) and 49 (Jnlte

211(7)
Narq. _ "Nanlelion " (f,<"Simil,,)
EflW _ 'Eldonn fl"n~ •. Fin&<,,, Itr Numenol'
1.4 ..... , .......... , .... , .... , ..... , .......... ,"""""""" 8
~Ild Rd~ted Writilt)(S". ed, P.lrick
Wynne
vr 41 (July 20(0) I HFN §1O " .. " ... " .. .... ... " .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... 80
F.,Shib , - "Fro,,, 11,~ SI,ibbo!",', of Fiianor" ...... I HFN. N"'~ J;l ..................................... /20
eMI F, H"'le1ter I HFN. N"'~ 20 &scq. . ............................. ?9
I HFN, N"'~22
1- 'iThc m,xT ): iO .. .. ... ... .. ... " ... ....... " ...... tH
Ore - "Not... 01' 6r,,". ed. C. rl F, HOSIOtf,'r
I, ""_fl(~e :14 ", .. " . " .. '" .. ,,"'" 12 "'
I, ed . fl(~e 5(" ill. , ... .... ... , .... , ..... , .... , ....... 119
'3 II. 93
lIlVDl§:) ... , ... .. .. ... .. ....... .... ..... .. ... ..... 56.64
~14 .. .... , ..... .. ... , ... .. .. ..... ... , ... .... ... , .... , ... .. ,'" 4
en,n<~ e 4:1 , .... , .... " .... .. ...... .. , .. ... , ............ II
~ d , nul~ II .. , .. ...... .. , .. ... ....... .. , ................. 10

xvi

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya [Arda Philology 1]

Petri Tikka:

The Finnicization of Quenya

T HE DISCOVERY OF A FINNISH grammar had a profound impact on

Tolkien, He s.1 id: ~ It quite intoxicated me; and I gave up the attempt to
invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language, and my 'own language' - or
series of invented lang uages - became heavily Finnicized in phonetic pattern
and stnlcture" (L 163 :8), Thus was created Qenya, the Elf-latin' of the High
Elves. Qenya was the name of Tolkien 's Fi nnish -inspired Elven language from
its conception IIntii it was changed to Quenya by the end of the 30s. The
change seems to be only ortographical, bill there is also a slight change in pro-
nunciation from q marking a double consonant to qu marking a si ngle
consonant (see under "Phonology" below). Neither does Finnish allow double
consonants word-initially, so this can be seen as an example of continued
Finnicization beside the original inspiration.
A lot has been said on the relationship between Finnish and Quenya, both
in st udies dedicated to the subjet:t and in scattered utterances and theories.
None of them have denied the existing influence of the Fi nnish language on the
High-elven language. Both some empirical data and Tolkien's own words make
it too firm a fact. BIlt some have belittled its importance, mostly because they
have only noticed the manifold differences between them in vocabulary, accent,
phonotactics etc. Most importantly, there has been some doubt cast on the
1 LRW :l V LIImm~ ", 'h en , ,a ble ., ~7.

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

co ntin uing influence of Finnish on Quenya. Harri Perala says in his art icle ~ Are
High Elves Fillno - Ugric~: ~ Finnish influence does indeed seem strong in the
earliest fOlllS of the language. at least in vocabulary, where many words are
Finnish in scyle. Lmer on the language distanced a linle fart her from Finnish,
but the similaricy never dis,'1ppeared. H

Th is clai m that Quenya becanle less Finnicized through the years I set ou t
to disprove. It seems to me based on a shallow understanding of linguistic
infl uence. Tme enough, Tolkien did cc."Ise to take as many words from Finnish
into Quenya as he did earlier. But this is only superficial borrowing, In the most
importane areas the relatio nship got deeper. Quenya contin ued to be " heavily
Finnicized in phonetic p."lttem and stmcture",
The influence of FilUlish on Quenya is not so large as to be distracting.
Quenya is its own language, for sure. But its parallels to many different
languages are enough to ignite your imagination and intelleet. Tolkien didn't
Llsually borrow directly. Rather, he was soil in which a garden rose from old
linguistic seeds. The different sources that Tolkien drew from to forge Quenya
creme an atmosphere of both uniqu eness and depth in il. This, m ight I say,
wonder can be experienced through both a shallow plunge into the language
and an intensive year-la-year study. In this paper I intend to examine fairly
comprehensivel y the Finnicizmion of Quenya in all its aspects, showing
concrete examples of both its existence and its intensification.
While I propose similarities between Quenya and Finnish in this study, I do
not clai m that all of them should be direct, imemional loans frolll Finnish.
Some of them may be or most probably are just coincidences. Behind some of
th em may lie general ling uistic patterns that Tolkien had noticed. Some of th em
may be loans from other languages. Some of them may just be interesting
parallels wi thout any specific line of influence. Nevertheless, I do believe that
all of the si milarities should be noted in ord er to even begin assessing the tme
extent of the Finnish influence on Quenya.

Case
In early Qenya there are only fom cases: the nom inative, the accus,1tive,
the dative and the genitive.' In Finnish there are fifteen cases (or fourteen, if
you leave out the accusative 2 ). Thus we can see that early Qenya is much more
si m ilar to e.g. German, w hich also has fou r cases, named the same as in Qenya.'

, EQG MS [_ Decl.,n';on l.
1 II roincid.". in f",m wilh ~ilh~T the nomin"'i v~ OT Ihe g"ni'iv~ (~x""I" in 1.... ""lnh1 l'n>n"'''''j.
J Am;"nt Greek h~; five "._: "omin"tiv~, genitive. dlllive •• ~~,,"'tive "nn v(l<"iltive. The'" "'" the
",me c~ses lIS in Qeny~, e r<:<:p1 for 'he .... rely nsed v"""tive. Cf. ~Actn~lIy it IQI1eny.l might"" ",id to

C JPYnghted material
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya

But in later Quenya there are ten cases l (or nine, if you leave 0\11 the accusa-
tive 2). So this central distinctness in Finnish gramlllar of a wide array of cases
was at fi rst missing from Qenya, but later was included as a natural part of
Quenya.
The cases of early Qenya "are purely logical and have no physical sense"
(EQG MS [_ Declension)). There are also five adverbial suffixes in early
Qenya, fOllr of which have physical applications J , but they are no t true cases.
So the difference is enormous w hen we notice that of the fifteen Finnish cases
six are locative in nature and three more have such uses in adverbs. But this
gulf was later narrowed. Later Quenya has four cases wi th physical
applications: the genitive,4 the allative, the locative and the ablative.
·sse has the function of inessive and locative in both early and later
Q(u)enya. 5 Fin nish has the almost identical endi ng - 55(1 (with vowel harmony
variam -.s.sa) used for the inessive case, It has a more specific application than
the Quenya -sse, usually referring to being within or in close contact with
something. This is the most clear Finnish influence on the Quenya cases. b Harri
Perala thinks in his article on Finnish and Quenya that this was the only
influence.' But I dis,:lgree.
There are similarities in fonn between comparable cases in Finnish and
Q(u)enya from early all, The eil.rJy Qellya accm"ltive is formed wilh -t, as in
kalmat, the accusative of kalma 'light,.R In Finnish, the accusa.tive is unmarked
or formed wi th on, except in pronouns, where it is marked, like in early Qenya,
with -t, e.g. minut, the accusative of mind 'J' (with stem form minu-). The
accus-ltive in laler Quenya is formed by lengthening the final vowel." In
Fi nnish, the partitive case (which is used as an object case like the acc usative)

be COIlll"""'d on ~ Lalin b.... is Wilh lwo <>Ihe, (main) ingrcdi""ts that h"1'pm 10 give. me '" hOl,",'"
'heli<:' pI"""",,, Finnish ~nd n"",k" (L 144: 1 J).
1 PD.
1 "The differen,,,, l.etw"en nom. nnd ~"C. W"' "l>iondon~d ... • (pD 1- '\"The_",j :1) .
l t:QI; MS [_ The ~dverbi~1 s"fru<esj.
4 Se. 1\ N.m~ri~, interlin""" where Oi.,../osuo is glossed "Ev.,.....whil.· from·.
~ Itw., ~h~nll"~ fmm on o~verl,i~l ,um. in Qeny. to . genuine " . .... ending in lJueny~ (Et,!(; M~ (_
The adverbial suffixes l; I'D).
6 The .... is also a Greek inn,oence to I.e....,n in the Q"enya locative: "11 _m«l to me eq " ally possi~le
thM Tollden took the Greek version of ... and applied Q"enya ~nunm"tkal ",Ies 10 it; th". il uimed
imo lhe case ending ..~"'. In " """"u l",blle"lion, (Joy /11. Line :l ast/yt: SJ, Tolkien m"mions lJuenya
se, .~ ... lh" 1)"'I>o<ili"" ·"t. in', plainly "","nl to t.., n:lat~d to the 'Ming · •• e. MIlYI.e, then, lhc
Qltmy" c1lding is inspin:d both by the Gn..,k preposition ~nd the Finnish e1tse ending. The Q"""ya
1''''I~c,i'ion ",,'ms lik,' ~ ~in:ct 1><Jrrowing from (;"",k" (Andn""" :.!U(5)
7 "Th~ "nly ~a..". 'h~' would ..... m n:lah,d ~n: ,h. Q""ny~ kxaliv~ ..w: and Finnish in"",iv~ · ..." I· wi.
which 1 "sed in ,h .. ' in A hotc"'" " xorn!,l • • t..,ve" (p.riil~ 2OCI5).
~ EQG MS 1_ D.<:I" o.<jonl.
91'1>.

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

is formed by add ing -ta or -a. This can result in exactly the sallle fonns for
nouns in these Finnish and Quenya object cases, e,g, Quenya ciryd accusative of
ciryu 'ship' and Finnish kirjaa pa.rtiti ve of kirja 'book'. It is also remarkable to
note that in some dialects of Finnish the accusat ive is formed simply by
lengthening the fi nal vowel, just as in Quenya. In early Qenya, the genitive is
formed by addi ng -n,' exactly like in Finnish. In later Quenya the function of
the ending -n was changed to dative, which was its function also in archaic
Finnish. Thc Quenya dativc is al so used for impersonal subject, c.g. (h )ore nin
carirw 'I fcel an urge/ wish/ desi re to do it',2 which is a function of the -n
ending in Finnish, e.g. mieleni minulZ rekevi 'I feel an urge (to do so meth ing),. l
The early Qenya partiti ve -(nen ('of, out of't and later Qucnya
instmruental _nen s resemble the Finnish comitative case, fa nned always in the
plural (even if th e meaning is singular) wi th one. In addition, the noun always
requires a possessive ending, It ex presses the presence of something with
so mething, e.g, vaimoineen 'wi th his wife/ wives' < vaimo 'wife' + -i- a plural
marker + one comitative case end ing + -Vn a 3rd person possessive ending. One
can readily see how forms like these, endi ng in a peculiar -ineel! would bave
inspired an ending like early Qenya -Inen and later Quenya -nen with plural
form -itlen . The meaning of the Qenya ending was at first quite different, but in
later Quenya it was changed to instnunental. The meanings of instrumental and
comitative are often associated with each other, as e.g. in English wirh, so the
connection between the Finnish comitati ve and Qllenya instrum ental is
apparent. Bill there is an instrumental case endi ng also in Finnish, fonned with
-in. Thc meani ng of both the Finnish and thc Qllcnya instnlmental case is thc
same: they express the means or the instru ment llsed to pe rform the acdon. The
form of the Finnish instrumental case resembl es both the early Qenya partitive
and later Qllenya instnunental: all have the consonant n and Finnish
instnllllental, Qenya partitive a nd the plural of Quenya instrumental start with
i. Furthen uore, a Finnish adjectival ending -inerr is identical in form to the
Qenya JXlrt itive -lnen and also agrees with a co nnotation of that suffix, which is
that "This foml is often used in place of an adjective" (EQG MS [ ..... The
adverb ial suffixes]),
The mysterious -s case,b the meani ng of which remains unclear'? is similar
to a short form of Fi nnish incssive: - 5 (which is ossa or -ssij in literary and nOll-
, EQG TS (- . o..""kn<ionj .
2 On:: ~ 14.
l The fi"" ve,,"' of n", Knl.,.,run,
1 All HdverhiHl , " ffi . ( EQ<:; MS 1_ Th~ .dv ~ rhiH I ,,,ffi .. ,,[).
~ A <".liS<' ending (PO).
6 PO,
7 C[, ~ibrn t :lOO2- 1.

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya

poetic language). It has been suggested thnt the - $ case is a short fortn of
Quenya loentive -sse, This would make a nice pmallel to Finnish inessive -s.sa/ -
ssii and its short form -so But the -s case seems to have a different shade of
meaning to the regular locntive, which does not parallel Fin nish. The -s case
also resembles a Fi nnish adverbi al case called lative, with ending -so It is used in
a few fixed adverbs, e.g. alas 'downwards' < ala 'area'. It also forms adverbs
referring to moving towards when added to a noun in the comparntive, e ,g.
rannemmas 'closcr to the shore' < roncu 'shore' I -mpi (stem form -mpa-)
comp•."uative ending ., -s lative ending.' The Quenya dative case on, as a short
form of th e allative (ase -rma, is a non·physkal version of the aliative, i.e.
denote s something being for something, TIle -s case might si mi larly be, as a
short fom} of locati ve case -sse, a non -physical version of the locative, I. e.
denote something being close (in spirit) to something. Very sJ>C<:ulatively, the
gloss of rUluremmas '<:loser to the shore' might have suggested thi s idea to
Tolkien, although its meaning is physkal.
To me, there is a slight resemblan(e benveen the forms of early and later
Q(u)enya ablative _110 1 and Finnish ablative -Icu. It mi ght be (o indden(e,
thou gh. The early Qenya allati ve -ntu" and later Quenya allative -nnu' resemble
a Finn ish adverbial (ase called sublative, formed with -lIl1e, It expresses a pla(e
where something goes to , like the Quenya ending expresses movement to, at or
towards. It is only used in a small number of pronouns, e .g. sinne 'to that place'
and mirUie 'w here to'. The endi ng might derive from ·-ma, whkh is identical to
the early Quenya a blative. The Quenya -mla is also similar to Finnish essive
case -na/-na. They are almost identical in fornI, and they are both known to
signify temporal location. Cf. Quenya Elen saa IUmennu omentielvof 'A star
shines upo n the hour of the meeting of ollr ways,5 and the same in Telerin £1
sila liimena vomelltierrgu06 whi ch has an unfortifi ed fonu of the ahlat ive, identi-
(al to the Finnish essive.
Finn.i sh uses -/- as a plural marker in case fonus, e.g, talois.sa 'in the houses'
< tala 'house' + -/- plural marker + -SSG inessive ease ending. So doe s also both
early Qenya and later Quenya, e. g. tara 'kasuse 'on the high peaks' 7 and
eleniUor 'from the srars'.~ BlIt this is used only when a eonnecting vowel is

1 There ~re no nouns in 1he cOlllvara1ive independemly. Wi1hoUl some son of 1000~live end in): ~dded.
1 11 WIIS, 1i~e lhe 1000~liv~. ending, <:h~nll"d from being an ~dverbiat ."mx 10 ~ e~se endin): (UN MS
[- . The a d vc rbi~1 s"mx"<J~ PD).
l An adverbi~1 .,,(fi x (EQG MS [_ TI,e advt"1"bi~1 .u(fix .... ]).
4 ",.~". endin): (I'll).
51"lE A 'wo, 1"l"eny~: I.
6QE,Na<el .
7 EQG TS [_ The .dverbi~1 ,,,ni . es Or ':lOS,,,q.
S Met: sv Of""," Versions: 16.

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

needed between the stem and the ca se ending, unlike in Fi nn ish where it is
always used.

The Adjective
In Finnish adjectives agree in case and number with their nouns. This was
exactly the same in early Qenya. ' The agreement in case was la te r lost, as we
can sec here: ondolisse morne 'on the black rocks '? Ondoli means 'rocks',
morne is the plural of adj. mama 'black' and -sse is the locative ending. With
case agreement, rhis should be *ondoLisse mornalisse or something sim ilar. But
from the example we can also notice that number agreement was retained in
later Quenya.
There is an adjeetival suffix ·va in early Qenya" and a possessive-adjectival
ending -va in later Quenya 4 which are identical to a Fi nnish adjectival SIlffix
-va l -vii, seen e.g. in vallava 'enormo us' < valttl 'power '. It is quite common as a
former of adjectives, bill not as common as the Queuya equivalent. Bill it is also
used for the present active participle. This double use is similar to Quenya
ending -La : it is seen in ca iLa 'lying in bed, bedridden "'l < KAY- 'lie down '" and
also as a productive present pil.rticiple ending, e.g. Jalastala 'foaming"
participle ofJalasta- 'to fo.lm'.7 Quenya adjectival ending ora, which occurs e.g.
in tara 'lofty' < TA·, "fA)- 'high, lofty; noble '," is identical to Finnish adj ectival
ending ·ro, occurring e.g. in ovara 'exp.lnsive' < stem ava- 'open'. Both seem to
be only historically productive.
In Finnish there is a very common adjectival suffix -oo/-eu, e.g. kauhea
'horrid', lempeu 'gentl e'. But ir is only historically productive. This ending exists
also in all forms of Quenya and looks like the lIIost used adjectival endi ng
syndlfonically. Some examples of adjectives where it is used are aurea 'sunlit,
su nny',9 nieninqea 'like a snowdrop', lQ almana 'hlessed,n and iluurea 'daily'.'2

1 EQG M~ (_ ~ Mje<:tiv"" (e. ""p!. )1.

~ Me e sv 01her v~",ion",17 .
.1 [QG MS [_ Th~. ~d.erbi"1 suffix",].
4 PD.
~ El}1ll. +AC KAY' . The flln ~Io", ....~ds 'Iyin~ in be<I, be<lridd en, skkness', Mfinin~ boIh an ~djectival
and" nominal "S<". of ,ai/a.
6 Elym. KAY_.
7 MCE SV Orher Vc rsions'14 + romm. J.1O.
8 e.ym . T~.: I
9 QI. AWA.
10 MCE SV:5f1....59.
11 Erym. G........ .
l~ Joy 1\1. V- VI + Une 6, ily""",.

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya

In Quellya aile can fonn adjectives from the locative case with tllls ending,
e.g. menelden 'being in heaven' < menelde 'in heaven'.! Similarly in Finnish
there is a very com mon adjectival ending -Ilinen which derives from the
adessive case ending -lla + the adjectival ending -in en, e .g. in maallillen 'earthly'
< mao 'earth'.

Phonology
First it should be sa.id that die lack of the front vowels ii, 0, and y , which
are dmracteristic in Finnish, and Latin-based accent, completely alien to
Finnish, create a very different feel in both early and later Q(u)enya. In Fi nnish
accent is always on the first syllable and the fro nt vowels ii, 0, and y cannot
occur in the same word with their back vowel equivalents 0, a and u (this is
called vowel harmony) . Considering these facts one can understand why some
Finns do not necessarily find the connection between Fi nnish and Que nya to be
apparent? Yet this very faci that Tolkien d id not borrow these two easily
noti ceable aspects of die way Finnish sounds into Quenya is perhaps very
telling of the methods he used to create his languages: he wanted his languages
to be original bill at the s.1.me time rooted in a reality so as to be archaic and
rich. For, as we shall see, Tolkien was influenced or inspired by many other
aspects of Finnish phonology when creating and modifying Quenya.
III early Qenya filial consonant clusters are allowed and are relatively
common, e.g. fint 'a trick, notion', mirk 'a grin', petl 'hammer", and vandl
' staff '.3 We can also see from mirk that consonants odler than dental are
allowed at the end of words. This is quite impossible in Finnish phonotactics.
No multi pk consonant d usters are pemlissible at the end of words; only vowels
and n, t, .s, r and I, which are dental consonants, are allowed. In later Quenya,
this has been altered to be exactly as in Finnish: ~ ... Quenya does not tolerate
final consonants other than the dentals t, n, I, r after a vowel " (Ri vers Introduc-
tion:8); .s is apparently acd dentally omitted .~ It is strange that this central
peculiarity of Fi nnish was at fi rst missing from Quenya. Perhaps Tolkien later
became more proficient in Fin nish phonology, and thus able to Fimllcize
Quenya in a more subtle bill dever way.
One of the most conspicuous aspects of Finnish phonology is the lack of
initial consonant clusters. Historically and classically this has been basically or

! .I"y AI. II h_V , U",' I, ml'm'hn! QU:!.

2 F_8- V~l"'n,:n I ~J'J,
l QL FIN .: M"\!; Pl;11l : ,'",",_.
4 RI,,,n;, ed,,,,~e7; d . • L", L :H7:~: "Q. 1'''TT1Iil1ed, ind ""d f~"(,,, red, 'he 'd''''!Kls' n, I, r, 5, f., final
conson~ms: nQ other fin.l conson~ m s "1'1>e. r in . ~ Q_ Ii" ,, "

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

st ri ctly an absolute n ile, and stlll is in many dialects. l It m ight be an aspect of

Fi nnish which Tolkien found novel and exci ting, si nce it is generally absent in
Indo-European languages. Indeed, initial consonant d usters do seem relatively
rare in early Qenya, bill strangely enough they are allowed; cf, ~ q : originally a
simple consonant it is now a slightly rounded 'k' followed by a distinct ' W 'H
(EQG MS [_ Alphabet of transcription]). Nevertheless, like final consonant
clusters, also initial consonant cl usters becam e disallowed in late r Quenya:
~Adunaic, like Avallonian [i.e. Quenya], does not toleratc morc than a single
basic consonant initially in any word ... " (SD 3 (v i) Adunaic, Conso nants:8). It
is remarkable tha t the very name of Q( u)enya both exhibits and confounds the
Finnicization of Quenya: pronunciation-wise, it exhibits the Finnicizatioll by
showing that co nsonant cl usters were removed; grapheme-wise, by havi ng two
letters it seems to show that consonant clusters were made al lowed, althou gh
th is is j ust orthography ,
Kt is a common consonant cluster in early Qenya, e.g. eklar 'swordsman ',
lokta- 'sprout', and palukta 'tablc'/ but it is unacceptable in the phonology of
bot h Finnish and later Quenya. Earlier kt developed into ht in both languages,
e.g. a stem form of kaksi 'two' kohr- < *kakte in Finnish and ehte 'spear ' <
F.KTE_l in Quenya.
There are some early Qellya words tha t contain two successive vowels that
would normally be diphthongs, but are indicated as separate vowels by a
double dot, e.g. koi'kto - 'stranglc'" and oi"kto. 5 This phenomenon does exist in
Finnish where vowel sequences tha t would normally be diphthongs are not so
because of a vanished voiced vel ar fricative, e.g. koin 'I experienced ' < koghin.
Bur these sorts of sequences can be pro nounced as diphthongs. The early Qenya
equivalent seems to be a scable formation descending from th e earliest stages of
the language, unlike in Finnish where the formatio n is relati vely new, being less
than 500 years old, and seems (0 be disappearing, It is interesting ro note then
that this fornlati on is unattested in later Quenya,
Unrecorded Finnish did not allow long vowe ls in the last syllable. This is
evidenced by the lack of words of such foml in earlier layers of the vocabulary
(both original and borrowed) and the existe nce of alternati ve, older fonus wi th
a short vowel for case endings and such that usually end with a long vowel.
This ni le a ppears to exist to some extent also in Spokcn Quenya whcre "all long

1 Btn due to Swedb,h inn",'1\("(! (lIS (,).".on~n1 d"st~ts al the beginninl\ of words ~'" allowed and
common in Sw,'rl i., h) this nIle h o< lk,en luly .I ~) l ierl in .",uh ·westem rli . I,""s a nrl wril1,'n language,
2 QI. El<t; WHO; P.......
1 Elym, EI<. ,
4 QI. ' KAh.
S 1'1 ."1, 1.4,

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya

vowels were reduced (0 short vowels finally and before fi nal co ns , in words of
(wo or more syllables" (PD [--> '\These]:3). Th is phonomctic restriction is vio-
lated by the compound p uluntir,' in which the parts, pulun 'far' and tir 'seer',
seem to be treated as separnte words prosodically, but thi s is an isolated case.
In all forms of Quenya voiced stops cannot occur freely, but only after
approximants and nasals. Some have claimed that this is a huge diffe rence
comp.lred to Finnish which classically has no voiced stops, B and g which occllr
only in loan words are distinguished from p and k only in Us.lge influenced by
Swedish or the written language. D occurs natively, but was actually pro-
nounced as a frica tive before Swedish influem:e. The phonotactic restriction on
the voiced stops in Quenya has inspired a theory thai voiced stops may not be
independent consonant s in the language. They do not even have their own
[,mgwar, after all. The phonotactic restriction is actually quite similar to the
Finnish one tha I double consonants may not occur after any other conso nanl s
but approximants and nasals, just like voked SlOpS in Quenya. Cf. Quenya
umbu 'upwards' vs. umpu 'hook '~ and Finuish arki 'everyday life' vs, urkki 'a
sheet of p.lper'.
There is no aspiration for unvoiced stops in Fi nnish . Neither in all likeli-
hood in Quenya, It is true that Tolkien aspira ted in hi s reading of ~Naillfui e,
but this may be due to the difficu lty of English speakers not to aspirate
voiceless stops, which again must be weighed against the fact that Tolkien was
an expert li ngu ist:' Yet three things may be said in defence of the probability
that there is no aspiration in Quenya. Firstl y, Primitive Elvish differentiated
between aspirated and non -aspirated stops and the unvoiced stops in Quenya
descend from the non -aspirated SlOpS: Sc<:ondly, there were originally distinct
letters for aspirated consonants in the general Tengwa system and the Quenya
un voiced stops are not wrillen with those ,S Thirdly, as Quellya has no
indepen dently occ urring voiced stops, there is no need to starkly set apart
un voiced sto ps by adding aspiration.
In Old Finnish words the syllable sl desce nd s from Original ti, e.g, sinii 'yo u'
< * tinii. This phenomenon is regular also in Qenya, as mentioned in ~ Early
Qenya Gram mar": si < *ti ,b Bill it is not a m le in the Q(u)enya of ~Qenya

1 LR Index, Things, I>a/anrlr,

~ Elym. AM"- ~nd GAP-, l"I"SI><'CIively_
., Altho"#! rhis docs not I("",~nrec l"'rie<:r p"",,,,,,:iMion,
4 In 11lc ErymoJollks" b>ISCS heginning wirh T and TH are bolh tmder the ""me I~Hcr. Cf. • Iso
F~ lI .,k.nl(er ~ 1I ~1, 1' _16_
5 "1'h~ origi"HI Fe. norian ,y"~m Hbo I~";,,, .... ,rl • I(Tarl~ wil r. ~ ''',nrlt<d",,,,us, I~M r. HI>OV~ Hnrl helow
Ir.e line [of wririnl([. Th.,..., " . "ally "1>Tt" elll ~d HSl' i"" ed consonanl' {e.l(, , + /" I' + /', k + /.}" (LR
Al'p.E II (i):>I) , 0:1. • 1", FH",hnl('''- 200:1, I" 16 ,
6 EQG MS (_ Prono"n ... 1"'"",,,"1.[.

C :tpynghted matenal
 Arda Philology 1

Lexicon"! nor in that of "The Etymologies"? even though there is a single ex-
ample of thi s in "The Etymologies": Q maite, pI. maisi < */f/a)iti ' handy,
skilled? There is also ano ther interesting feature in the evolution of Quenya
and Finnish: while in Finnish fi nal -i generally comes from original final -e, in
Quenya final -e generally comes from original fi nal -i,'

The Verb

There is a rarely used formation in Finnish to express future time: a finite

form of the verb oLla ' to be' and the present participle of a verb, e,g, olen ruleva
'I wi ll come', The present participle ending is -va, In early Qenya the future
tense is marked with an ending -va, in e.g, unlliva 'will gi ve ',~ This persisted to
later Quenya as -uva, in e,g, kenuva 'shall see',6 The Que nya future fo rm does
seem to show a Fi nnish innuence, as an identical ending is used both in early
Qenya and in Finnish,
As in Finnish, -ta is among the most co mmon verhal suffixes in all stages of
Quenya , In bolil languages -ta is a general verbal suffix that mostly fonns tran -
sitive verbs, e.g. F lUI/ora 'promise' and Q tIllta - 'summon', but also regul arly
intransitive verbs, e,g, F kadara 'disappear', Q lanta- 'fall ', -ta is also an infini -
tive suffix in both Finnish and Quenya and can have objects in bot h languages?
It is quite eviden tly true in Finnish and perha ps possible in Quenya that the
3rd person present tense forma tion was originally a verba l adjec tive or
participle used as a predicate. The form of the 3rd person ending was -vi in
archaic Finnish, and it evidently descends from adj ecti val ending -va. The
Quenya co nstruction of lengthening the stem vowel and ad di ng -a is used to
form the present tense, but is also known to create adjectives, e.g. Idna
'wlti te' < SPAN- 'white', H /doo 'open' < LH- 'lie open',9 If the constnlction was in
origin participial, its use as a fi nite form made it necessary tha t there should
rather be a new form for the participle that could not be confused with the
present tense. So ot her adject ival endings were added on top of the old, - il1l':l1 in
Finnish and -Ia in Quenya. 1D Thus the old present participle ending in Finnish is

1 c r. fiqi- 'mel]' <: TlQI (QL).

1 cr. filde '"",illl, horn' <: Tn.- 'poilU. horn' (Uj>lll.).
J Elym . IM'J-_
• N;in Q p<>re ' fk"'r, m,,~I ' <: ' porl (Elym . 0'00.).
5 LRW 1111 (H), lIOI e 12,3_~: d . ant,... Elj>lll. ANA' -.
b MGt;: sv 011,.., V"",ion" I~, 1(,
7 On" ~rl. n<" ~ II.
~ Et ym. spAN- .
9 6,;. [ ~"En'l"il)' I ::j ~" d Elym . CAT_, "" l'",,,ivdy.
10 Cf. caila 'lying in bed, bedriddm' <: KAy- 'lie down' (Elynl_ ' i\C; ct. footnOie 5 on p_" .bovd_

10

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya

-vaine'I/-VQ'inen, as in tulevainell 'coming' and tiefiiviiinell 'k nowing', and Quenya

ha s suc h present participles as IIdcala 'yawning, l < * hac - 'yawn '. But thi s is
very speculative for the Quenya part.

The Pron o un
In "Early Qenya Grammar ~ pronouns are prefixes. l They were changed to
endings in later Qucnya. In Finnish pronouns arc endings. Like classic Finnish,
Qnenya uses independent pronouns only for em phasis.
The characteristic consonant of the 1st person sg. is /I in both Fi nnish an d
all stages of Quenya. It is seen in the I sl person sg. pronomi nal ending -n'
which is the same in both Finnish and Quenya. T he Fi nnish 1st person sg.
possessive ending -ni is identical to the Q(u)enya non -emphatic independe nt 1st
person sg, pronon n ni,4 me is the independent 1st person pl. pronoun in Finnish;
likewise it is one among the several 1st person plural pronouns (with different
and changi ng co nnotation s) in all stages of Quenya. s TIle element m of the 1 st
person plural can also be seen in a 1st person plural ending -mme wh ic h exists
both in Finnish and Quenya."
Both Fi nni sh and Quenya have se as a 3rd person pronoun, though in
Fi nni sh it is normally a demonstrative. In MThe Etymologies n , Q se is in fact
derived from a "demonstrative stem s·_ An ending -!Ii of the same origin as !lie is
H

al so used for the 3rd person in Quenya, unli ke in Finnish.

Miscellan eo u s
Double dots are solllerillles put on vowels in Quenya, as in Finnish, but
their use is different: they do nO( denote the frontedness of the vowel bue that
the vowel is a separate syllable. This can cause co nfusion to Finnish readers of
Quenya: should e.g. Eii be pronounced as [ere]?'
Both Finnish and Quenya have a nominal ending -mo, which is in both
languages used as a personal noun former, e.g. F julkimo 'celebrity' < julki-

1 MCE sv Other Versions:16.

1 EQG MS [ ~ Pronou .... P"rson~l.).
J LR 6 V:87--a8_
4 EQG MS 1- Pronoun .. P<:rsonHI.]; 6n, ' ,3 ~nd ed.nole 4:3 .
5 EQG MS [_ Pronon .... P<:rson~I.J; tRW 1 III (i) CIl.II:V; J oy AI . I_N + Line 10, " ...
b Cf vamm~ 'we won" (Q., A .~ .... QlI,'ny~ :4 ), jiTuv<rntm~ ' we will die' (Joy AM III- JV , Une 7).
7 b l"",i.ll y 'ho,;o, who h~v~ h~... rd of 'he FillJlish inn,,,,n<:. , <>n !J""np "r,c", ~s>"m" ,11., QUt'11y~
,ho"l~ be ",... d . Io ud . s if il w~'" wrin,"" Finnish . Th iS rlm l~... d u> S""h hO",>Tl' AS: ""j'rIn'''T IfKUIri;(rI
.. . Thi' """,.I, horrib le be"AU"" il Slrik~.. "lI"i,,-" Finfli>h vow.,] h.mumy ond ""'ngdy h>L< lhe le"!(1h
of the. ~ =med vOw<:ls righl_ The .",,"'" o f this "" - l00-re~1 ex"",ple sh.n be left ,,".. id .

11

C :opynghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

'public' and Q winyamo 'youngster,] < winya 'new, fresh, young'/ though in
Fi nnish it also has a much wider use. There are also similar endings -sta in
Quenya and -seo in Finnish, both of which form collective nouns, e.g. Q
tet/gwesta 'a system or code of signs ' < tengwe 'sign,J and F sa/wsw 'word-list,
vocabulary' < sana 'word'.
Finnish is a member of the Finno-Baltic group of the Finno-Ugrian language
family. The languages in this group are very similar to each other, although not
mutually undcrstandable. But as a speaker of Finnish one feels that this barrier
is almost surmountable, which is peculiar considering that they have been
separate for from a millennium to two millennia. The languages Quenya,
Teierin and Vanyarin also form a language group - it could perhaps be called
the C.1laquende group since the members of the group comprised all the
C1laquendi. But unlike the Finno-Baltic languages, these Elvish languages can
be considered to be dialects of each other, as they are mutually understandable,
Quenya and Finnish naturally have a quite similar stat us within their respective
language grou p: both can be considered to be the most conservati ve of them all
(even wiT hin their respective language families). Teierin and Estonian are both
spoken by sea-faring people and so und funny. Vanyarin and Karelian have been
heavily influenced by respectively Valarin and Ru ssian, the languages of their
rulers. But this is a rather thin string of analogies. But this at least can be 5.1id :
both the Finno·Baltic group and the Calaquende group are the most conserva·
tive groups within their respective language families, spoken by people who
have travelled further from their original home than most of their relatives.
And lastly, perhaps tile most important Finnicization in Quenya is the
general change of the sound of the language from light and fairylike to firm and
ancient. The imaginary speakers of the language were changed from Fairies to
Elves. Finnish is a language of a mgged, ancient and melancholy people, after
all. Fairies and other such non-sense is not befitting to a true Finn, and is better
left for those pesky Swedes. To prove Illy point I shall read out loud an extract
of the same poem in Finn ish, earl y Qenya and later Quenya:

Kell all lIiikevii va/kean laivan

viimeiselta munalta liihteviill,
hiimiiriir haamuc
laivan kylmGssil rinnassa olevat,
vaiittavain iokkieu kaltais4!t?
nhn,l.,iOll of ·M~fkiry~ " by mY"'lf)

1 EHW I. ed.n 01e 34 ,

1 Elym,AC GWlN.,
J Qt: III'I"D: 12.

12

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Finnicizatian of Quenya

Man kill/va kirya ninqe

oilima aUinelio lute
nive qimari riIlga ambar
ve maiwul qaifle?
(MCE SV:4t»

Man kenuva fdne kirya

mit/lila hre.stallo kim,
ifairi neke
rlnga sUlliaryasse
ve maiwi yaillliii?
(Mel: SV OIher Versions: 13)

WORKS CITED
And reou, Andreas. ~ Quenya: The Influence of the Greek Language". Men
Eldalambfnen: A Place in Elvish. Ed. Petri Tikka. 2 July 2005. 24 Oct. 2006
< http://www.geociti es.com/petri stikka/e!vish./other/ q-essay .doc > .
Bican, Ales. uThe -s case'·. Elm. [Mar. 2002, updated later.l 24 Oct. 2006
< http://www .el vi sh .org/elm/scase. hu nl > .
Fauskanger, Helge. ULesson One: The Sounds of Quenya. Pron unciation and
Accentuation". Quenya Course. Ardalambioll. Feb. 2003. 24 Oct. 2006
< http: //www.uib. no/People/ hnohflless.a .rtf > .

Perala, HarrL ~Are High Elves Fi nno-Ugric? ~ . Studies all the Works of J.R.R.
Tolkien. 7 May 2005 (ori8o. 8 J an. 2()(x)). 24 Oct. 2006 < bttp:!/www.sci
.fi/ - alboin/ finu_quc. htm > .
Valtonen, KinllllO. "Re: 'velike' and Finnish~. Online posting. 10 Feb. 1999.
TolkL.·lllg. 24 Oct. 2006 < http://tolklang.quettar.org!messages!VoI34/3 4 .
44 > .

13

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

Nils-Lennart Johannesson:

Quenya, the Black Speech and the

Sonority Scale

1. INTRODUCTION

I
N THE LORD OF THE RINGS, we are ocrasionally told about the beauty or
harshness of different languages and about the impact the spoken languages
have on listeners. In ~ Many Meetings", when Frodo hears the song ~ A
H
Elbereth Giithoniel sung in Rivendell, "the sweet syllables of the e1vish song
fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody ~ (LR 2 1:171). Similarly,
although we are not explicitly told about the beauty of the Quenya word s of
Galadriel 's song of farewell, yet they must ha ve possessed some very spedal,
positive quality: "as is the way of Elvish words, they remai ned graven in his
memory ~ (LR 2 VIII :??). By contrast, when Grmdalf in "The Council of Elrond"
Li tters the words of the Black Speech engraved on the Ring, the whole ambience
of the Council is affected: "The change in the wizard's voice was astounding.
Suddenly it became menadng, powerful , harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to
pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled,
and the Elves stopped their ears. " (LR 2 11:114)

In the primary world, as we read these p..1.ssages, the words of Sindarin,

Quenya and the Black Speech may not affect us in the same way as they affect
their listeners in Middle-earth. Nevertheless I would assume that most readers
would agree that the the syllables of Sindarin and Quenya can be described as
melodious or sonorous, while the syllables of the Black Speech are much

14

C JPYnghted malenal
 Quenya, the Black Speech and the Sonority Scale

harsher. It is the purpose of this paper to poinlto the physical correlales of such
perceived properlies of these three languages.
The material under study in this paper is the Quenya poem ~ Namarie ~ (LR
2 V111:78--8I), the Sindarin poem "A Elbereth Gilthoniel ~ (LR 2 1:169), and the
Ring inscription (LR 2 11:1 13) as a specimen of the Black Speech. For the sa.ke of
comp.:uison with the language of the narrative text that those poems are
embedded in, Bil bo's song "Upon the Hearl h the Fire is Red ~ (LR 1 111:106--108)
will also be analysed.'

2. SONORITY
Spee<:h sounds can be classified accord ing 10 thei r poslIlon vis-a-vis the
so-called sono rity scale. The sonority of a speech sound can be described as
~ the reso nance of a solU\d in relation to other sounds~ (Burquesl and Payne
1993, p.1 01); the sonority varies from the highest for vowels to the lowest for
sto ps with other sou nds in between, as shown in Figure 1. The hypothesis of
this study has been that ' fair' languages, suc h as Quenya and Sindarin, will be
characterised by a high proporlion of speech sounds of high sonority, whereas
' harsh ' languages, such as the Black Speech, will, by contrast, be characterised
by a high proporlion of speech sounds of low so nority. The language of the
narrative text, i.e. modern English, ought to occupy a kind of 'neutral ' position
intermediale between the 'fair' and 'harsh' languages.

Sonority
High Vowels: I II, l ei , l ei , l ;e/, l al, lui, 10/, 1-;:./, 101 etc.
Glides: Ij/,/wl
Uqui ds: I I/,Irl
Nasals: I m/, Inl , /1)1
Fricati ves: If/, lvi, I p/, Id/ , lsi, Iz/, If/, 13/, Ix/, I yl , I hl
Affricates: 11;\" / ,/43;1
Low Sto ps: I pl, !hI, III, IdJ, IkJ, Ig/

Figure 1. The sonority scale

1 In 'h~ I'>llk" I'",*"",d AI Om~n'i~lv. MinyA English ",>IS "1,resen,,,d by 'h~ S<H1g "Th~ R".. d Goes
EVeT 0,," (LR 11: 122). It hAS here [,.,.", rel'l~(.,d by the long'" "He.nh·· s"ng in " nleT1" "LInin de"Tt"
diffe",~ \>eIw"",n Enillish and ltw. ronSln.Cled lAngUAges .mder su,dy .

15

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

3. INDIVIDUAL SPEECH SOUNDS

An analysis of the ind ividual speech sounds in the fo ur texts under study
results in the distribution shown in Table I. '

NamArie Elbereth He.1.rtil Rli

Vowels 194 46.7% 56 45.1 % 226 39.3% 25 37. 9%
Glides 14 3.4% 21 3. 7%
Liquids 76 18.3% 24 19.4% 50 &7% 8 12.1%
Nasals 62 14.9% 22 17.7% 76 13.2% 6 9.1%
Fricatives 36 8.7% 14 11.3% 90 15.7% 10 15.1%
Affricates 1 0.2%
Sto s 33 8.0% 8 6.5% 110 19.2% 17 25.8%
415 124 574
" 66
Table I . The distribution of different speech sou nds in the four texts.

As we can see, vowels domi na te over the other speech sounds in all the
texts, most strongly in the Elvish language specimens, least so in the Ring
inscription. Only in the Quenya specimen does the proportion of vowels deviate
significantly from the value for English, as represented by the " Hearth~ song.'

The picture becomes dearer if we compare not all seven sonority classes, as
in Table 1 , but sonorant sollnds (+ SONOIlANT: vowels, glides, liquids and nasals)
with non-sonorant sounds ( - SONORMH: fricatives, affricates and stops), as in
Table 2.

Nan\1irie Elbereth Hearth Ring

+SONOIlANT 346 83.4% 102 82.3% 373 65.0% 39 59.1%
- SONOIlANT
, 69 16.6%
415
22 17.6% 201 35.0%
124 574
27
66
40.9%

Table 2. The distribution of s(lllorant and non-sonorant speech sounds in the

four texts.

Tills compmisoll provides at least pmtial support for the hypothesis put
forth above: the two Elvish language samples have a si gnifi cantly higher
, The ~n" lysi. of ' he "1 k."h " SOlI): ""'.u"cs a dd; vMY wi'l> R"",,;ved l'roI"uK"i~1ion (non-,hO/;t' bon
wilh linking r, .nrl wi, h ,h,· conjLl rlClion ~n, 1 ""'rl,·... ,rl " ' / "'1/). In "f;lhe ,..,h ", I h ~ rlil'hlho nll uj in
F,mujl,,, 1»0. 1,.,,,,, . ".I y.. <l It> IwO "" I",nol<, vo....·,,'" ;n 'ml,,, ' 0 "';sfy Ih ~ d" m.nd. of ' h " n,.' re of Ih"
I""'m.
, The o""-rved di ff"""" .,. ~"". ev. h,.,ed by m".'" of . "hi·" I"' ''' , es, ; for ".,i"i".1 ,i);l1ir..,.",,,, K
l'robitbi li,y of Ie,"" 'h "" ~ (p < .05) is re<J" ired.

16

C JPYnghted malenal
 Quenya, the Black Speech and the Sonority Scale

proportion of sonorams than the "Hearth ~ song. However, althol1gh the Ring
inscription has a lower proponion of sonorants than the ~ Hearth~ song, the
difference is not statistically significant. We may note, however, that the Ring
inscription has a significamly lower proportion of sonornnts than the two Elvish
text s..1.mples.

4. SYLLABLES
In o ur search for phonological featu res that will allow us to distinguish the
th ree co nstmcted langu ages (as represented in the chosen extracts) from
English (represented by the ~ Hearth" song) we now tu m from individual speech
segments to combinations of suc h segments, viz. syllables. A syllable can be
analysed as made up of an o ns et and a rhyme; the rhyme in its turn is made up
of a peak (typically a vowel)' and a coda. Figure 2 illustrates an E.nglish
syllable wi th a complex onset and coda, / stnlJz./ ' stri ngs'.

Syllable

~
Rhyme
~
Peak Coda

IA
Figure 2. The stmcture of a syllable.

The recognition of syllable bou ndaries in words with more th an one

syllable is not a straightforward matter. If one or more consonants occur
between two vowels in the same word, this/ these may be variously assigned to
the coda of the first syllable or the onset of the second syllable. Furthermore,
morpheme boundaries mayor may not be taken into account in the assignment
of syllable bou ndaries. For this paper a very sim ple principle has been followed:
the leftmost consonant that has lower sonority than its right hand neighbour
marks th e beginning of the onset of the second syllable (cf. Giegerich 1992,

1 S"m~ l"ngu.g.,. 01"""" with sylla bic consonan ts, whi" h m" on, .h•• • liquid "T" n.",1 CIOn I", "sed
IlS Il I",.k in " syll"hk . In t he fo m spec iTTK" " ""dOT sI Oldy , only the ""m"d syllllhle ,,( t he won! (nil" in
th" "He.rth " <"ng h"," ' yn" bi" " ''''"'''"nl. Thi' "yn" bi" I h.s t.e.,,, ~~mn. ed i1.' ••"wel in .11 the . " bl",
where il is incl uded in . h ~ d ~l •.

17

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

p. 169), Thus, in the L.1tin word vdum 's.1i]' the 1 il.1s lower sonority than its
right lmnd neighbour U, and .1S the only intervoca.l ic consonant it is the leftmost
one, therefore it marks the beginning of the onset of the second syllable: ve./um.
In the L.1ti n word iIli, 'there' the second I is the leftmost consonant wi th lower
sonority than its right hand neighbour (the first / has the same sonority as its
right h.1 nd neighbour), thus iI./ie. In the Lati n word veS!Tum (e.g. neuter
nomin.1tive singular of vester 'your") the r has lower sonority th.1n its right h.1nd
neigh bour u; however, the next consonant to the left (the r) has lower sonority
than its right hand neighbour (the r); the ncxt consonant again to the left (the
s) has highe r sonority than its right h.1nd neighbour (rhe f), thus the t is th e
leftmost consonant with lower sonority dian its righ t hand neighbour and
therefore il marks the beginning of the onset of the second syllable: ves.trwn,

4 .1 Syllabic types
The syllables th.1t were identified in the four text specimens were cl.1ssified
on t he basis of the number of consonmlts in the onset and in the cod.1, as shown
in Table 3. I As we can see, the types CV and eve are the hvo most common
syll.1ble types in.1JJ four texts.

Syllable type Namarie Elbereth Hearth Ring

V 21 10.8% 9 16.1% 16 7.5% 1 4%
ev 109 56.2% 23 41.0% 63 27.7% 7 28%
eev 7 2.8% 1 4%
ve 16 8.2% 6 10. 7% 32 l4.1% 4 16%
vee 1 0.5%
eve 48 24.7% 15 26.8% 84 36.6% 8 32%
evee 11 5.2% 3 12%
ccve 3 5.4% 12 5.6% 1 4%

" 194 56 226

Table 3 . Distribution of syllable types in the four lexts.
25

A major distinction is typic.1IJy Ill.1de between o pe n syllables (with .111

empty coda) and closed syllables (wilh al least one consonant in the coda). If
we combine the syllable types in Table 3 to form the two categories open and
closed, we et the results shown in Table 4.
S llable Namarie Elberedl Hearth Ri
1 In lh~ <yll~bir.c~li"," of lh~ Ring ins" ripl;on, l h" hyphen in 1",,,,,lUu·i.",; h~s l>een In •• ,ed~ • • wOTd
bo"rnI~l)'.

18

C JPYnghted malenal
 Quenya, the Black Speech and the Sanority Scale

o n 130 67.096 32 57. J% S6 38.1% 9 36%

Closed 64 33.0% 24 42.9% 140 6 1.9% 16 64%
" 194 56 226 25
Table 4. Distribution of open and closed syllables in the four texts.

As we can see, open syllables predominate in the Elvish extracts, while

closed syllables predominate in the ~ Hearth·' song and the Ring inscription. Yet
only the Quenya text of "Namarie" diffe rs sign ificantly from the " Hearth ~ song
as well as from the Ring inscription.

4.2 Simple o nsets in open sylla bles (CY)

The two most common syllable types, as we have seen, a re the types CV
(open syllable with si ngle onset consonant) and eve (closed syllable with single
onset and single coda consonant). An analysis of the consonant types occurring
as the onset in the ev type yields the results shown in Table 5. As we can see,
liq uids and na:mls predominate in the Elvish text s, fricatives and stops in the
nOll-Elvish texts.

Namarie Elbe.reth He.1.l1h ~ ng

Glide 9 8.3% 11 17.5%
U uid 32 29.496 6 26.196 2 3.296
Nasal 2' 22.0'16 8 34.896 8 12.796
Fricative
5<0
22 20.296
22 20.2% ,
5 21.7%
17.4%
19
23
30.296
36.4%
1
6
14.3%
85.7%

" 109 23 63
Table 5. Different consonants used as onset in syllables of the type CV.
7

If we compme the distribution of SOllo ra nt versus nOIl -50norant onset

consonants in CV sylla bles, we get the results shown in Table 6.

Namarie E1bereth Hearth run

+ SONORANT 65 59.6% 14 60.9% 21 33.3%
SONORANT 44 40.4 96 9 39.196 4 2 66. 7% 7 10096
" 109 23 63 7
Table 6. The di stribution of so norant and non-sonorant onsets in ev syllables
in the four text s.

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

Again, sonorants predominate in the E1vish texts, whereas [he Ring

inscription has exclusively non- sonoralll sounds in this position. Both the Elvish
texts exhibit values that differ significantly from those of the UHearth" song.
There are too few syllables of this type in the Ring insc ription for a reliable chi-
square test, but even with these few syllables the p -val ue, comp uted by Fisher 's
exact method, is low enough for significance when the Ring inscription is
comp.lred to the Elvish texts, and not far from low enough when comparing it
with the English specimen (p = .07),

4 .3 Simple onse ts in closed syllables (CYC{C))

The most common lype of closed syllable with simple onset has a simple
coda (evC). A few examples in the "Hearth" song and the Ring inscription with
a two-consonant coda will also be included in the follow ing analysis. The
consonant types occurri ng as the onset in the evC(C) sylla ble type are
represen ted in Table 7. As we can see, the pattern for the dominant categories
in the texts is b..lslcaLly the same as that in Table 5.

NamArie Elbereth Hearth Ring

Glide 5 10.4% 8 8.4%
Liquid 10 20.896 7 46.7% 15 15.8% 2 18.2%
Nasal 15 3 1.3% 5 33.3% 9 9.5% 3 27.3%
Fricative 9 18.8% 1 6.7% 37 389% 1 9.1%
Stop
, 9
48
18.8% 2
15
13.3% 26
95
27.4% 5
11
45. 4%

Table 7. Different consonants used as onset in syllables of the type evC{C).

If we compare the distribution of sonorant versus non-sonora nt onset con-

sonants in CYC(C) syllables, we get the re sults shown in Table 8.

Namarie Elbereth Hearth Rin

+ SONOIlAN1 30 62.5% 12 80.0% 32 33.7% 5 45.5%
SONORANT 18 37.5% 3 20,0% 63 66.3% 6 54,5%
48 15 95 11
"
Table 8. The distribution of sononmt and non-sonorant onsets in CYC(C)
syllables in the fou r texts.

Once more sonorants predominate in the Elvish texts, whereas the Ring
inscription has a slight preference for non-sonorant sounds in this position. T he

20

C JPYnghted malenal
 Quenya, the Black Speech and the Sonority Scale

two Elvish languages exhi bit values that differ signifi cantly from those of the
~Hearth~ song, The Ring inscription has a somewhat higher proportion of
sonorants than the "Hearth" song. Again, it is too small a sample for a chi-
square test. The Fisher exact test shows that it does not differ significantly from
any of the other texts (although the comparison with "Elbereth" gives a p-value
as low as .08).

5. CONCLUSION
This survey of the phonological properties of the four text specimens
chosen has demonstrated that sonority is indeed a property that sets the 'fair'
languages ap.."Irt from the 'harsh' language. The specimens rep resenting Quenya
and Sindarin consistently show a high proportion of sonorants, both as far as
indi vidual speech sounds are concemed, and as simple onsets in both open and
closed sylla bles, whereas the Black Speech specimen shows a consistently low
proportion of sonoranrs in the same contexts, The English specimen occupies a
position in between the Elvish and the Black Speech specimens (except in the
case of simple onsets in dosed syllables), although it never differs significantly
from the Black Speech specimen. Nor do the Quenya and Sindarin texts differ
significantly from one ano ther in any of the investigated respects, Th us we can
say that Tolkien convincingly presented a difference between the Elvish lan-
guages on the one hand and the Black Speech on the other in terms of the
distribution of sonorant and non-sonorant speed\ sounds. If, on the other hand,
we assume that the poetic samples of constructed languages were intended to
deviate in these respects from a song in English, then this was achieved onl y in
the case of Quenya and Sindari n, not in the case of the Black Speech.

WORKS CITE D
Burquest, Donald A., and David L. Payne. Phollological Analysi.s: A Fw!cciollal
Approach. Dallas, TX: Summer Inst. of Linguistics, 1993.
Giegerich, Heinz J. English Phonology: All Illtroduccion. Cambridge: Cambridge
UP, 1992.

21

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

Susanne Vejdemo:

Tolklan gs in the "Real" World

THE MO RPHOSYNTACfIC DEV ELO PM ENT O F TWO
SWED ISH LAR P-LANGUAGES

IN TRO DUCTION AND P URPOS E

I
N THE BORDERLAND BETWEEN ART, play and linguistics we find LARP-
langnages. Spoken mainly in Sweden and other Nord ic countries, they are
created as pare of the im pressive array of props used by LARPers 10 bring
li fe and credibility to the improvised theatre settings.
Th is p.."lper reports findings from case-studies of two Tolkien based-LARP-
languages: here called Quenya3 (Q3) a nd Svartiska3 (S3). The first is based on
Tol kien·s Quenya, and the other on his langu age Black Speech (Swedish
svartUka means 'Blackish'). This paper a ttempts 10 find out how the speakers of
the grammatically 'poor' LARP-Ianguages adapted to gra mmatically tricky
speec h tasks not covered in the sparse gramlllars provided - and to give an
opinio n as to whether the studied LARP-languages are Quenya and Black
Speech, or whether they a re somethi ng else altogether.

BACKGROUND
Why ar e conlangs lingu istically interesti ng
Conlangs (constmcted languages) are sociolinglli rtically interesting due to
the special circumstances they often involve. Conlangs are imelltionally
created: there is always a reason for their birth.

22

C JPYnghted malenal
 To/klangs in the "Real" World

Conlangs are grammatically interesting si nce they (often) constit ute

simpli fied languages. By sim plified is here meant languages that to a certain
degree lack the grammatical and vocabulary complexity of natural languages. I
find that conlangs are often far more regular an d logical than natural languages
- one might almost So1.y that they haven't yet had their shiny new edges
polished to asymmetrical corners by the wear and tear of human uSo"lge.
But that human USo1.ge - that wear and tear - is not at all detrimental to
the effectiveness of language. Human languages need to fill a plethora of
different roles, and effective communication is only one of them. Even the most
logical and symmetric of conlangs will inevi tably find itself being adapted -
irregularities introduced in places the creator didn't expect - when faced widl
having to handle actual human discourse.
By studying simplified languages and the wear and tear process they are
subjected to, we mi ght find the keys to what is essential in language. If we have
speakers who try very hard to have as few grammatical rules as possible, what
rules they end up having must reflect the must-have rules, the essential mles, of
human language.'

What is LARPing
LARP is short for Live Action Role Playing. It is a phenomenon and hobby
that has grown more and more popular in Sweden duri ng the last two decades.
It is a mix between theatre, performance, art and play, and is characterized by
the absence of manuscripts and aud iences. Everyone 'on die set' of a LARP is an
actor. The organizers of a LARP create a fictional world for the LARP play - a
sci-fi post-apocalyptic Stockholm, a medieval trading post, a hippie-collective ill
the 60s, to name a few - and invite players to (under supervision) create
characters belonging to that world. Through a very extensive pre-game
dialogue (necessary when there is no script) between the organizers and the
players - and between the different players - all characters' b.1.ckgro und
stories are connected and the world lent credibility.
An importanl P<1.rt of a LARP is often the creation of props. The aim is
usually for 10lal immersion during gallle play- tota l credibility for the fictio nal
world and escape from the real one. This means that buildings, clothing, food,
pyrotechnics (in case the world has actual magic, for instance) and so on have
to be constructed.
Language is a very important part in all world and character creations.
Many LARPers invest time and effort in tbe dialects and sociolects (I.e. which

1 See l'~rkv~lIand Jllvonen :.!OW for more on OOW 1he .u,dy of pidgin lang""lle. i. COI\J1ec1ed 10 1hi•.

23

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

kinds of words an d styles - "I wanna get some food" as opposed to "I would
like to arrange for some food to be brought in") their characters use. Some
effort is also put in to get appropriate names for fictional towns and countries.

What is a LARP-Ianguage
Some people go even further when they design props for LARPing. In
Sweden therc cxist (a loosc c:rtimate based on my own experi ence) around 30
groups that acti vely lise conlangs - LARP-langs - in their internal communi-
cation. Some of these use it exclusively, so that for the three to seven days thar
a typical LA RP takes they will only com municate in the LARP language. Others
use it more sparingly - for example whenever they are overheard by non -
group players. Others use it as a se<:ond lang uage for the characters -
so mething you use in special circumstances (e,g, religious rituals) only,
Except for the lastmentioned case, LARP-Ianguages need to be able to
handle everyday communication, while at the same time being easy enough so
that players only ha ve to inve:rt a reasonable amou nt of lime in something that
will only be spoken for a few days each year. LARP-Ianguages are usually
st udied on one's own, by a grammar and wordli:rt, and perhaps a few practice
sessions with other players,
Most grammars for LARP-Ianguages are created by amateur linguists with
little or no formal training. They are often (as we wjJJ see) grammaticall y
imbalanced, placing too much importance on issues that are not essential for
the communication (havi ng, for example, six or seven cases for nouns) while
ignoring oth er issues [hat may be more important.

Tolkien a nd LARP-Ianguages
Many LARPs that take place in fantasy worl ds are heavily influenced by
Tolkien's view of fairy -tale creatu res: orcs, gobli ns. elves and the li ke. Tolkien is
often (but not always) seen as the golden standard - so to use Tolkien style
mythology or Tolkien style languages increases t he 'authenlicity' of the fictional
world.

METHOD

The case studies

I have done ""0 case studies on ""0 different LARP-Ianguages, using two
informants for each language. All in aU I have recorded approximately 60

24

C JPYnghted malenal
 To/klangs in the "Real" World

m inutes of speech in each language. Part of the speech is from elicited

conversmiolls: through a translation exercise and a picture description test (one
informant ~s the picture and describes it to die other who then tries to draw
it) I guided the informants into speech situations where they would have to
exercise some ingenui ty in order to handle grammatically more advanced
situations than their language was, perhaps, constmcted for . Part of the speech
is from a 'free' conversation, where I asked the informants to tell me a bit about
thcmselvcs. Aftcr this, I continucd wi th a radlcr informal intcrview in Swcdish
conccrning thc infornlants ' view of LARP ing, LARP.languagcs, their own
proficiency and their motiva tion for learning and using the lang ua ges.

The LARP-Ianguages in question:

My infonnants claimed to be speaking Quenya and Black Speech - but did
th ey reall y? Many word stems (at least in the case of Quenya) can be
recognized from Tolkien, bllt the pronunciati on is qu ite different. Should the
LARP·languages be seen as a dialect of Tol kien's languages? As a further
development? As totally different languages? Whi le an amusing question, it is a
linle too philosophical for this paper. I will settle with merely differentiating
bel\\'ccU different language-variants of Quenya and Black Speech.

Phase one: QI and 51

Quenyal (Q I) and 5vartiskal (51) arc in this p.."Iper defined as the conlangs
called Quenya and Black 5peedl respectively - as they can be rC(:onstructed
from Tolkien's wri tings. The languagcs are more or less in stasis with no
addition to vocabulary and gram mar, except in the sense of more of the
wri tings getting published.
The available data on 51 is only 20 to 30 words - and Illay at that be from
different dialects (Fauskanger [pre-I 999]).
The available data on Ql is of course larger and is, unli ke 51, accom panied
by some gramIllatical notes - more morphosyn tacti c information can be
gleaned by deciphering available texts.

Phase two: Q2 and 52

Quenya2 (Q2) aud Svartiska2 (52) are in this paper defined as the wrineu
grammars and vocabulary lists of the LARP·languages. Q2 and 52 are what the
speakers study, but are different from Q3 and 53, which is what the speakers
actllally prod nce when attempting to speak the LARP-Iauguages.

25

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

There are no texts written in the language variants Q2 and 52, but we can
conclude that:
52 has approximately 2000 words and an extensive grammar. The step
from the 51 material to the 52 material is large - and it seems diffi cult to
pinpoint authors and origins for all the new words and grammars: 52 seems to
have been born online, in LARP and roleplay communities. The source material
for 52 is Bynke 2000 and Bynke & BUTstrom 1999.
Q2 has approxi mately 1000 words and a noticeably lower grammatical
complexity than 52 - somethi ng that wi ll surely astonish readers familiar with
51 and Ql from Tolkien's works. What words and grammar th ere is, is -
according to the source materials - gre<1tly influenced by Fauskanger 2003.
The source materials fOT Q2 are Burbeck, BankleT & Ring 2001 and Ring,
Burbe<:k & Bankler 2001.

Phase three: Q3 alld 53

Que nya3 (Q3) and 5vartiska3 (53) are in this J)<1per defined as the end-
result of the process: the actual spoken LARP-language.
Why is there a difference between Q2 and Q3 and 52 and 53? There are
two answers to this question: one is that my informants had not succeeded in
learning 52 and Q2 - 53 and Q3 are interlanguages (a linguistic lenn for the
nOIl-flueut sta te of language that learners have before acquiring the language).
The other is that my informants discovered tbat 52 and Q2 were insufficient:
they need to develop their spoken language away from 52 and Q2, otherwise
th ey will not be able to express what they need to express. They choose not to
use certai n grammatical rnles from 52 and Q2 . and invent others instead - on
the fly, so to speak.
A typical 53 or Q3 speaker

• Does not use - either because they do not remember, or because

they choose not to use - all of 52 and Q2.
• Will only use 53 or Q3 a few times a year - there is no ·' fluency"
in these languages.

Below follow two excerpts from the tmnscribed material, in order to give
the read er a feel for the languages:

26

C JPYnghted malenal
 Tolklangs in the "Real" World

Extract from S3-conversation - Extract from Q3-c onversation -

SA describes a picture that SB tries QB describes a picture th at QA
to draw tries to draw
SA: Gur tumat :ro ti ash ... ash lui. QB: Ea. Ne cena mine alia ai/in. Ar
Mush. ... pela i ailin fie cena ne/de ambar.
SA: I think it is 1 .. . 1 flower. Almost. Elor .. . anwor.
QB: Ves. 1 see I great lake. And
SB: A~h lui. beyond the lake I see 3 AMBAR. Or
SB: 1 flower. . .. hills.
SA: Mush. Nen ... atar lat ash luI? QB: Se mine amba ye mine alta
SA: Almost. Yes. unde rstand you I o rldo. Hanya Ie?
flower? QB: Th at ~ 1 hill is 1 great stone.
Un derstand you?
SB: Nen, ash I.ul. Nen ! Nar ash flag,
(* Svecism: if! Q2 se is 'jt', Sw den, det;
ash lui.
but den a lso meaf!S 'that', as if! den kullen
SB: Yes, 1 flower. Vesl Not 1 imp,
'that hill ') I
flower.
Or, if ye is being usM for 'and' rather
SA: Nefl. Mus Il. NarkiL Urur z a ti than 'is' the first sentence should be in-
a~h flag zamolgishi. terpreted: It [is] I hill and 1 gr&1.t stone.
SA: Yes. Almost. Perhaps. But there is
QA:Ea.
I imp in the tree.
QA: Yes.
SB: Zamo/gishi?
QB: Ne cena ... Ninq ui .. . ninque
SB: In the tree?
nen ... ninque nen. Le saya? Ne n?
SA: Nen. QB: I see . .. NINQUI , , White water
SA: Yes. Wh ite water. You understand?
Water?
SB: Mal?
SB: Wh ere ? QA:mm
QA: IlIIll
SA: Da~hag ...
SA: Right and . QB: Ninque nen. Or i ambor. Saya
I"
SB: Tala, lata? QB: White water. On the hills.
SB: High, low? Understand you?

SA: Lata mm. Za ti gath. QA: mhnuul Lassel

SA: Low, yes. That is good. QA: mhmm! Snow!
- -"-==
27

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

RESULTS
For an overview of the c ha nges between 52/ 53 and Q2!Q3 I refer the
reade r to appendix 1.

Cases
Bussmann 1996 defines case as a "grammatical category of inflected words
which serves 10 indicate their syntactic function in the sentence [ ... j
Adpositions [... J are occasionally referred to as case- (p. 11 3 ).
An interescing question is whether 53 used the wide arTay of different case
endings on nouns prescribed in 52 or w hether it fell back on using prepositions
(as does the mother lounge, Swedish, of the speakers).
Another question is how rudimentary languages such as 53 and Q3 ha nd led
several concurrent morphosyntactic changes within a clause: when a word
need s to indicate not only genitive, but plural and genitive at the same time, for
instance.

Case trolifomratiolls 51 w 53.

Due to lack of data, few reliable guesses can be made as to the case syste m
of SI though some good attem pts can be found in Fauskanger [pre-I 999j.
There may be an inessive suffix oishi and perhaps a dative suffix -u.
The number of cases increases greatly from SI to S2: suddenly there are six
cases, not counting the nominative. A look at table 1 shows us that the cre<ltors
of 52 h<lve obviously mken interest in the inessive from SI. The lexical origin
for these suffixes remain somewhat of a myslery, except for the inessive. The S2
dative -fir could be a development from 51 d<ltive -u.

52: S3:
(Collective
Si ngular Plural Singular Pl ural

Nominative . -1, olE, (- Ii)

pl ural)
·ilk . .,
Genitive ·, b -obi -oMk · ,b -obi
Dati ve .w- -uri -firiik Arlr>osi'i"". Arlp(",irion'
Instrumen tal -iigl/ -ugla -iigli;-uglaz -iigliik/-uglauk Adp"'i,i"", Adpo<ition.<
lnessive oishi -ishiz -ishlik -ishi oishi
Locative -Oslr -Oshi -Oshtlk Adl'OSilion. Adpos ition,
Similative .an. -arzi -anuk Ad]>""i'ion. i\dp05ition.

Table 1: Cases in S2 and S3. Adapted from Bynke 2000.

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From table 1 it is obvious that a greM reduction of the number of cases has
taken place as S2 is transfonned into S3. The collective plural is not used at all,
and all cases except for geni tive and inessive have been replaced by
adpositi ons. It is most curious indeed that the one retained case except for
genitive is inessive - neither Swedish nor English (the first and second
langnages of the speakers) has inessive, and compared to dative it is certainly a
rather exotic case.

Case tranfamlatioru; Ql tn Q3.

In table 2 we see a selection of case forms from two Ql declensions,

applied (0 the nou ns aida and lasse. Genitive, instrumemal, adjectival, alla tive,
locati ve and ablative are all marked by suffixes.

1st [apparently -CV (except -Ce), 2nd [apparently -e (except -ie,

-ie, ·Ie] -Ie), -C)
SinS'.ular Plural Singular Plural
Nom. / Act:. aida aldar lasse lassi
Genitive aldo aidar-on lassia /assian
Instnnnental aldane" aldainen lassenel' /ussinen
[Adjectival] aldava aldai lasseva lussiva
Allative aldalma aldannar lassefma /ussefmar
Locative aldusse aldassen lassesse lussessen
Ablative a ldalla a lda llan lassel/a lassel/an
Table 2: Ql declensions (b.1Sed on Allan 1978, with some fill-in from Faus-
kanger 2003) . C = consonant, V = vowel. Aida = 'Cree', lasse = 'leaf'.

If we look at the changes from QI to Q2 (table 3) a general si mplifica tion is

evidem. The one acti ve case is genitive - which has two different forms
dependi ng on the singular/ plural status of the noun.

1st -V (nor -e) 2nd -C 3rd -e

Sinxular Plural Sinxular PluTal Sinxular Plura!
Nom. I aIda aldar ohtacar ahtacari lasse Iass i
Ace.
Geni ti ve aUlo aldaron ohtacarD ahtacuriall 1=0 lassion
Table 3: Q2 declensions (from Ring, Burbeck & Bankler 2001). C = conso-
nant, V .. vowe l. Aida .. 'tree', a/lt{lCar .. 'warrior', lruse .. 'leaf' .

29

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 Arda Philology 1

In Q2, excep t for genit ive, there are no cases marked by suffixes; the
corresponding function s are perfo rmed by word -order and prepositions. Some
of the suffixes may have survived as autonomous prepositions: In Q2 the
preposition ana means 'to' and elio 'from', similar to the -nna a1lative and -lio
ablative endi ngs of QI.
As we can see in table 4, the sale remaining, rel iable case marking is the
genitive - which no longer differs between singular and plural. As we shall see
in the next section, someti mes even the genitive marker is ski pped, leaving a
language with no overt case markings, relying solely on context and
j uxcaposition Guxtapos ition is when the placement of two words next to each
other signal infommtion about syntactic roles - such as gen itive.)

1st -v (not -e) 2nd -c 3rd -e

Sillgular Plural Sing ular Plural Singular Pl ural
Nom. I aida aldar ohtllcar ohtacari lasse lass i
Acc.
Genitive aida aldor I ohtacaro ohtacaror 1=0 lassor I
aldar l ohlacari lassi
Table 4: Q3 declensions - some forms are hypothetical and not avai lable in
the data in which case conclusions have been drawn from the inflectional
patterns of othe r noun s. C - consonant, V - vowel. Aida - ' tree ', oht.acar
- 'warrior', lasse - 'leaf '.

In teraction between suffixes

Sometimes it seems as if things get rather cramped in the morphological
space around a genitive expression: there is only room (in the speakers' minds?)
for one suffix if there are several suffixes. Lefs take a look at w hat happens to
the "Queny a~ expressions for 'die tree 's leaves' and 'the trees' leaves' as they
progress through the language variants in table 5.
To clarify the temlinology: in the phrase 'the trees' leaves' /Tees is the
possessor and leaves is the possessu m. Ald- is th e stem for 'tree' and lass- th e
stem for 'leaf '.

QI and Q2 are similar, but in Q3a (the more unus ual variant) we see that
Q3 does no longer differentiate number (singu lar or plural) in the genitive
ending. In Q3b (the more usual way for the speakers to ex press themselves) we
have a further si mplification.

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AW + 0 LASS + I

POSSESSOR + PLUR + PLUR.GEN POSSESSUM + PLUR

AWA + R + ON LASS + 1

+
AW + 0 LASS +I

POSSESSOR + PLUR + PLUR.GEN POSSESSUM + PLUR

LASS + I

POSSESSOR + GEN + PLUR POSSESSUM + PLUR

POSSESSOR POSSESSUM + PLUR

AWA LASS + I

POSSESSOR + PLUR POSSESSUM + PLUR

Table 5: Successive suffix omissions.

We see the s..1rue development in S3 (for a detailed discllssion I refer to

Vejdemo 2004). This omission in Q3 of suffixes is greatly dependent on how
many suffixes are involved in the clause:
Phrases such as 'the elf 's leader' (one suffix) are easy to handle for the
speakers. When we raise the grammatical compl exi ty to 'the tree£ leaf' (two
suffixes: plural and genitive), suffixes start to be omilted, and the s..1me thing
happens if we s..1Y 'the tree.t leaves' (three suffixes: plural, genitive and plural).

In table 5 we can also observe that the order of the case-suffix and numbe r-
suffix has been switched. Q2 has NOUN-NUMBER-CASE, whereas Q3 has
examples of NOUN -CASE-NUMBER. Though no general conclusions can be
drawn from the small amollnt of data we have, it is interesting to observe th at

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this laner, away-fwm -Tolkien development conflicts with Greenberg's language

universal no. 39 (1966, p. 95): ~Where morphemes of both number and case are
present and both follow or both pre<:ede the noun base, the expression of
number almost always comes between the noun b.1se and the expression of
case. "

Word order
Word order rranfonuatioru 51 to 53
We really have too little data, but the sentences we do have from SI seem
to point to an SVO·order. (S - subject, V- verb, O - objecL)
S2 is also supposed to follow "Swedish standard" (Bynke 2000). This means
often SVO, but in many frequent cases VSO is mandatory. An example:

Straight word order (Swedish and English):

Hon (S) at (V) mat (0)
She (S) ate (V) food (0)

Swedish with inverted word order:

Nar hon (S) £t (V) mat (0), drack (V) jag (S) vatten (0)

English with retained straight word order:

When she (5) ate (V) food (0), J (S) drank (V) water (0)

A translation of the above sentence into 52 should be approximate ly:

llur na rhrokhat rhrokd, pauat gur plash
*When she (5) ate (V) food (O),dran k (V) I (5) water (0)
Nar hon (S) at (V) mat (0), drack (V) jag (5) vatten (0)

The Englis h dire<: t translation is ungrammatical, but the 5wedish is

grammatical.

This be<:omes importa nt in S3. In 53 we find a curious and consistent disuse

of the Swedish inverted word-order. Straight 5VO is used at all times, except in
questions. Our sentence above would most likely be:
llur ria rhrokhat rhrokd, gur p auat plash
Wben she (5) ate (V) food (0), J (S) drank (V) water (0)
53 does not follow S2, but rather SI. Or is there another reason for this?

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Word order mmsfomrations Ql to Q3

Allan (1 978, p.22) tells us abom QI that "[a] great amount of freedom was
allowed in word order, as could be expected in such a highly inflet:ted
language. ~ But the standard word order seems to be, he also sta tes: ··Subject
llIodifier(s) ... subject ... verb + object + verb modifier(s)". Or, si mplified, SVO.

Q2 is supposed to follow ~ Swedish standard ~ (Ring, Burbeck & Bankler

2OOl). If we were to translate the sentence from the previous section into Q2 it
would most likely be:
Yare re (S) mate (V) apsa (0), suee (V) ne (S) nen (0)
*Whe n she (S) ate (V) food (O),drank (V) I (S) water (0)
In Q3 we find the sallie consistent disuse of the Swedish inverted word-
order that we fou nd in S3. Our Q3 example sentence would be:
Yare re (S) mata (V) apsa (0), ne (S) suea (V) nen (0)
When she (S) ate (V) food (0), I (S) drank (V) water (0)
Q3 has switched from inverted to straight syntax - or from Swedish style
to En glish style, or from Q2 back to Ql .

Participles
Participle tram/omrations 51 to 53
As usual we have too little data. One interpretation of SI might give us
-dug as a participle ending since the word pwhdug is translated as ·stinking'.
See Fauskanger [pre-I 999] for further discussion.

In 52 present participle is formed by adding the suffix -ug to the verb stem.
Perfect participle is fomled by adding the suffix -uga (Bynke 2000). This is a
rather obvious loan from the original SI.

53 is a very dynamic language, which can reinvent itself even as the

speakers are engaged in dialogue. It turned ou t that the speakers either did not
remember or had chosen not to use the 52-form for participle. In this
predicament, they oonslnrcted a new form as they were speaking in the
following dialogue (two excerpts):

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SA: [ ... J Za shara, La jabat u ash ... jabklash ... jabklash·ub ushatar [ ... J
[... J The man he say to I song ... song-ub soldier [ ... J
The man, he says to a song .. , singing soldier.

SS: Ash jabklash-ub ushator ...

1 Soog-utl soldier
A singing soldier

SA: Nen, za ushatar jabklasha t gha ... ag za sham jabat u zo

jabklash-ub ushatar:
Yes the soldier sing now . and ttle man say to the
song-ub soldier
Yes, the man sings now .. , and the man says to the singing soldier:

58: Shakrop. Jabklash-ub ushator, mal

Wait song-uti soldier loYhat?
Wait. 'Si nging' soldier - what?

After a while "SBn seems to understand the new suffix, but the speakers
come back to the same subject a linle later:

SA: [, .. J Na jabal kmugat-ub.

[... J She say laugh-ub
She S.:lyS laughing.

SB: Ma?
What?
What?

SA: Na kmugat gha ag jabat. Alar lat: na jabklashat-ub gha

agsash? Na jabklashal gha ...
She laugh now and say. Understand you she sing-ub now
also? She sing now
She laughs now and speaks. Do you understa nd "she is singing" also now?
Sbe si ngs now .

SS: Nen.
y"
Yes.

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SA: Ti ... Na ri jabklashat-ub. Na kmugat gha, na ti kmugat-ub.

Afar !at?
Is . She is sing-ub She laugh now she is laugh-ub
Understand you?
Is ... She is singing. She laughs now, she is laughing. Do you understand?

At first the suffix is added to a noun stem (song-), bu t in the second

dialogue this has developed somewhat and the suffix is (right fully) placed on
the verb stem (sing-).

Participle transformariorn Ql to Q3
We know that the verb stem can take the ending -(alia to crea te a prese nt
participle, as in i/ca-/a 'gleaming' (Fausbnger 2003).
In Q2, pa rti ciples do not exist - i.e. they are not mentioned in the
grammar at all. This led me to wonder what would happen in Q3 if the
speake rs needed to II SC a pmliciple.
It turned out that the Q3 speakers had two alternative strategies to get out
of the problem of their grammar (Q2) lacking a participle. Either they used one
in which 'say and laugh' replaces 'says laughing', or they simply created a new
grammatical rule on the fly!
J ust as in S3 they saw 110 need to switch to Swedish to discuss it, but
merely introduced it - and it was accepted by the othe r speaker.
The verb stem in Q3 takes -nde or -in to create a present participle. There
is no evidence one way or the other as (0 the p.1.st participle.
Our example from QI might be realized as ilea-nde / ilea-in , as can be seen
from the following:

Ro quetta tenn mine lirin ohtar; j ohrar ve * !ira lorn

He say to URIN soldier the soldier who watch sleep
He says to a singing soldier: the soldier who keeps watch sleeps.
(* Svecism: Sw sam mea ns 'like' but is also a relative pronoun.)

Ro quetta. .. re quetta . .. Iolande

He say she say LALANDE
He says . . . she 5.1.ys ... laughing

Re quetta ar lala
She say and laugh
She says and laughs.

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DISCUSSION
The grammatical issues
We can conclude Ihm when Ihe speakers have 10 tackle complex
grammatical situations that their language has not prepared them for (either by
giving them too few grmnmmical niles, or so nmny time they cmmot learn them
all in the short time they have), they use seveml different types of strmegies:
~ Coding from a familiar language
Sometimes the speakers borrow gramma tical morphemes or patterns from
their mocher tongue or second language - as when th e Q3 alternative
participles -in (from English -ing?) and -nde (from Swedish -ande/ -ende?) are
created.
The curious (and definitely un conscious - when explicitly asked the
speakers said tlmt they used Swedish style) decision by the speakers to ahmldon
Q2 and S2 word order for a simple SVO could be an example of this kind of
stmtegy. It could, however, also be an example of the following strategies:
~ Elimination or redu ction of parts of grammar
A good example among many of this strategy is how S3 simply skips the
many different case suffixes, A further exmnple can be seen in how the
intemction between different suffixes in both S3 and Q3 leaves the languages
with a very 'stripped' genitive expression . The differences between the plural
and singul.1r forms are removed from the possessor, and in some C.1seS (not
shown above) even from the posses sum.
~ Addition of grammatical morphemes
As a comp'l.nion move to skipping most of che (too?) many case endings,
prepositions are invented ill 53. The creations of participle-suffixes in both Q3
and S3 show us that Q3 and 53 are not invariably less complex (or more
primitive if you will) than Q2 an d 52 - in this case rhey have gained
grammatical complexity,
~ Expansion of the power/expr essiven ess of parts of grammar
52 has a participle, but it is forgotten and re·invented: a different ending
than the original one is used. An expansion in the power/scope of the participle
ending is also introduced: no example is shown above, but the ending now
covers both present and past participle instead of covering just one of the two.

This list is all very well - but why are these strategies used?
Tauli (I968, p.4 l) says of natural languages that they ~must contain the
maximum possible economy whic h is compatible with the absolute clarity and
necessary expressiveness ~ . But in 53 we see how the inessive -uhi is retained,
even though it call hardly be said to be the most grammmically necessary of all,

36

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 To/klangs in the "Real" World

while the other cases from 52 have been replaced with prepositions ill 53, My
study gives us reason to believe that there is an extra factor affecting LARP-
languages:

A LARP-language must express as much as poss ible, as simply as

possible, while still being a prop which enha nces th e fiction of the scene as
much a s possib le_

Three different forces affect the language (see figure 1)

The need to make it as simple as possible (learnabiJity)
The need to make it as expressive as possible (expressiveness)
.. The need to make it as authentic a prop as possible (fiction)

r-- FICTION ~
"-------.--
:;:r:::::: ~
ru:SULTING
LANG UAGE

LEARNABlLffY EXPRESSIVENESS

Figure I - three forces affecting LARP languages.

We can see all of these three forces affecting the languages. These case
studies are of conrse not extensive enough to give definite answers to the
following questions - bllt let us speculate for a moment.

Why a re t he seven 52 cases reduced to three?

Probably because they are more complex than necessary. The pull of
leamability.

Why is the inessi ve (of a ll the cases) ret a ined ill 52?
Probably because it is the only one that can be traced back to 51: there is a
strong fictional pu Jl .

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Why are suffixes invariably dropped in complex genitive constructions in

both S3 and Q3?
Probably bet:ause they are unnecessary for understanding: the speakers feel
rlmt the listeners can gel the meaning of whi ch is plural and wh ich is geni tive
from the context: the pull of leamabil ity.

Why do the languages create participles?

Probably because S2 and Q2 are, in this case, not com plex enough . Not
having participle increases learnability, but reduced expressiveness. The pull of
expressiveness is stronger [han [he pull of learnability.

Why the word order switch?

Probably bet:a use a uniform SVO order is easier than Swedish style -
varyingly straight and inverted word order - even for speakers with Swedish
as their mother tongue.

Some general comments on the st rategies:

~ Coding from a familiar language leads to minus on fiction, plus on

learnability.
~ Adopting from Tolkien leads to plus on fiction (si nce the speakers feel
that it lends authenticity 10 their portrayal of elves and orcs), and depending
on how it is done, it can ei th er lead to plus or minus on learnabili ty and
expressiveness .
• Elimination or reduction of parts of grammar leads co min us on
expressiveness, plus on learnability,
• Addition or expansion of parts of grammar leads to minus on
learna bili ty, plus on expressiveness

These find ings tell us interesting facls about the behaviou r of speakers in
ti ght grammatical corners - and of the special nature of LARP-languages
compmed to others. TIle extra pull of fiction will invariably make them
different from oth er kinds of languages, even if they were to come to the point
of havi ng a larger, stable group of hi ghly competent speakers.

The definition issue

Are Q2, S2, Q3 and S3 exa mples of Quenya and Black Speech?
The difference between a language and a dialect is, when it comes to
natural languages, most often not a question of lingui stics bill of poli tics: there

38

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 To/klangs in the "Real" World

si mply are no easily formu lated or genemlly accep ted definitions. Let us simply
refer to phase 1 , 2 and 3 of the languages as different language variants of one
another. S3 is grammatically more complex than SI, while the opposite holds
for Q3 and Ql.
Especially seeing the grammatical poverty of Q3 as opposed to QI must be
shocking to any scholar who has been drawn in by the grammatical elegance of
Tolkien's Quenya. But j ust as speakers of the officially accepted 'correct'
variants of natuml languagcs (oftcn ciders) often criticize slang without
learning to appreciate the many new and interesting new linguistic creations
therein, there is a danger in disowning the LARP·languages as being just
debased and uninteresting variants of the static Tolkien corpus. As opposed to
SI and Ql , the LARP-Ianguages are very much alive - dynamic and changing:
~growing up~ one might say.

With its founder being passed away, with no one bold enough to with
impun ity dare to extrapolate, invent and add to his (beautiful) creations QI and
SI, Tolkien linguists are a little like students of butterflies who study them only
on pins. It might do liS good to gel oUI in the fresh ai r and let some real life
specimens dazzle and bewilder us with thei r colours.
Why not 'adopt a LARPer' an d help LARPers build Tolkien-derived
languages where fiction, learnability and expressiveness are ill hannony?

39

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Appendix I : Overview of ph ase 2 to ph!lse 3 deve lop m en t

8 2 (the gra~ l ~l"r) S3 (.poken ""nit) Q 2 (the sro~l~l" r) Q3 (.poken ""nit)

Artide. I ~ r.n i'~: YF$, ,h,' nefini'e: YF,", lh,: [)efi ni '~ : No' m .n rl~ , Do'fini'~: YES, 'he
I,,,,fix ~ a , I""fi x ~a , tory, ' he .n id ~ j . "id e i

Indefinite : NO Indefinite: YES, lhe tndefinite : YES, the Indefinite: YES, the
nmn i>er '\', ash. munl",. ' I', mine nmn ile. '1', mine,
,,- Nominative,
ll"1fitive,
Nomin" !i v~
Genit ive?
NomiMtiv~, 8""itive Nominat ive?
Genit iw?
Inst nlme", . l, Ine",ive?
I :~'ive, d.tive,
]""-,,,ive, <imil.,ive
Word order Swede'" "Engli';!' · (sI T1ligll, ) Swedish "Engte"'- ("", iglll)
Participle l'resent: Yf.';
constructio ns l'erfect : YES
YES, bIn are
re;nvent .,,[ anrl
"0 YES, are invented by
speakers d ,,"nl( the
discu_d durin!, the eftS<: "ndy ,
~"sc " " dy.
Pa •• ive "0 YES,"'" in vcnt~d by "0 YES, .t" inwn ted by
co n. tructions "l"'Hkcts during the sp<:akcIS durin!, ,he
C"se .. "d y_ e..,,,, " "dy.

WORKS CITED
Allan, J im, ed, A'l Introduction U'J Elvish [., .J. Hayes, Middx ,: Bran's Head, 1978.
Burbeck, Mali n, Hamptls Ba nkier and Kalle Ri ng, A T-IT-liMan v. 1.4,20 , 2 parts:
" Sven ska-q llenya~, " Q uenya - svens ka ~ . A lver.nu. 27 Apr. 200 1, 15 Sept. 2004

< http: //wW\v.alver. nu/static_html/qllenya / ATiTiistaSQvO I 0 4 20 _b. pdf >

an d < Imp:// www.aiver.uu/ staticjltml/quenya/AT-IT-QS,pdf> .
Bussmann, Hadumod, Roueledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Trans.
Gregory Tra ut h and Kerstin K.1ZZ<l Zi, London: Routledge, 1996.
[Bynke, Mikael] Adragoor. USvartisk grammatik~ . Adragoars archsida . 4 Sept.
2000 (orig. 1998) . 15 Sept. 2004 < http://hem. passagen.se/ adragoor/
on: hsida/grmmrk. htm l >.
Bynke, Milmel "Adragoor" and David "Meldo n" Burstroru. Ordlista. 2 part s:
"Svenska - svartiska~, "Svartis k."l - svenska 14 Aug. 1999, 15 Sept. 2004
H
•

< http://www. efd.l tlue/- d98dbll / stiftelsen/swe_orc. html > and < http://
www.efd .lth.se/- d98dbu/ stiftelscn/ orc_swe. html > .
Fauskanger, Helge K. Quenya Cour~ . Ardalambion. Feb, 2003. 15 Sept. 2004
< http://www.uib.no/ People/hnohflqcourse.huu >.

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 To/klangs in the "Real" World

- -, "Orkish and the Black Speech - b..1se language for base purposes".
Ardalambion, [Pre-I999] . 15 Sept. 2004 < http://www.uib.no/People/
hnohf/ orkish.htrn > .
Greenberg, Joseph H. ~Some Universals of Grammar with Particular Reference
to the Order of Meaningful Elements". In Universals of Language. Ed. Joseph
H. Greenberg. 2nd ed, Cambridge, MA: MIT P, 1966. 73-11 3.
Parkvall, Mikacl and Pillvi Juvoncn. Irl pcJ. baro berlen pd miirukliga sprdk: En
tviirspmk/ig studie om pidgimprdk. 2 Jan. 2003. Dept. of Linguistics,
Stockholm U. 17 Nov. 2006 < http://www.J irlg.$u.se/staff/juvorlen/
interests.html > .
Ring, Kalle, Malin Bllrbec k an d Hamplls Bankler. Granmltuik v. 0 1.04.27.
Alver.nu. 27 Apr. 2001. 15 Sept. 2004 < http://www.a!ver.mt/static_htmll
quenyaJ ATITgram matikO I 04 27, pdf> .
Tauli, Vaher. Introduction to a Tlloory of Language Planning, Studia philologiae
Scand inavicae Upsaliensia, nr 6. Uppsala: Uppsala U; Alrnqvist, 1968.
Vejdemo, Susanne. KAn»<1ssningsstrategier i lajvsprak", Term »<1per. Dept. of
Linguistics, Stockholm U, 2004, Updated 2005. 14 Oct. 2006 < http: //
www.Jing.su.selforskni ng/uppsatser/ lajvsprak.pdf > .

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Magnus Aberg:

An Analysis of Dwarvish

I. INTRO D UCTION

K
'UZOUL, THE LANGUAGE 01' THE Dwarves, is diflkult to analyse,
since the examples are very few: it is virtually neve r used outside of
urely DWarvish business. Aule the Vala created the language at the
smile time as he created the Dwarves, a nd he made it hard and harsh just like
its speakers. This stiffness in the language is probably a contributing cause for
its looking practically the s.1.me now as when it was made (t his, and its being
employed mostly in rituals and archaic usage) . For this reason there are also
almost no di alectal variants of the la nguage; Dwarves understand one another
even jf they come from quite different geographic areM, provided that they tal k
toge ther in Khuzdul. '

Pronuncia tion
The basic statement on the pron unciation of Khuzdlll is short enough:

In names drnwn from OIher I~nl("~g,",, Ib"" EM"rin Ih~ SlIme v ~ l"es for . he
' ellers ore imended, wbere n01 ."""ially described .bove, exc"!" in Ihe c ..... of
UW.fllish . In Ow.flli"'. whkb did no1 possess .he ,.,,,n<\s r<:"pre""med .bov. by
d, and r), (kll), d, "nd I<h ~re ~!ipir",es. lha. is I or k followed ~y ~n I,. nlOre or
less os in bMkllwu', "'''/''''IS<',
(1.R App.E 1 NOIe:!)

, I'M X:l:l.

42

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 An Analysis aj Dwarvish

In its fullest force, the phrase "except in the case of Dwarvish ~ would pro-
hibit any letter in the spelilng of K"uwul to be pronounced as p rescribed for the
Eldarin languages. A more conservative in terpretation is that the following
sentence defi nes the extent of the exception. For the K"uzd ul words appea.ring
in The Lord oj the Rings this would imply that:

th and kh are pronounced lth] and [khl (not ll>J and (x])
everything else is pronounced as in Elvish - uwhere not specially
described above ~ (under LR App.E J Consonants, K, Rand S, and Vowels:4):
k (not used to transcribe Elvish) has Uthe same value as c ~, sc. [k]
U some Dwarves ... are said to have used a back o r uvular r "
sh ~represents sounds similar to sh in English ~

circu mflex in K"uzdul, as o pposed to Sindari n, Mhas no special

significance " (apml, il musl be understood, from marking vowels as long)

There is at least one complication. In the next section of the appendix we

are told that one rune in the Angerthas Moria was used for uthe clear or glottal
begi n ni ng of a word with a n initial vowel that appeared in Khuzdul" (LR App.E
II Cirth:5). The sound is there transcribed with' (an apostrophe). Does this
mean that Dwarvish initial vowels are, as a fu rther exception to the 'similar to
Elvish ' mle, a lways preceded by a normally u n transcribed glottal consonant, or
should we conclude that as no Khllzdul word with an illilial vowel in the book
is marked with " none of them has the glotcal beginning?

KhllWul has the five classic vowels a, e, i, 0 , u, in short and lo ng versions,

the latter written with a circumflex C).B ut in his account of the Angerthas
Moria, Tolkien states that ·'vowels like those heard in English butter [I.e. mid
back (A] and mi d central [ill] were frequent in Dwarvish and in the
WestTon", and had nmes of their own, special variant s of which could be used
when the vowels were Mweak or evanescent" (LR App.E II Cirth:5) . From the
premi ses that I) Khu Wul possessed the butter vowels; 2) none of the five vowel
letters found in attested Khuzdu l is sil.id to represent e ither of them; and 3) the
nmes in question are un transcribed in the certh value table, it seems reasonable
to concl ude that these vowels were in Khuzdulnormally more or less "weak", or
only faintly suggesfed between two seemi ngly adjacent consonants, and are not
represented in transcription . If so, this is a point in common with the phonology
of, among othcr languages, Hebrew, with which Khuzdu l cxhibits Illany fu rther

43

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

si milarities (see below under Structure), Hebrew has rules for w hen such a
vowel is pronounced and when it is silent, bllt it is always written (the sign is
cal led schewa and is written as two vertically arranged dots below the preced-
ing consonant).

The consonants are also in principl e the s.."lme as in other languages, as well
as their pronunciation. As the back r was used only by "some Dwarves" it was
dearly a mere allophone of the same phoneme as other Dwarves' front r. The
combination of a t or k and a followi ng h is labelled an aspirate, indicating that
th, kh, an d by analogy pro bably also ph (there is no example), designate
phonemes rather than accidental consonant groups. I therefore prefer the typo -
graphy t!', k~ and p ~, which I employ in this articl e, to avoid confusion.
There is one instance of the combination gh, in the Dwarvish name A zughdi.
Since tills did not appear in The Lord of the Ril183 it is not directly covered by
the pron unciation gui delines there, and it is difficult to tell whether gil repre-
sents a (vo iced velar) fricative (as in e ,g. the Black Speech, on analogy with sh),
an aspira te (on analogy wi th kh), or a two-consonant group.
Concerni ng syllabic stress not much is s.."lid, bu t in Semitic languages the
st ress is often on the last syllable; notable exceptions are the segholates, a very
frequellt type of nouns in Hebrew, wi th an [e) (Hebrew scglJ6l) in both of its
syllables, and the stress on the first one. The same pattern could well apply to
K~Lzdul, and a gron p of nouns (the 2nd declension below) that in thei r b."lsic
form have a long vowel in the first syllable and a short vowel in the second
mi ght be stressed li ke the segholates.

Stru cture
Khuzdul is, as said above, in many ways si milar to Hebrew, and where I
have lac ked examples it has been easy to fi ll out my analysis on the analogy of
Hebrew and its relatives, To begin with, the words (at least the nouns - other
words are b."ldly under-represented in the available material) in Khuzd ul are
composed in the s..1,me way as the Hebrew verbs, sc, the stem consists solely of
three (or two) consonants: to fottn wo rd s, they are supplemented with vowels
in between. These consonants are called radicals, and are common to all
words with a similar meaning, An example is the radicals thaI designate things
having to do with Dwarves: K h_Z_D.' We see this stem in the attested words
K huzdd, K huzad_dum , K"uzd and Khuzdul (presumably also in the place-name

1 To lkien inln>du""d Ihis Slt'TTl in lhe. Quenl' Silm~rini(m, wh e", Ihe Dw~rv~' n~me fOT IhemSt'lve.s is
)\iven K' K'>a"rI (LR W 2 VI Ch. W §124) , AI !h~l """""1"".1 "Kg<', """ fin.] vow'" m.y h~ve. t..,en ~
,m;verslIl plnr~1 mar1<er.

44

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 An Analysis af Dwarvish

Nulukk~izdin) . The word is fully defined only when vowels and any necessary
endings or prefixes ha ve been added between, after, or before the stem radicals.
I will now list further important similarities (attested and hypothetical)
bet\\'een the Semitic languages and Khuzdul, to lend some authority to my
method in rffonstmcting KnllZdll1 nOlln p.1.radigms, and also to explain some
temls used in them.
Mid ce ntral vowel (schewa). In Hebrew only consonants were originally
writtcn, but later vowel signs began to be used. It becamc rcgular to attach
vowel signs to all consonants except final ones (sometimes to them as well).
The vowels were often fully pronoum:ed, but in some positions they were
reduced. The highest degree of reduction was ' schewfi'. representing a lax mid
central vowel, phonetic [d]. Sometimes it was pronounced, sometimes not. As
we have seen, in Khuzd ul there are two mid vowels that were apparently nor·
mally reduced, and could be so to the point of evanescence.
The glottal stop ('a iel). Both Hebrew and Ara bic have a strong glottal stop
in the beginning of words that in Latin transcription appear to begin in vowels.
Its variants (voiced and unvoiced) have their own letters, and serve as radicals.
Such a so und is said to have existed in Khuzdul as well, and some words that
show only two consonants and begin in a vowel seem to be patterned in the
same way as words with three radicals. I Furthermore, this g1ott.11 stop might
have been assimilated to a following consonant in the joint between two ele·
ments in a compound - see the section below abollt Nulukk"izdin for more on
thi s. Throughout this article I have therefore supplied the glottal stop, written
as an apostrophe (' ), as a radical in words thai seem 10 require it! Al lhougll
Appendix E only speaks of the ~glottal beginning of II word" , I expect that, just
like in Semitic languages, this consonant may appear as first:, second or third
radical, though no example calls for a glottal stop as second radical.
Construct state. In Hebrew, possession is expressed in another manner
than in the Indo· European languages, The word that is changed in form is the
one signify ing that w hich is possessed, not that which possesses, which in many
European languages is inflected in the genitive case, In Hebrew the nOlln that is
possessed is inflected in what is known as the construct state, and is followed by
the possessing noun in its basic form, the absolute state. In Khuzdul there is at
least one clear example of the same constmctioll, namely the phrase buruk
I Of .ddilionat ' nt"",.t in this ,"unncc1 ion i. ~ th'Xlry th"t S«l<n<iinavians 100 """d ••ptrifi(' nlnc for
the gion.t Slop, or at leilS! l'rononneed vowels in lhe beginning of word. with" very d"ilr gion.] Sl op,
·ll1i.' wo,,]rl I""",ibly "'(l'lain why Old No,"", 1,0Nry .lIi.. """, words ""llinning in .ny vow~1 _ wh.,
"",lIy .11i' e"" ,,. i, ,b. glo" .1 ",01'.
1 Th", for ins'.n"" lidia' fOT Tolkien'S nola, 1 h.ve. no' ~dd"" I<n ." erisk in snch coses, sin"" T(~kien
did nlM "I'ell 01(1 I< gt(~lal Sl<~' in any K' "nt,,1 won!. Ihe hl~""n~,he In il""tf ,",TV,," ., Ih e m~Tk of
editoriol int"""""lion.

45

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

khazdd 'axes of the Dwarves', Khazdd here stands in its normal attested plural
form, the absolute state, whlle baruk , if it were absolute would (on the pattern
of shati'Ur, explained as "prob.1.bly a plural 'douds'~ (TI VIII, note 21)) be
*banlk, that is with a IOllg [ill, It is com moll in Hebrew that vowels are
reduced in the constmct state, e.g. bayith 'house' - beth Ithem 'house of bread;
store'. If an hypothetical plural absolute *banlk in K"uzdul bet:omes baruk in
plural construct ('axes of lsthg)), it displays the same tendency.
Boun d form. III Hcbrew thcre is a so· called bound form, taken by nouns
when they acquire a suffix (for instance, possessive pronouns are suffixes ill
Hebrew). It is a somewhat altered (mostly reduced) form of the base form of
the noun. Khuzdul likewise seems to have had a specific form for nouns with a
suffix or prefix attached. For instance, Pazad in Khazad_dilm 'Dwarves·delving'
as opposed to khaziid 'Dwarves ' would be the bound form, which seems to be
regularly applied to the first element in attributive noun compounds made
(mostly) with a hyphen. Incidentally the use of a hyphen is common in Semitic
languages as well, but it does not have qu ite the same function there as in
K"uzdul. Since reduction of long vowels is characte ristic of this bound form as
well as for the oonstnlct form, the two may in some cases coincide, but it would
not have been hard to find OUI from context if the su bjec t of speech was 'axes of
the Dwarves' (baruk khazdd) or 'axe· Dwarves' (*baruk-khazdd), Possibly the
construct phrase was also pronounced differently from the compound.

II. GRAMMATICAL SURVEY

Nouns
I have identified a number of different types of nouns in Khuzdul, and from
these examples I have hypothetically and analogically 1"C<:onstnlcted five
declensions. In the five dec lension charts below I show the pattern for each
declension, using stems written with numeral s in the place of radicals (e.g, 1 d
2 a 3). I give the forms singular and plural absolute with the bound form
appended, and si ngular and plural construct. After c.1ch form I have given one
or more attested or hypothetical examples of this form, the hypothetical ones
being marked with an asterisk ( *). For the bound fomls, I have only included
the authentic examples that are attested, no hypothetical ones. But hypothetical
reconstruction, which is normally doubtful in natural languages, ought to be
applicable in Ktiuzdul, if anywhere, as it is a language constructed by the master
of stnl ctu re and regularity: Aule,

46

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 An Analysis af Dwarvish

1st declension (words with 3 radicals)

Singular Plural
Absolut e 1 u 2 3 e.g. ruk ~s 'Orc', klluzd la2u3 e.g. ruk~iis 'Orcs',
'Dwarf' k~azdd 'Dwarves'
Boun d lu2u 3 e,g. Tumun2ahar la2a3 e.g, K~a2ad-dam
fo= 'HoLlowbold', 'Dwarves-delving /
Buz;u ndwh 'Blackroot' Dwarrowdelf '
Construc:tllu2a3 e.g. duban 'valley of la2a3 e.g . • k ~azad 'Dwarves
[sthg)' of [sthg] '

Further examples of the singular bound fOfUl may be the abandoned names
'Udushinbar (later BundushathUr) and 'Urukf'arbun (later possibly Khazad_
dam , or 'Azanulbi2ar). On Nulukk"izdin , see below.
The plural <:onstrll(:t ~ k ~a'$ad is here re<;onslru<:[ed by shorteni ng the long
vowel of tile attested plural absolute form Pazdd,

2nd declension (words with 3 radi<:als)

Singular .
Plural
Absol ut elu2a3 e.g. '$uram 'lake', nUla' }a2113 e ,g. shaf'ilr 'douds'
'path, (river)<:onrse(?)',
*zdbad 'lord'
BOWl d la2 3 e,g, '!!8!.db 'tongue, la2u3 [no example]
fan n spoken language',
T"arkun 'staff-man I
Gandalf '
ConstnlC
:r a2a3 e,g, *zabad 'lord of
[sthg]'
la2u 3 e,g. baruk 'axes of
[sthg]'

The word mila' is on Illy analysis an example of a 2nd declension nann with a
bound form in a<:<:ordan<:e with the 1st dedension (d. Nulukk."izdfn), si nce the
pattern 1 a 2 3 is not applicable on a word with a glottal stop as a 2nd or 3rd
radical.

47

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

3rd dec lens ion (words with 2 rad icals)

Singular Plural
Absol ut e 1 a 2 e.g. * 'an 'river ' 16: 2 e .g. '6:1 '~reams '

Boun dla2 e.g. possibly 1 u2 e.g. 'Azullulbb:ur (in

form ~hufld 'Bald Hill' one version =
'Azan- '1I1-bb:ar)
Construe:tll U 2 e.g. * 'an (river of sthgJ 1u 2 e.g. • 'ul 'streams of
[sthg] '

Here we have only a few examples, wh ich all of them are questionable:
• *'dI would be the singular of 'ill, which is given with the gloss ' streams'
in The Rerum of rile Shadow, where the place-name 'A za nulbizur is ex-
plained as composed of P.lrts meaning 'di m', 'streams' and 'valley· (see
RS XXV, note 36:2- 3; an elli ptic form 'AzuflUi is also quoted.) But The
Lord of rile Riugs: A Reader's Companion quotes an alternative explan-
ation: the valley-clement is not expressed (it would be duban in front of
the name, obviously a lsi declension noun *dubn in the constm cl
state), and the name means 'dimnesses-ish-streams', -ul- being actuall y
die adjectival ending -ul, and -bizar being the 'streams' pari (see LRRC
2 III 'There the Misty. :5). I lend to support thi s interpretation, since
we then have a new stem D-B-N , and the existence of this stem has no
~pport if the other version is chosen. But this does not have to mean
that 'Ill fo r 'streams' was discarded, and in any case the faci that it was
~ggested indicates that 1 6: 2 was a possible plural pattern.'
• *'dn 'ri ver' is based on Gabildn , the K"uzdul name for Sirion, wh ich is
glossed 'great river' and is said to have been Moften translated Duill Daer~
(WJ 3 111: 136). But the translation m igh t not be strictly literal, and -an
could be the nominal ending -iln in a modified fonn; the name Gabildfl
would then mean simply 'the great (one)'.
• *dum would be the singular of -dum 'delving(s), mansion(s)', from
K\u:ad-dum, Dwarrowdelf. But this element may instead have its origin
in a 1st declension noun *tumm or *rum, meaning 'bold (noun), man-
sion' (seen in the place-name Tumunzahar, see below under "Adjec-
tives") - it does CK:cur in at least Arab ic that two similar radicals
followi ng each other mel t together, prolonging the preceding vowel.
With the d in K~azad- assimilating the t to d, we would have the
development *tumm > *tum > -dum.

, T"tkien "f ctm..... Wn~" i, .... ul, whit'" in il.",l f is K f",1he, indi"K,i'm of 'he exi .. ",,<.. , "f the "nwrit ·
ten glon.1Slop. "" it is dime"lt to con""ive of . word having OI1ly one ,."dieat.

48

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 An Analysis af Dwarvish

• *ndd (possibly '(river-)course') is from an alternative name for KibU·

ne'ila', and should mea.n the same thing as fldla ', Bill this word was
never used in the final text.
• shar· (possibly 'hill ') may be the first constituent of the place-name
Sharbhund 'Bald Hill', if bh represents a single phoneme. Otherwise, the
involved roots may be · Sh·R·B and *H·N·D . Or maybe (the theory that
I find the most likely) the first part is really a noun of the 2nd declen-
sion, *shara h, bound foml *sharh, and whcn this is connected to *bu nd
(possibly ' b.~ld hcad '), a mctathcsis takes place and *sharhbund be-
comes sharbhund (see below, nnder ~The metathesis ~).
These five examples, which are greatly debated, provide a slender basis for
this whole declension. In Hebrew there are however many two-radical words,
and the Khnzdul example ·dum implies th at there actually was at least a spon-
taneously arisen class of nouns having two radicals in the si ngular absolute;
note also the Peny-Dwarf names Mim and Klofm.

4th declension (i-declension - could possibly be applicd with a diminutivc

fnnction to words of other declensions)
Singular Plural
Absolut e li2a3 e.g. zirak 'spike, peak', I i 2 i 3 c.g. · k"izid '(Pctty-)
bizur 'valley' Dwarves'
Boun d I i 2 3 e.g. Nulukk"izdin I i 2 i3 e.g. Nulukhizidlin
form 'Nargothrond' (early form of
Nulukk"izdin)
Constmc
'r i2 3
e.g. * 'igl 'languagc of
[sth&] '
I i2i3 c.g. · k"izid '(Pctty-)
Dwarves of [sthg)'

The word zirak belongs with the later interpretation of Zirakzigil , see
below under Adjectives. The word bizar belongs with the earlier interpretation
of 'AzG fluibizar , see above under 3rd declension; in the la ter interpretation, the
name 's final element is a plural quoted as bizdr! 'small streams, rills' - if so,
the last vowel is evidently shortened in the compound. This form does not fit
into the pattern reconstructed here, but hints at a variant of this declension.
The plural absolute and constnlct are nor attested, but starting from the
bou nd form secmingly appearing in thc carly namc form Nuluk"izidun I havc
analogically given the absolure form a lo ng second vowel and then reduced it in
the construct.
1 A,j". uy wrin en lOS b;'<ir, !,,,s.• ibly ' " ~v,rid implying.n " veTI""g . owel, in ~ ")f1!~X! where Sind~rin
W"S .lso discussed.

49

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

5th declension (words with 3 radicals; mass noun s without plura!)

Singular
Absol ut el i 2f3 e.g. * kibii 'silver (the
ah. meta!)', *k ~e/ed 'glass'
le2li3
BOlindli2i3 e.g. Kibil- ndla '
ron n alt. 'Silverlode', Khe/ed_

Construe
Tle2e3

i2 13
alt.
le2e3
Jl;aram 'Mirromlere '
e.g. *kibil 'silver (the
metal) of [sthg] '
*kheled 'K[ass of [sthKl'

This is a special group of nouns that seem to denote various kinds of mate-
rials, and thus there is no (attested) plural foml. In form and look these words
may be compared to the so-called segho[ates in Hebrew (segh61 - Hebrew [ener
for [eD that are also declined in a special way, though they do not specifically
denote material s (e.g. 1111ilek 'king') . These, however, always have the basic form
1 e 2 e 3, while Khuzd ul as can be seen uses either [el or (i] as vowel; but in
one and the same K"uzdu[ word the two vowels were presumably both [e] or
both [i), not one of ea<:h.
The two examples of this dedension are re<:onstnl<:ted from the <:ompound
pla<:e-names Kibil-ndla ' and K~eled-zdram . Since the bound fonn mostly just
shortens the vowels of the absolute form, I have assumed that the absolute
forms are the 5."l.me as these attested bound ones but with a long se<:ond vowel.
(The <:hoice of the second vowel rather than the first is based on the word
'iglishmiik, see ~ The metathesis~ below, and on the fact that the second vowel
remains ill the atcested bound form s, where a short vowel othenvise seemingly
would be reduced to a ochewa.) 111115 the singular construct <:oincides with the
bound forms, having short vowels instead of long.

Affixes
In Khuzdu l it is, apart from the vowel variations, possible to alter a word's
meaning, and perhaps also its part of speech, by the use of suffixes and prefixes.
Most of these affixes are hooked onto the special bound form of the nouns (see
above, ~ Bound form" and "Nouns"), but there are also more autonomOlls affixes
that <:an almost be seen as words of their own.
Below I have prepared an alphabetica[ Jist of the affixes of which I have
fou nd instances.

50

C JPYnghted malenal
 An Analysis af Dwarvish

·db
Suffixed on the bound fonn. The meaning of this suffix is unclear; it could
possibly signify a collective plural. That would then roughly go together with
the plural )><1rtem of the lst declension. It is only attested in one place, in the
word 'agliib 'spoken language'. The radicals *'-G-L are recognized from the
attested term 'iglishmik , the gesture-language of the Dwarves, and ought to
signify 'tongue!1anguage' . The radicals S h-M-K should acrordingly have to do
with signs or movements; regarding the form i 1 2 i 3, see uThe metathesis~
below. 'nle difference in vowels between 'iglishmik and 'ag/Ub makes us sur-
mise that the 4th declension, th e i-declension, <:an be applied to nouns of other
declensions, and that the element 'igl- is a 4th declension <:onstnL<:t slate of a
word of the 2nd declension, * 'tigaE, of whkh ·'agl is Ihe regular bou nd form.
(This element might alternatively be a noun of the 3rd declension, • 'ab;
sin<:c 'agl- is nOI in <:onstnl<:1 slate il would be the modifier and * 'db Ihe main
word, which wo uld thus have to mean something like 'system ', '<:olle<:tion' or
' usage'.)
-iii (f -aO
This is possibly an agelltive ending added to verbs 10 denole someone who
perfonns the a<:tion of Ihe verb. This hypothesis is based on an interpretation of
two names, Mahal and 'A z aghal. The former is the Dwarves' name for Aule,
not unlikely to mean simply '<:reator·. 1 If the latter is an agent noun, the stem
· '_Z_G h can possibly be the source of the Nltmen6rean verb uzgani 'wage war',
and have a si milar sense: either the endi ng -al or the entire pattern 1 a 2 a 3-al
would then derive an agent noun 'Warrior' from this verb, a fitting (nick)name
for the heroic Dwarf-lord it refers to.
For verb SIems of two radi<:als the p..1.ttern seems to be 1 a 2-al, without the
circumflex, as in Mahal. That there is a short vowel in a shorter word indicates
that there was a kind of vowel harmony rather Ihan a vowel bal ance in K hIlZ-
d ul. Vowel harmony is a phenomeno n known from, among other lang uages,
Finnish, a language whose infl uence on Tolkien 's creativity is familiar. Unfortu -
nately th is affix is not attesled anywhere bllt in these two names, and verbs are
on the whole badly under-represented in the existi ng material, so it is difficult
to say more about the formation.
rna·
Prefixed on the bound form , seemingly, but would actually rather be pmt
of a full verb pattern ma- l a 2 3. Prob.1.bly forms perfect p..1.rticiple . The only
attested example is Maz arb ul: if this word ends with the suffix -ul 'belonging

, II i< , ,,ues,i ve Ih.1 the n.me i< I''''''''nted in 'he wonls "Aoli' Ibe M"k,"" whom ' hey ,,"ll M"b~t " (S
(,lS 11:7). This is one of only lWO pi""", in 11,., Sil",,,rim,,,, where 1\"le i. ~~ned "the M"k ~r" .

51

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

to . , .' (see below) attached to a three-radical stem * Z·R ·B, we are apparent ly
left with a prefix mao. As it happens, the Hebrew prefix for the perfect parti -
ciples of derived verbs is mOJ- (e.g. m~khatev 'w ritten'), and it works well enough
to aSSllme a similar fUllction for the Khuzdul mao; mazarb would be a (nomina-
lized) perfe1:t p..1.rticiple ' [the] documented; records', and *Z-R-B would denote
keepi ng and documentation.
u-
Conjunction 'and ' (1). There is only one example of it, but an example of
unus ual interest. It is the inscr iption on Balin's sarcop ha gus: Balin Flilldinlil
uzbad K hazad_dumu - ~ Bal in son of Fu ndin[, and ] Lord of Moria~ (LR 2
IV:207, ill. ). The radicals in the word for ' lord' ought to be * Z-B-D, and 11-
consequently a prefix. The full explanation might then be as follows: 'lord' is in
the cons tnlct state, although it is not really possessed by the followi ng word, but
rather positioned by it (due to the ending -II on Khazad_dumll). If the word for
'lord' belongs to the 2nd de1:le nsion, and thlls in its basic form is *zdbad, the
phrase ' Lord of Mori a' wo uld be · zubad K hazad_dumll, if it stood on its own.
But now it is a further presentation of Bal in; apart from bei ng the son of
Fuudin, he was also Lord of Moria, and therefore a conjunction is fitting.
Moreover, the word u- apparently reduces the vowel of the following syllable, if
short, to an unspoken schewa, while the second vowel remains, hence uzbad.
These hypotheses I largely b.1.se on the Hebrew w~-/u- (without a glottal stop,
but with a weak initial w-sound ). Thi s small word - it should be viewed as a
word of its own - is most closely translated by 'and', but may often be
regarded as a spoken comma. It is more frequently used than th e English
conj unction - look up any chapter ill the Old Testament and count the
sentences beginning in 'and '! The Hebrew u- likewise has the power to reduce
th e vowel of the following syllable to schewa in some cases.
-u
TIlls is an end ing that seems to be possible to suffi x on any noun, without
othenvise affecting the word. Judging from the few existing instances it has
some ki nd of objective function, and is best translated as an objective geni tive
marker or a preposition. In the phrase uzbad K hazarl·drJmu from Balin's tomb
inscription, Bali n is lord over or in Moria; sc. the ending -II on Kltazad-diim
makes it an objective (rather than possessive or adjectival) genitive attribute of
the previous word, uzbad, which (as should be expected) is apparently in the
construct state (see above, u-).
In Finrod's Khuzdul epithet, Felakgundll 'cave-hewer', literally 'hewer (00
cave', gundu 'cave' is likewise an objective genifive attribute of the noun felak ,
'hcwer' (tool or person). The b.1.sic form thus o ught to be *gund and go by the

52

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 An Analysis aj Dwarvish

1st d eclension.! In th is case it is harder to detennine if the preceding word,

fe/ale , is in the constmct or absolute state (though, as in the preceding example,
it should be in the construct state), since it is the only attested noun of the form
1 e 2 a 3. It could possibly belong to a variant of the 4th 'i-declension', but
more likely to the 1st or 2nd declension, though with an e as fi rst vowel inheri-
ted from the verbfelek 'hew rock', from which it obviously derives. '
If the first element in the name Bw,dwhath ,1r is a parallel to gundu and
sta nds as an object, the Hame can be translated something like ' (a round)head-
clouds'. But in his notes on the name, haVing said that bund(u) must be the part
meaning 'head ', Tolkien memions ~bultd ( R N n) - u - Shamiir 'h ead in/ of clollds' H
(TI VIII , note 21) as a potential an.1Iysis. Although the u in this case could be
ultimalely related to the objective suffix, it would here function as a prefixed
preposition, conne<:ting its object shatiUr to a main word bund, which is (ap-
parently) in the absolute stal e, not the constmc t. A constntct variation of th is
name would be *BuuudshaliUr (' head of clouds'), which invites the thought
that the actual name is derived from this form by a metathesis (see a following
sec tion), possibly for reasons of pronunciation. In that case no affix is involved .
A last example of -u, again as an objective e nding, is perhaps found ill the
DwaIVish war·cry K hazdd 'ai-meflu, 'the Dwarves [are] upon you ': miflu, 'you',
ends in -U, and is furthermore fairl y obviously an obje<:t, of the prefixed prepo-
sition as well as the Dwarves.
-ul
Sometimcs suffixcd on the bound fonn. This ending forms adjectives, like
the English '- ish '. III the a nalysis of 'A$altulbi$ar (see above, under " Nouns~ ,
3rd declension) , Tolkien identified it as ua geniti ve ending of p.1tronymics such
as Balin Fundinul" (LRRC 2 III 'There th e Misty ... :5), a reference to the
inscription on Bali n 's tomb, where 'Balin son of Fundin' is thus expressed by an
adje<:li va l genitive (more or less 'the Fundinish Balin'). Since this exampl e
shows that the ending can be att.'lched to the Dwarves' outer names, taken from
the language of the Northmen, it should be possible to use it with any Khuzdul
word. In the name 'A:iIlanu tbizar, if (see above) literally meaning 'dimnesse s·ish -
rills ', i. e . ' [the valley of] dim rills', the -ul- is in fact this adje<:tival endi n g
suffixed on a shortened (bollnd) fomI of the plural of ' U$U ' : 'azan-, meaning
'dimnesses'. This would lUean that -ul call be suffixed on the bound form . On
the other hand, the word kl>uzdul itself apparently also has this endi n g (and
would thus naturally enough mean 'Dwarvisb', 'Dwarf·related'), but suffixed on
the absolute fonu .
1 This won! m~y .Iso .1'1 ~'~r in Gwtdabod,,, ... me $>lid 10 h~ve " K' " zeI,,1 origin (I'M X: 2.1).
1 Inl ereSl in y,ly,l he "'o n! fdak 11",lfI•• ., .1.", ",me 10 M "'M e . verb: ' ,,, " .., It fdak· .
J Th~ fonn "11,,,,·;n LRll(; is " m;S\,rim ("'" H.mmornl 2OOS).

53

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

Also, we have the s..1.me ending in mazarbul, 'belonging to the doclllnenled '
(see above, under ma-),
-an (j -itl / -arl)
Suffixed on the bound form. This is an ending used to derive nouns from
other nouns, and perhaps from practicall y any word. The attested instances are
T~arkun (,staff-man', Gandalf) and Nargun ('black land', MordorV The ending
itsclf lIlust be translated to fit the cont ext - 'man', 'land', or the like - , and
the main words translate to different parrs of speech ('staff', noun, and 'black',
adjective, respectively). The ending -fn of Nulukkhi$dfn may in fact be a va riant
of this element, used on nouns of the 4th declension - we have the abandoned
form Nuluk~w.ii.n speaking for this. Also, as discussed above, under MNou ns",
3rd declension, in the name for the river Sirion, Gabildn, we m ight have an
example of th is ending attac hed to the adjective *gabiI, meaning 'great". It may
be added that for words of th e form 1 a 2 3 un there is no plural attested, and
it is quite likely that none exists, since place- and personal names seldom need
number inflection. Neither is it perhaps possible to apply thi s end ing on a plural
noun - Nuluk ~iz idii.n was abandoned in favour of Nulukk~din .

Adjectives
The clearest attested examples of adjectives are baraz , 'red', *gabil 'great',
namg 'black' and .sigin (' long', pl.).
There is also a word for 'sil ver (as colour)" but there was some uncertai nty
as to which element of the place-name Zirakzigil 'Silvertine' is the adjective. l
The first version of the name was Zirakinbar, and ' silverhom' would seem a
more sensible nam e than 'spi kehorn ' . The same p.1.rsi ng may underlie the use
(in die final text) of Zirak rather than *Zigi/ as a short foml of the name (at any
rate, To lkien bases his discussion of Bundushat"ilr on the premise that the short
form can be expe<:ted to contain the more distinctive pa.rt of the name). In notes
that Christopher Tolkien dates to "after the publication of The Lord of the
Rings", Zirakzigil is indeed explai ned to consist of zirak 'silver (the colour),
silver-grey' and zigil 'spike'; but in " [sltill later notes" the assigned meani ngs
are reversed (RS XXV, nOle 36; TI VlII, note 22), In fac l, already in a draft for
Appendix A, Tol kien tri ed an alternate name for Kibil-nala ': Zigilndd, probably
meaning roughly the same ('silverJode') and implying a rethinking of Zirakzigil.
I hold the later interpretation 10 be the more likel y one, as it makes zirak into
the noun, fitting the 4th declension p.'lttem; z igil becomes die adjective, agree-
1 The. 111"",;"", nome 'Urukr"arbun m.y .Is<> con'hin It v",,"ion oflhiS .,,,ffix .
1 In 11", 1.<,..,1 of ,h~ Rinp IiTS' I'"bli,he<! Zirol_zigil wits lhe preV"I,,,,1 f"nn, b,,1 Tolk;en 1"leT
ItS
ch ..n~"d hi. mirnlllnd preferred ZirnIco:igi.I;...., (LRRC 2 III I nttd no mllp:7- !:I).

54

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 An Analysis aj Dwarvish

ing wi th lhe known sigin (limt the [wo adj ectives zigi/ and sigin are translated
as singular and plural, respectively, probably indicates that adj ectives have no
number infledion in Khuzd ul). It may indeed have been formal considerations
that caused Tolkien 's dissatisfaction with hi s original ideas about these words.
The elem ent zirak also appears in the name, or nickname, of a master-
smith: "Zirak the ol d ~ (LRW 2 VI Ch. 17 §32), in a later text exp..1.nded to ·'Gamil
Zirak the old " (UT 1 II Departure of Turin:52). The meaning 'silver-grey' would
fit with his English epithet, and maybe was first intended (cf. cases like Aldor
(he old, Gumling the Old). But 'spike' would also fit hi m, if taken as so mething
like ' the Top; the Sharp '. Credibly, Gamil is a K"uzd ul counterpart to 'the old',
added w hen Zirak lost that semanti c facet. If so, there is an intriguing similarity
between gamil a.nd poetic Old English gamol (Modem Swedish gammal), ·old'.1
Compared to Balin Fundinul, then, Gamil Zirak woul d have name and attribute
in the opposite order; but tha t Gamit is the modifier seems to m e likely - it
does in any case agree in p..1.ttern with the un doubted adjective ~8abil .
The analysis of Zirakzigil as 'spike-silver' ind icates the possibility to let the
adjective follow the noun. The elements in Tumunzahar, ' Hollowbold', may al -
so be in this order. Here, though, if Tumun- is the noun 'bold', it seems to be in
the bound form. The original radicals of this word might actually be * T- M- M,
and the correct bound form should then be *tumum, alt hough the z in ·z allar
here assimilates the m to n. This word could then share its origin with the word
-dum (see abo ve, under "Nouns", 3 rd declension).
In Tolkien's earlier interpretation of 'Azanulbizar he glossed the radicals '.
Z-N as 'dark, dim'; the adjective would then preSlIDlably have the form * 'azan . It
is possible that the la ter view, by w hich 'azan- in the name is th e (bound)
plural of a nou n 'mm 'dim ness', still al lows an adjective of the sa me form.
Further adj ectives with no att ested isolated fonus may be *zahar (in Tu-
munzahar, ' Hollowbold'), meaning 'hollow' (on the theory that * T-M-M is th e
root for 'bold (noun), mansion '), and *dush (in BWlundush, 'Blackroot'),
meaning 'hlack';2 in the last-mentioned co mpound, buzu n- is easier than -dush
to fi t into an expected noun p..1.ttern.
The name Sharbhund should presumably CQntain the nOlion 'bald', since
the name is equivalent to Amoll RQdh ' Bald Hill', but if its second elemelll is
identi fied wi th the fi rst element of Bundushat"iir, the simplest analysis is that

1 Anolllcr wordpl~y senns 10 toe pres.::n1 in llle pl~""·n"me Gabllgar'ol, in whkh lhe fiM ckm<'1l1.
gobi!. nw~n., ' ~ ... "l" ~nd Ih,· ...".""d ,·Iem,·nl, g,,"ol. ,,,nnd, (ne~rl y) os lh,· Hp.b .. ,w word f01" '8""""
S,.lIwl. He", is ~ho on" of ,h. ' wo ~I'I"'~""""" "f 'h" vowel 101 in ~ll 'h" ]( ' " .... ,,1 "''1'''', SO 'h~' if
Tolkien h"d n'~ m.de. ~ litlle joke, shon 101 migh' n01 n,. ,·e I""", """,,'ed HI ~ll.
1 If 'he elemen' · ,1,,<1, in 'hp. Or1<ish. D",J",,~ f", Min"; M"'lIul {WR 2 VIII, ",~ e ~7) '~)"""l"",ds u>
Sind.rin Mor· and me~n' 'd.ri<, bla""', il co"ld 111". to. an Ond,h ""'n from ](' nzd"l.

55

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

the name co nsists of fWO nouns, one of whleh means 'tmld head" and the full
name would mea.n 'hm bald head ', (See above, under ~ Nouns~ , 3rd declen -
sion.)
All this has referred to adjectives in anriburive position, since predicarive
adjectives can only be attested in whole sentences, something that is lacking in
the K"uzdul corpus. But si nce there was presumably no 'be'-copula (see K hazdd
'ai-minu, 'the Dwarves [are) upo n you'), K"uzdul ought to have distinguished
betwcen attributivc and predicative adjcrtives, in order to makc a difference
between phrascs Iikc 'the long beards' and 'the beards are long'. Possibly,
predlea ti ve adjectives were formed with the app..1.renrly very productive adjec-
tive ending -ul (see "Affixes aoo ve),
M

Verbs
Verbs, ofte n occupying the larger p..1.rts of grammars, do not even filJ up a
twentieth part of this account. The reason is of course the extremely sp..1 rse
altested corpus, especially as regards full clauses. In alJ, th ere are three altested
verbs, of which two are in principle the same, or at least have the same b.1.SC.
The words a re f e/ek ('hew rock '), felak ('use a chisel, a fe/ok') an d gunud
('make a tunnel'). There is also the verbal stem S-L-N ('fall swiftly'), from
whleh "a nanIe such as lU/UIl or S(J/6n ~ would, it is stated, be a regular formation
(EHW III VOL §3), What these vowel pattern s represent is not explai ned, except
th at we are deali ng with noun-derivation (the possible origin of the name
Lhi'in).
With th e exception of felale the vowels of the attested verbs are mutually
similar, whi ch would invitc a conclusion if there were marc instances, but as it
is the analysis is difficult. not least because there are no examples of different
forms of the same ve rb. Still, we may observe the word felnk , whleh is on the
one hand a noun ('a kind of chisel'), on the other a verb ('use a felak' ), The root
*F-L ·K is obviously the same as in f eick, so possibly a verb with fWO similar
vowels could be made into a noun by changing one (or ooth?) of them. The
noun wou ld then make a sepmate 'dcrlensio n', not fitting in any of those given
above - the noun pattern 1 e 2 0 3 is unique for this word in the attested
corpus. Further on, a noun can obviously be used as a verb, and so the root
*F- L-K in its form f elak may change b.1.ck into a verb aud mean 'use a felale ',
The fact that the nominal follU can also be used as a verb infinitive indicates
that infinitives were identified by context and/o r word order rather than by
thei r isolated forms. The loose bounds between p.1.rts of specr h make Khuzdul
appear as a fairly simple and functional language; this is also reasonable to
imagine, in view of how and why the language was made.

56

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 An Analysis af Dwarvish

The metathesis
In two attested words that contai n 3 + 3 consonants, and are th us presu -
mably two-stem com pounds, the pen ul timate vowel is placed before rather than
after the fourth consonant, which is directly followed by the fifth one; a meTa -
thesis seems to have occurred. The exam ples of this are Buraz inbar 'Red hom '
and 'iglishmek, the gesture·language of the Dwarves. Also, as noted above
under ~ Affixes~, -u, there migh t be a metathesis in Bundwhutl'w , involving th e
second vowel and the third consonant .'
Banui/war is composed of the adjC(:tive bunu 'red' and the noun -inbar
'hom'. The last word is obviously not in its h."\sic form, and to expl ain th is we
m ust look upo n the development. If one had only to simply put two words
together to achieve a correct compound, thi s name woul d be *BarU$mibar,
provided that the nou n with the radicals M -H-R (the attested radicals for the
noun 'hom') belongs to the 4th declension. A metathesis produces the fon n
*Bunuimbar. Unless Tolkien made a slip of the pen when givi ng the radical s
M-H-R for 'hom', we still have to acco unt for the d issimilation *mb > 00 . The
reason for this could be a mid central vowel, ( ;I] , between two consonants
seemingly standi ng next to each other. If there is such a vowel before the [b] in
-it/bar, jt would be easier to pronounce an [n] than an [m ) before it, which
wou ld explai n the change. In that case we see a tendency to insert a schewa
between two radical s that become adj acent when a regular vowel is moved to
another position in the word. Alternatively, it may be that the radical change
has occurred before the metathesis, giving the devclopment *Baraz mibur >
*Bununibar > Banuinbar. In that case there is an assimilation, not a dissimi -
latio n, which could be a si mpl er expla natio n.
The second example, 'iglishmek , would have *'ig/Shcmik as its underlyi ng
form, if the second element is a noun of the 5th declension (and thus a material
no un of some sort, or at least not inflectio nal in nu mbers), meaning 'gesture(s),.
A metathesis then remits in *'igleshmik. TIle vowel change [e) > [iJ is hard to
fully explain, but it may sim ply be because of the [iJ in the fi rst element of the
compou nd .
I am, however, unable to cOllstnle a nile for metathesis that prod uces these
two appa rent cases, without affecti ng other words that show no me tathesis
(Gabiigar:l'ol, ZirakzigiJ). The exercise is in 110 way simpli fied jf one also takes
into accoullt the possibility of a metathesis in Bundw har:l'Ur (namely when

I The name Shorbhunrl IM,m_I" show~ yel _nut her nSt" of me.. 'h~~i!l, involving only t:<''''.'flani.',
">1torltbwtrl > sharbhunrl (_ nbcwe, nnd.". "No,,.,,", :lnl declen,;on). Pmb.<obly Ibi, is d"" '0 l he
diffkulty of pronOUncill~ an h· ill 'h~. middle of " Ihree·{"(Jf)SOIlanl d1!5ler.

57

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

su pposed to be from * Bunudshat!'Ur) : why wou ld the metat hesis here affect the
first element of the name rather than the second?
One may suspect phonotax to be a factor. In the word 'iglishmek the meta-
thesis mig ht be prompted by the difficulty to pronounce the consonaIll cluster
* -g/Sh- . Thus, there may be a mle that three radicals next to each other (due,
for instance, to the constmct pattern 1 i 2 3 in the first element of a com pound)
provoke a metathesis of some ki nd, if it is needed for the sake of pronou nce-
ability.

A special case; Nulukk hizdin

The place-name Nulukk loizdin 'Nargothrond,1 is an enigma, which I have
been trying to solve from several various angles. My present opinion is that the
first part of the nmne could be connected to, and sharing the radicals wi th, the
word mila ', from Kibil-niila' (Silverlode). This theory req uires that a glottal
stop might assimilate to a follo wing consonant when appeari ng as the last
rad ical of the first element in a compo und. The glottal stop can indeed be
assimilated to a following consonant in Arabic, so it would not be far-fetched.
The theory is furthe r supported by Tolkien's early fonn of the place-name:
Nuluk'UidufI, where there is onl y one k, which undoubtedly belongs to the
second element. (As we have seen, this early vari ant of the name has also
encouraged my assumption that the plural absolute fonn of nouns frolll the 4th
decle nsion really is 1 i 2 i 3, si nce the ending -a"
is apparently by rule attached
to the bound form, which mostly is the absolute form with shortened vowels;
and I have guessed that th e ca use of its later change [ 0 Nulukk'Udin was that
an ending like -an
cannot be attached to a plural, since it indicates a personal
or geogra phical name, and that the vowel change to -f- after the singular bound
form 1 i 2 3 is ye t another exam ple of the presence of vowel hamlOny in
Khu zdul. )
We may th us recognize the radicals * N-L-' from the noun ndla ' and the
radicals * XIo_Z_D from the noun Xloaziid. This leaves us with the question of the
vowel· pattern 1 u 2 u 3 - 1 i 2 3 in. It is, however, totally co ngment wi th my
assumptions earlier: the pa tfem 1 u 2 u 3 (normally characteristic of the 1 st
declension) is, as mentioned above, used for the singular bound form of the
specific 2nd declension IlOUIl tldla' because it ends with a glotfal stop; the
singular bound form 1 i 2 3 is regul ar fo r the 4th declension noun *kloiza d; a.nd
the final -in is the nominal suffix -un, here harmonized in vowel 10 the elemen t
_khjzd.
1 The n~me w I\.< ern",eollsly I'rinl ed fL' Nulukku.dfn (wilh,ml t he h) in Ihe (;,,;1 edili<m of Trw. Sil"",·
rilliO/!. See WJ 2 10,4 2.

58

C JPYnghted malenal
 An Analysis af Dwarvish

Presuming that * N·L· ' here has the meaning '(river-)cou rse' (one of several
glosses suggested by Tolkiell), and that the 4th declension indicates diminutive,
the place-name Nulukk hizdin could mean 'Rivercourse-(Petty-)Dwarf-place', or
more understandably 'The (Peny-)Dwarf-place by the rivercourse'. Also, the
topography of Nargothrond admits such an interpretation, since the mansions
were located in the proximity of the river Nacog.

III. AFTERWORD
What has been presented here is a body of largely quite hypothetical
theories, or even logical conjechlres, but even so I think I am re.1sonably quali.
fied to conjecture, thanks to experience of created languages, in addition to
elementary un iversity studies in Biblical Hebrew. In my search for attested
instances I have been much helped by Helge Fauskanger's webpage about
Khuzdul on ArdaJambion , and with respe<:t to format and editing lowe great
gratitude to Gildir, Per Lindbe rg, Guild Master of Mellonath Daeron. The
greater pmt of the translation into English, and much editorial recasting, was
made by Beregond, Anders Stenstrom. Concerning many of the ideas and
theories in this essay, especially the ones about Nulukk"izdin and the develop-
mem *barazmibar :> * barrumibar :> Barazillbar, I have had much help from
Jay Lawson, with whom I have had many and long discussions about this and
J(huzdul in generaL

WORKS CITED
Fauska nger, Helge, ~ Kh u zdul - the Secret Tongue of the Dwarves~ , Ardalam-
biOI!. [Pre-l 999, updated later], I Aug. 2006 < http: //www.uib.no/ People/
hnohf/khnzdul.htm :> .
Hammond, Wayne. ~ Re : Haywards, and an uzu ". Online posting. 6 Nov. 2005.
Lambengolmor. I Aug. 2006 < http://tech.groups.yahoo.com! grollp!
lambengolmor! message/ 845 :> .

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APPENDIX: K"uzdul glossa ry , with refere nces

I have in many regards copied the list from Fauskanger ([ pre-I999- J),
whom I give most of the credit for this list. According to his own words, his list
is 'mostly based on a list compiled by Usn St.1r thai .1ppeared in Tya/ie
Tye/elliivn # 4, p.22; she in tum thanked Jim Gi llogly, Alberto Monteiro and
Ant hony Appleyard for helpful comments and suggesti ons'. Nevertheless, J h.1ve
m.1de my own (in my opinion) more or less rel evant changes in the followi ng
list. Among other changes, I have inserted a glottal stop ['] where there should
be one according to my theories (but I have ignored it in th e a lphabetization).
Also I have included my hypothetically reco nstmcted nouns in the si ngu lar
absolute slate (marked wilh an .1sterisk), iUld those Ihat are not names have a
parenthetical note on which declensio n they belong to. Other hypothetically
reconslmcted words I have marked with iUl asterisk alld given Ihe assumed p.-u1
of speech in .1 si milar parenthetical note. I have also inserted entries for the
radicals of all verbs, adj ecti ves and nouns, except opaq ue untranslated names;
rad icals that are not cited as such by Tolkien are marked wi th all asterisk. NO le
thaI the hypothe ti cal forms and radicals are my own guesses, and not 11
statement that they actually do exist.
For a few words, there are alternatives (not always mutually exclusive) as
to their form, meaning or occurrence, according to which source one looks in:
. '(i/ is = exam ple. In other cases, I have myself presenled alternative interpre-
tations: *'dn is an example of that. J have tried to clearly indicate .1ll such
alternatives: for * 'dI, the reference to 'Ulleads to the notice that it is part of the
e.1rlier (as opposed 10 the later) interpretation of 'Azanuibu:ar; for *'an, alter-
native interpretatio ns are give n in the entry.
1 have given one source reference for each attested form in the list. Several
forms indeed occur only once in the sources; for those that are mentioned more
often, I have primarily referred to a locus where th e {ami is glossed. For names,
I have referred to a locus where the name is introduced in Ihe sto ry; references
to Tolkien's .1nalytical notes on some names .1re instead assigned to the entries
for the constituent pnrts of the name.
Variant versions of names are included, for inst.1l1ce Zirakinbar beside later
Zirakzigil. However, vari.1nt spellings that appe.1r in some texts ('Azanu /bu:ar,
K hazaddl1m , K "uzdul etc.) are not li sted. Noneth eless, the existence of the foml
Zirak-zigil (in earlier editious of Tire Lord of tile Ri/lgs) is the b.l sis for quotiug
the form zigil wit hout an asterisk. '
Words Ihat are Khuzdul only in part {FWldill ul} or in suggested origin
(Gu/ldabad, Lhull) are not included.

, We may .Iso nOie 'he fomJ ZigiI_nad in I'M Index (Ihough 001 in Ih ~. lex1).

60

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 An Analysis af Dwarvish

'agldb '(spoken) language' (prob, 211d decl, with suffIX) [QE App. D:17]
*'agal '(spoken) language' (211d decL) (in 'agldb, q.v.)
'ui- a reduced form of 'uya, q.v.
'ai-mi flu 'upon you' (prep. -t pro/I.) (in khenad 'ai-mimI, q.v.) [LR App.F I Of
Other Rm:es:l1 J
* 'dl 'stream ' (3rd ded) (in 'Ill, q.v.)
*'an 'river' (3rd deeL); alternatively: a nominal suffix; (in Gabilan, q.v.) [WJ 3
111:135- 36]
'uyu 'upon' (prep.) (in 'ui-mi rm , q.v.) [WR I 11:92]
*'lUagh 'make w art?)' (vb.) (i n 'A$aghUl, q.v.)
'A$aghdl 'warnor{?)' (name of the wrd of Belegosr) [S QS XX:18]
*'U$UfI 'dark, dim ' (adn (in the earlier interpretatio n of 'A$uflulbi$ar, q.v.) [RS
XXV, note 36:3]
'azanul- 'of the shadows (l it, dimnesses-ish)' (lst ded" pi, with genitive suffix)
(fro m 'IUn, in the later in terpretation of 'Almnuibaur, qq.v.) [LRRC 2 III
'There the Misty .. . :5 J
'A zafllll a fonn Tolkien seems to have replaced with 'A zanulbi$ar, q.v. [RS
XXV, note 36:2]
'A:ilaflulbi.zar 'Dimrili Dale' [LR 2 111:104]
*bdruk 'axe' (2nd ded) (in buruk Khendd, q.v.)
buruz '?red ' (adn (in Buruzinbar, q.v.) [TI VIII, note 18 ]
Buren '?Red One', short name of Bureninbur, q.v. [LR 2111: 102]
Bareninbur 'Redhorn' (one of the MOllntains of Moria) [LR 2 111:103]
baruk Khendd 'axes of the Dwarves' (b.attle·cry) [LR App.F I Of Other Races: ll]
bi.zur earlier interpretacion 'valley' (4th decL) ['RS XXV, note 36:3]; alterna-
tively: -bi.zar ' rills ' (4th deeL 7, pl.?) [LRRC 2 III 'There the Misty ... :5,
where the free fonn is bi.zar, see note aoove] ; (in 'A:ilanulbi.zar, q.v.)
B-N-D rad icals of bund, q .v. [TI VIII, note 21 ]
*B-R-K radicals of *bdrak, baruk.,. , qq ,v,
B-R-Z radicals of bara:il, q. v. [Tl VIII, nOle 1 8]
bund '(b.'lld) head ' (lst dec/.) (in Bundushath(jr, Sharbhund qq. v .) [TI VIII, note
211
BundushatI'Ur 'Cloudyhead' (one of the Mountains of Moria) [LR 2 111:103]
*blUn 'root' (lS{ dec/.) (in BlUundush, q.v.)
BlUufldush 'Mort hond/Blackroot' [TI VIlI:36]
*B-Z-N radicals of "blUn, q.v,
*B-Z-R radicals of *(-)bizur, q.v.
*dam 'mansion' (3rd decL) (sg, of -dilm in one alternative, q.v.)
D-B-N radicals of *dubfl, dubun ... , qq.v. [LRRC 2 III 'There the Misty ... :5]
*D-M radicals of *dam , -dum (in one alternative), q.v.

61

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

*V-5h radicals of *dush , q,v,

*dubfl 'valley' (1 Sf decl.) (in duhan 'azaflulbizar, q.v.)
duban 'azanulbizar 'valley of the rills of the shadows' (the full name of 'Az a-
nulbizar in the later interpretation) [LRRC 2 III 'There the Misty .. ,:5]
-dum 'mansion' (Isf ded?) (assimilated form of *rum, q.v.?) [LR App.F 11119];
alternatively: 'mansions' (3rd decl., pO [S Index, Khuzad-dl1m l ; (in Khazad_
dum, q.v.)
*dush 'black' (adj.) (in 8uzundush, q.v. )
fe/ak 1 'a ki nd of chisel' (uncertain dec/.); 2 'to use a felak (a kind of chisel)'
(vb.); [PM XI Owarvish origin:2 J
Felakgundu (also Felaggundu) 'Cave -hewer' (the DWarvish epithet of Finrod,
rendered as Fe/agwrd by the Elves) [PM XI Dwarvish origin:2]
felek 'hew rock ' (vb.) [PM XI Dwarvish origin:2]
*F-L-K radicals of felak , f e/ek, qq.v.
*gabil 'great ' (adj.) (in Gabiltin, Gabilgalhol, qq ,v.)
Gabilcin 'G reat River(?) ' (Sirion) rWJ 3 III: 135- 36]
GabUgathol 'G reat Fortress' (Belegosr) [S QS X:2]
gamil 'o ld(?)' (adj.l) (in Gamil Zirak, q.v.)
Gamil Zirak 'old tope?) ( - old master(?))' (name of a Dwarf-smi th, master of
TeJchar of Nogrod) [UT 1 "Departure o f Tllrin:52 )
· gathol 'fortress' (uncertain decl.) (in Gabilgathol, q.v.)
*G-8-L radicals of · gabil, q.v.
·'-G-L radical s of *'dgal and *'igal, qq. v.
*G-M-L rad icals of *gamil, q.v.
*G-N-D radicals of *gund, gunud, qq.v.
· G_Th_L radicals of *gathol, q.v.
-gund 'subterranean hall' (ISl dec/.) (in gundu , q,v.)
gundu 'of a subterranean hall ' (prob. 1st ded with suffix) [PM XI Dwarvish ori-
gin:21
gunud 'make a tunnel ' (vb,) [pM XI Dwmvish origin:2 + note 56]
'!bun the name of one of Mfm 's sons rS QS XXI:32)
·'igal 'language' (4th decE.) (in 'iglishmik , q.v,)
'iglishmek a Dwmvish gestllre-language [ QE App.D:171
-inbar 'hom' (prob. 4th decL with a metathesi!;) (in Barazinbar, q.v.) [TI VIII,
note 18] d. *mibar
K-B-L radicals of *kibU, q.v. [TI VIII, lIote 22:2)
Khuzcid 'Dwarves' (Isf decl., pL) (in khaztid 'ai-menu , Khazad_dum, qq.v.J [LR
App.F II '[19J (earlier form: K "tl$ud, see 1I0te above)
Pazdd 'ai-menu 'the Dwarves [are] upon you' (battle·cry) [LR App.F I DfOther
Races:l1 )

62

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 An Analysis aj Dwarvish

K hazad·dum 'Mansion of the Dwarves' [LR 2 11:1 4]

* k helid 'glass' (5th ded.) (in Kheled-zdram q,v,) [RS XXV, note 39]
Kheled_ziiram 'Glass-pool' (the lake Mirromlere) [LR 2 111:106]
K '1m th e nmne of one of Mim's sons [S QS XXI:32)
*K hizad '(Petty-)Dwarf' (4 th ded.J (in Nulukk hizdfn, q.v.)
* k llizdfn '(Petty-)Dwarf-Iand(?)' (i n Nulukk hizdin , q .v.)
*K h_L _D radicals of *k hel€d, q. v,
Klluzd 'Dwarf ' (lst decL) (i n Klluzdui, K huzrid etc., qq. v.) [LRRC 2 III 'There the
Misty. ,:5]
K hU$dul 'Dwarvis h(?)' ((nominalized) adj.) (the Dwarvis h lan guage) [LR App.E I
Conso nants. K]
*K~-Z-D radicals of Ki<uzd, * Kllizud etc" qq.v,
* kibil 'silver (metal)' (5th ded.) (1l VIII, note 22:2]
Kibil-ndlu ' 'Silverlode' (the ri ver Celebran t) (LR 2 II1 :106J
* '-L radicals of • 'ai, 'UI, qq.v.
* mah 'crea te(?)' ( vb.) (in Mahal, q.v.)
Muhal 'creator(?)' (Dwarvish name of Aule) [5 Q5 1I:7J
Mazarbul '(0{7) the documented' (prob. vb. (past parr.) with genitive suffIX) cf.
*zurab [LR 2 V:S- 6]
M -B-R radicals of * mibur, ·mbar , qq.v. rn VIII, note 18]
menu 'you (ace. pl.)' (pron.) (in 'ai-menu, q.v.) [WR 1 1I:92J
*M -H radicals of * mah, Mahal, qq.v.
*/Ilibar 'horn' (4th ded.) (from M -B-R, in Barazmbur, qq.v.) cf. -iI/bur
M im name of a Petty-Dwarf [5 QS XXI:27]
*'-N ra dicals of *'un (interpreted as a noun) q.v.
* nud '(river-)coll rse(?)' (3rd decL) (in ZigiInad, q.v.)
mila ' '(river-)course(?)' (2nd ded.) (in Kibil-mila ', Nulukkllizdin , qq.v.) [TI VIII,
note 22:3]
narag 'black' (adj,) (in Nurag-zarum , Narglin , qq. v.)
Narag-zarum ' Black-pool' (suggested as the template for S Helevart!; looks in
the context as a slip for some compound wi th * k ~eled (*K heled_narag?»
[RS XXV, nOTe 39]
NargOf/ 'Black Country (Mordor), [RS XXV, note 39]
*N-D radicals of * nad, q.v.
* N-L· ' radicals of ndiu ', q.v.
N-R-G radicals of narag, Nurag-zdra/ll, Nargim , qq,v, [RS XXV, note 39)
Nulukkllizdin ' Riven:ourse-{Petty-)Dwarf-Ia nd(?)' (NargothrondJ [S QS XXII:22,
where Nulukkizdill in the first edition is erroneous, see WJ 2 10:42]
Nuluk hizidun 'Riverco urse-(Petty-)Dwarves·land{?)' (ab."Indoned form of
Nulukkllizdin, q.v.J [WJ 210:41]

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

Rak~ds 'orcs' (lst ded., p/,) [QE App.C:6]

*R_Kh_S radic.1.ls of Ruk"s, Rakhds, qq.v.
Rukhs 'orc' (JS! decl.) [QE App.C:6]
salOn possible noun (uncertain ded.) derived from S- L-N, q.v. (EHW III VDL §3]
·S-G-N radicals of sigin, q .Y.
*shdrah 'hillel)' (2nd dec/.); alternatively: · shar (3rd ded.); (in Sharbhund,
q.y. )
Sharbhund 'Hill of [the] Bald Head(?}' (Petty-Dwarvish name of Amon RCtdh)
rUT 1 II Mim the DWarf:30]
Sharkim name of Gandalf, replaced by 'P'arkiin [WJ 3 V:67-68]
*sMr:I'ar 'dond ' (2nd ded.) (in Bundushae:l'ur, q,v.)
sha r:l't1r 'douds' (2nd dec/., pi,) (in Bundl1$hatI'Ur, q.v,)
Shal hiir short name of Bundl1$hal"iir, q .Y. [LR 2 111:}02]
*s/,em ek 'gestures(?) (coli,)' (Stl1 dec/.) (in 'iglishmek , q.v.)
· Sh-M-K radicals of ~shemik, q.Y.
· Sh -R(-H) radicals of *shiir{ah), q.v.
*Sh -T~-R rad icals of *shdt~ar, shae:l'ur, qq.v,
sigin 'long' (adj. , pl.) (i n Sigin-lamg, q.v.)
Sigin-Mrdg 'the Longbeards' [PM X, note 21]
S-L-N ra dicals of 'fall, descend swiftly' (vb.) [EHW III VOL §3)
suliin possible nonn (uncertain decl.) derived from S-L-N, q.Y. [EHW III VOL §3]
tardg 'beards' (1 S! ded., pl.) (in S igin-tarag, q.v.)
*r:I'iirak 'staff' (2nd decl.) (in T harkwl , q.v.)
'f harkun 'Staffman ' (G andalO [LR 4 V:65 ]
*T"-R-K radicals of *e:I'iirak, 'Farkun, qq.Y.
· T-M-M radicals of · tim" q.Y.
*T-R-G radicals of *turg, tardg, qq.v.
·rum 'bold (noun)' (1S! decL) (in Tumunzahar, q.v.)
Tumunza har 'Hollowbold', Owarvish name of Nogrod (S QS X:2 ]
*turg 'beard' (l st decl.) (in S igin -t.ardg, q,v,)
u- 'and' (conj. / prefix) (in uzbad, q.v.)
'Udl1$hinbar (earlier form of Bllndushath(Jr, q.II.) rn XXIV, note 6; it OCCtlrs
only in the list "Barazinbar, Zimkinbar, Udushinba r~, and if this was meant
to be the Dwarves' tradi tional recitation of these mountain·names the last
one might actually be *DIIshirrbar with the conjullction 11- prefixed; in that
case there is no basis for supplying an ini tial glottal stop)
'U1 'streams' (3rd ded., pl.) (in the earlier interpretation of 'Azanulbizar, q .y. )
[RS XXV, note 36:3J
'Urukt harbun (possibly earlier form of Khcuad_dum, q.v.) [RS XXV:124]
uzbad 'and(?) lord' (prob. 2nd dec/. construct stare with prefix) (LR 2 IV:207, ill. J

64

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 An Analysis aj Dwarvish

'uzn 'dimness' (lst dect) (in 'azanu/· , 'Azanulbizar (the ltlter interprettltion)
qq,v,) [LRRC 2 III 'There the Misty,., :5, where uzu is tI misprint, see
Hammond 2005]
*zdbad 'lord' (2nd ded.) On u:!:bad, q.v.)
·zahar 'hollow' (adj.) (in TUfliuruahar, q.v.)
*zarab 'keep, document ' (vb,) (i n Mazarbul, q ,v.)
zdrafll 'lake, pool' (in Kheled-ziiralll, Narag-zdralll, qq.v.) lRS XXV, note 39J
*Z -B-D radicals of *zdbad, uzbad, qq.v.
Z-G-L radicals of zigil, q.v. [11 VIII, note 22:3]
*'-Z-Gh radicals of * 'azagh, 'Azaghiil, qq.v.
*Z-H-R mdictlls of * whar, q.v.
zigil 'silver-coloured' (adj,); alterntltiveiy: 'spike' (uncertain ded,); [11 VlIJ, note
22:2- 3J
Zigilndd 'Silverlode(?)' (another nmne of the river Kibil-ndla ', q.v.) [PM IX
(iV):13 + note I)
zira k 'spi ke' (4th decL); alternatively: 'silver-coloured' (adj.); [11 VIII, note 22:2-
3]
Zirak ' short name of Zirakzigil, q.v. [LR 2 1II:102J; 2 name of Dwarf-smith
(tllS() Gamil Zirak, q.v,) [LRW 2 VI eh, I 7 §32]
Zirakiflbar 'Silverhorn(?), (etlrlier form of Zirakzigil, q.v.) [SO 1 V:12]
Zirakzigil 'Silvertine ' (one of the Mountains of Moria) [LR 2 111:103]
'-Z-N radicals of *'azan, 'IUn, 'azanul-, qq.v. [RS XXV, note 36]
*Z-R-B radicals of *zarab, M azarbul, qq.v.
Z-R-K radicals of zirak, q.v. [Tl VIII, note 22:2]
*Z-R-M radkals of ziirafll, q.v.

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Bertrand Bellet:

Vowel Affection in Sindarin and

Noldorin

1. INTRODUCfION

O
NE OF THE MOST STRIKING features of Sinda ri n, J.R.R. Tolkien's
famous Welsh-inspired language, is the prominence of vowel alter-
nations in its morphology, both inflexional and derivational. Vowel
changes provide the most common and productive way of fomliug the plural of
nouns and adje.-:tives, and are regu larly triggered by the ad dition of certain
suffixes to radicals. This feature is deeply rooted in [he external history of
Tol kien's Welsh-inspired languages. It does not yel appear in the oldesllayer of
Gnomish as see n in the ~G nomish Lexicon ~ of 1917, but vowel alternations are
used to mark the plural of nouns in later additions (~The Gnomish Lexicon
Slips~) published in Parow Eldalamberon no. 13. Vowel affection is well devel -
oped in the "Early Noldorin Grammar" that follows (ibidem).
Tolkien explai ned in this grammar how these alternations arose historically
by lIowel affect ion, but the scenario as presented in this early document cannot
apply unchanged to the later No ldorin and to Sindarin. Firstly, Tolkien slightly
modified the patterns oller the years; secondly, an d more impowultl y, he totally
changed his views about the primitive E1vish language while he wrote ~The
Etymologies", our greatest so urce of Elvish vocabulary. This means that his
ideas about the development of his languages must have been gready modified
at that time. Therefore we need a study of vowel affection for the late r external
stages of Tolkien's Welsh-inspired languages, fo r no one of his hand has been
published.

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 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

It is the pu rpose of this essay to provide sllch a sllrvey for Sindarin and the
extenmlly later stages of Noldorin: briefly, for all stages of this branch of Elvish
contemporaneous with or later than "The Etymologies ~ (roughly from the mid-
thirties onwards). Vowel affection will first be presented in general terms and
exemplified in a variety of languages; special attention will be p..1.id to Welsh
and Germanic languages, since Tol kien knew them very well and evidently took
them as models (this is well-known for Welsh, less so for Germanic languages 1) .
Then, pattems of vowel altcrnation will be examined in synchrony, and thc
various phonetic processes that can be distingu ished in them will be set out.
Fi nally, a diachronic model for th e developmem of vowel affection will be
proposed and compared back widl Welsh and Germanic languages.
Several methods are available to achieve tItis purpose. TIle first one is of
course a close examination of Tolkien's notes. As a philologist, diachro ny was
very imponant to hi m, and he was visibly deeply involved in developing a
plausible and coherent history to his languages. As a consequence, he left many
statements about this topic, and also provided us a number of reconstructions of
early stages of Elvis h (Primiti ve Quendian, the laTer Comlllon Eldarin, the still
later Old Noldorin which is the nearest ancestor of Noldorin), which are often
very enlightening.
The second kind of methods tha t can be used are the two grea t tools of
historical linguistics: comp..1.rative and internal reconstruction. Comparative
reconstmction uses regular correspondences of sounds between genetically
related languages 10 deduce forms of their common ancestor. E.1.ch correspon-
dence allows us to determine the evolution of a phoneme of the p..1.rent
language in one given phonetic environment: thus we can retrieve the allo-
phones of the p..1.rent language. Taking the variolls phonetic environ ments into
account, provided that we have enough correspondence s, we can deduce the
primitive phonemes and the sound laws operating between the parent and th e
descendant languages. This method does not indicate the phonetic value of the
primitive phonemes, but guesses can be made on the basis of the phonemes of
the descendant languages and considering what changes are the most probable.
A cross-linguistic regard - li ngui stic typology - is very helpful there. [n our
case, comparison will mainly be made with Qllenya, sometimes with the Telerin
of Aman too; this allows us to go back to Common Eldarin.
Imernal reconstruction studies all omorph y (conditioned morpheme varia-
tion) ill a single language to retrieve earlie r forms of this language; it is based
on the assumption that allomorphs split from an ancestral si ngle morpheme by
sound changes operating in different phonetic contexts. It will be used quite

1 ~1""'" for inSlIUl,"" ]OSIOrl 2004.

67

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

often to look at specifica.lly Sindarin (or Noldorin) phenomena that cannot be

retrieved by compara ti ve reconstnlcti on, !mernal reconstruction is neverthe-
less limited: it can retrieve neither 'see-saw' changes (A :> B :> A) nor complete
mergers (A :> C and B :> C), since it works on differences surviving in one stage
of a language. Additionally, nsed to the extreme, internal reconstmction
assumes a primitive language without morpho phonemics, which can be
questioned.
Finally, languages Sindarin is known to have been built upon are useful as
a heuri stic tool: they can be scmtinised to suggest patterns of change. Of
cou rse, th ey must be confi rmed afterwards by pure examinati on of the
Sinda rinJNoldorin material.
I will use the following abbreviations:

Q Tolkien's recoIlstmction
other reconstnlction
" wrong fom}
# deduced form of a word only attested inflected or compo unded
t archaic or poetic
< derives from
> evolves into
'Z· singular
pI. plural
m. masculine
f. feminine
PE Primitive Elvish
N Noldorin
ON Old Noldorin
EN Exilic Noldorin
S SinJarin
T Telerin (of Aman)
Q Quenya

When reconstnlc ting archaic stages of Sindarin and No ldorin I will lise the
following symbols in addition to those commonly found in Tolkien 's writings: p
and 6 for voiceless and voiced dental spirants, i.e. Sindarin's th and dh; X for
the voiceless velar spirant, i.e. Sindarin's ch, ) for a voiced velar spirant lost in
later Sindarin/ Noldorin, that Tolkien sometimes spelt gh when he needed to;
and ~ for the nasal spi rant resulting from the lenition of m, for whic h Tolkien
used the digraph mho As Tolkien often did, the ligature (Il will be used to denote
a mid-open front rounded vowel, like French eu or Gennan 0, resulting from the

68

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 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

fronting of o. A mised ' will denote a reduced, non -syllabic i. Additionally, to

prevent confusion between y used as a (high front rounded) vowel and a (1'<11a-
tal) glide, I will reserve y for the vowel, use j for the gl ide and alter Tolkien's
spellings accordingl y when needed.

2 . OVERVIEW OF THE VARIOUS KINDS OF AFFECTION

It is a common linguistic developmeut that vowels can be affet:ted by their

neighbours. Iu general terms, such a distance assimilation of a phoneme to
another not cont ig uous one is called dilatnrion; it is not resnicted to vowels.
Concerning vowels these assimi lative processes have received a large array of
names, which can make the terminology of this area of phonology rather con-
fusing. So it is perhaps not superfluous in this article to state predsely which
tenus will be used for which phenomena.
In Sindarin, we see that a vowel can be affected by another one following it
in the word. Th is also occurs prominently in, among other languages, the Celtic
and Gennanic families, which were well known to Tolkien. In German, this is
called Umlaut - the word refers simultaneously to the diachronic change, to
the vowel alternations tha t have arisen therefrom and become part of the
morpho phonology of the modern language, and to the diacritic used to denote
it. The word has been calq ued wi th Greek elements to form the term metcphony,
that I will use in this article. More limited terms are in use to denote special
types of metaphony. They often refer to the move observed in the point of
articulation of the vowel. We thus encounter lowering, raising, fronting. The
affecting element can also be spedfied, and we get [-affection, J-metaphony, nnd
so on.
Metaphony by A tends to lower high vowels like i and u into the direction
of e an d o. It can be found for instance in th e West and North Germanic
languages. (Examples from Stevanovitch 1997.)

From ·wirll2' : Old English wer (d. werewolfl - comp.."Ire with 1..1tin vir
From *juka : Old English geoc > yoke, German Joel! - compare with
l.."It in jugum, Greek zygon

Its workings are especially clear in Old High German, where the morpho -
logy displays regular i / e and u / 0 alternations; see for instance ih hilfu 'I help '
vs. helfan 'to help', sio hulfun 'they helped' vs. giholfan 'helped' . Traces can still
be found in Modern German, for instance sie wurden 'they became' vs. geworden
'become', Hilfe 'help' vs. helfen 'to help'.

69

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 Arda Philology 1

In the development of Welsh, final -a lowered a short i and u to e and 0

respectively in the preceding syllable. In the modern language, it notably
results in a gender distinction carried by the stem vowel in some adjectives. The
masculine fonus have y or w, while the femini ne fonus have e or o. This goes
back to an opposition in the parent la nguage bet\veen a mascul ine ending in
*-0.1', not causing metaphony, and a feminine in *-fi, causing metaphony.
(Examples from Thorne 1993.)

gwyn m. vs. gwen f. 'white'

byr m. vs. ber f. 'short'
cryf m. vs. cref f. 'strong '
melyn m. V.I'. melen f. 'yellow'

ITWm V5 . tram f. 'heavy'

awn m. vs. cron f. 'round '
dwfn vs. dofll f. 'deep'
tlws vs. tlos f. 'pretty'

Metaphon y by I tends to raise and front other vowels. It had dramatic

consequences in the morphology of Gemlan, English and Scandinavian
languages, who all display evident traces of I·rnetaphony. Some exam ples with
Old English (from Stevanovitch 1997):

Plural of some nouns (originally with an * ·iz ending, later lost)

Old English maml / menn > mall / men, cr. Swedish man / man
Old English f6t / fet > foot I feet , cf. Gemlan Fuft / Fiifle
Old English mils I mjs > mouse / mice, cr. Gennan Mm15 / MiiUJe
Comparatives and SIlperlatives (originally with an *· irn and *· istll
endings)
Old English lang I /engra / lenges! 'long / longer / longest', cr. Gemlan
lang / langer / Uingst
Old English eald I ieldrn / ieldest (west-saxon), old / eldra / eldest
(anglian) > modern old / elder / eldest, cr. German alt / alter / alleSt
Conversion of adjectives into nouns with the SIlffix *- ipo (originally)
Old English 5lT'Wlg / strenglJ :> strong I strength
Old English Ml / h&llJ > whole / health
Old English fill / fj/lJ > foul / filth

70

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

I- metaphony is also of co nsiderable importance in the Brythonic languages;

here are some morphological alternations produced by it in Welsh, (Examples
from Thorne 1993.)

Plural of nouns (origi nally with an ·f endi ng, later lost)

bn'in 'crow' PI. brain
dofad 'sheep' pI. defaid
gafr 'goat' pI. geifr
alarch 'swan ' pI. e1yrch
cyllell'knife' pl. cyllyll
bachgen 'boy' pI. bechgyn
carreg 'stone' pI. cerrig
corff 'body' pI. cyrff
a5gwnr 'bone' pI. e.!8)'11l
draen 'thorn' pI. drain
croen ' skin' pI. crnyn
Cymro 'Welshman' pI. Cynuy

3rd person sg. present indicative (in older and literary language)
oros 'to stay' / erys 'stays'
agar 'to open ' / egyr 'opens'
ymosod 'to attack' / ymesyd 'attacks'
cadw 'to keep' / ceidw 'keeps'
toni 'to break' I tyr 'breaks'
ateb ' to answer' / etyb 'answers'
gwrando 'to listen' / gwrendy 'listens'
bwyta 'to eat' / bwyty 'eats'

Metaphony caused by various suffixes contai nlngy or i

gardd 'garden' / gerddi 'gardens'
.soer 'carpenter' I Sl!iri 'carpenters'
plant 'children' / plentyn 'child'
moe.! ' field ' / rneysydd ' fields'
.sofaf 'I stand ' I sefYlI'to stand'
siorad 'to speak' / sioredir 'one speaks'
gwlod 'cou ntry' I gwledig 'rural"
iach 'healthy ' / iechyd 'healt h'

71

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

Metaphony by U tends to raise, back and round ot her vowels, It is widely

m tested with lUany variations among Nort h Germanic languages, (Examples
from Robinson 1992.)

Old Norse hgnd 'hand',' compare with Gothic hundus, Gennan Hand
Old Norse syngvu 'to sing', comp.l re with Gothic siggwall, German
singen
Old Norse dagr 'day' dmive plural dggum

Breaking is a kind of dilatation turning a vowel into a diphthong under the

influence of a neighbouring sou nd, which can be a vowel (in which case it can
be regarded as a Spe<:ial ki nd of metaphony) or a consonant.

Old English: in the West-Saxon diale<:t eSpe<:ially, front vowels are

turned into diphthongs by a followi ng h, r ... consonant, and I ...
consonant in some cases (Examples from Stevanovitch 1997,)
Old English (West·Saxon) eald 'old', d. Gen nan alt
Old English (West-Saxon) heulf' half', cf. Gemlan hulb
Old English (West·Saxon) weore 'work', d . Gennan W crk
Old English (West·Saxon) oorre 'furious', cr, German irre
Old English (West·Saxon) ntuh 'near ', d. German nah
Old English (West·Saxon) Mohr 'light", d. Gemlan Licht

Old English: short front vowels are turned into short diphthongs by a
back vowel in the next sylla ble. This is called 'back uml aut' or ' U-
umlaut" in Old English primers, though it is quite different to the Old
Norse phenomenon of the same name. (Examples from Stevanovitch
1997.)
Old English calu 'ale', d, Old Norse gl (and the Finnish borrowing olur)
Old English seofon 'seven', d, Old High German 3ibwr, Go thic sibull
Old English mio/uc / mooluc 'milk', d. Old High Gemlan miluch, Gothic
miluh

Old Norse: c > ja (whence}", by Imer U-metaphony) when the

follow ing syllable contained a back vowel - with restric tions.
(Examples from Robi nson 1992)
Old Norse h}urtu 'heart ', d. German Hen, Gothic hu[no
Old Norse}9rd 'earth', d. German Erdc, Gothic alrPa

1 The Old Norse 0 with" hook denot"" IIJ1 """" variet y of o.

72

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel Affecrion in Sindari.n and Noldorin

Breaking is especiall y encountered when discussing Germanic languages,

but similar phenomena can be found elsewhere.
Rumanian: e and 0 are broken to en and 0lI by a following 1I or d; this
results in numerous morphological alternations. (Examples from
Reinheimer & Tasmowski 1997.)
negro m. vs. r!eagrd f. 'black'
jn/mos m . vs. frumoasd f. 'beautiful'
seard 'evening' pI. seri
moard ' mill' pI. mori

Welsh : a and e sometimes shifl 10 ei when a suffix with consonantal i is

added (Examples from Thorn e 1993).
mab 'son' I meibion 'sons'
'saint' I seinriau 'saints '
5(J1!t
lIadd 'to kill' I lleiddiad 'killer '
capterl 'captain' I ci1pleiniaid 'captains '
niwed 'harm' I niweidiol 'harmful'
toreth 'abundan ce' I toreithiog 'abundant '

The term vowel affectioll is often encountered in English, especiall y among

Celticists, to name the infl uence exerled on a vowel by a followi ng one; it is
thus more or less a synonym of metaphony. In this article I will use it loosely as
a cover term for every kind of conditioned vowel change.

3. PATTERNS OF VOWEL ALTERNATIONS

3 .1. Plural Patterns

It is well known thai most plurals in Sindarin and Noldorin are foroled by
means of vowel changes. They can be traced b.1ck to vowel affection triggered
by a former plural endi ng -i, attested in the Old Nol dori n of ~The Etymologies~:
boron 'faithful vassal' pI. boron! (Ety m. IlOR- ), poto 'animal's foot ' pI. poti
(Etym. POTo-), toron 'brother' pI. toroni (Etym. TOR-) . The vowel alternations
between the singular and the pl ural of nouns and adjectives that were produced
thereby were later grammaticalised as a productive mark for number in
Noldorin, and eviden tly Sindarin. Studi es have already been devoted to these
p."Ittems, ' so I will simply summarise their results in tables. Unattested cases are
left in blank.
, By Be"'g<>nd, And" ", Slen."Ti;'" fo r Sin d~rin ~nd by myself fo r Noldonn in "The El ymol"gi",~. Set.
(he b ibliogrnphy.

73

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

For Siudari!}'
Singular Plural in final Plural in nOIl- Remarks
svllables fiuaJ svllables
ai , I,;:eneral case
" in aJph 'swan' pI. eiJplr (UT 2
" " IV App.D:ll footnote)
, before r +. COIlS.' before
" , probable in fIIInu; (SO 1 XI The
"
,, ", ,
second version:67, 71)

, i
,
,
I
i
i
:> later e
,
(E
" in ered and ened
"
"
6 "6
6

,," i,
0'
9
" i "
"
au ~ Nibin -noeg 'Petty-dwarves' (WJ
Index) must contain the pI. of
nuug 'dwarf ' CQE App.B:ll
i ill , h- i. ( EA AS)
"
'"0' ill 0'
For Noldorin in "The Etymologies '"
Singular Plural in final Plural in non· Remarks
sv Uables final svUables
, ei :> e , eneral case ill polysyllables
, , before conso nallt clusters

74

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecrion in Sindari.n and Noldonn

con t"lime d )
ai in amn 'king ' pI. emin (S
"
, ",
aHem)

, ,
, in ee/p!. eelf'eanh' (Etym. KEM-)

•, "i
,
i
i
0 cei > ei >e ce > later e in polysyllables
0 ui > v ce > later e POlvsvllables
i ll

0
0
ui > y
y
0 in polysyllables when 0 <
in monosvllables
••
,
6 y
•
,
0 y
,
y

a ui
y
y

"' ui
"" i
"
"0'

3.2. Alte rna tio ns be tween Rela ted Morphe m es

Outside plurals, intemal vowel variation is also sporadically seen between
evidently related morphemes. We ha ve notably a series of pairs made of a noun
wiTh i or u as root vowel and a relaTed adjective with e or 0 respeCTively. Many
have Quenya cognates. The Old Noldorin form is sometimes mentioned too.

N eorw 'cunning, wily' / N curw, curu 'craft', cf. Q kunve 'craft', PE

nkunvd / nkurwl (Etym. )(UR-)
N cram 'lefe / crt/m 'the left hand ', cr. PE o /mll1rbd / Okrombe (Etym.
)(URIJM-)

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C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

N huh...., 'foggy' / hith ..... 'fog, obscure, vague', d . Q hiswa / hiswe

(Eeym. KIIiS-)
N lhend 'tuneful, sweet' / Ihind, lhinn 'air, tune', d. Q linda / linde
(Eeym. U N'-, L1ND-)
N malen 'yellow' / e(m)melin , emlin 'yellow hammer', d. PE
Ilsmalina / Ilrumalinde, ON malina / ammalinde (Eeym. SMAL- : 1- 2)
N rhem 'frequent, numerous' / rhim 'crowd, host', d. ON and Q limba /
limbe (Eeym. HlM-)
N ~ilef 'silver, shining white' in S ilevril 'Silmaril' / silith 'light of
Sil pion, t silver' from csilifpreserved in Silivros, cf. PE Ilsilima /
silime, Q silma / silme (Etym. SI1- )
N thent 'short' / rhinnos 'shortness', cr. ON sthinta (Etym, STINTA-)
N tofn 'Iowlying, deep, low' / tum 'deep valley', cr. FE Ilmbna /
otumbu, Q tutrma / tumbo (Etym. TUB-)
N tolog 'stalwart, trusey' / tulu 'support, prop' < ON full18me (Etym.
TIIUJK-)
N rond, tonn '{ail' / tund, tunn 'hill, mound', d . PE Otlllrdd / Otlllrdu, Q
nmda / rundo (Etym . nIN-)

The Old Noldorin or Primiti ve Elvish forms and the Quenya cognates show
that the i / u is original, and that in the Sindarin I Noldorin pairs the adjective
m ust have ended in -a, while the noun ended in another vowel. Most Quenya
adjectives end in -a, and we can surmise that it was already (nle in Common
Eldarin (in the foml *·u).
Other cases of al ternation between e / i and 0 / u include [he following.

N fern 'dead ' / firen 'human' (Etym. PIHR-) and S firith 'fading' (LR
App.O '[4)
S gorth 'horror' / gurth 'death ' (QE, Note 27; S App., gurth; UT 1 1 "11 16
+ not e 18)
N gwel ..... 'air' I gwllith 'ai r' (Eeym. Wl1- )
N 10lf 'brand' / illl 'embers' (Eeym, YUL-)
N lhOd ' [he/she/ it] floats' / /hum ' oo.1{ ' (Eeym, +AC WI'-)
S arch 'orc' I urug 'bogey' (QE App.C:3-4)
N rhess 'ravine' I rhis 'ravine' (Eeym, RlS(l>L)
N rlrest 'a cut' / rhistJ) 'to cut' (Eeym. RlS1bq
N rog '[helshe/ it] drinks' I sune '[helshe/ it] drank ' (Eeym. SUK- )
N thli 'thread, spider's filament' / thling 'spider, spider's web, cobweb'
(Etym. SUG-)

76

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecrion in Sindari.n and Noldorin

There is a series of altematiolls be tweell i or lon the one halld, e! (Noldo-

rill) or ai (Sindarin) on the other hand .

S cair, N ceir 'ship' / S cirdan and N cirdan 'shipbuilder', N driJan, d.

Q kirya ' ship' and the name of the Nlimen6[ean king Tar-Ciryatan (LR
App.A I 0):12; Etym. KlR- , PAD-, TAtI-; MCE SV:46ff. ; MCE SV Other
Versions:2ff.; PM XIII Cirdan:2)
Nand S feir 'a mortal ' / N fire/! 'human', S fireb 'mortal', firion 'mortal
man', firieth ' monal woman', d. Q Jirya 'mortal, hu man ', firima
'mortal ', firill 'dead ' (Etym. ~1ljJ(-; QE App.A:5)
N geil ·star' pI. gl1 / giliath 'scars [coll e<:cive]'; Te<:onstrllCled ancestor
[lgilya (Etym. +AC Gn,-)
N peich 'juice, syrup' / pichen 'juicy', d. Q pirya (Etym, f IS-)
N sein pI. sin 'new' I siniath ' news, tidings ', d. Q sinya (Etym. SI- )
N thlein pI. thlfn 'lean, thin, meagre' I thlind, thlin/! 'fine, slender'
(Etym, SlIN-)

Comparison with Quenya shows that the ei / ai comes from an earlier

seq uence · -iCju (where C = a consonant).

3,3, Alternations Linked to AffIxatio n

Vowel affection is also seen to be triggered by the addi tion of several
suffi xes containing i . There are many examples.
Two rare suffixes -1 are known in Sindarin: an adje<:tival suffix (from ~ -ria )
and a collecti ve (from ~ - iie). The name of the river Senli, made on sam 'pebble',
m ust contain one of the two (Rivers Rivers Erui:3- Semi).
In Noldori n, a suffix -i (from ON -ie) is used to build the infinitives of bask
verbs, The origi nal vowel appears elsewhere in the conjugation, in re lated
words and in Quenya cognates.

bleb; 'to nap, beal' 3rd sg, present blab (Etym, PALAP-)
degi 'to slay' past dane (Etym. +AC NOAK-)
den 'to wait' imperative daro! (Ety m, DAR-)
eehedi 'to fashion, shape' past eehant (Etym. KAT-)
esgero 'to cut round, amputate' 3rd sg. present osgar (Etym. os-)
ged! 'to catc h' stem gad- (Etym. GAT-)
hedi 'to hurl ' past hant (Etym. KnAT-)
heli 'to lift ', d. hall 'exalted, high' and past haul (Etym. ~ AC KIIAL2_)
Ihefi '10 lick' 3rd sg. present 1M! (Etym. UB-)

77

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

medi 'to ea{' d . Q mat- (Etym. MAT- )

nestegi 'to insert, stick in', past nestanc (Etym, STAK-)
orrheri 'to master, conquer', 3rd sg, present orrhor (Etym, TUR-:2 )
tegi 'to lead, bring', 3rd 5g. present 109 (Etym. 11JK-)
teli 'to come', 3rd sg, present 001 (Etym, lUL-)
treneri 'to recouut', d, trenam 'account' (Etym, NAR2_ )
trevedi 'to traverse', past trevant (Etym. BAT-)

Another Noldorin &lLffix for infinitives is -io (from ON · -iobe). The original
vowel <:an be retrieved by comparison wi th Quenya or internal reco nstnlctio n.

berio 'to prote<:t', d. Q VGl)'u - (Etym. BAR-)

brenio 'to endure', d. N bruno 'to last, su rvive ' and bronwe 'endurance'
(Etym. +AC BOR6N- )
drelio, delia 'to <:oncea[', d. the related N adjective doll, Q nulla
' hidden, secret, obscure' (Ety m. -I- AC DUL-; Etym. NDUl-)
erio 'to ri se', d. N ortho 'to raise ' (Etym. ORO- : I)
gwerio 'to betray, c hear', d , N gwarrh 'betrayer' (Etym. WAR-)
henio 'to understand ', d. Q hanya· (Etym. -I- AC KHIIN-)
hrerio, herio 'to begin suddenly a nd vigorously', d. Q hOl)'a- 'to have
an impulse, be compelled to do something, set vigorously out to do'
(Etym. +AC KlIOR-)
pelio 'to spread', d. Q palya- (Etym. PAL-)
penio ·to fix, set', d. Q panya- (Etym. PAN-)
rhtmio ' to fly, sail', d. N rhain 'wing (horn), extended paine a t one
side' (Etym. RAM-)
rhenio ' to stray', d. Q ranya - (Etym. RAN-)
telio, teilio 'to play", d. Q tyal- (Etym. riAL-)

A personal suffi x _il is found both in Sindarin and Noldorin. It is especially

- though not exclusively - used to build femin ines. When it causes affection,
the origi nal vowel can umally be retrieved by internal re<:onstruction.

N BretH! 'Varda ', d. ON Brada, Q Varda , T Barada (Etym. BARAD-)

N Berethil 'Varda', cf. T Baradu wi th influence from Baroda (Etym.
BllRllTIl - , d. BIIMD-)
N brimnil 'lady', d. N brand, brann 'lofty, noble, fine' (Etym. HAAAU ' )
S emil 'prince', d. S am 'royal' (LR 6 IV:18; UT Index, Dor-ell-Emil;
R O! Elbereth:18; L 230:5; L 347:8, third footnote)

78

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

N Ihethril 'hearer, listener, eavesdroppe r (fem ini ne)" cf. th e masculllle

lhathrotl (Etym, -t AC [AS7 _)
N odhril ' parent ' witho ut affection (Etym. ONG-)
N / 5 ThurillgwetlrU 'Woman of sec ret shadow', cf, 5 / N gwath
' shadow ' (5 Index, Thuringwechil -t App., gwm h ; Etym. wAnl-)

A di mi nuti ve a nd singulative suffix -ig is a n ested in Nold orln and 5inda rin.

5 gwanunig 'a twin ', cf. gwanun 'twin' (QE A *wo, 5indari n)
S honig '*little brother, mi ddle fi nger', cf. 5 t hawfl 'brother ' (EHW I
HFN, Not£ 22)
N lhewig 'ear', cf. N / S /haw 'one person's ears' (Etym. IAS2_; LR 2
lX:I 07)
5 nelhig '*little siste r, fou rth fi nger', cf. S nelh 'sister' (EHW I HFN,
Note 20 &seq.)

An adj ecti val suffix -in is sparingly a ttested in 5indarin and Noldori n.

N thenin with a variant rhenid 'fi rm, true, abiding', Q sanda (Etym.
STAN -), possibly related to the S thand 'shiel d ' (UT 3 1, note 16)
S lhurin 'secret ', cf. lIko ri n rhuren and N thoren 'fenced ' from the root
nlUR (Etym. lllUR-; LB LL, note to 1.3954; UT I II App.:53; WJ 3 1:33
+ note 9)

3.4_ Alternations ill Compounds

Sindarin and Noldorin have a quite commo n ending -dir. It was o rigi nally
a n independe nt w ord: N dfr (Etym. R.~~-:l , OER-), indirectl y a ttested in S
dirnaith CUT 3 I, note 16) 'man-spearhead', the nam e of a Nume no rean m ilita ry
formatio n, BIlt as a n independent wo rd it had beco me a rchaic (thi s is explicitly
indi ca ted in "The Etymologies"); it seems to have survived chiefly in
co mposition , Most often it does not tri gger vowel affecti o n: cf, na mes like
Mithrandir, Curuntr, Brandir, Handir, Haldir, Borondir etc, BIlt it does in two
agental forma ti o ns app..'lrently made of the gerund of verbs -t dfr (wi th vowel
shorten ed to -dir); in these words it approaches the sta tu s of a SIlffi x,

N ceredir 'maker ' cf. N care') 'deed, feat' a nd S # car- 'to do, ma ke '
(Etym, llER-; QE A * ABA , Sinda rin; QE, Not£ 30: Ae Adar "lS -t U ne 4,
CarD -t Une 8, gerir)
N feredir 'hunt er ' pl. faradrim (Etym. SPAR-)

79

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

Adjectives with the suffix ·en display the smile metaphonies as in their
plural form when used as first members of compounds, eveu when the meaning
is not plural.
5 Celebrimbor - celebrerl 'like silver' (5 App., celeb; Etym. KYELEP ') +
paur 'fist' (5 ibidem; Etym. KWAR-; PM VI [.... ' 1 give in illustration),
fi rst 1500; PM X, note 7:10; EHW I HFN §1O)
5 and N Celebrindal - celebren 'like silver' (S ibidem; Etym. KYELfP-)
.+ tal 'foot' (5 ibidem; S App., tal (dal); Etym. TAL-; QE App.B:3)
5 Gl6rindol 'golden head' (WJ 214 (_ *]:9; nickname of Hador,
found as L6rindol - probably by lenition - in The Silmarillion, see
Index, Hador and App., dol + laure)
N Melthinorn = rnalthen 'of gold ' (Etym. SMAI .-:1 ) + om '(high) tree '
(LR 2 VI:82; 5 App., om; UT 2 IV App.E: 4; Etym. oRo-:6R-NI -; L 347:6,
fi rst footuo te)
In some compounds the fi rst element shows metaphony caused by an i in
the second element. These compounds were probably no longer fe lt as slIch:
some contain elements lost as individual words or display phonetic alterations
making them opaque. In most com pounds howeve r, metaphony is not found,
either bec.1use they were fonned afte r metaphony became inactive, Of beca use
the unaffected form of the first element was restored after the independent
form.
N heledir, heledirn 'kingfisher', li terally 'fish-watcher' cf. Q Illliatir,
halarimo (Etym. I(IIAL1_, SKAL 2.,11](_) ; no word corresponding to Q hala
's mall fis h' is found in N
N rnegii 'bear' literally 'honey-eater', from Omad_lI, observe the shift of
dl > gl (Etym. US-, MAT-)
N Edegil 'Great Bear', literally 'Seven Stars', odog + gfl (Etym . QT-;
Etym. l·AC GIL-)
N t Glewellin, N version of lAurelin 'song of gold', glawar + l/lind,
lhinn (Etym. l.AWAR -, UN2_)

In a few compounds where the second element begi ns in prevocalic i·,

metaphony occurs and produces a diphthong.

N eilian(w) 'rainbow', comp."\re Q he/yanwe; literally 'sky-bridge'

(Etym. 3EL- , YAT-)
S Ein ior 'Elder' linked to iour 'old'; compare Q yura whose
(ullrecorded) superlative would probably be *ollyura (S App., law;
UT 4 I Further notes:8; Etym. GENG-wA-, YA-; PM XI, nOfe 21:1)

80

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldorin

S Eirien 'Daisy', compare Q Arien; literall y 'Sun ma iden' (SO 1 X1 The

second version:67)

3.5. Ana lysis

In the altemations we have seen till now we can extract several types of
vowel affe.-:tion.
Alternations between e / i a nd 0 / U , that appear from Old Noldorin
evidence and comparison w ith Qllenya to be linked to the presence of a fornler
final -a, point towards a stage where a lowered short high vowels. We have
thus to posit an A·metaphony somewhere in the development of Sindari n.
However, co mparison wi th Que nya shows a nu mber of correspondences
between Q U / S 0 that a re not li nked to the presence of a fi nal -a.

N t rhoss 'polished metal" vs. Q rosse 'conlscation' (Etym. RUS-)

N thloss / flo ss 'whispering or n1stl ing sou nd ' vs. Q lus.se (Etym. SLUS-)
N osp 'reek' vs. Q usque (Etym. IJSIJK-)
N tog 3 rd peTS. of ugi 'to lead, bring· vs. Q #tuce, cf. wei/! 'I draw'
(Etym. TU K-)
S / N tol 3 rd pefS. of teli 'to come' vs. Q # rule, d. rulin 'I come'(Etym.
TUL-; WJ 3 1:21)
N wg 3rd pefS. of sogo 'to drink' vs. Q # suc£, d. sucin 'I dri nk· (Etym.
SU K- )

N orthor 3rd peTS. of ortheri 'to master, conqu er' vs. Q #rure, d. turin 'I
w ield, control, govern' (Etym. TUll-:2)

We have conseq uentl y to posit anothe r me.-:hanism able to turn u to 0 in

Si ndarin,

The affection by i displays the most complex patterns.

Vowel Ultimate affection Non ultimate

affection
, ei / ai / e ,
, ; .
0 y (N also!l!i > ei) re > ,
0 , ,
,
6 / au oe (N ui)
0; ,
.

81

C :lPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

The ultimate I-metaphony of A looks especially puzzling with three

possibilities. However, ai ~Uld ei are essentially varia nts of one Sil.me phoneme
in Sindarin: ai appears in final syllables and ei otherwise; compa.re for instance
teitliant 'wrote ' and andaitli 'Jong mark', or erain 'kings' and Ereinion 'Scion of
Kings'. In Noldorin this variation does not appear and ei is found throughout -
it seems that Tolkien instead played with the idea that ai for ei was a dialectal
peculiarity of the Feanorians (see the entry MAD in Etym.AC). As for e, its
appearance seems to be linked to special phonetic shapes. In Noldorin it can
also be a late modification of unstressed d. There fore it would seem that there
is some kind of complementary distribution between those three variams for
the ultimate affection of a. It could be considered, as Helge K. Fauskanger sug-
gests in hi s article "Sindarin - The Noble Tongue", that the original affection
of a is to ei and that ai and e are later modifications.
If we observe the various changes that i can trigger, we note that:
fronting is general with short vowels, both in ulti mate and non ultimate
affection, bill does not affect long vowels
• raising is restricted to a in penultimate affection, but touches e and 0 too in
ultimate affection
• breaking is only seen in ultimate affection of a, 6/ au, Ii (and 0 in
Noldorin); it results in a diph thong whose first elemellIlooks strikingly like the
product of non ultimate affection, especially if we consider that the original
product of a 's ultimate affection is ei and that ai is a later alteration of it.
A relatively simple way to handle this intricate pattern is to consider that
there was not only one wave of I-affection in Sindarin, but that we observe in
synchrony the superposition of several slJ(:cessive altera tions, each one affecting
the preceding vowels in a different way. In this hypothesis we wo uld need three
waves of I-affection: one to explain the fronti ng, one to explain the enhanced
raisi ng of e and 0 in final syllables, and one to explain the breaking.
This makes for a total of five waves of affection:
lowering of i > e a nd u > 0 by A-metaphony
additional lowering of u > 0 in conditions to be defined
special raising of e and 0 in final syllabl es by I-metaphony
fronting of short h.lck vowels a > e, 0 > tJ.!, u > y by
another J-metaphony
• breaking in final syllables by final -i.

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 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

To order these changes, we c..,n sometimes rely on clues given by Tolkien

himself. In QE 'L.., nguage of the Valar':29 notably, he gives us the reconstructed
development of the Sindarin foml of the name of Osse (conserved in the S
names Yssion and Gaerys): 00SS! > 0wsi > 0yss;. We see here that
I-m etaphony raised 0 > u before fronting it to y . Otherwise we can deduce it
logical ly by internal reconstmction applied to words that underwent several of
these changes. We can test several orders and see whic h one leads to rhe
attested fonn in the most plausible way. For instance we have in Etym.AC N US-
the ON nuhina > EN nohen , floen 'wise, sensi ble', with both A-metaphony (i >
e) and lowering of u to 0 bye. With th e order 'U lowering, th en A-metaphony'
we would have nuhina > *nohina > *nohena > nohen; with 'A-metaphony,
then U-lowering' we have nuhina > *nuhena > *nohena > nallen. The first is
phonetically more difficult be<;ause we have to posit that u is lowered to 0
before a following i, while we know (see j ust above) that i acltlally had the
opposire effecr. The second ordering is rhus to be preferred.

4 . A MODEL OF DIACHRONIC DEVELOPMENT

4 .1. A-metaphony
A final -a lowers i and u to e and a in the penu ltimate syllable.

ON tlberina > *berena 'bold, brave' (N berell, al so attested in S as a

personal name: Etym. BER-)
Il.. ikwu > Il.. ipu > *-epa [adjcctival suffix '-ful') (S -eb: QE, Note 21)
tl_itta > *-ittha > *-epa [feminine suffix] (S -eth: PM XI Fi nwe's
descendants: 19)
tlkhinu > *xena 'child' (S hen: QE 'Language of the Valar':6l)
*kirkd> *kirklla > *kerxa 'sickle' (N cerch, Q circa: Etym, K1Rl K-)
Dkwingu > *pinga > *peflga 'bow (for shooting)' (N peng, Q qui1!ga:
Etym. KW1G-)
ON undissa > *ndessa 'young woman' (N tdess blended with bes.s:
Etym. NDlS-:NDlS-SiO!sA)
ON unidwa > *ne/)wa 'bolster, cushion ' (N nedhw: Etym , N1D-)
ON tlrimba > *remba 'frequent, numerous' ( N rhemb, rhem: Etym.
RIM- )

ON usthwtu > ·Petlta 'sholt' (N / S rhellt: Etym, STINTA-; WJ 3 11:2 -t

note 3)

tlkrumbu > *kromba 'left' (N cram : Etym. KURUM-)

nkuldd > *koUa 'red' (N rol/, Q culda: Etym. KUL-)

83

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

*kurwd > *korwa 'c\lnning, wily' (N eorw: EtYIll. KUR-)

olungd > *longa ' heavy' (N lhollg, Q IUllga: Etym, LUG I-)
*lusta > *Iosta 'empty' (N lhost, attested as # Iost in 5 in Camlost
' Empty-handed ', the nickname of Beren, Q IUSla: 5 Index, Camlost; UT
Index, Beren (1); Etym. LUS-)
ON 0rwska > *roska 'brown' (N rhose: Etym. RUSKA· ; this word pro!>....·
bly reap pears in 5 in the place name Rhosgobel, the home of Radagast
the Brown, evidently rhose i gobel 'brown vi llage', but the retained
rh of Sindarin now requires a primi tive sr- initial: LR 2 11:131)
Ilrwssa > *rossa ' red -haired, <:opper-<:olo lJred, nlsset' (5 ross, Q rossa
in the personal names Russandol 'copper· top' and Ambarussa 'top-
msset': PM XI Sons of Fea nor:l0; Fr.S hi b, [ ->- "!The next ) :1 0)
ON 0 sulkha > *501Xa 'root (espedally edible)' (N sakh: Etym. SIJU/K-)
*wlukd > *ttlluka > *tuloga 'staiwan, tm sty' (N t%g, Q ttllco
'firm, strong, immoveable, steadfast': Etym. l1JI.\lK-)
Oubra > *ovra 'abundant ' (N ofr = ovr, ovor: Etym. IIB-)

The fi nal seq uence -ia has the same effe<:ts.'

Ogilja > *gilia > *gelia 'star' (N geil pI. 811: Etym. +AC GIL- )
*kirjii > *kiria > *keria 'ship' (5 cair / N ceir, T #ciria, Q eirya:
Etym. KlR' ; LR App.A I (i v):61 + footnote; PM XI Fi nwe 's
descendants:2; MCE SV Other Versiolls:2ff.)
Omillija > * mineia 'single, distinct, unique' (N minei: Etym. * AC MIN I-)
*phirja > *feria 'a mortal ' (5 / N feir pl . fir, Q firya: Etym. PlnR-; QE
App,A:S; the 5 form is probably archaic, -fair is expected later)
*runia > *ronia 'slot, spoor, track, footprint ' (N rh~ill, rhem, Q runya
'slot, footprint': EtYIll, RUN- )
n uljii > *ulia > *o/ia 'it is mining' (N ~i1, eil: Etym. uw-)
*willja > ' wenia 'new' (5 #gwaill , Q vinya: LR App. D ' 14; UT Index,
VillYolonde; MR 2 Seetion 1 [---> 1\- "II have ) :26; Ery m, WIN- also gives
Q wmya, vinya, N gweil! pI. gwfn bllt with the meaning 'evening')

It C..1IL be asked if A-metaphony affects vowels other thaIL in th e penultimate

syllable, If is not the case for I, generally.

*idrina > *i"reno 'pondering, wise' (N idhrell : Etyrn. m·)

1 E'ym.AC G"'1N. shows An eX"" I)] i"" in ~ ~d~led enl ry' N bin, Q winy" 'new, fresh, ymmg' I~Ji nl
low.rd, " l'rimill.e °gwinjii. > ON ° bu.ia. P_"m~ bly T"lkien chAng<,d hi. ideK': ;, mKy be Ihe very
reaSOll why he I"\"jecred Ihi. enlry.

84

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldorin

Unrinija > *nrineia 'single, distinct, uni que' (N mind: Erym. -I- AC MINI-)
*n ipil.a > *nibena 'petty' (S niben pI. nibin: S App., IlaU[; QE App.B:3
-I- Note 7)

ON upikilla > *pigetla 'tiny' (N pigen : Erym. PIK-)

!lsi/ima > *silepa 'silver, shining whi te' (N Usile! in Silevril 'Silmaril ';
Tolkien asterisked the N word, evidently meaning that it was not in
use independently: Etym. SIL-)
*rirth ina > *ripena 'little, ti ny' (N rithen, cf. Q ritta: Erym. Trl'-)

Cf. also the reversion of -en adje<: tives to -UI in composition, that has
already been observed (Celebrimbor, Melthinorn etc .... ). It testifies for a pat-
tern in which internal a did not cause metaphony, by contrast with final a . This
survived as an 'a noma ly' in compounds incorporating an -en adje<:tive. Whether
this alternation was still producti ve in Noldori n I Sindarin cannot be ascer-
tained however: it is qu ite possible that these names were arc haic survivals.
There are however a few words w here i is changed to e in the penulti mate
syllable: estent ' lvery short' (WJ 3 11 :2 -I- note 3) an d gwc/wen 'lower air -
Q vi/wa' (Erym. Wlt-). The first is interpreted by Patrick Wynne and Carl Hostet-
ter as a variant of thent 'short ' (Etym, IffiNTA-), and 'can be explained as derived
from the :klme form by the addition of prefixed sunddma or b.1Se-vowel (which
prefix, like the sUlld6ma in both fonus them and estellc, has been lowered by
A-affection from *i to eo) : i.e., *sriIlCU > *isrincu > eseem'.' There is a difficulty,
since the examples above show that A-metaphony affeo-:ted penultimate
syllables only. But since theflt and estent must ultim ately be akin and remai ned
associated dow n to Sindarin, as the phrase Min/all/ad them I estem proves, it is
quite possible that this exception is a product of analogy. The in itial of esteflt
may still have been felt as a prefixed root-vowel; therefore once the latter was
lowered from i to e, the initial followed, and the analogical form estent
displaced the expected *istent, As for gwe /wen , it is not sure that it is an old
formation (note that it has no etymological cotlnterpm1 in Quenya); it may well
be a late derivative of gwelw 'air (as a substance), which is the regular phonetic
equivalent in Noldori n of the Quenya vi/WQ. If gwelwen is an old formation, its
first e must be analogical of the regula rly developed e in gwelw .
For U, it is difficult to say. The parall el with the A-metaphony of i to e
favours the idea that it was generally restricted to penultimate syllables, bill it
cannot be firmly demonstrated because most u's were lowered to 0 before all
non-high vowels during the evolution of Si ndari n, whether in penultimate

1 FI; e g ~ r & Hostetter 2000, p. 12:l.

85

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

syllables or nol. The process has differences with A-metaphony prope r and thlls
must be considered separately; it is presented just below.

4.2. Condition ed lowering ofU

in Sindarin and Noldorin u tums to a when the followi ng syllable contains
a non-high vowel: a, e, 0 and 0. 1 This change occurs anywhere in the word
when the conditions arc mct.

ouukotto/ a > *rlOgo/)O/ a 'dwarf ' (S nogoth: S App., naug; WJ 3111,

note 9; QE App.B: l + Note 23)
0ortur_ > *orthure > *orpore 'masters, conquers' (N onhor 3rd p. of
ortheri 'to master, conquer': Etym. TUR-:2)
ON rosse > *rosse 'polished metal' (N t rhoss: Etym. RlJl;-)
*slusd> -plosse 'whispering or nlstling sound' (N rlz/oss, j1oss, Q lusse:
Etym. SLUS-)
~suke :> *soge 'drinks ' (N sog 3rd p , of 5Og0 'to drink', Q sucin ' [ drink ':
Etym. SU I(-)
~sukobe :> *sogove 'to drink ' (N 5Og0: Etym. SIlK-)
*tuke :> *roge 'leads, brings' (N t6g 3rd p. of [egi 'to lead, bring', Q
tucin 'I draw': Etym. TUI(-)
*tule :> *tole 'comes' (S / N tol 3rd p. of [eli 'to come', Q rulin 'I come':
Etym. 'JUL-; WJ 3 1:21)
*ubrobe :> · ovro ve 'to abou nd' (N ovro: Etym. UII- ; uncertain example,
for Ulis may be a late fomlation on the N adjective ojr, ovor
'abundant' < Oubrd)
ourko/ r'i :> *urkho/ a :> *orxo/ a 'orc' (S orch: LR 2 VI:113; LR App.F I
Of OUler Races:3; QE App.C:3-4; L 144:19; derived from a root 6ROl(
in N, so not relevant here)
0 uskwi" :> * uspe :> *osp!l 'reek' (N osp: Etym. US!JK-)

In Noldorin at least, the final sequence -ie too lowers u to 0 as some

infiniti ves testify, The 0 actuall y appears as e in the Noldorin form because of
the later, fronting !-metaphony, We have no evidence for Sindarin.

1 We h.ve A po",ibl" ,·x,."]>'i" ,, wi,h ,h,' "", b "ie, binrl' which is . "" ",lIy li",,~ . , .. wf· in Ih,' ""'ry
... rr- of "Th~ !;'ymologi",". We wo "jrl e ' I"'<' it ' 0 l",h.ve like sij~, "ig o . liil . ,,~ give ' mid, lnrl".rl , ' h ~
<m'ry we>- "'yo 'b., """,. '~m"t, m"_ tie col<l"",-'ed in Exilic [No ld orin l -""d·", The "Adde"d. H"d
C.orrig"nd. ' 0 ' he Elymologi",," d" "'~ m""lio" Kny "" ribal . ,mr; l"",it.ly ..ud_ is .. I"'-"';"g in.U""I;""
by Tolkie" for .. od· .

86

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 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldorin

Uortur_ > *orthurie > *orporie 'to master, conquer' (N onileri, related
to Q turin 'I wield, control, govern': Etym, TUR-:2)
*tukie > *togie 'to lead, bring' (N regi, d. Q rurin 'I draw' : Etym. TIlK-)
*tulie > *tolie 'to come' (N teli, d, Q mUn 'I come': Etym. TIlL- )

Lowering is hindered by a cluster made of nasal I stop.

*Iuflti > *iwlr:e 'boar" (N lhum, Q /Ullte: Etym. LlIT-)

*sull/ce > *sull/ce 'drank' (N SUtiC past tense of sogo 'drink': Etym. SU K-;
the endi ng -I' is attested in three ON past tenses: lende 'fared ' Etym.
lHl-;narne 'told a story' Etym. NAR2_; "dunke 'slew' Etym. NIlAK-)
0 rumbu > *tumbo 'deep valley' (S I N rum, Q rumbo: S App., rum;
Etyru. TIlB-)
*tumpu > *lumpo 'hump' (N rump, Q rumpo: Etym. TIlMPU-)

11 does not occur ei ther when a w or a It follows - possibly any labial, but
our evidence does not allow to be rure.

Il/curwe > *kurwe 'craft' (N curw, cum, attested in S in names like

Curuulr, Cum/in, Q curwe: Erym , KUR-)
Il relume > *teiulte 'dome, high roof ' (N relu, Q telume: Etym. Tn -; QE,
Note 15)

It is also prevented when t\vo u's follow one another.

Ofjulusse > *tulusse 'poplar-tree' (N tu/us, Q /yu/une: Etym. 1YUL-)

0uruku > *uruJro > *urugo 'bogey' (S urug, Q urea pI. urqui: QE
App,C:3)

Apparent exceptions can be explained if we consider that A-metaphony

previously affected the penultimate syllable, so that there was no longer two u's
when the conditioned lowering took place,

*gurukti > *guruka > *guroga > *goroga 'horror' (S gorog: QE, Note
28; Tolkien gives the prototype Oguruk but it seems to be a stem
rather than a complete word)
*tulukti > *tuluka > *tuloga > *tologa 'stalwart, trusty ' (N w/og, Q
rulca 'firm, strong, immoveable, steadfast': Etym . l ULUK-)

There is a slight problem with the nallie of Huun, the great hound of
Valinor. It is said in ~The Etymologies· (entry IOIUGAN -) 10 come from okhugall,

87

C :lPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

so that we may expect it to show U-lowering, the evolution being l1khugun >
*X03UII > " Hoar.. Possibly vowe ls in hiatus were somewhat modified, so that
o a shifted back to uu in Noldorin? The form is found again in Sindarin; the
Sil.me explanation can hold, moreover infl uence of th e corresponding Q word
huon 'hound ' is likely: possibly the original Quenya name of Huan was simply
transferred into Sindarin. It is al so interesting that in The Wor of the Jewel.5 the
form H uon is found with a long U, which would regularly remain unlowered.
Obviously Tolkicn slightly tried to adapt the name to evolving phonology. But
this fo ml was finally not kept in thc published Silmnrillion.

4.3. Firsl l-metaph on y (Raising)

The vowel i affe<:ted its nei ghbours in variolls ways in the development of
Sindarin. It seems tha t at a fi rst stage fi nal -i raised e and 0 to i and II respec-
tively in penultimate syllables. This is essentially the converse of A-metaphony.
We have one example by Tolkien fo r thi s change: in QE ' Language of the
Valar':29 he gives the evolution Possi > ):lussi in th e Sindarin development of
the name of Osseo
Note that the u appears as y in the 5indarin fonus because of the later,
fronting I- metaphony.

*urp hen i > *urfini 'nobles' (5 urphen pI. erphin , Turpen, Q arquen: QE
B Quenya, I + Telerin, 1:2 + Sindarin, 1 :2)
~edeli > ~e/jili 'Elves· (5 edhel pI. edhil, T Ella, Ella, Q t Eldo, Eldo: 5
App., edhel; QE A *UEl., Qucnya 3(b) + Tclerin 3(b) + 5indarin 3(b);
QE B Quenya, 4 :1 + Teierin, 2:1 + 5indarin, 2: 1)
*eleni > *elini ' stars' (5 til pI. elin, T t elen pI. t elni, Q elen pi t eldi,
eleni: MR 5 1:22; QE A, 2 + A *EL; R 01 Elberelh:5; L 2 11 :1 7-18)
~ektheli > *eipili ' springs, issues of water, wells' (5 eilhel pI. eithil, Q
ehlele: S App., eithel, + kel·; WJ I §275; LRRC Nom. Places, Hoorwell)
* teleri > *t£liri 'Teleri ' (5 #Teler in the class pI. Telerrim , pl. Telir, Q
Teleri: PM XIII Cirdan:3)

* andondi > * andundi 'great gates' (5 / N annon pI. errnyn , Q alll10n pI.
andondi: LR 2 1V:98 + ill.; S App., armon; Etym. AI)-; AI IV, note 6)
*ngolodi > *n80/u"i 'Noldor' (S Golodh pI. Gre/ydh, Gelydh: S App.,
golodh; MR 4 'Tale of Adanel': 41 ; QE A *DEl, 5indarin 3(c); QE C
NOldor:3)
*orni > * urni 'trees' (5 t om pI. #ym in mellyrn and Taur i Melegym
'Forest of the Great Trees', Q orne: LR 2 VI:82; 5 App., om; UT 2 IV

88

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecrioll in Sindari.n and Noldonn

App ,E:4; Etym. oRo-:6R-NI-; WJ 2 11 [---> "" "II turn] :l 7; L 347:6, first
foomote)
*o ron :> *orud i 'moun tai ns' (S oroll pI. eryd, Q ono 'mountain top ': S
App" oroll; Etym. oRo-:6ROT-; MR Index, Eryd (Ered) Orgorotil &seq.;
WJ indeJ(, Eryd (Ered) Engrin &seqq.; LRRC Nom. Places, Ashen
MOimrains)
nO$$; :> 0 U$$; 'Osse' (conserved in the S names Yssion and Gaerys, ct.
Q Osse: QE 'Language of the Valar':29)

In NoIdori n the nile is valid for the shift e :> i but restricted for 0 :> u.
Here a re some examples for e :> i.

*ereki :> *erigi 'holly -trees' (N ereg pI. eng, compare with Q ercas.se
'holly': Etym. t;R~:K-)
ON peleh i > *pelihi 'fenced fiel d' (N pel pI. peJi, Q peler. Etym . +AC
PEL( I'.S)-)
*khamleni :> *x.arJlini '*south-regions' ( N harfen pI. herfin wheref =
[v] , originally written harven pI. irervin, Q Iryamren 'south': Etym,
+AC KIIYAR-)
*khe ndi :> *x.indi 'eyes' (N irellll pI. hilll!, Q hell pI. hendi: Etym.
KIIEN-D-E-, changed entry)
*te lkhi :> *tilXi 'sterns' (N reich pI. rilch, Q re/co analogical pI. celqui:
Etym. '1lill'.K-)

The shift of a :> u seems to have been operative in th e later mo nosyllables

- then still disyllabic - as their plural pattern sg. 0 / pI. Y indirectly shows
(with later fronting of II :> y).

*orni :> * urni 'trees' (N am pI. ym, Q orne: Etym. ORo-:(JR 'N I-)
ON pan > *pudi 'a nimal's feet" (N pOd pI. pjd: Elym. 1'(l11)-)
*Iolli > *tnlli 'islands' (N toll pI. cyll: Etym. TO!.2_)

But it does not seem to occu r in po lysyllables, at least not regularl y. The
plural pattern sg. a I Cl!i (later :> ei :> e) in the last syll able indirectly shows
that the a remained,) The alternative »<1ttem sg, a :> pI. vi (later :> y) might

) Two NoJdorin-Slyle plnr~ls snrvived imo Sind~ri,,: ororl 'monm~in' pI. ~ t>eside "'7d (LR M~I' of
Mirldl~·,'~nh : S AI'P_, orod: ~ Mal' ,,( H,'lpri~nrl: Ii'ym. o n ~ : 6m' ·: Mil lnMx, byd (t..... U (~", 11-""1_:
WJ Index, F.ryrl (limO lingrin &""1'1,: I.RRC Nom. Pla~"" AM''''' M,. """i".) and ORad 'F,,,' 1'1. .... eri
1~$irl~ onyrl (LR AI ~ ,. F I O f Other IUo"'-'S:I: L 1(08:5). h"""",[[y Ihey m~ y I." relV'.-ded ~ . dial",,~l
fo nns: To[ki"n "~I'" in ["UeT \6/1 11." "' he 'wTR~1' pln",1 of """,I w,_,
my,l, " r gen"",[ p[OIT~1
ooor/ri",: ,hollW> I'W'<I migh' ~ ~ fonn nsed in Gon<Ior".

89

C :rpynghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

show the shi ft, bill it is remarkable dmt the II was not froUled . It is possible that
thi s j)<1ltern is not original for 0 stems but borrowed from the 0 < PE ii stems
(vari ously changed to 0 or au later).~
The final sequence -ia does not cause raising, on the comrary it triggers
A-metaphony. Neither does -ie which can conversely lower u to 0 , see above.
But final -io causes raising, though we have only one Noldorin example:

*rollio > *runio 'hound of chase' (N rhYII : Etym. ROy l_)

It also appears that final -ui caused raising: the ON pI. orkui yi elds N
tyrehy, which points to an imermediary * ur;(ui (wi th u later fromed to y).

4.4. Second I-metaphony (Fronting)

At a second stage i fronted the back vowels a, 0, u to e, re, y respectively,
in a way very remin iscent of the I-metap hony of Germanic languages. This
metaphony was more widespread than the preceding one: whereas the latter
were restricted to penultimate syllables, froUling occurred everyw here when i,
but also i and j , followed somewhere in the word.

A > E: ON amlllalillde > *emmelillde 'yellow hammer' (N e(m)melln, emlin:

Etym. SMA~-:2)
*anjora > *enjora 'elder' (S elnior, cf S ! N iaw 'old', Q yara: S App.,
lallr; UT 4 I Further notes:8; Etym. Gt.NG-wA·, VA-; PM XI, note 21: 1)
*arani > *erelli 'kings' (S ! N aran pI. erain: LR 2 IV:98 + ill.; LR 6
VII:41 + App.A I (li): 2; S App., or(o)·; Etym. 3AR-:1, TA-:2; SO 1 XI
The second version:67, 71 ; QE A *IlO, Quenya:3; L 347:6)
*arjende > *erjende 'daisy ' (S eme/!: SO 1 XI The second versio n:67;
etymologically a compound 'day·maiden' similar to the Q name
Arlen, linked 10 Ihe root AR2_ of "The Etymologies M
)

*atori > "ederi 'fathers ' (S adar pI. # edair ! N adar pI. edeir, eder. LR
211:210; S App., atar, Elym, ATA-; MR 5 1:20; QE 'Language of the
VaJar':54; PM X, note 38; Ae Adar "15 + Li ne 1, Adar)
*galadi > *geledj 'trees' (S galadh pI. gelaldh, N galadh: LR App.E I
Consonants, OH; R 01 Elbereth:8; LB IV [ ..... Canto III *
continued], 1.10l; Etym. GALAD-; L 347:6, first footnote)
Umad_li > *medli 'bear ', lit. 'honey·eater ' (N megli: Etym. US-, MAT-)
*nam i > *nerni 'tales, So1gas' (S nam pi, Ilflm, N /lam: S Index, Nam
i Hill Hurl/!; Etym. tlAR2_; MR 5 1:20--22; WJ 3 11:5, footnote)

2 I dev~IOl>ed {his point ill ~['h~ Nol doriIl11 " ... ls ill {h~ t:lyrnologi""" (~elle1 lO(5),

90

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldorin

*sarniia > *serniia '*pebbly' (5 Semi, a river of Gondor, cf sam

'small stone, pebble': 5 App" sam; UT Index, Semi; Etym. SAR-;
Rivers Ri vers Erui:3-Semi; Tolkien states that the adjectival e ndi ng
-j can come from -eja or -ija, both becoming *- iia later;
alternatively Semi could be the 5 equivalen t of the Q samie
'shingle, pebble-bank')
*tali > *leli 'feet' (5 #rol pI. #rail, N tal pl . teil: 5 App., tol (dal),
Etym. TAL-; QE App.B:3)

o > CE: *duiia- > * doUa- > *drelia- 'conceal' (N drelio, delia: Ety m. DUL- )
*khoria- > *xreria- 'begin suddenly' ( N hrerio, herio, Q horya-: EtYIll.
+AC KIIOR-)
* ngolod! > *ngolu6i > *ngrely6i 'Noldor' (5 Golodlr pI. Gu!lydh,
Gelydh: 5 App., g%dh; MR 4 'Tale of Ada nel ' :41 ; QE A *OEI,
5inda ri n 3(c); QE C Nol dor:3)
*noria - > *nredia - 'count' (N nredia-, attested in 5 in Ihe N / 5 wo rd
amrediad 'numberless': 5 App., ar-; Etym . AR 2 _, NOT- )
* nukotthi > *nogupi > * nregypi 'dwarves' (5 nogoth pI. m.egyth: 5
App" naug; WJ 3 Ill, nOle 9; QE App,B: l + Note 23)
*orori > * orudi > *rerydi 'mountains' (5 orod pI. eryd: 5 App., orad;
Etym. oRo -:6ROT-; MR Index, Eryd (Ered) Orgoroth &seq.; WJ Index,
Eryd (Ered) Engrin &seqq.; LRRC Nom. Places, A shen Mouncuill5)
*phorja. > · foria > *freria 'right (hand)' (N t reir, teir, Q torya 'ri ght ':
Etym. PIIOR-)
*rokkokweni > *rokkhopeni > * ~X(Ebini 'riders' (5 rochhen pI.
T'l.eclrbin or rochhisl with restored first element, Q roquen: UT 3
I,note 17; QE B Quenya, 1 + 5i ndarin, 1: 2)
* runia > * mnia > * ramia '5101, spoor, track, foo tpri nt' (N rlrrein,
rlrein , Q mnya 'slot, footprint': Etym, RUN-)
Ouija. > · ulia > ' olia > *CElia 'it is raining ' (N lEi!, eil: Etym. U!.Il -)

U > Y: *andondi > ' andundi > *endyndi 'great gates' (5 / N annon pI.
ellny/!, Q GIldon pI. andondi: LR 2 IV:98 + ill. ; 5 App., anllon; Etym.
All-; AI IV, note 6 )
*m orni > *murni > *myrni 'black, dark (pl. )' (5 mom pI. mym, N
mom: UT 1 II Childhood:62; Etym,+AC MOR-; WR 211:56; QE A
* KWEN , 5indari n I{b); L 297: 10; L 347:7)
* ngurthi > *ngyrpi 'dead-ones' (5 pI. gynh: L 332)
*orni > * umi > *ymi 'trees' (5 t om pI. #ym in mellym and Taur I
Melegym 'Forest of the Great Trees' / N om pI. ym, Q orne: LR 2

91

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

VI:82; 5 App" am; UT 2 IV Ap p.E: 4; Erym, oRo-:6R-NI-; WJ 2 11 [ ....

* "II IUrn J:17; L 347 :6, first fooUlo te)
00ssi :> 0 Ussi :> *Yssi 'Osse' (conserved in the S names Yssioll and
Gaerys, d. Q Osse: QE '!"''m guage of the Valar ':29)
ON poti :> *pudi :> *pydi 'animal 's feet' (N pOd pI. pjd: Etym. l'O'fO-)
*ronio :> *runio :> *rynio 'hound of chase' (N rhjn : Etym. KOY'-)
*tolli :> *tulli :> *tyUi ' islands' (N roll pI. tyll : Etym. l"OL2_)
*tulussi :> *tylyssi 'poplar-trees' (N rulus pI. tylys: Etym . H Ul-)
· urkhi :> *yrxi 'orcs' (5 orch pI. yrch: LR 2 VI:11 3; LR App.F I Of
Ocher Races:3; QE App.C:3- 4; L 144:19)

We can observe that fronting is caused by the rare ON pi, ending -ui too.
This may appear surprising: si nce the first p."Irt of the diphthong is posterior it
wou ld be expected to prevem fronting, But final -ui regularly gave .y later as
we see in a series of archaic Noldorin plurals (in the course of being superseded
by analogical forms):

ON orko pI. orkui :> N orch pI. tyrchy (Etym. +AC OKOK-)
ON malo pi, malui :> N mdl pi, t mely (Etym, sMAL-:l)
ON ranko pI. mnkui :> N rhallc pI. t rhellg)' (Etym. RA ~-)

Now Y is an anterior vowel - the ronnded equivalen t of i - so could well

cause fronting. Eviden tly -ui was on its way to -y at the time of the fronting
metaphony.
It is probable tha t fronting would also be ca used by the Sindarin y arisen
from the monophthongisatio n of iu, but we have no example.
The long back vowels a and U were not affected, Moreover, on purely
phonetic grounds, we can expect that they would impede th e I-metaphony of
preceding vowels: as back vowels they would oppose the anticipation of
fronting, We might have an example of this in the form Annui 'Western' which
occurs in a pl ural context in the King 's Letter (SO 1 XI The second version:65,
67,71): Hir i Mbair Annul 'Lord of the Westlands ', II seems then that the plural
of # allnui 'western' is also all/wi a nd not " ennui , The adjectival ending -ul
comes fro m -oja, -lija (Rivers Rivers Emi:3), and the Ii may have prevented the
shift of the precedi ng a to e. An interesti ng consequence would be that all -ui
adjectives would be invariable. It is unfortunate that we do not have other
examples to confirm this theory.
Long a and a were sometimes shortened later, that is why we see instances
of 0 and u resisting fronting in Sindarin / Noldorin:

92

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

S conin 'princes' (LR 6 IV:43): it must be related to Q callo 'com-

mander; ruler, governor, chieftain' (PM XI Finwe's descendants:1? +
note 36; UT 4 II "156) with a :> jj :> 0
N rlioial pL rl!Oiei (Etym. RAM-) and not urlleiel
S Rodyn 'Valar' 5g. # Rodon (LR App.D "II ?), comp..1.re Q Aratar and the
correspondence Q # arata I T aram I Sarod 'noble' from Jlanitjj (PM
Xl, note 43)
S gwanunig 'onc of a pair of twins' singulative of gwamin 'pair of
twins ' (QE A ·wu, Sindarin), whose Q cognate onona shows that the
u was origi nally long, the evolueion being jj :> ii :> u

There are a few other cases where fronting is not seen thongh it could be
expected. Extra-phonetic explanations must be bro ught into the scope of our
modeL
• S anim 'for myself ' (LR App.A I (v):48), not " enim. Since it is easily cut
into an + im, it nHly simply reflecllhe fact Ihal il is a lale collocalion of Ihe
("\'0'0 words, much later than froUling. On Ihe olher hand we have enni '10
me' (6fe '[3) with fronting of a :> e.
• N odliril 'parent' (Etym,ONo-), evidently a feminine form, lacks froIlling of
o :> e, this may be d ue to infl uence of the corresponding mascnl ine N
odliron.
• S tliurin 'secret' is more problematic. II is attested both in Ihe name Thurin-
gwethil and as a nickname of Tllrin, always with short u. In "The Ety-
mologies" it comes from a root TIIUR- ; we have no reason to believe it
changed later. Possibly this u comes from an earlier long ii, however the
shortening remains to be explained, Note that in the earlier conception,
when Thuringwethil was Doriathri n, there was no problem, si nce i-meta-
phony of u does not seem to take place in Doriathrin (d. a pattern like I11"Ch
'goblin' pI. urchin, Etym. OROK-). Externally speaking, it is quite clear that
Tolkien simply kept Ihe old name.

4 ,5. Breaking
The plural p..1.ttern s of Sindarin often show an i or e-diphthong in the last
syllable, a development that must be linked to the evolution of the old -i
ending. It seems that during the gradual weakening of final syllables, it was
reduced to a non-syllabic I. This development is implied in QE 'La.nguage of the
Valar':29 by Tol kien's reconstruction of the name of Osse: J:lossi :> J:lussi :>

93

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

Uyss' (the non -syllabic characte r of ' is marked by a subsc ribed cre scent in the
original text). Probably this sound had a quality ne.1.f to [j] and palatalised the
pret:eding consonant; a consequence was that a transitional glide in ' developed
between thi s consonant and the preceding vowe l, except when the lauer was
already close to i: this includes i, i, Y (the rounded cou nterpart of i) and
i- di phthongs. Eventually this glide fomled a full diphthong with the preceding
vowel w hich was consequently broken. It is also observed when the word ends
in -ia, whence we can presume that it was reduced to ' (or something similar)
as well. On the other hand words in -ie do not display this phenomenon.'

-eCi > -eC; > -e~; > -eiC' > -eiC (later ai)
-lECi > -lEC; > -lE~; > olEiC; > olEiC (la ter ei - observed
in Noldorin only)
-oCi > _oC i > _jj~1 > -viC' > -oiC (later oe)
-iiCi > ·iiC' > -iilC ' > -uiC' > -uiC (later Ull

Since there is no mention of palatalised consonants in Sindarin, the palatal-

isa tion must have been lost later. A possibility is that it was a purel y allophonic
phenomenon that disappeared with its trigger, i.e. when the final ' tha t caused
it was dropped altogether. Alteruati vely, p.1.latalisation may ha ve lingered a bit
after the loss of final vowels; the contrast between plain and p..1.latalised
consonants would then have become phonemic for a time; often it would have
marked the opposition between singular (with plain consonant) and plural
(with p..1.latalised consonant). However, palatalised consonants would have had
a very skewed distribution, occurring mostly word -finally; besides, their mark -
ing of th e plural would have been largely redundant, since vowel alternatio ns
caused by metaphoni es al ready indicated it quite clearly. Thus the distinc-
ti veness of palatalisation would have been very weak, making it a feature prone
to be lost in a functionalist point of view. Indeed this eventually happened.
E > El: *arani > *ereni > *erein ' 'kings' (S I N arall pI. eraill: LR 2 IV:98 +
ill.; LR 6 VII:41 + App.A 1 00:2; S App., ar(a).; Etym. JAR-:l , r ...-:2;
SD 1 XI The seco nd version:67, 71 ; QE A *]lO, Quenya:3, L 347:6)
*atari > *ederi > *edeir' 'fathers' (S adar pI. #edair I N adar pI.
edeir, eder: LR 2 11:210; S App., cuar; Etym. ATA-; MR 5 1:20; QE
'1..1nguage of the Valar':54; PM X, note 38:3; Ae Adar,5 + Line 1,
Adar)

1 w~ know _ m~inly ("lin N"l ~"rin _i infinitive,; _ Ih~l fin~1 ·le g>lV~ . j l~ler. 11 is I""sible lh~l the
ending h.d ~ reduced 10 something like _i ~tth~ tinw. of the bre.king.

94

C :<pynghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldorin

*galadi > *gele6i > *geleM' ' trees' (5 go/adll pI. ge/aidh , N gaJadh:
LR App.E I ConsonaIlts, DH; R 01 Elbereth :8; LB IV [ ..... ..... CailtO III
continued], 1.101; Etym. GALAD-; L 347:6, first footnote)
*gilia > *gelia > *geit' 'star' (N geU pI. gil: Etym. +AC GIL-)
*kiria > *keria > *keir' 'ship' (5 coir ! N eeir, T # ciria, Q ciryo:
Etyrn. [(J1l-; LR App.A I (iv):61 + footnote; PM XI Finwe's
descendants:2; MCE 5V Other Versions:2ff.)
*nelio > *neil' 'third' (5 neil, nail, Q ! T ne/yo: Rivers App.:5)
*phirio > · feri a > *fe ir' 'a mortal' (5 ! N feir pI. fir, Q firya: Etym.
PIlIR- ; QE App.A:5; the 5 form is prob."\bly archaic, *fair is expected
later)
*saria > -sedia > ·jeid ; 'private, separate, not common, excluded'
(5 said, Q satya: Rivers Hills Calenhad)
*spanja > *sphania > ·fenia > ·fein"white' (Sfain ! Nfein
'white', T spania 'cloud', Q[onya 'white cloud, sky': LRW I III (ii),
note 12:3- 4; Elym. SPAN-; R Narnarie, in terlinear + 01 Elbereth:1 6,
and 17 with second footnote)
· tali > *teli > *tej[l 'feet' (S # ral pI. # rail, N tal pI. reil: 5 App., ral
(dal); Etym. TAl-; QE App.S:3)
*tatia > ·tedia > *teid' ' second' (5 raid 'second (only used in senses
'supporti ng, second in command', etc.', T 101)'0, Q ,carra early
replaced by urtea: Rivers App.:5)
*winia > *wenia > *wein' 'new' (S #gwuin, Q vinya: LR App.D "19;
UT Index, Vinyulonde'; MR 2 Sft:tiOIl I [- ""' "11 have]:26; Etym.
WIN- also gives Q winyu, vinya, N gwein pI. gwin bur with the
meaning 'evening')

(E > CEI: *doron i > *drerreni (with a Noldorin-style metaphony) > *drerrein '
·o.."\ks' (N doron pI. dum..ein , deren: Etym. +AC OORON-)
ON ngolodo pI. *ngolodi > *ngrelre6i (with a Noldorin-style
metaphony) > *ngreirei6' 'Naldo' (N goJodh pI. goeioeidh, geieidh:
Etym . NGOL- :NG01.()D-)
· phorj a > *f rerio > ·[reir' 'right (hand)' (N [reir, [eir, Q [orya 'right':
Etylll.+ AC PIIOR-)
*mnia > *rrenio > · rrem ' 'slot, spoor, track, footprint' (N rh<..ein,
rhein, Q nmya 'slot, footprint': Etym. RUN-)
OuIja > *~lia > ~reil; 'it is raining' (N <..eil, eil: Etym. ULU-)

6 > 0[: */lauki > */liigi > *noig' 'stunted ones, dwarves' (5 naug pl. noeg: S
App., nuu.g; UT I II, note 16; QE App.S:l)

95

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

(; > UI: *duri > *duir' 'dark (pl.)' (5 dllr pI. duir, N dQr: 5 App.. dllr; UT
Index, EWYI! Duir; Etym. 003)
*lUni > *Iuin' 'blue (pl.) (N Ihun pI. luin, Q lune: Etym. LUG 2 _; in S
luin is prob.1bly both sg. and pi" since it occurs in sg, contexts like
Mindolluin 'Towering Blue-head': S Index, Milldolluin')
*phorjti > *phiiria > *fuw 'north, northern ' (5 fuir: Rivers Hills
Halifirien:2)
*riinjti > *riinia > *ruin ' 'rcd flamc' (S ruin, Q ninya: 5 App" ruin;
PM XI, note 6 1:6 gives the same word with the related meaning
'fiery red', but that time the Q equivalent is runya with a short
vowel)

In Noldorin the breaking of 0 gives ui,

ON nabOro pi, *abOri > *avOri > *avuir' (N Afor pi, Efuir, Elyr: E(ym,
AB-)
*nauki > *nogi > *nuig' 'stunted ones, dwarves ' (N nauz pI. tlUig:
Etym. +AC NAU K-)
*wtini > *woni > *wuin' 'geese' (N gwaull pI. guill, Q vun pI. valli:
Etym. IVA-N-)

Breaking also happened before the palatal glide j, which must have
palatalised a preceding consonant too. It seems (hal j was preserved for a while
after a prefix or at the initial of the second member of a compound while in
oth er positions it consistently yielded i in Old Noldorin, Later however it seems
that the few cases of preserved internal j became i too (see notably ON eljadme
> N eilian(w) below),

*anjora > *enjora > *einjora 'elder' (S einior, cf S / N iaur 'old', Q

ylira: S App" iaur; UT 4 I Further notes:B; Etym, G~:NG·wA-, VA-; PM XI,
note 2 1:1)
*atjende > *erjende > *eirjende 'dai sy' (S eirien: SD 1 XI The second
version:67)
ON eljadllle > *eljanwe > *eiljan we 'rainbow ' (N eiliall(w), Q
helyanwe: Etym, )EL- , YAT -; etymologically a compound meaning 'sky-
bridge')

In a few instances it seems that breaking was triggered by i in hiatus word-

internally.

, Snu""e<I by .'~"'k."g.". [pre-I '-"-"J- J.

96

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldorin

Usatja_ wrinen 'satya-'> *satia- > *sedia- > *seidia- 'to set aside' (5
seidia-, related to Q sati-: Rivers Hills Calenhad)
!ltjalia_ > *ra/ia- > *telia- I *teilia- 'to play' (N reiio, reilio, related to
Q tyulln 'I play': Etym, lYAL-)
*talierl- > *te lie rl- I *teilien- 'sport, play' (N re(i)/ien: Etym, W AL- )

We even have a single example where a hiatic i caused breaking and then
disappeared: S gleina- 'to bound, enclose, limit' related to T glania - 'to bound ,
li mit' (Rivers Rivers ~ 4), The development can be plansibly reconstructed as
*glarlia - > *glenia- > *glein 'a- > gU ina-, l ln an editorial note (Rivers, ed,note
13) Carl Hostetter wonders if it is nOI an error for *gleinia- bllt says Ihat
~Tolkien was exceedingly careful 10 COITe1:1 errors in his cilation of elements
from his languages, so if gkina- here is an uncoITe1:ted error, it would be most
unusual. Moreover, Ihe phonological development of some of Ihe Telerin and
Sindari n ordinals ending in -ya discussed at the end of the appendix of this
essay suggests that T glania - and S gleina- may be plausible cognates: cf. T neiya
't hird', (archaic S,?) *nei/(a), S neil, nai/ ~, Yet this exemplifies the development
finally, not medially, and the same essay has the 5 form seidia- < satya- (Rivers
Hills Calenhad, see just above), The Sindarin gleina - thus remains quite difficult,
Bill there are many counter-examples both in Noldorill and Sindarin:

a m red iad I arnedia d 'numberless' (S App., oro; Etym. AR 2 _, NO-r-)

beria - 'to prote1:t' (Etym. BAR-)
brenia- 'to endure' (Etym. +AC IIOR6N-)
delia- 'to conceal (Etym. 01)1.-)
eg/cdhia- 'to go into exile' (Etym. LED-; die manuscript has eg/ehio,
probably a sli p acco rding to Etym.AC u'n-)
eg/eria- 'to glorify, praise' (LR 6 IV:43; L 230:5)
cria- 'to rise' (Etym. ORO·:l)
ge nediad 'reckoning' (SD 1 XI The second version:67, 7I)
Gilthoniel 'Starkindler' (LR 2 1:169; LR 4 X:I 0, 12; MR 5 IV:5--6; R
A Elbereth, interlinear; R O! Elbereth :5; L 2 1}:4)
gweria- 'to betray, cheat' (Etym. WAR-)
cnia- 'to understand ' (Etym, Kll llN-)
heria- 'to begin suddenly and vigorously ' (Etym.+AC KIIOR-)
r1 cdio - '10 count' (Etym. NOT-)

I By it.",lf ,his rievdo!,m~n' is not nn","ol. It i, ",'en f<>T in"" "",, in 'he rlev,'IOIlmenl of And,,,,, G",,'k
from f'nJ« ~ lnrl, ~ E lon~k ,on (Dd"m."" 19114):
/Kun" 'I go' <: >brlnY', <: P",!o .lnrlo- E()"'I "'~n - (""!yo (syllahic fII), cOffi!', ,,e iJo ' in "",,;f)
'''"nil 'I smile, 1 ,loy' <' P.-. A (~ lnrl( ~E ()n~"'.n-("I,mY;;, "'me n~~ in Sltn.,kri! Mn'; 'smiles, 'loy.' an d
iJolin d~ffJ,r16 'I defend', ofJmdo 'I wound, J offend'

97

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

orthelian 'canopy' (Etym. TEL-)

pelia- 'to spread ' (Ety m, PAL-)
peaia- 'to fix, to set' (Etym. PAN -)
perian 'halfling' (LR 5 VIII:19; LR App,E I Consonants, PH;
R O! Elbereth:lB; L 230:5)
rhenia- 'to fly, sail, wander' (Etym. RAM - )
rhellia- 'to stray' (Etym. RAN-)
# thelion '·o ne who remai ns firm in his purpose' (WJ 3111:21 in
Aegtl!elion)

Clearly breaking triggered by hiatic i is very m uch the exception. The fact
that it is optional in the Noldorin words for 'play' may point towards diale<:tal
variations. It m ight also apply to seidio - and the curious gleino-, though in this
instance it might as well be an instance of Tolkien changing his mind. It is
interesting that a similar variation regarding breaki ng is found in the Brythonic
languages berween Welsh on the one hand, Cornish on the other hand , For
instance, the plural of mob 'son' is meibiol! in Welsh but mebyon in Cornish.'
We noti ced earlier that the ultimate I-affe<:tion of a could be e, seemingly
in words of a peculiar phonetic shape. In Sindarin this is seen before ronsonant
clusters made of r + ronsonants, and the group fig, In Noldorin it would seem
that any ronsonant cluster opposes breaking. There are two possibilities:
• either palatalisation never took place in these words, hindered by the
mentioned consonant
• or the diphthong ei was 'smoothed' to the simple vowel e afterwards in
those positions.
We do not observe restrictions on breaking with other vowels, but this may
well be by chance. The breaking of long vowels cannot be observed before
consonant clusters since long vowels are generally shortened in this position in
Eldarin la nguages,l As for the breaking of iE, we have few examples of it
anyway, and none is before a ronsonant duster.;)
There is a notable and embarrassing exception to breaking: the name of
Elbereth, the etymology of which is given in MR 5 IV:2: 0ellmbarathi. We
would expec t this to yield H Elberaith as · galadi gave gelaidh , yet it is not so.

, Nul " Ih"1 in Ihe"" words, Welsh ; I Cornish Y i. c-onsonanl"l , in ,,,,,I,.,," wilh Sind"rin I Noldorin.
2 This is In,e if we use ~ "'Sl ri<1ive definiTion of whHI a """"",anT is, ~1Id exclude} ,,,,d IV from CORSO-
nan""
J Two Tt"j.,<1 ed 1'1" ...... fo"r><! in Ihe "Addend. " nd C",rig«nd " '" Ih e E'ymologi.,." (.,nlri". OT<)o "nd
6rok· j"r<' in", ,,,,;. ;ng;" . h is I",n;pe. :ti ve : ach 1'1. of a",h 'Orc' Knd un 1'1. of om ' , ,,,,,'. Pmll<lbly ' h ~y
Sl"" d fOT e.r/i..,. ' rrrch "nd ' a;m, In 'he"" fOIm' We """ ht-n"" of .... ising of 0 "nd fll".''''''~''f lK",rki''l(
1Hf"'" rl l~ com.:mnnf d Im"". ~'" Ih ,..,., fOIm' W"",",, re l'l~red h y Ihe 1'1. yn;h ""d ym,

98

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

We must look fo r an explanation oUlside of phonology. The .j is here a feminine

ending also seen in Quenya, where for instance we encoullIer quelldi 'elf-
woman ' (MR 3 II Laws a nd Customs, note 12) beside the much more common
plural Queudi 'Elves' (S Index, Queudi; QE A *KW EN, Quen ya I(b) + B Quenya,
2). Feminines in -i do not seem to have been very common, as far as we can
judge from Quenya, perhaps because of Ihe awkward homophony with the
plural ending. II m ust have been all the truer for archaic Sindarin since -i was
almost uni versal as a plural mark. 1 It may be then that in the developme nt of
the name of Elbererh, the feminine endi ng, probably no longer productive, was
m istaken wi th the plural endi ng, felt inconvenient in a personal name and
removed o r re placed by another vowel. The phonetic structure demands that, in
our model, this happened be twee n raisi ng and breaking.
Interestingly, there is no insuperable phonetic problem in Noldorin: Etym.
BARATH- gives ON Barathi{/) , N Bcrethil and Elbcrcth. The plural patlems of
Noldorin show that -aCi > -ciC that can be mo nophthongised to -cC in
unstre ssed syllables, which wo uld be the case in Elbereth. Moreover, influence
from the variant Bcrethi! is not unlikely. In a n external point of view, of course,
the Noldorin name musl simply have end ured in Sindarin; but its de rivation
needed to be reinterpreted in light of Tolkien's later co nceptions aboUl the
historical phonology of the Janguage.

5. WELSH VERSUS GERMANIC INFLUENCES

It is interesting, if not very surprising, to fi nd many similarities betwccn the
Welsh vowe l affection pattern and the one in Si ndarin. To lkien did not co nceal
his chief source of inspira tion fOf that language. And indeed the parallels arc
ma ny. Welsh has a dichotomy between final and internal I-affection. Its pat-
terns of vowel affection are shown in the next tabl e (after Thorne 1993).
Historically, metaphony affected only etymologicall y short vowels in the
development of Welsh (Jackson 1953). Si milarly, in Sindarin, only short vowels
can change their quality by metaphony; long vowels can only be broken in fi nal
syllables.
However, from a phonetic point of view, Sind a ri n differs somewhat from
Welsh when I-affection is considered. Welsh displays quite a strong tendency 10

1 The ON p;tir pOlO pI. pod (Elym. 1'010-) s],ows lhal even words ""ding in vowel, l ook ./ in lhe
ph".I. wilh Ih,' ~XCf"I .. ion of ·ui pl" .... 1s or -<> word, from I'll _u. I!.il h,·r 1'1",.1, fo rmed rli"'c< ly on Ihe
S1t"T11 like t he 'Hl~ ""e" in lh~ Q""np pa ir V"l" 1'1. Val; (fn ..... PR " balii 1'1. " bali) bee.m" g""e",1 in the
b",nch of Elvi<h I~Krl ing 10 Noldorin I SindKrin, Or th e eE r,,,,,1 diphlhong< _oi, ' 0; en<~mnle "' rl in
1'1"",), l" m ed 10 i. There is ........ evide n' ,., for il in lhe . vo)"l i,Hl of the ""me of 0..,", in Sind~rin fL.
p"""med in QIi 'Uoog,,~ge of lhe Val~r' :2'J, " Quai :> " 0 ..1.

99

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

Welsh
A-affection y >e
w > 0
i > ai (one word)
Final I-affection , > d, ai or y (e in penl1lt)
oy
ae > ai
o > y (e in penult)
w > y
oe > wy
aw > v
Internal I-affection a > e, ei
e > ei
ae > ei, ey
aw > ew

Old Norse Old English Middle High

(Old Icelandic fonns) (Early West Saxon) Gemlan
A-affectio n i > e i > e i > e
> 0 u > a 0> 0
[-affection > ," , • > ,
0 > , a > re,e
0> ,
0 > 0
> y o > IX (early) > , 11 > ii
a > re' " 11 > Y ii > ae [r: ] ~
6 > (l! 1 a > & a > oe [0:1 2
6 > long (I! (early) > e ti > iu
> 9
," > 'y " Ii > y-
ea > ie
all >
uo >
[y:]2
OU
lie
io, eo > ie
ea > ie
la, eo > Ie
U-affectioll a > Q re > ea -
00 e > eo
i > y i > ioeo

1 Old No"" '" .Il~'" we", long vowels.

1 The Middl e High Germ.n digr~l'hs a e, a~,;u d"",~ed I""g mnfl(~)h'hong.<, I'mL.Lly [l: ], [ ..: [, [)C] in
b rood l1'A tnmscriplion.

100

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecriorl in Sindari.n and Noldonn

assimilate sou nds in final syllables to its y - a variery of jl - and does not
display Sindarin's rypical front rounded vowels y , (l!! ,2 These are muc h more like
the products of I-affection in Germanic languages. The last table shows general
j)<1tterns of vowel affection found in some aucielll Gennanic languages
(Robinso n 1992; Mosse 1950; J olivet & Mosse 1972).
The fron ti ng of back vowels is quite like the ki nd observed in Sindarin.
There is a speciall y stri king parallel between the Old English unrou nding of (e
to e and thc same phcnomcnon obscrved in Sindarin and Noldorin. This parallel
extcnds furthcr: wc know from The Lord of me Ring~ , App.E I Vowcls:3, that in
Go ndor, y too was unrounded to yield i. Thi s is al so what happened to the Old
English y. In Middle English it was unrounded sooner or later in every dialect;
the resulting sou nd depended on the dialect and the phonetic surround ing, bill
was freq uently i. Modern English traces of this process are found for inrtance in
kiss < cyssan and fill < fyUan.
Sindarin and Noldorin p.."Itterns of vowel affection thus appear as a kind of
m ix between Welsh and Germanic - sometimes specifically English - inspira-
tions, To use one of Tolkien's favourite metaphors, to cook hi s Sindarin he
certainly poured much Welsh in his li nguistic cauldron, but we can also track
b.1ck many ot her bits and pieces thm, blended, give Grey-Elven its unique
flavour. The external and personal significance of the ingredients to Tolkien
remai ns to be investigated, but we may remind us his great interest in the
interplay of languages on England's soil, as we find it powerfully and perplex-
ingly expressed in his essay English and W elsh .

1 In r,lliIl syll~bl .... th e Welsl, y "s"~lIy d"nOles a ttnlr.tl U"'01U1dcd high vowe l. [n Somh W~ldl ;t is
'hif1ed forw.nl., .nd I'TOllnm'''''d lik e i.
2 Th~ d,,,,, .. W.,J,h ... und wm,ld 10" i.. u, hi" OIic.ny ..."n,,,,1 .m,nded high vow~l. It W", I~",.
",.roun d.,.! .,><1 in the mod"m l... );,..ge, " i, p n >r>mmeed like y in fin.l syll~hl"s. i.e. oS ~ cen,,,,1
unnl nn de<l hi;;l> vow.,] in NOr1 h Wal" •• "' an i in Soulh W~ l"". Bu , ,1>i, smmd i, n<~ K I'm.1",1 of I·
aff"", ;on. (Mom.·Jones 1'170, md J~ckson 1'171.)

101

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

WORKS CITED
BeIlet, Bertrand. "The NoIdorin Plurals in the Etymologies~. Tengwestie. Ed. Carl
F. Hostetter and Patrick H. Wynne. 2005. 14 Ju ly 2005 < http: //VI,\vw
.el vish.org/Tengwestie/articles/ Bellet/ noidplur. phtml > .
Delamarre, Xavier. Le vocabulaire indo·europeerr: lexique elymologique thematiqut.
Paris: Ubralrie d'Ametique et d'Orlent , 1984.
H
Fauskanger, Helge K. "Sindarin - the Noble Tongue Ardalambion. [Pre-1999,
•

updated later]. 14 July 2005

< http://www.uib.no/ People/ hnohflsindarin .htIll > .
Flieger, Verlyn, and Carl F. Hostetter, eds. Tolkien's Legendarium: Es.says on The
History of Middle-Eanh. Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and
Fantasy 86. Westport, CT; London: Greenwood Press, 2000.
[osad, Pavel. nThe Noldorin Past-Tense Verb: The Germanic Background n.
Online posting. 22 Jan. 2004. L<1Illbengolruor. 14 July 2005 < http://
groups. yahoo.com/ group/lambengolmor/message/ 620 > .
Jackson, Kenneth H. Language and History in Early Britain: a Chronological
Survey of the Brythonic wngtloge5 1st to 12m c. A.D. Edi nburgh: Edinburgh
UP, 1971.
Jolivet, Alfred, and Fernand Mosse. Manuel de I'allemond du Moyen-A.ge des
origines aux XIV ' sieck 2nd edition. 2 vols. Bibliolhequc dc philologie
gemlaniqlle 1. Paris: Aubler, 1972.
Morris-Jones, John. A Welsh Grammar, Hisrorical and Comparative: Phonology
mId Accidence. 4th edition. Oxford: Clarendo n, 1970.

Mosse, Fernand. Vieil-arrglais. 2 tomes. Paris: Aubier, 1950. Vol. I of Manuel de

I'ang/ais du Moyen -A.ge des origine5 au XIV'" sil!ck. Bibliotheque de philologie
germaniqlle 8.
Rei nheimer, Sanda, and Liliane Tasmowski. Pratique de5 langues romane.s:
espogno~ fram;ais, iea/ien, portugais, roumain. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1997.

Robinson, Orrin W. Old English alld TIS Closest Relatives: A Survey of tIJe Earlie51
Gennmlic Language5. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1992.
Stenstrom, Anders, Beregond. MAttested Sindarin Plu rals ~ . Mellollath Daeroll. 8
Apr. 2000 (orig. 13 Mar. 1998). l4 J uly 2005 < http://www.forodrim
.org/daeron/md.J)lur.bulll > .

102

C JPYnghted malenal
 Vowel A!fecrior! in Sindari.n and Noldorin

Stevanovifch, Cole{(e, Manuel d '/ristoire de la langue Ilnglaise des origines d 110S

jours, Paris: Ellipses, 1997,
Thom e, David A. A Compre/rellsive Welsh Grammar; Gramadeg Cymraeg
Cynhwysfawr, Blackwell Reference Grammars. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993.

103

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

Mans Bjorkman:

The Scripts of Aman

SOURC ES, DEVELOPMENTS AN D RELATIONSHTPS

INTRODUCTION

O
N NEW YEA R'S DAY 1919, soon a fter having started his life-long work
with recording the lcgclldarium , J ,R.R. Tolkien began keeping a diary.
Humphrey C:upenter notes in his biography of Tolkien that

i, in ord in~ ry h ~ ndwri li ng h~ t... g;m i n "e~d '0 nse ~ """.rt..hlp.

[~ lf",c ,,~n in g
.tph~ l~" ,h. , he h ~d jn« inv<-n r.,d, whi"h 1(X>k .. d like. m ix'n"" of .... brew,
G"",k, and Pi'man's shon h.nd , He soon decided to involve il wi,h hi. mytho-
logy, ~nd he "limed it •. ~ Alphabet of R1lmi]'
Call>ffiler 198'7. 1'·107

This "alphabet ~ was to remain a significant element in Tolkien's evolving

subcreation . In The Lord of me Rings, published more than thirty years later, we
are told that

[Ilhe oldeS! EM.ri n ~ u crs, 'be T.,l1gWM of RIlmil. We"" 1101 "sed in Middlc-
The laler leuers, the Tengwar of Feanor, were largely ~ new invention,
e ~ nh ,
t ho,,~ . hey owed someth i ,, ~ to the letters of R(,mil,
LR IIpp ,E 1I,3

Tolkien's original diary of 1919 has not been made publicl y available, but
in recent years a large numbe r of other texts written wi th the ~ Alphabet of
R(Ullil ~ have been published, I From these texts, it is clear that Carpenter was

I Most Sa",,; rloc11m"",. are p,, ~lished i" "The Al ph~bet of R(,m il" (IIR).

104

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

right in his descri ption of th e al phabe t, though the si milarity to Pitman's shol1-
hand appears to be quite superficial.
More impol1antly, to anyo ne wi th an interest in different forms of w riting it
is obvious that the alphabet sha res features with several primary-world scripts,
Many of the sa me features reappear in the Tengwar of Feanor, w hich Tolkien
developed in the 19305, and also in the experimental scripts tllat were the
forerunners of the Tengwar in the preceding decade. Tol kien evident ly liked
some features of primary-world scripts and wanted them to be part of hi s
subcreati on, in much tile same way as he appreciated so me features of Welsh,
Fi nni sh and Old English, and wallIed to illlegrate them into his own lang uages.
From the point of view of the mythology, tile explanati on of the recurri ng
features is tha t Feallor"s scri pt ~owed something to the letters of Rumil" (in the
words of The Lord of the Rings). Both Rli mil and Feanor were Noldor, Hi gh-elves
that lived on the con ti nen t of the Valar in the out ermost west (called Aman in
later w ritings). The forerunners of the Tengwar that were created in the 192010
were also connected by Tolki en with the continent of the Valar, as is demon-
strated by the nallle "Valmaric which is given to the only one of these
H
,

intermediate scripts that has so far reached print . In this paper I will therefore
refer to this group of related writi ng systems as "scripts of Aman or "AmanicH

scripts",
Tolkien experimented wi th many different ki nds of scripts. Beside tile
scrip ts of Aman, a second group of w riting systems that figure promi nen tly in
Tolkien's writings may be characterized as rune systems, since they were
inspired by or derived directly from the old Ge m lanic scripts. Two of these
systems made it into the books tha t Tolkien publi shed d uring his [ife : the
En glish Ru nes used in The Hobbit, \ and the Cirth in The Lord. of the RingS.l The
former are simply an adaptation of the Old Engl ish Fuporc for modern English,
but the latter w riting system is Tolkien 's own inventi on, and may therefore to a
greater degree be expected to renect hi s personal taste. And indeed, some of the
' favoured fea tures' of the Amanic scripts al so recu r in the Ci rt h, as well as in
several other rune systems that were never published in Tolkien's lifetime;' in
p."U1icular the systema tic in di cating of pron unciation by way of interre la ted
letter-shapes, But numerous as they are, the nm ic systems could nOI com pete
with the Amani, scri pts for Tolki ell's attention. Tolkien often seems to have
scrabbled down notes a nd short texts using Rli mil's al phabe t, and later the
Tengwar. There is also a large number of ded ications and letters to readers

\ H l'Tt'fal Ory nOW.

1 lR A]lI'.E II C.irt h.
J See for i""~ nc e 11 AI'!'., ~ nrl "!'.Iorty Rllnk Doc1lmem," (lORD).

105

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

written with tengwar. In comparison, the nmic material is very scarce. I It

seems clear that Tolkien's own preference was for his Amanic scripts.
in this paper I will discuss the inspirations and concepts underlying the
scripts of Aman. I intend to investigate the recurring ideas and themes of these
systems on both a stmctural and a graphemic level. I wi ll also look for possible
sources of inspiration among primary-world sc ri pts. By doi ng so, I do not by
any means claim that any particular scripts inspired the scripts of Aman: I will
merely demonstrate that the Amanic scripts have many features in common
with primary-worl d scripts other than the Roman alphabet, scripts that Tolkien
as a linguist and philologist could hardly have avoided ge tting acquainred with.
Neither do I claim to know every script of the primary world, and it is very
possible that some similari ties between the Amanic scripts and primary-world
scripts are missed by oversight .

THE SCRIPTS

Although it seelllS there are still unpublished scripts that Illay be char-
acterized as ~ Amanic ~, three distinct systems are found in the published
material. I will in this paper refer to them as the Sarati, the Val maric, and the
Tengwar.
Common to these scri pts of Aman is a strong tendency towards having
graphic elements of the letters signify specific characteristics of the pronuncia-
tion, so that sounds with the same point or method of articulation are written
with letters that are graphically related. This feature is also found in many of
ToUden's rune systems. All of th e Amanic scripts also feature special arrange-
menTS where the letters are partially reassigned to fit the phonemes of a
particular language, such as Quenya. When referri ng to the Tengwar, Tolkien
called these special arrangemems '· modes~ . All three scripts also employ dia-
critics to indicate vowels and some consonant modifications.
The scripts of Aman are COIISOIIGlrta/ in nature. As has been no ted, vowels
are usually written wi th diacritics, when they are written at all . In the Tengwar,
vowels are sometimes written with full letters, but the letter-shapes seem to be
assigned to vowels with little or no regard to their poill! of articulation in
relation to other letters of the system. When we speak of letters as graphically
indicating their pronunciation, we are thus concerned with consonants only.

1 F')1" ~n indi~ill i,," of lhi<, '''ml''..... lhe M.1l01l.,h Dioeroll illdi"", (1996- ) of lexlS wri nen Wilh.
resl'eC1iv~ly, cinh (OCS) ~Ild lellgwar (DTS). Th~ former tiSl' 18 lexu, lhe t~ner more . h~Il60.

106

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

The Sarati
The Sarati were the first script that Tol kien connected to hi s fictional
world, and also according to the fiction the first to be invented. The name
sarod, which now has widespread acceptance, occurs only once in the published
writings' - in other sources the script is mostly referred to as "R(lmil ian ~,
~Rllmil's A lphabet ~, or "the Tengwar of RllmW, after its fictional crea tor, Rllmil
the Elfsage. The specimina span the time from about 1919 to the 1930s, with
one small addi tion dating from about 1959- 60. They display a great deal of
aiteration, but also a great deal of persistence, and demonstrate mat the system
on the whole remained intact in Tolkien's vision. The most significant features
that distinguish this script from the other Amanie seripts are that the writing
direction usually is top-to·bottom (though some texts are written left to right,
and a few right to left), and that the letters are written as if hanging from a
~ bar·· , which can, but does not ha ve to, be drawn as a continuous line to which
the letters are con nected.

The Valmaric
In the 1920s, Tolkien experimented with several new scripts that display a
kinship with both the Sarati and the Tengwar. The Val maric is the earliest of
these experimental scripts. 2 Dating from circa 1922 to 1925, it is so far the only
one of these that has been published. The sources also refer to it as ~Qenya
writing~, u Qenyatic~, and "Qenyarinwa~, though these terms are apparently
also used with reference to others of the experimental scripts. Compared to the
Sarari, the Valmarie has made strides in its design towards the simplici ty of the
Tengwar. As is also regular for the Tengwar, the writing direction is consistent-
ly horizontal, runn ing left to right. Tolkien describes the the scri pt samples as
representing mree different layers of development in the history of me script:
u Old ~, ·'Middle··, and kLate'". But it is not dear whether the history belongs to
the fictio n or the primary wo rld. Possibly it does both.

The Tengwar
The Tengwar received their familiar form circa 1931. 3 When The Lord of
the Rings was written, some twenty years later, the Tengwar was the most
prominent of the Elven scripts, and occurs on several oet:asions in the book

1 QE Aw. 1),2O.
1 The m~j()ril y ()f 'he exl llfl' V"lm"ric doc"me n""'" I'"blc,h" d ill"111e V~lm. rit: Seri]>l" (VS) .
J VS lnlrod"ctioo HiSl ol}':l .

107

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

itself,) The experimental Valmaric, being in fact a forenmner of the Tengwar,

had by then been abandoned. But already in the 19305, Tolkien had determined
that both the ~Alphabe t of Rl)mil" and the Tengwar were created by Elves, the
latter script being in some aspects inspired by the fonner. 1 This rela tionship
between the two scri pts was to remain intact, as has been noted in the
introduction.
The Tengwar are strllcturally the si mpl est of the scripts. All the ~basic ~
tellgwar are based on two clements, a &tern and a bow, which may be altered in
a limited number of ways to form a system of 32 visually interrelated letters.
Additi onal letters are also created, some based on basic letters, others more
freely. TIle writing direction is virtually always lefHo-right.

LETTER DESIGN
Interrelated letters for interrelated conso na nts
In The Lord of the Ril1g5, Tolkien infonns us that ~ [t] he only relation in our
alphabet that would have appeared intelligible to the E1dar is that between P
and B; and their separation from one another, and from F, M, V, wou ld have
seemed to them absurd'" (LR App.E II (1):2, footuote), From this we can con-
clude two things: the Eldar thonght that there should be a relation between the
shapes of letters representing similar sounds; and they also thought that such
letters should follow each other when all letters of a script were Ii&ted -
anything else would be ~ab&llrd '· . The Sarati , Valmari c and Tengwar all meet
these demands.
In the scripts of Aman, most [etters share a limited collection of modifiable
elements. These elements are fairly numerous in the Sarati, slightly less so in
th e Valmaric, and only two in the Tengwar. For the last script we have a
detailed knowledge of the mechanisms behi nd the design of the letters.
The primary letters of the Tengwar each consist of one teleo or stem , and
one luva or bow. The nomlal form of the teleo is a vertical line descending
below the line of writing, like the shape of a lowercase j withom a do t; in
variation, the stem can be raised, reduced, or extended. The bow can either be
open or d osed (with a horizontal stroke), "and in either ease it could be
doubled ~ (LR App.E II (1):4), Combining the two elements, the bow c"n be
attached to either side of the stem, from which it always curves away
clockwise.

) l.~., Ih~ litle' I,oge, G.r><I~lf', I.l~,l.l engw. (1 [:26), lhe Ring. inSCrip'ion (1 11:72, ill.) , lhe ])(X'''' of
Dnrin (2 IV, ill. (10 ~ ', 9:1 _98» , ~nd lhe Tengw. l.b[e (A]>p.E II (i), l~b[ ,,).
2 AR IU 4.

108

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

Thus the teleo has four possible shapes, and the hiva no less tha n eight,
allowing for a large number of distinct lener-forms from two ~ b.1sic" elements,
We can see that the principles underlyi ng the shapes of the tengwar were
worked ou t very precise ly, The sc ri pt also compri sed a number of " addi tional ~
letters, w hich wen t beyond the li mitatio ns of these two building blocks. It has
been suggested that such letters were included because they helped break the
monotony in li nes of letters consisting of just two elements. l
Th is idea of derivi ng letters from a few eleme nts with several possible
forms can be discerned in the Valmaric and the Sarati as wel l, though in these
scripts the "basic" elements seem [0 have been more num erous. Si nce no
explicit account of the matter by Tolkien is avai lable, it is not dear whether he
had worked out the shapi ng principles for the older scripts to the same extent
as he did for the Tengwar. Nonetheless, it is easy to discern some of th e
possible element mod ifications of the Tengwar already in the older systems. For
instance, do ubled shapes seem to have been a prominent featu re already in the
Sarati , and remai ned so in the Valmaric.
From the poillf of view of the subcreation, it stands to reason tha t the
sha pes of the tengwar were b.1sed on deliberate planning. The Tellgwar were,
after all, th e conscious invention of one person - Feanor - who wanted to
im prove on the works of his predecessors. It is also logical, at least accordi ng to
ToLkien's earl ier ideas, that the design of the older scripts wo uld not a ppear to
be so deliberately planned. For a long time Tolkien thought that Ru mi l in fact
did not " i nvent ~ the Sarati. In the words of the text called ~The Elvish Al pha-
bets", " [o]nly the completion and arrangement of thi s system was aCh lally due
to Rlimil of Tuna; its author or authors are now forgotten H (TI App. (0:3).
Anocher so urce informs us that the Sarati is "the later cursi ve fo m l of th e old
Va/illotian al phabe t, as it was finally developed in Tun by Rumi!. "The letter-
sha pes and valu es were origi nally very variable " (A R R] 7). The first statements
suggesting that Rwni l created the writing system from scratc h appenr in texts
writt en in the early 19505,2 It see ms, th us, that the Sarati were originally
imagined as an attempt at a rranging and sorting a naturally developed v.rri ting
system, the origins of which were losl in the m ists of lime.
The leiters of the Ama nic sc ri pls are mapped to consona nt s in Slid t a
manner that phonologically related sounds are represented by glyphs that
demonstra te an intentional gra phic rela tedness, One m ight also say that each
stroke tha t the letters are made up of tells us something about their pro-
nunciati on. Thi s is most consistent Ly the case in the Tengwar, less so iu the
Va lmaric, and least in the Sarati, alt hough the intention is very clearly present
1 AII ~n ! 97H, p.279.
2 MR 2 §l:jO; MR oS 16 §46~ .

109

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

in aLI three. Also, the intended enumeration of the letters seems consistently in
all three scripts to have been such that letters represenling sounds with similar
articulation are grouped together. Often the letters are given in matrices where
the columns and rows represenl differenl points and methods of articulation. As
a consequence of this, letters with related appearance are nearly al ways found
in close proximity when listed.
As noted, this correspondence between strokes and features of pronunci-
ation is at its most consistent in the Tengwar. For example, a descend ing (t hat
is, unomlal") stem seems universally to have been used for stop consonants, and
a doubled bow 10 have represented voiced pronunciation. It seems further th at
dosed bows in Feanor's original design represented labialization; thi s would
explain why pam1arima, the labial series of tengwar, is distinguished by closed
bows from lil1cotima, the dental series, an d it would also provide a symmetry
with the distinction between the labiovelar quessetima and and the velar
calmau!ma.'
In the Sarati, one prominent connecti on between strokes and so unds is seen
in the close association of doubled elements wit h voiced articulation. Bur in
other cases the consistency often seems to be broken, so that a shape which
appears to be associated with labials might unexpectedly turn up in a letter
represeilling a dental or velar sound. Admittedly, this might be due to difficulty
in detemlining what is intended as a basic element and what is meant to be a
modification of another b."\sic element.
In our primary world, few writing systems show any signs of phonological
consideration in the relationship between letter-shapes and pronunciation.
Si nce most scripts seem to have developed out of piClograms, this is nO( a great
surprise. We should perhaps anticipate that Ihe best example of a script in
which the letter-shapes are directly related to the pronunciation is an invented
alphabet. O ne of the few that are widely accepted is the Korean script, also
known as Han·gul. It is attributed to King Sejong, who introduced it in Korea in
the 14405. The background for the new script was dissatisfaction with the Chi -
nese Ido scri pt, which had until then been used to express Korean. King Sejong
called the Chinese system ~ too complicated, imperfect, and inconvellient ~ for
this purpose (Coulmas 1991, p.ll S) . It is easy to imagine Feanor ra ising similar
(although perhaps not quite so severe) objections agai nst Rumil's Sarati.
The Korean script cOllsists of twenty-four signs, of which fourteen are COII-
sotmnlS and ten are vowels. Some of the Korean phonemes are considered more
Ub."\sic·· than others, and the signs representing these phonemes are meant to
actually portray the articulation point of their sound. For insfance, the sign

To my knowledge, lh; , w~. rom ,uAAested ;n Manf""" 200~_

110

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

for IkJ depicts the tongue touching oeJ OC::EL2t::JU

the velum. Other signs were created k kh f] t h n r p p"
by very consistently adding diacri tics
to the b.1sic elements: thus, the sign O A)\!\L. D D
, 7 h
for the aspirate /khl was based on
a 1111 sign to which was appended a Figure 1. Han'gul, original version
horizontal stroke, denoting aspiration. (based on Coulmas 1991 , p.1I9) .
This is of course a vcry dose parallel
to the system, if not the actual design,
of the s<:ripts of Aman. Where the Korean script has a larger number of ~b.1.sic "
signs than the s<:ri pts of Aman, the latter permit a greater number of modifi -
cations of each element.'
The Korean signs do not traditionally appear to be sorted according to their
articulation in any consistent manner. Since they are so few in number, one
should perhaps not expect this to have been a priority. To find a s<:ript in the
primary world that resembles that aspect of the Amanic scripts, we need to turn
elsewhere. On the Indian subco ntinent a la rge number of scripts that derive
from the Brahm i script flourish. Of these, the most widely known is Devanagari,
which is used to write Sanskrit,
If Han'gul has noticeably few signs, Devanagari bas noticeably many, Forty-
eight letters are used to write Sanskrit, thirteen vowels and thirty·five con-
sonants. The traditional order of the letters, which was devised by the ancient
Indian grammarians, is used in Sanskrit dictionaries. The letters are sorted into
groups beginni ng with vowels, then gutturals, p.1.latals, cerebrals, dentais,
labials, semivowels, and spirants. Mosr of these groups are also sorted internally
by method of articulation: first voiceless, then voiceless aspirated, voiced,
voiced aspirated, and nasa1.' This order has a more than casual resemblance to
the order in which both the Sarati, the Valmaric and the Tengwar are usually
listed. This, in combination with the similarity in outer form between
Devanagari and the scripts of Aman, makes the Indic script a very credible
so urce of inspiration for Tolkien's sysrems.
However, although the o urer fonn of the Devanagari is reminiscent of the
Aman ie scripts at a glance, there is no hint in the Indic script of the systematic
representation of related sounds with graphically related letters found in the
Tengwar, Valmaric and Sarati. It seems clear that the ancient Indian gram-
marians merely sorted phonologicall y a system of letters that was, b.1.sically,
already in existence. Perhaps their role can be compared to that of Rumil, who,

, ('~",tm.s 199], ]11.'.118- 120; N.kHni..hi }990, 1,.92.

2 eo"tm... t'l') ]' pp. 11:16- 1117.

III

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

aI least according to the older notion, merely was responsible for the ~com ­
pletion and arrangement" of the SarntL
There have of course been many attempts over the centuries at constructing
' logic.11 ' writing systems, where the shapes of letters indicate their pronun-
ciation. Already in All Imroducrioll co EIvi5h, Jim Allan pointed out Francis
Lodwick's ·'Universall Alphabet".' This system, which was published in 1686,
has consonant signs consisting of two elements that each correspond to a point
and a method of articulation, rcspectively; the signs are ordered in rows and
colum ns after these characteristics; and vowels are expressed by diacritics that
are placed above the preceding consonant. Tolkien may very well have seen
this system and been inspired by it. Allan quotes criticism by David Abercombie
against the alphabet, that ·'[ilt suffers from the same defect as all its 'represen -
tational' predecessors and successors: the letters are far too like one another,
and readi ng becomes a painful and laborious process·· (1978, p.279). [n this
respect, Allan notes, the Tengwar are superior.
Another constructed script worth mentioning is Visible Speech, invented in
1867 by Alexander Melville Bell. 2 Here can be seen Ihe systematic assignment
of sounds to different [etters, the individual strokes of which identify their
pronuncia tion. It is possi ble in this script to find several of the basic elements
and element modifications found in the scripts of Aman, sllch as stems and
bows.
Yet one possible souree of inspiration for the mapping of sonnds to letters
in the scripts of Aman should not be ignored. Tolkien may very well have based
the significance of his "shape modifications~ on the Roman alphabet. After all,
he does poim out the reladonship betvveen P an d B; the former letter is a bow
closed by a straight line, and in the latter the bow is doubled. Sarati or tengwar
representing these sounds could be described in almost exactly the same words.

Lines and stems

A very characteristic, and possibly unique, feature of the Sarati was de-
scribed thu s by Tolkien: "In book·usage the lellers were all arranged so that
they were formed as hangers to a bar. This Imr was then ruled or drawn
continuously, and the cOllsollamai signs were written to the right (or below) the
bar, and the vocalic signs to the left (or above) the bar~ (AR R17). Among our
specimina of the script, there are numerous examples of this bar being "ruled or
drawn continuously", and al so many where the [etters are left withou t a bar.

, AII.n }9711, 1'1'.276- 279.

2 Stt Ager 1'.l'JJ:! - : I am indebted 10 Bend Philip J OIl""'" for pointing 0'" lhi. scrip' 10 me .

112

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

This bar may have been inspired in appearance, if not in every property, by
Indic scripts, Several descendants of the Brahmi script, am ong them Devana -
gari, are characterized by a horizontal line present along the top of most letters.
Thi s line is used to bind the letters together, often forming long stretches of
conti nuous lines in miming text . The Bengali and Gurmukhi scriptS provide
other examples of this.
Another possible source of inspi-
ration for the Sarati is the Mongo-
lian scrip!. This descends from die
Aramaic script, and is thus a Semitic
system reiated to the Arabic and
Hebrew scripts. like Devanagari and
Bengali, the Mongolian sc ript is
c1mracterized by a bar nlllning along
the side of many letters. Perhaps
more significantly, Mongolian is writ-
ten vertically in li nes ordered left to
right, which is the most common
direction used in the Sarati sources,
The Valmaric and Tengwar also
contain straigh t lines that follow the
writing direction, but those lines are
parts of individual letters an d not a
Figure 2. Mongolian script.
se parate gra phic unit as the S.:uati
bar. In the fi ctional hi story of the
scripts, the bar of the Sarati was the unit on which Feanor based the tengwa
sterns. When designing the system for the basic tengwar, Feanor began with the
shapes found in the sarati for I pl , I t! and Id/ . The simplest of these sarati is
the one for I t!, which consists of a single bow. In the Idl sara!, the bow is
doubled, and in the I pl santt it is closed, Thus the two fund amental modifi -
catio ns of the llivar were arrived at . Writing the Sarati vertically, the ba.r then
provided the sha pe tha t corresponds to the stem of the tengwar,
Surpri si ngly, this direct correlation between letter-forms for the same
so und in the Sarati and Tengwar is lIot found in the Valmaric. The Mid dle and
Late fOfms of the Valmaric arrives at letter-forms quite close to those found in
the Tengwar, to such a degree tha t almost ha lf of the Valmaric letters are
identical with letters of the later script. But the mapping of Valmaric letters to
sound s is totally different from tha t found in the Tengwar. The Valmaric sign
most similar to the sarat for I I/ or the tengwa tillCO in fact represents I p/.

11 3

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

Phonetic writing and "modes"

Tolkien tells us that the Tengwar were Unot in origin an ' alphabet'~, but
rather "a system of consonantal signs, of similar shapes and style, which could
be adapted at choice or convenience to represent the consonants of languages
observed (or devised) by the Eldar. None of the letters had in itself a fixed
value; but certain relations between them were gradually recognized ~ (LR
App.E II 0):2). In practice, this meant that the phonological significance of each
stroke was open for change. For example, a double bow, commonly suggesting
voiced articulation, was in the uClassical" Quenya mode also used to indicate
nasal quality. However, several sources indicate that there also existed
~ general"' or ~ phonetic " fonus of the Tengwar, not adopted to the phonology of
any particular language.' In a letter to a reader, Tolkien describes one such
~ general use" as being ~ appl icable to both S[indarinJ and Q[uenya)"", and he
also demonstrates that it can be applied to English (Tolkien 2000.
There is nothing to suggest that the older scripts of Aman were imagined as
quite so flexible, but it was nevertheless a resilient feature of the Amanic scripts
that there would be a phonetic system of letters, alongside special adaptations
for different languages where the letters could be reassigned to specific
phonemes, or phoneme clusters. We are often informed, in the published
source-texts about Sarati and Valmaric, that a particular form of the script is
" phonetic~, or used particularly for Qenya! These Q(u)enya forms differ from
their phonetic equivalents according to the same principles that the Tengwar
modes differ from cach other: groups of graphically interrelatcd letters are
reassigned to groups of phonologically interrelated sounds.
In th is regard, no widely used script of our primary world is quite as
flexible as the scripts of Arnan. Letter-fomls are usually more or less associated
with particular sounds. It is (me that many scripts have different form s adapted
for different languages, but none are adapted with the same consistem:y as the
Tengwar, Valmaric or Sarati.

DIACRITICS AND VOWELS

Diacritics to modify co nsonants
All the scripts of Aman employ diacritics to modify the values of letters.
Diacritics are smaller symbols that are placed next to the letter whose meaning
they are meant to modify, and some diacritics are attac hed directly to that

1 AR R2~ (C~lmm"n!" ry); TI AI'I" (i) :~ .

2 See AR R17b lrighl h~lfl; 'IS 'I t .

114

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

lener. In the terminology used to de scribe the Tengwar, diacritics are called by
the Quenya word tehror.
In the scripts of Aman are found diacritics that represent long promm-
ciation, a preceding homorgani c nasal, a following lsi, JMlmali zmion, and
labialization. Diacritics for such consonant modifications are also found in
various primary-world scripts. A diacritic indicating a double consonant is used
in Ambic. The Devanagari has diacritics for preceding or following I r/ . And
many European medieval manuscri pts use diacritics in abbreviations to indicate
a preceding nasa.! and other modified pronunciations.
However, the most frequent use of diacri tics in the Anmnic scripts is for
represcnting vowels. In the fictional history of die scripts, the High-elven
linguists before Feanor tended to regard the smallest phonological units of their
languages as consonants "coloured" by vowels. ' Rlimil wanted to reflect this in
his writing system, and therefore the leiters of his script were consonant s to
which vowels were added as diacritics.
In the Sarati, many of the vowel diacritics consist of dots, nsually ranging
in number from one to three. Thesc dia cri tics seem to have been preferred for
front to central vowels, such as Ii/,
l ei , l rel, Ia/, I~/. A few sources use : e .: a :. ce
one, two and three dots for I ii, l ei
and I a/, respectively.' In many sys-
tems a triangular group of three dots o ce .,. y
denotes l al when pointing outwards
and l rel when pointing inwards, or Figure 3 . Sarati vowels
vice versa. 3 For back vowels, 011 the (from RI7b).
other hand, the preference seems to
have been towards using curls or hooks of different styles. Backward and
fonvard curls seem consistently to represent 1111 and 10/ . This system was
transferred more or less directly into the Val maric, and then onward into the
Tengwar. In the last writing system, an accen t-shaped diacri tic was added,
which is often used for l ei or Ii/.
Many scripts of the primary world use diacritics to express vowels. Most
scripts where vowels are written with diacritics stem from the Semitic family of
scripts. The Arabic and Hebrew scripts belong to this fami ly, and it is generally
agreed that the Indic scripts do too,4 Semitic writing is basically consonantal,
its leiters having lost the syllabic quality of their predecessors. As time went by,

1 FT.(,)f: ' ,II.

1 AR R15, R17.
J AR RI O, Rllb. RI7b el<:.
4 eo"lm... 1'1')]' p . HI!.

115

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

the desire to be able to ex press vowels led to the development of diacri ti c vowel
signs. For Hebrew writing, the so-called Tiberian system of vowel diac ri tics is
today used in "holy books, poetry and children's books ~ (Coulmas 1991 , p.148).
Being the system used for Biblica.l Hebrew, it consists of diacritical marks
placed beneath the preceding consonant. Several of the diacri tics are made up,
partially or completely, of dots. Perhaps most notably, a si ngle dot represents i,
and t\vo or three dots represent different pronunciations of e.
In the Arabic script, some letters
are in part made up of dots. The
visual result may resemble Amank
writing, and these dots may have
served as an inspiration for the design
of the Amank diacritks, but if the
sou nd values were inspired by a pri-
mary-world script, then the Hebrew
Figure 4. Arabk script. vowels are strong candidates.
Diacritks tha t look like accents or
curls are easy to find in the numerous scripts of the pri m ary world, especially if
you have some imagination. For instance, the Arabic script lIses no less than
two accent-shaped dia critics; their position detennines whether they
represent f a! or I i!. But diacritics that are made up of dots are by comp..1.rison
decidedly more unusual, though several can be found in various adaptations of
the Roman alphabet from medieval times onward. Notably, the umlaut mark
("" ) is in the Finnish orthography combi ned with A and 0 to foml the letters A
and 6, whkh stand for l rel and Inl - it is well known that Tolkien
encountered the Finnish language around 1910 and was fasdnated by it. 1
Disregarding die phonetic correspondence between dot diacritics in the Hebrew
and Amanic scripts, at least three wri ting systems are thus possible sources of
inspiration for the dot diacritics of the Amanic scripts: the Hebrew, Ambic and
Roman alphabets.

Inhe rent lal

In one description of the Sarati, Tolkien wrote concerning the Quenya
usage of the script: "each consonant lIot provided with a vowel sign was as -
su med to be followed by Ii " (AR R17). That is, unless otherwise indkated, each
sarat contains an implicit fa! sound that follows the consonantal value. This
convention seems to have been confi ned to certain recognized systems of vowel

1 Oorpenfer 1'187, p.S7.

116

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Aman

indication within the sc ript , in panicular the specialized systems used for
writing Quenya. The convention reappears in all the sc ript s of Aman. Con-
sequently, in a description of the Valmaric concerning "Qenya writing~, the
wording is: "Every consonant or consonam group is deemed to be followed by
the vowel-sound a" (VS V3). And as regards the Tengwar, we have Tolkien's
words in The Lord of the Rings: "In Qucnya in which a was very freq uent, its
vowel sign was often omitted altogether" (LR App.E II (j) Note:3, footnote). In
all three scripts, an added vowel diacritic is understood to supplant the
implicit Ia/ .
The systems tha t follow this convention by logic demand a diacritic to
indicate that the consonant is not followed by any vowel. In the Tengwar, this
diacriti c has the shape of an underposed dot , I the tehta that in other Tengwa
modes is nsed for the schwlI vowel /~/.~ As a conseq uence of this, some versions
of the scripts of Aman may be regarded as syllabic rather than consonantal,
each letter representing a complete syllable.
In the primary world, the Devanagari and othe r Indic scripts have taken a
slightly d ifferent co urse limn Hebrew and Arabic with regard to vowel
representation. Each letter has the inherent vowel l al following its consonant,
and this vowel is suppressed by adding a diacri tic representing another vowe l.
It would seem very probable that Devarmgari inspired the Amanic scripts in this
regard. A diacritic is also used to indicate that a consonant is not followed by a
vowel:' But here we must turn briefly to Hebrew again. That script in earlier
times also had a diacri tic for indicati ng absence of a vowel - bu t nowadays it
stands for a schwa.' The Hebrew diacritic thus forms a !il:riking parallel with the
subscript dOl of th e Tengwar.

"Full Writing"
In The wrd of tire Rings, To[kien describes the writing systems of the Third
Age thu s: "They had reached the stage of full alphabetic development, but older
modes in which only the consonants were denoted by full letters were !il:ill in
usc" (LR App.E 11:1). The context would suggest that this description refers to
the Girth as well as the Tengwar, although it is not known that the Cinh would
at any time have only denoted consonants by full letters. But what abo ut the
first sta temem?

1 Se. Smi.h 19'12.

1 cr. A[, ill. [H4.
J ('~"'[m.s 199], 1'1'. 1 R:I_ 1R~.
4 Cm.lmas [')') 1. pp.14t1- H'J.

117

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

The phrase ~full alphabetic developlllent~ is apparently meant to signify

writing of both consonants and vowels with full letters. This follows the
strictest defi ni tion of an alphabet, w hlch is based on the notion that ~full
alphabetic developlllent ~ first arose in the primary world when the Greeks
extended and m odified the Phoenlcian script to include letters for all vowels. 1
The statement about "older modes in which only the consonants were denoted
by f\lllietters ~ clearly shows that Tolkien imagined this fu ll alphabeti c devel-
opment to be fairly recent, or at any rate not p.."lrt of the Tengwar as ori ginally
planned. The lext Quendi and Eldar gives a different scenario. Here we learn
that Feanor, opposing the views of hi s predecessors regarding the status of
vowels in Eldarin languages,

HclnHlly d"vi",ri "for Ihe Lo"'m~"e ...~ "1JHno'~ indel't·.nden' lei',,'" for Ihe
V()wel,., diSliTK1 frum 'he. 'elo1(1l". This 'l,um/(! '"u"'" or "fnll w";li,,~" w"' indeed
m~inl y ,......t by Ihe Lon"11l~"eIS for special P"J"]>OO<.'S, un,ill,,'er in Middb"arth
'0
Ihe I"i'~no""n let',..,... were "ppli.,.j OIher I"n~""g ",, . "wh ~ " Sind.";n. in whim
'he diH<"!i,k meth<NI of ir.tlk~1 ing vow~I ., w ~ , in<"Ol1v" .. ien'.
Pr.QF. ~21

The Tengwar is the only one of the scri pts of Aman that is known to rep re -
se nt vowels with full letters. That is of course consistent with the descriptions
in both TIle Lord of the Rirw and Quendi and Eldar. Among the published
Tengwa samples, the oldest (in a primary-world chro nology) are probably the
three pages of El vish Script found in Pictures by J.R.R. To/k/en? Surprisingly, in
the mode used on these pages, the tengwar used to represent vowels seem to be
taken more or less directly from the Roman alphabet. Since the Tengwar share
so many shapes with o ur own alphabet,3 moulding the Roman letters a, e, i, 0,
U, into Tengwa forms probably presented li ttle difficulty to Tolkien. The direct
borrowing of Roman letters perhaps mggests that he was still experimenting
with this ~full alphabetic deve1opment~. In the mode of Beleriand, which is
used on the Doo[s of Durin,4 the letter used for i is unchanged, while the letters
for 1"1 and u (w hich we now may identify as w-e and anna) have switched val ues.
The earlier tengwa for e, being shaped like a C, is now used for 1"1, while e is
represented by yanca. A sliglltly different mode of '·full wri ting~ is used in the so
called King's Letter and the leaves from the Book of Mazarbul, ~ documents that
were prepared for The Lord of the Rings but never made it into the book. Here

1 Co"lm~s 199 1, pp.l58ff. 1ndttd, alpha .nd /)du. Ihe fiISllWO in Ihe GJ"<"cl: liS! of IcIICIS. ~,Id p~m"s
"f'h,· 1,·rm <r1"Im}".. , rleno1e rn;lmniwly H vmv,·l "nd H<"(,.,<;(,.,"n1.
2 p 41$.
l Cf. AII"" 1978, 1'.279.
4 lR 2 IV, ill. ('0 W~:1-98J .
s SD 1 Xl, se<:or>d ill.; I' l4 (:lS in lSI ffl.).

118

C JPYnghted malenal
 The Scripts of Arnall

the a -slmped tengwa (which we recognize as vi/yo) reoccu rs wi th the value I n/.
A compari son with the Tengwa table found in The Lord of the Rings] makes it
clear that the tengwar for vowels are either taken from the sixth grade (reduced
stems :llId single bows) or they belong to the c.1tegory of additional tengwar.
Tolkien writes that many of the tengwar of the sixth grade uceased to have a
clear function in the Eldarin languages; and it was from these lette rs that the
letters expressing vowels were largely derived" (LR App.E II (i):10).
If we arc to look for sources of inspiration for this system in the primary
world, the Semitic scripts once again come to mind.' Before the development of
diacri ti cs for ind icating vowels, the North Semitic languages underwent
changes that incl uded reduction of final short vowels. As a consequence of thi s,
the weak consonants Ijl and Iw/ often ended up in positions where they were
likely to merge with the pre<:eding vowel, and so the letters jodh and waw lo~
their consonantal values and became associated with the vowels l i: / and / Il:/ .
The use of these letters to indicate vowels the scholars call scriptio plena or 'full
wri ting'. Later, under the influence of Greek, additional le tters became used for
the vowels / 0:1 an d / a:/ .
Scriprio plena is probably not what Tolkien would have called ufull alphabet-
ic devel opment~ . The Semitic vowel -letters, called motres lecrioni5 or 'mothers of
reading', seems to have been primarily an aid in unclear cases. The system
remai ned incomplete and inconsistent, and it only represented long vowels.
Diacritics with more precise vocalic Significance were eventually developed as a
su pplement \0 the motre5 leaioflis. Their apparent influence on the scri pts of
Aman was discussed abo ve.

Writing direction
I wo uld finally like to say something abom writing directions. The Sarati
are w ritt en in several di fferent directions. The most common direction in our
samples is downwards, in li nes shifting from left to right, bill shifting from right
to left also occurs. In addition, some samples are written horizontally left to
right, and some are wri tten right to left. Moreover, one description sta tes that
the Sarati could also be wrinen boustrophedon, sc. alternatingly ri ght to left
and left to right:'
The Valmaric and Tengwar are significantly less varied in this regard: they
are as good as always written left to right. The only published exception is a

] lR ApI" I! II (il, t. ble .

1 ('~",Im.s 199), pl'.146- 14I1.
"i\R II17.

11 9

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Phil%gy 1

co upl e of words in mirror- image tengwar, I but there is a text describing how
th e ambidexterous elves could wri te equally we ll with either hand:

.'eanor had dcviSt'd his ,t1lgII'fIr wilh siMI"" more COIlvcnicn1lo lhe riglll hand,
"nd lh,"'" we ... n'g~Med "' ,h,' 'com,,-~' fonns: conse<I''''nlly lhe 'm:'''''' we ...
I1()nn"lly wrilten from lhe Id' wi,h ,hoe righ' hHnn . "'I~oci"ny in I~~,k, "00
public d<~,umen1S . [f wrilten wilh lhe [ef' (o., often in l.n"", Or l'riv~'" wmnl'l
lhe 1<'1I,liW<lI" w~'" ",,,,,.-sed, and w~ '" rorred in a mi rror.
H1W I HFN, NOI~ J:l

Apparemly, there was one side of each tengwa that should always face the
writing direction . This is tOle also for the sarari. Eve n if no direction was more
"correct" than another, s;lrati are always turned to face the writi ng di rection.
The scripts of the primary world use, and have used, varied writing
directions. In p<lrricuiar many ancient scripts attest much variation. The
Egyptian hieroglyphics, for instance, co uld be written either horizontally, left to
right or right to left, or downwards in vertical columns, sorted left to right or
right to left. The hieroglyp hics always face towards the beginning of the text
(since the hieroglyphics often depict humans, animals and mythical beings, this
can often be understood quite literally). Likewise, the ancient Greeks could
writ e either rig ht to left or left to right, or they could write bo ustrophedon. In
all ca ses, the Greek leiters woul d be turned to have the same side of the leiters
face the writing di rection. 1 If the writing d irections of the Amanic scripts
needed models, they can have been found in ancient scripts of the pri mary
world.

1 EHW I. ed.nNe ~>6. ill,

1 Nakanishi [ ')')(), VI'. l[:.I- I l3.

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CONCLUSION
Much more could be s.1.id about the scripts of Aman, their relationship with
one another, and their relation to the scripts of the primary world. If we are to
summarize what has been said here, we may note the following:
• When listed, the letters of the scripts of Aman are usually displayed in
tables where the columns correspond to points of (lrticul(ltion. This is paral-
lelled in the Indic Devanagari script.
• The elements of letters e(lch represent a particular ch(lracteristic of the
articulation. This is found in few scripts of the primary world, but a noticeable
example is the Korean Han 'gul.
Both of the above features are also found in the constructed scripts known
as the Universal Alphabet, invented by Francis Lodwick (1686), and Visible
Speech, invented by Alexander Melville Bell (867) .
• The scripts of Arnan all permit groups of graphically related letters to be
reassigned from one set of phonologically related sounds to another. No
primary-world scripts that I am aware of possess that kind of implicit tolerance
and flexibility.
• The Sarati are characterized by a bar which optionally runs along the
length of each Iiue of text. A similar Iiue is found in the lud ic scripts, and also
in Mongolian which, like the Sarati, is written vertically. In these scripts, the
bar is a part of each letter, not a separ(lte graphic unit as in the S(lrati.
• Vowels are mostly written with diacritics. Front vowels are iumany cases
expressed with diacritics consisting of dots. TIle same preference for diacritics
with dots is fou nd in the Hebrew script. Some Arabic letters also contain
graphic elements that are reminiscent of the Amanic dot diacritics.
• In some forms of the Amanic scripts, the vowel / a/ is assumed to follow
each letter. This is also the case in Indic scripts, such as the Devallagari.
• In some modes of the Tengwar, vowels are written with full letters. These
are b.1sed on tengwar that had lost their consonantal values. In Semitic scripts,
~f\lll writing~ employs letters that have lost their consonantal value to ind icate
long vowels.
• The Sarati C.11l be written in several different directions, but the Valmaric
is always and the Tengwar as good as always written left to right. In every case,
the s.1.me side of each letter would always face the writing direction. Models for
this are found in several of the ancient scripts of our world.

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J should li ke once again to stress that the similarities pointed out between
primary-world scripts and the scripts of Aman merely indicate possible sources
of inspiration. We cannot tell, of course, what scripts Tolkien 5.1.W and was
inspired by. But like Bilbo, Tolkien obviously Kliked runes and letters and
cunning handwriting" (H 111:41) and his invented scripts reflect that fascination,
just as his languages reflect hi s interest in philology.

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WORKS CITED
Ager, Simon. uVisible Speech ". Omniglot. 1998- . 25 Oct. 2005 < http:// www
.omniglot.com/writinglvisiblespeech .htm> .
Allan, Jim, ed. AI! Introduction to Elvish [ .. .J. Hayes, Middx.: Bran's Head, 1978.
Carpenter, Humphrey. J.R.R. To/hen: A Biography. [Rev. ed. ). London: Unwin,
1987.
Coulmas, Florian. The Writing System.s of the World. 1989. Oxford: Blackwell,
1991.
Hammond, Wayne G. & Christina Scull. J.R.R. To/hen: Artist & lIlustrtlwr.
Lon don: HarperCollins, 1995.
Martinez, Helios De Rosario. "why tincotema comes before p...mllatema". Trans.
Mach Hezan. Online posting. July 2003. E1fscri pt. 25 Oct. 2005
< http://movies.gro ups.yahoo.com/ gro up/dfscri pt/ message/2340 > .
uThe Mellonath Daeron Index of Cenh Specimina (DCS)". Mel/onath Dnerol!. 31
Oct. 2006 (orig. 15 Sept. 1996). 31 Oct. 2006 < http: //www.forodrim.orgl
daeron/ mdics.html > .
~The Mellonath Daeron Index of Tengwa Specimina (DTS)"'. Mel/on arh Dacron.
31 Oct. 2006 (orig. 8 Sept. 1996). 31 Oct. 2006 < http: //www.forodrim
.orgldaeron/ mdtci.html > .
Nakanishi, Akira. Writing System.s of the World. 1980. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1990.
Smith, Arden R. "The Subscript Dot: A New Te/!ro. Usage". Villytlr TerlgwtJr 25
(1992): 6-7.
Tolkien, J.R.R. Letter to Anthony D. Howlett. 28 May 1969. Reproduced in
Vtlluable Printed Books tllld Manuscripts. Auction catalogue, sale L0132 1.
London: So theby"s, 2001. Lot 557.

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

Christopher Gilson:

"Namarif!" and the Lexicon of Quenya

T HE POEM "NAMARIE", GALAORIEL'S LAMENT in LOrien, is the longest

continuous Elvish text published in print during the lifetime of its
author, J ,R,R, Tolkien, the inventor of the Elvish languages. [n the story
of The Lord of the Rings the authorshi p of the poem is attributed to the character
Galadriel, but this of course is only a fi ction , The fiction must indeed be recog -
nized as cmcial to a full understanding of the meaning and significance of the
poem, although we ought perhaps to note that this significance will be under-
stood by many readers of the poem [argely by means of the p..1.raphrase in
English prose also included in the published story. This contrasts with the more
or less direct understanding of Galadriel"s Song of E[damar, closely associated
with the Lament and also depending for its full meaning on the clmracterization
of Ga[adriel in the two chapters of the story where she first appears, but written
in English so that anyone able to read these chapters can also read and com -
prehend the Song.
The language of the Lament is calJed Quenya, a name applied to it by Tol-
kien from its earliest conception during the second decade of the last cen tury,
The trans<;ription of this name in to modern [etters was altered slightly, about
midway in the co nceptual history of the language, when Tolkien perhaps
decided that the kw sound he was representing by the letter q would be more
read ily understood by readers familiar with Latin or English spelling conven-

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 "Namdrie" and the Lexicon of Quenya

tions if represented by the letters quo But the name with [his later spell ing is in
essence the same as that in the earlier spelling Qenya. One of the en.r li est eXlilnt
w ritings about this invented language is die uQenya Dictionary~, probably
composed largely in 1915 nnd 1916, though perlm ps exp<'l.nded and revised in
the following few years. This work is now generally referred to as the "Qenya
Lexicon~ (QL).

In the following decnde Tolkien composed n ~Qenya Grammnr~ describing

the inflcxional pa.radigms of its various pa.rts of speech and die basic syntax of
its phrases and sentences. Since m diments of inflexion and syntax can be
observed in the "Qenya Lex icon H while the Grammar contains many items of
vocabulary in its examples, comp. .uison of the two works reveals a certain
amount of elnboration and revision in Tolkien's conception of Qenya. Around
1931 Tolkie n presented an essay called ~ A Se<:ret Vice H as a lecture, in w hich he
outlines his thoughts on the nature of the invention of private [angunges, based
on his experience. He incl uded three poems written in Qenya, which he
describes as "pie<:es of verse in the one language which has been expressly
designed to give play to my own most normnl phonetic taste .. , all d which has
had a long enough history of developmen t to allow of this final fnlition : verse"
(MCE SV:44).
Here Tolkiell is re ferring to the history of his development of the invented
language of Qenya over the course of the previous two decades. As he indicates,
this does involve the establishment of correlations between the languages and
his private "mythology", an d since we know thnt this had during the same time
period evo lved into an elaborate rtm cture with an internal fictional history of
its ow n, there is an implication of an involvement of that history within the
backgrou nd of the poetry. But it is the explici t invention of these correlations
and the usage of the language to express them, whether in the nomenclature of
fictional people and places or the devising of their fictional utterances, that
gives 10 Ihe vocabulary and idioms of Qenya sufficient riclUless to enable
Tolkien to write poems in Ihat language.
To simplify the matter somewhat, the diversity of ways for one wri ting in
Qenyn to express each idea thn t interests him is what nllows him to make
<esthetic choices among expressions that nre possible with the invented gram -
mar and lexicon. And if such resthetic choices are to be p.."Irt of the creation of a
work of art using the private lnngunge Tilther than being pnrt of the crention of
the language itself, then they llIust be made within the context of the overall
rerthetic of the language as il has been more or less established by ils previous
history of development. As Tokien explnins this in the essay:

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 Arda Philology 1

Of COllrst', if Y'' '' consln' c1 yo"r art . lan~"a)t" on ~ hosc" prin~i pk ., and in so f~,
os yo" fix iI, and co "r~ l(oo ""ly ,,~;d e by yo", own n,les, res;"1inS lhe lemplalion
of 'h~ " ' I",'me d"'l"" '" ~h"r (he m f".. 'he ~ ~,i"~", .. of ,hi, or ,ho' ' ech nic. 1
obj",' on "ny giv~n ,><""",ion, ,0 for yo " m oy wri' ~ 1""" '1 of ~ "On.
{J,U-:E SV:72}

In thi s p..'1per I would like to examine some of the ways in which the
language of ~Namarie ~ avoids this 'despotism' by co nveying ilS ideas wi lh
words and lingui slic devices Ihal clearly predale Ihe compo silion of Ihe poem,
some of them going all the way back to conceptions in the "Qenya Dictionary".
The poem is le ngth y enough to incorporate a sizeable smn ple of morphemes
from the lexicon of the language, between 60 and 70 lexical stems and about 30
suffixes and prefixes from the systems of derivation and inflexion. I will survey
th is malerial, starting with the nouns and their composition and inflexion; and
then proceeding to si milar consideration of the adjectives, pronouns, verbs, and
other miscellaneous categories. For each category I will ou tline the material in
the poem and review the origins of this material within the histo ry of th e
inve ntion of Quenya . Note that the version of the poem and its translation
published in the first edition of The Lord of (he Rings wi ll be the one discussed
here unless otherwise indicated.!
The noun s in the poem "Namfirie" are lassi 'leaves" mrinen 'in the wind',
y i lti 'years', ramar 'win gs', aldMOn 'of trees ', yuldar 'd raughts', oromardi ' halls',
li.sse-miruvoreva ' sweet of the white me ad ', Ar!dune 'th e West ', Vardo 'of
Varda ', tellumar 'vaults', eleni 'stars', omaryo 'of her voice', airetdri· lfrinen 'in the
song holy and q ueenly', yulma 'cup', TimaJ/e 'the Kindler', Varda (explained
in the text only as another name of Elbereth), Oialosseo 'from Mount Everwhite',
fClI!yar 'cloud s', mdryat 'her hands ', Elentdri 'the Queen of the Stars', tier 'pa ths ',
lwnbule 'shadow', sindan6rieUa 'out of a grey country', mantie 'darkness',
falmaliImar 'on the foaming waves', hfsie 'mist', Calaciryo 'of Calacirya', mlri
'jewels', Romel/a 'from the &'1st', and ValiInar (a name which is left unex·
plained).
The elements of the inflexions and syntax of the noun that are evident in
the poem <:an be briefly outli ned. The uninfle<:ted forms used as a sing ular sub-
ject, direct obje<:t of a verb, or object of a preposition or postposition are
Andune, yulma, Tinwlle, Varda, Elemen, Iwnbule, m omie, hfsie and Valima r. The
corresjX)nding plurals marked by a fi nal ·i or · r are lassi, yEini, rnmar, yuldar,
oromardi , tel/un!Gr, eieni, fanyar, tier and m[ri. There is one dual noun marked by
a fi nal -l, mdryat 'her hands'. The genitive si ngulars marked by final -0 and used
10 indicate possession or origi n are Varda, omarya, Oialos.seo and Calacirya, and

1 LRa 2 VIIJ:7 t1-ij2.

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 "Namdrie" and the Lexicon of Quenya

there is one example of the geni tive plural in -rOil , indlcating possession by
more than one object, aldaro'l 'of trees ', There are two instnunental si ngulars
ending in -nell, rurinell 'in the wind' and /friuen 'in the song'; two ablative
singulars in -110, silldanorieUo 'out of a grey country' and Romello ' from the E.1st';
and one allative plural in -liunar, folmalimtar 'on the foaming waves'. There is
one example of an adjectival geniti ve in -va, miruvdreva 'of the white mead'.
The possessive pronoun -I)'a is suffixed to two nouns, omal)'o 'of her vo ice'
and mdl)'at 'her hands ', combining with the genitive singular suffi x in the
former and followed by the dual suffix in the latter. Nouns are also used as the
first element in compou nds where they modify th e second element attrib -
utively, as in Elenrdri 'the Queen of the Stars', literally 'Star-queen', and aireNiri-
Urinen whose first part, translated 'holy and queenly', is literally 'holy-queen',
The names Calacirya, gen. Calaciryo, and Valimar are also of this type, their
meanings being later explained as 'light-cleft' and 'dwelling of the Valar' respec-
tively, in Tolkien's "Notes and Translations H published in The Road Goes Ever
On in 1967.'
A third of the the nOlln stems llsed in the poem are listed as words in the
"Qenya DlctionaryH. These are aida 'tree ', lasse 'leaf', mii 'hand ', mar 'dwelli ng
of men, -land, the Earth', miruvOre 'nectar, drink of the Valar, sweet drink ', 6ma
'voice', roma 'wing', tari 'queen', and rie 'line, direction, route, road,.2 While
none of these occurs precisely as such in the poem, each being compounded
with or inflected by other elements, it is dear nevertheless that these are the
very same words that Tolkien used in the poem. Even where the nOlln in the
poem is not translated in the same way, as with miruyore 'white mead ' or rier
'paths', this is beca use the Quenya noun does not have a single exact equivalent
in English, an d the most suitable rendering in a particular instance depends on
the context, That the merUling intended by each of these two words is indeed
within the semantic range indlcated by th eir glosses in QL is corroborated by
their translations as 'nectar' and 'roads' in the word-for-word rendering in
~ Notes and Translatio ns~,j
The proper name Varna also appears in QL, where she is described as
~Queen of Stars, wife of Manwe SfllimoH (under V~D~) , She is given an alterna-
tive epithet Tinwetdri, which is synonymou s with and contains the same second
element as one of her other names in the poem, Ele/Uuri . Although the etymolo-
gical explanation of the name Varna was originally different, being related to
the verb vard- 'nile, govern ', it re fers to the Solme person, who as "the Queen of
the Stars" in the poem has the So"Ulle mythological role as that described for her

1 R N.m.rie. [_ ',"Ahl] :\:l _14.

1 QL .u'''; L<I""'; MAlIA; MB ....... ; M int; 0H0(2); RAft<.; TAIIA ~ TA<A; n:HIl .
J R NlIJl1o rii', il1lerline~r.

127

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

in the earliest wri tings, The first componelll of the nallle Valimar is given as an
alternative form in the entry for Valar or Vali, the plural term for the ~ Ainu and
their attendants~ (QL VAt.'.-), The etym ological significance of this term was also
different from its Inter explanntioll, being relnted to the words valin 'happy' and
vald- 'good fortune, blessedness, happiness', and it had a broader ap plication to
all of the divi ne inhabitants of the blessed realms in the West, It was later
restricted in meaning to refer to the most powerful among them, the signif-
icam:e of the tenus Ainu and Vala being essentially reversed, But of course
insofar as the noun Va1i contri butes to the meani ng of the name Valimar dlis
does not amou nt to a real difference, since the dwelling of the m lers of the
Blessed Realm was also the dwelling of their followers.
Another third of the noun stems in "Nalllfuie" had entered into Tolkien's
conception of Quenya by the time he composed ~The Etymologies H , the di ction-
ary of Qendian b.1seS and the evidence for them in Qenya, Noldorin, and the
Ilkorin languages, w hich dates from the late 1930s. Q elen 'star' is given und er
the base E~-, Q kala 'light' under KA~-, Q mIre under the base MIR-, wi th Noldorin
cognate mir glossed as 'jewel, preciolls thing, treasure', Q andune 'sunset' under
NDll- , the name Oiolosse 'Everlasti ng snow' under oy- (for the components of
which we can compare Q oi 'ever' under the same base, and a/ass.! 'snow, fallen
snow' under ooL6s-), Q falma ,(crested) wave' under rIlAL-, Q fanya 'cloud' under
SPAN°, the name Timalle 'Kindler' in the margin agai nst the entry for the base
U N° , and Q yen under the base YEN - 'year ', Dating from about the same period,
~The Lost Road ~, Tolkien's unfinished time-travel story, contains some texts ill
Qenya, One of these includes the word rOlllenna 'eastward', which appears to be
the aUadve case formed with the suffix - flflO from the same stem rome that
occurs in th e poem ~ Nanlarie " in the ablative case Romella, formed with the
suffix _/la,'
Al th ough these specific fomlS are newer, several of them have roots and
associations that go lxtck to the earliest writi ngs, Thus kala 'light' has a near
synonym in QL kala 'dayti me; su nlight'; alongside andune the entry NDO- in-
cludes Q lIlimeli 'west', which seems clearly connected with QL /!lime 'west'; the
stem in rome-lUlo has a similar relation to Q romen 'easr' under the b.1se Ro-
' ri se', alongside rono 'easr' and dillS formally con nected with QL rona- 'arise,
rise, ascend'; fallna is apparently related to QLfa/mo 'foam ' and fa/mar 'wave as
it breaks'; and the name Tinfalle with QL tiut '(sil ver) spark' and tinrya -
'sp.1rkle',2
"The Etymologies" also show that the llame Varda had already achieved its
later associations, its pri mi tive source being given as ~barada 'lofty, sublime'
, tRW 1 111 (ij C.h ,II:27 ,
2 Q L fonn. 'md~r roo," 1WA; tulV; 00, ROllO; "AlA; 'W ,-,

128

C JPYnghted malenal
 "Namdrie" and the Lexicon of Quenya

under the base BARAI.>-. And in the Qenya song sung by Ffriel in the stOI)' of "The
Lost Road" i'mar is translated 'the earth' and Mardello 'from Earth', which
connects these to QL mar, glossed as both 'dwelling' and 'Earth', but with a
difference in the conception.! Wbereas the stem of mar in QL is mas-, the
inflected ablative Marriel/o in the song suggests that the stem is mard-, and this
would account for the second component of oromardi 'halls'.
The remaining noun stems in the poem " Namarie ~ do not bave precise
carlier eq uivalents, although most of thcm have earlier connections. We can
comp.:ue [{rinen with the QL verb liri · 'to sing', lumbule with QL lumbo 'dark,
lowering cloud', the second element of sindanoriello with QL nore 'native land,
nation, family; country', and the second element of Ca/acirya with QL kim;
'cleft, crack' and kimle 'cleft, gully'.' TIle stem of :sUrine11 would be similar to
sUru 'wind', which occurs in the poems "OHima Markil)'a H and "Earendel",
dating from around 1931. 3 And /t{sie and tel/umar are com parably similar to Q
hfse under the "Etymologies" b."\se KlllS-, KlIlTII- 'mist, fog' and relwne 'dome,
(especially) dome of heaven ' under lU-; while momie 'darkness' seems to be
deri ved from the adjective moma 'gloomy, darkness' under the base MOR-.
Finally, while the root of yuldor 'draughts' and yulmo 'cup' seems to be newly
devised at the time of the composition of the poem, yet the latter does echo the
form of QL uimo 'flagon'.
Most of the inflexional devices for marking the number and case of the
nouns in the poem go b."\Ck to the early writings. We have seen the plural
suffixes -, and -i in the QL forms Valor and Voli, and other examples include
oimoktllT 'martyrs', i'Ponoro- 'the Northlands', Solosimpi 'Shoreland pipers' and
tnvorni 'dale-sprites': QL also lists the MlIlultiplicadve suffix M-Ii (see ti), which
is used to (oml various plurals in The Book of Lost Tales, including Naldoli
'Gnomes' and Suruli "sylphs of the airs and of the winds~ (BLT 1 JlI:l l). This
suffix is incorporated into the ending of the allative plural falma -li-llIIar in the
poem, w hich Tolkien later rendered element by element as 'foaming waves-
many-upon (pL)',s
The endings of the genitive case that are seen in "Namarie~, i.e. singular -o
and plunll -rOil, were already part of Tolkien's co nceptio n of Qenya by the time
of the early Gnomish grammar and lexicon called ,.Lam lIa·Ngo/datholl. In the
grammar the genitive-ablative case endings of the Goldogn n nOlln are given as
singular -a, -11 and plunll -iOIl, -tholl. These endings are compared to Q -0, -11,

1 firie!'s SOIlX' I.HW 1 III (ii). nOl,· 12:3--4; QI. .... ~"".
2 (,)1. n tH : WV" ; ..:). ; "'~, .nd "lSI.
l "Oil im. M~rl<iry. ·: "U-:E SV: 46_~1; "E..." ndd··: MCE SV:61 .
4 Q L "AU -; I'ffi£; PO-; SOUl; TAVA' T..-A-
S R Nllmo rii', imerline~r.

129

C JPYnghted malenal
 Arda Philology 1

-ion and -ron, respec tively. As examples of the singular ending -0, the ~ Early
Qenya Grammar~ (EQG), dating from the 19205, cites peltas 'pivot ', gen.
pelrokso; pilin 'arrow', gen . pilindo; and the phrase rrirokruse Taniqerildo 'on the
high top of Taniqetil'. I Of the two variants of the geni ti ve plural the ending -ioll
seems to occur more frequently in the examples we have, but the alternative
-ron is exemplified in ~The Etymologies~, in the name Tinweroncur 'Queen of
Stars', comparable in meaning to the earlier Tillwetdri, but with a compound
form -cur described as "sexless", and used in place of the feminine tari 'queen',
and with the attributive association 'of the stars' expressed literally by the
gen iti ve plural *rinwerall, in the entry for the base TA-. There is also th e name
Nessnron for the day dedicated Uta the three younger Gods, Osse, Orame,
Tulkas", which seems ta be a geniti ve plural farmed from the adjeetive nes.so.
'ya ung ' (far whkh see the bases !.F:I'- and NF,TII-) .
The ending -va in 1~-m iruv6reva al so goes back to the earliest writings,
occurri ng in the name Mar Vanwa Tyaliiva for "The Cottage of Lost PlayH in the
frame stary of The Book of Lost Tales. This ending -va is described in EQG as Ua
general adjectival suffix which is freely employed, aften practically equiv-
alent to genitive".l The grammar also classifies the ending -I/o (seen in the
poem in silldarr6riella and R6mella) as an adverbial suffix of th e ab lative case
meani ng 'from, out of' . Examples of this include kilyalla 'from all board', the
ablative of kirya 'ship', and the plural variants eldal/or or eldalillo(r) 'from the
elves'.
The other noul1 cases exemplified in uNamarie" show later deve lopments.
The instnnnental ending in surinen and llrinen fornlally resembles the early
partiti ve, as in i tolma kuluinel1 'the helmet of gold '. We can see its concepcual
transition towards an instrumental sense in certain phrases from the Secret Vke
poems, such as the following stanza from the errrliest version of "Oilima
Markirya":

Yean falastanero The sea was loud with surf,

liirefalmarlnen, with waves crowned with flowers.
kilya kalliire The ship shone
kulukalma/fllen with golden lights.
U>ICE SV Ol her VersiOlls:3 , II)

I EQG MS (_ n.,c1t!Jl,ioo l; TS 1_ Do:<:!~n>ion(: TS (_ Th~ ~dyerbi.! . .. (fi ,~, o r """").

1 Th.".... wonts from EQG MS (_ Th~ Ady,,,bi.1 S.. (fixesl ATe wil h !ilile y.ri.lion "'1.. ~t~d in EQG TS
(_ The ..dverhi~l , ,,(fixes or ("0""1> ./1" .nd Ihe s,, (fixe> ciled !n the following p_r.gr.ph" .nd their
"""mple fomts, ~re alro f"OInd in boIh """n=.
130

C JPYnghted malenal
 "Namarie" and the Lexicon of Quenya

In this context 16tefalmarinen describes the waves almost as an attribute of

the sea, though it is also these waves that are making the noise; and more
clearly it is ku/ukalmal[lIell, i.e. by means of golden lights, that the ship shi nes,
though these lights are also hanging from or attached to the ship, and thus a
component in the p..1.rtitive sense.
The aIlative suffix seen in falmaUnnar has a slightly different form in the
EQG adverbia l case suffix -lIta , -tta 'to, at, towards', with the plural example
noldonrnr, noldo/inta(r) 'to the gnomes' showing the same final -r to mark
plurality of the goal or target. The shift in conception from a consonant cluste r
nt in this endi ng to the gem inate nn is in evidence by the time we get to ~The
Lost Road~, witll tile form romenna 'eastward ' (mentioned above) and the
allative plural of the noun lila 'hand' in the phrase antar6ta mannar Valion 'he
gave it into the hands of the Lords' in Ffriel's song. 1

The adjectives in the poem "Namarie "' are only inflected for number, agree-
ing with the nouns they modify either attrib utively or predicatively. There is
one singular example vanilla 'lost'. The plural adjectives are laurie 'like gold',
un6time 'numberless ', lime 'swift', luini 'blue', and ilye ·all' . Adjectives can be
used anributive ly as the first element of a compound noun, as in lisse-
miruvOreva, airetari· and 5iltdan6riello. There are also two adverbs in the poem,
sf 'now' and oiale 'for ever ', and possibly a third if we consider nai, translated
'maybe', to be modifying the verbs hiruvalye and hiruva. Tolkien later explained
the etymology of this word as verbal, deri ving it from nii-i 'be it that ', bllt doe s
lIot assign it explicitly to any part of speech. The poem also exemplifies the def-
inite article, which appears to be undeclined for number, with singu lar i yulma
'th e cup' and plural i eleni 'the stars' and ifalmaliImar 'on the foaming waves'.
QL has the adjective vanwa 'gone, on the road, past, over, lost' and the
definite article i in such phrases as j'Ponorir ·the Northlands' or i Sovolle 'the
Purificatio n'.' The component aire- in airerdri· 'holy-queen ' is homophonous
with the QL noun aire, the feminine word for ·saint·. Since this is from the root
ArA, the same as for aina 'holy', the meaning is essentially 'a female person who
is holy', and so there is only a slight co nceptual adj ustment for its attributive
use in airetari-Ifrillen. The adjec five laurie is the plural form of laurea 'golden'
and derived from the noun laure 'gold', as applied to ~golden light, especially
suu light~, according to fhe later ~Notes and Trallslations ~.3 This nOlln also goes
b.1ck to QL, and was already associated with golden light in the name Laurelin
in The Book of Lost Tale.-;; the fomlation of the singular adjective is also

1 AI..., "",n in LRW IlH (iJ 0l.!1:27.

, QL "AI" ' ; ro-; SOV() ~ so~.
J R NlIJTlo rie (_ ' ."AhIJ:15.

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C JPYnghted malenal
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parallelled in QL in such p<1irs as the noun lasse ' leaf' and adj. losseo 'with
leaves, leafy'. I
The adjective ilye is another plural form, the singular of which is attested in
n
~The Etymo]ogies , as Q ilya 'all, the whole' under the base It-, The component
lisse- of li.s.se-miruvoreva also goes back at least this far, though like ain- it
apparently arose as the attributive use of a noun, Under the ba.se u s- ' honey ' is
the entry Q /is (/i.s.sen) , unglossed bllt probabl y with the same meaning as the
root, the p<1renthetical form being an inflccted case citcd to show the stem of
the noun, which is indeed the same lisse- that occurs in the compound in the
poem. A very similar form can be found in QL, the adjective lise 'sweet' with
essentially the same root LlSI meaning 'sweetness', but also with deri vati ves
referring to the ideas of 'grace' and 'blessedness',
The adje<:tive unotime is constmcted from pre-existing components, the
Quenya prefix u-
'not, uno , in- ' being given under the ~Etymologies " 1>.1se ucu-,
and the verb l!Ot- 're<:kon' and noun note ' number' under the base NOT-. The sing-
ular foml would be *unonmo, and this suffix -imo goes back to ~ The Qenya Verb
Fonns~, the earliest co njugation of Ihe verb tIIl- 'to bring, come', where it is
used to form a sort of p<155ive potential pa.rticiple or gerundive, tiiluno 'bringable,
able to be brought,.l So *ti-IIOt-imo is literally 'not able to be re<:koned , uncount-
able', Two other adje<:tives in the poem, the singular component sindo- 'grey'
and the pluml Illini 'blue', have only fairly similar equivalents in Q sinde 'grey'
under the ~ Etymologiesn ba.se nm'l ' , and Q ltine under LUG2 . , the latter going all
the way back to QL /Ulle 'blue, deep blue'; an d the plural adj. linte presumably
has a singular form ·lintu 'swift' and displays only a correspondence in root and
broad resemblance in significance to QL liuya - 'run or flow smoothly'.l
The pattern of singular ending in -a and plural ending in ·e is not universal,
but apparently is widespread among tlle Quenya adjectives. The concep tion for
this grammatical device is present already in EQG, w here for exam ple the adj.
ando 'long' has the pl ural fo m} ande, The rarer type presumably exemplified by
pluralluini 'blue' is also parallelled in EQG by the adj , Ilinqe 'white', pI. llinqL 4
The latter is also clearly parallel to nouns such as lo.5.si, plural of lasse 'leaf',
while the plural ending -e is said to derive etymologically from -ai, in effe<:t
consisting of the singular stem- vowel -0 plus the plural marker -j, And abo1l1the
close original conne<:tion between nouns and adjectives in Qenya Tolkien says:
~The -Ji of the vocalic plurals in nouns is a secondary (and special Qenya)
formation with a suffix -Ii meaning ' many', and sllch plurals as -e (from -ai) in

I (,)1. ',<lJI\Ii: 1.<,...,.

1 QVF R"g"I~, P~ssi"e [ ~ \~~~[ .
J QL [,ll.,., Q l. lJNl -.
4 BOI h . ypes ill EQG MS [~ ~A~ject iv,"" (ex""I" . . . )]; ~1 'iO ill f.QG TS (~ Adjectiv,",, ).

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adjectival declensions were once the plural of adjectives and nouns alike: a few
traces of similar plurals for nouns occur in the oldest texts., 1
One ramification of this conception that was not yet worked out was how it
should appl y in the case of derived adjectives ending in -ea, like lassea '1e.1 fy '.
We app..1.rently have some examples of the strai ghtforward appl ication of the
mle that the stem-vowel ·a becomes ·e in the plural, in the Secret Vice poems,
for example in the phrase ar wingildin wi/worindein 'and the foam-fays like
butterllies' in the poem "Nieninque"! This presu mably contains the fann of an
adjective *wilworindeu 'like a butterfly' that agrees in case and number with the
noun wiflgildin 'foam-fays', which is ( onjoined with i oromondifl 'the wood -
spirits' as the subjttts of the predkate eller ronde '(ame thither', so that the
shared endi ngs in ·n prestunably mark the nomi native case, and the stem of the
pl ural adjective is ~wilwurindee- . This partk ular (Oll(eptiOll for the nominal
declension seems to have had a relat ively short life , or at least been margin -
alized by the time of the published version of "Namarie H , where at the most we
might consider it to remain in eviden(e in the ending of the nominati ve (ase of
the interrogative pronoun man 'who '. Subseq uently, perhaps as a side·effttt of
thi s change in die nominal declension, Tolkien seems to have decided that for
adjectives whose Singular ends in ·00 their plural form should end in -ie, as in
laurie. And thi s change in conception prob.1bly was roughly contemporary with
H
the composition of "Namarie •

The adverb s( is attested in "The Etymologies", which have Q sf, sin 'now '
under the base SI-; and oiole 'forever' looks like it is an adverbial use of (or
closely related to and homophonous wit h) the noun cited as Q oiale, oire
'everlasting [?age)' under the base OY- . The word /loi used by th e narrator of the
poem to express a wish or hope, nui hiruvolye Volilllar, goes back to EQG, where
it is given among a set of particles used to express the conditional or
subj unctive, "of whkh /loi represen ts remoter possibility ("might'), ki (nearer)
'may'." And Tolkien adds: "The pure optative is also often ex pressed by lIoi, or
nalke combined, at [the] head of [the] wish."
Aside from the possessive pronominal stIffix -ryo, there are four personal
pronouns exemplified in the poe m. There is a 1st person Singular nin 'for me', a
1st person dual in the phrase imbc met 'bel'oveen us', and \'oVO second persall
examples in hiruvalye 'thou shalt find ' and elye hiruvu 'even thou shalt find'. Of
these the third is a stIffixed subject pronoun -lye; the fOllrth is the corresponding
emphatic slIbjttt pronoun elye; the sttond is an object prono un consisting of
the stem me- and the dual stlffix -r, which we also saw in the dual noun maryar,

I Following Tolki"n '~ " SlOg<' in Ih~ IYI*'" I~Jni"n" of Ih~ gnlmmHr EQG 1"$ [ ~ Adjttliv<os l '",'S All·
eAl'ilKI, fo t Ih e fmms given h" ", in il .li ~...
2 M(;E SV :5I:l- 5') .

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 Arda Philology 1

while the fi rst is a dat ive pronoun, consisting of the stem l1i- and the case suffix
-II, used to indicate the beneficiary of an action. There is also an interrogative
pronoun man 'w ho ', a nd beside the demonstrative adverb sf, there is a relative
pronoun in the locative plural case, yassen 'where'.
Of these pronominal stems the first person singular a nd plural are the
oldest, going back a t least to the "Ea.rly Qenya Grammar'" with the same forms
and functi ons, though the ways in which the stems were deployed syntactically
was conceived of somewhat differently at tha t timc. The uncmphatic subject,
for example, was indica ted by prefixing the pronomi nal stems (ni·, me·, etc.) to
th e indicative verb. ! The first person plural morpheme is attested even earlier
as a com ponen t in two of the forms in the proverb, peri/me melW aimakrur
perperienta ~ We indeed end ure things bu t the martyrs e ndured and to the end ",
cited in QL under the entry for the intensive verb perpere· 'endure to the end,
suffer great anguish' (under PERE). Here the emphasis of the subject of the first
verb, expressed in English by 'we indeed', seems to be conveyed in Qenya by
the combination of the in flexion on the verb perilme, which clearly incorporates
the element me, toge th er with a repetition of th is pro nominal element in the
separate word meao. A comp..1.rable device is described in the section on per-
sonal pronouns in EQG, w here Tolkien says that ~there exists also an emphatic
form that is usually added after the verb (in addition to pre-verll.1.1 prefix) but
may also stand in place of the preverll.1.l. "
One point to note about this very early example of pronollli nal use is the
fact that pcri/me 'we end ure ' has the subje.-: t pronoun suffixed to the verb as part
of its inflexion, in a manner quite similar to hinrva/ye 'thou shal t fi nd' in the
poem. Sometimes, in a reas where Tolkien's conce ption fluctuated a great deal,
he wo uld eventually ret urn to an earlier idea, almost as though it had become
somehow fixed despi te his attempts to replace it with something new. Of course
the opposite w as perhaps just as often the ease, and indeed for the first person
plural pro nowlS there is a new development in EQG that illustrates this. While
in the proverb in QL the speake r could very well be understood as including the
person addressed in the phrase 'we end ure', the conception in the gralllmar has
two first person pima! ste ms: me- ~ excludes person(s) addressed'", bllt qe-
~includes them". And this association of me- seems to be retained, since in caito
momie i folmolinnaT imbe met 'darkness li es Oil the foaming waves between liS'
the reference is to the bi1.rrier between the narrator of the poem aud Varda, i1u d
lIeed not include the person addressed, for whi c h there is the subsequent wish
that he might (by implica tion) pass through this darkness and cross the waves
uni mpeded.

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The other personal pronouns in the poem do not have as early concepllml
connections, though there is enough of a resemblance between the subject
suffi x -lye 'thou' and emphatic elye 'even thou' on the one hand and the EQG
second person plural stem Ie- all the other, to suggest a line of deve lopmeut.
And for the possessive suffix -rya 'her' we have the historical fact that Primitive
Eldarin s was usually voiced in medial position wi th the resulting z then
becomillg r in the internal development of Qenya, an idea which goes back to
the earliest phonological w ritings.' So there is also a potenti al conceptual con-
nection between this suffix and the pronominal forms sUS!, s£/ si 'she' in the
~Etymol ogiesH entry for the demonstrative stem So.
The interrogative pronoun man 'w ho' occurs several times in the ~ Secret
Vice" poem ~Oil ima Markirya" ; and the relati ve pronoun stem ya - of the loca-
tive pl ural ya.ssen 'where' is seen in a dative (o r allative) si ngular form in the
phrase yar i vi/ya altta miqilis ' to whom the air gives kisses' in the poem
~Nieni nque". The locative or inessive suffix -sse 'at, in, by' is another of the ad -

verbial case suffixes described in the "Early Qenya Grammar " with the example
of kityasse 'on board', the sing\l lar inessive of kirya 'ship', and in the plural
pililldissen 'on the arrows'? The dative suffix - II seen in the personal pronoun
nin 'for me ' rounds 0\11 the evidence for the declensional p<l.radigm insofar as it
is exemplified ill the poem ~Nmmlrie" , and was already p.·ut of Tolkien's
conception by the time of "The Lost Road" , the same pronominal form being
used in the phrase antUva nin 'will give me' in Firiel's song.

The verbs in the poem uNamarit'"' are lamar 'fall', vanier 'have p.1.ssed·
(changed [0 avdnier in the 2nd edi tion), tiIltilar 'tremb le ', enquanruvu 'shall
refill', oNmle 'has uplifted', undu16ve 'drowned', cairo 'lies', umupa 'covers', na
'is' (changed to nd in the 2nd ed.), hiruvalye 'thou shalt find' and eiye hiruva
'even thou shalt find'. The ending ·r marks agreement with a plural subject:
lantor lassi 'fall the leaves'; yeni .. vanier 'years have p.1.ssed·; rindlor i eleni 'the
stars tremble'. The present-tense verbs with stems ending in -a are singular
cairo, ulltupa and lIa, and plural lalltar and rilllilar. The future-tense stems end in
-uva ; enqllalltuva, hinlvalye and hiruva. Three of the verbs refer to events in the
p.1.st, mllier, ortarre and ullduldve. The one that is clearly plural ends in -ier,
while the other two share a final -e. The phrase ilye rier ullduldve Iwnbule is (in
the first edition) translated "all pat hs are drowned in shadow" , but the lack of
an instntmental case marker on Illmbuie, the lack of a plural marker on the
verb, alld the parallel verb-subject word order for lamar lalli, rinrilar i eielli, and
caita mamie, all suggest that llimbule is actually the subject here and the pl ural
'SQ I~ I> · J ; [~ . S,J; (~ I)()r fJ,
2 EQG MS ( ~The ~dverbi~l "" ffixes); .1 '10 ill t:(,lG Tl; (~ ' I1>e adverbia l . " ffixes or c~ses].

135

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 Arda Phil%gy 1

phrase ilye tier is the object, with the literal meaning being 'shadow drowned all
paths', We can suppose that Tolkien inverted this into a passive coustnlction in
the translation in order to convey the sequence of ideas in the poem,
QL has the verbs lant- 'drop, fall '; va 'went' and avin 'he departs'; timya -
' sparkle'; qWlra- 'fill, com plete'; orto- 'raise '; lava - 'lick'; kaima - 'lie q ui et' (an
alteration in the manuscript from kaito-); tupu- 'roof, put lid on, put hat on,
cover'; and nd glossed as 'so, yes ' bur wit h an indication of the underlying
meaning 'it is',' While there was certainly some intervening elaboration and
modification in the derivational p."l ttems, the roots of all but one of the verb
stems in the poem go b.u:k to Tol kien's original conception of the language, In a
list of verbs to illustrate the fomIs of the past tense EQG gives the verb stem kai
'lie down' with pa.I, kaine and present kaitxl.' This list also gives the verb tantila
'hop', presuma bly related to QL lallta · 'bounce, bound', a possi ble parallel for a
derivative suffix -ila in tintilar ' tremble', J "The Etymologies~ have Q /anto- 'to
fall' under the base OAT-, w.m ya- 'go, dep."l rt, disappear', pa. t. vwme, under WAN-,
tilltina 'i t sp."l rkles' under TIN-, ONa - 'rise, raise' under ORO-, lavill 'I lick' under
LAB-, and an entry NAz_ said to be the stem of the verb 'to be' in Qenya. There is
also an entry lJN lJ- wi th a derived Qenya form ulldu and the meaning 'down,
under, beneath', whic h seems to account for the prefixes in both undu -/dve
'drowned' and UlHlipo 'covers', meaning literally 'down -licked' and 'down-roofs'
accordi ng to the la ter "Notes and Translations".'
The pattern of endi ngs that mark the verb-tenses fonnd in the poem
~Namarie " had its inception in ~The Qenya Verb Forms", a text which is
roughly contemporary with the "Qenya Lexicon". This gives a full conjugation
of third person forms of the "Reg ular verb" in three voices, three numbers,
three genders, alo ng wi th impersonal an d non·finite forms, all in fou r tenses -
present, future, past, and aorist. The first three of these tenses are marked by
the morphemes . j ., -va·, ·ie· , respe<:tively, the tense marker comi ng between th e
basic verb stem (lUI· in the example given) and the suffixes marking the other
categories, while the aorist is ind icated by the absence of a tense marker. In a
note at the end of this text Tolkien S,:IYS: "Ending of fu ture -UV8 - in many verbs,
-ta derivatives and lo ng stem cons[onant] verbs. As hosta-, hostuva-; karpi-,
karpuvo -, Ma ny verbs have an -a· tense vowel in present, such as -ta l?] and
-1I0 (?] derivative [?stems]". The reading of the end of the last sentence of this
note is tentative, bill likely enough given the cited examples hosta- and karpi- as

1 (,,)1. [Nll'AN; VAtlA-: AVA-; ""'-; QI:ffiI o r QATA; Oild"; [. . . VA; ""VA; n!PlJ·; ......
1 EQG MS [ ~ P~" [e n"'.] .
J QL ~ .
, R NlIJllarie, imerlin. r.

136

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presumably Ihe preselll-lense siems corresponding 10 Ihe fmures hostuva- an d

karpuva -,
In Tolkien 's conception of the future tense the range of application of the
variant endi ng -uva was eXp<lnded to include the root verbs, so that in EQG the
future of rul- is ruluva.' Thi s is the endi ng in both of the future-tense verbs that
appear in ~N amane". The stem·vowel -a of derivative verbs in the earlier con-
ce ption is also what we see in the present-tense verbs in the poem, most of
which have derivative sterns. As a further development in the form un -tl1pn we
have the relati vely la te conception of a present-tense stem containing a
lengthened vowel in the root-syllable followed by the stem-vowe l -a. In th e
earliest writings this pattern seems only to occur as a result of compensatory
lengthening in verbs derived from roots whose second consonant was subject to
phonetic reduction, as for exam ple in the first of the variant stems lUlU-, luklU-
' tim e passes" from the QL roo t LUIIU or w'u; or in rona 'arise, ascend' from the
root RO, ROllO. There is at least one case of root-vowel lengthening that seems to
be onomatopoeic in origin, in the synonymous entries nuru - and nuru - 'growl (of
dogs), gnullble, carp' uuder the rool NURU, The long vowel here is protmbly
emblematic or 'sound -symbolic' of the continuative nature of the verb, but
there is only a remote possibility of a conceptual connection between thi s and
UlHllpa, direct p.lml1els to which, snch as sna 'shines', occur only in lexts
contemporary with or later than the poem "Nam{iri e~.
With regard to the past tense conjugation in uThe Qenya Verb Forms",
Tolkien also notes, "In addition to the endings thi s tense is disti nguished by (1)
-n - strengthening, or (2) vowel-length strengt hening, or (3) 'apparent' ablaut, or
(4) suffix between stem and ending". In the poem vOOier and urtdu-Idve are
examples of the vowel -length strengthening type, while orrane is of the suffixed
type. The past-tense form /ave- actually goes back to QL, and pamllels to orrane
include such QL forms as lok/GIle and milldalle, the past tenses of lokta - ' sprout,
bud, put forth leaves or flowers' and mindo 'to diminish, fade'! The variation in
the p..lst-tense stem voweis, between final -e in the Si ngular form and -ie- where
there is a followi ng inflexion, as in the plural ending -ier, also goes back to ~The
Qenya Verb FomlS". There the active singular impersonal forms ha ve no
inflexion follOWing the tense slem marker, and the past-tense form is £iile, with
final -e, beside the inflected fomls of other genders and numbers, £ii/ien, rulier,
etc., with -ie- followed by vari ous endings,3

, EQG MS [~ ExIoml'le.(s[ of "'gnl", verh<1 .

1 Q L [.AVA; 1.OHO; M IN L
J Qvr Regl1l~r ""' ive.

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 Arda Philology 1

The poem contains the prepositions and postpositions mi 'in', imbe 'be-
tween', pella 'beyond' and IIU 'benenth', the conjunctions an 'for' and or 'and ', as
well as a particle ve 'like, as' that might be considered either a preposition or
conjunction, being used to constnlct similes of quality or manner, as yeni
unorime ve nlmar a/daron 'n umberless as the wings of trees are the years', yeni
ve lime yuldar vanier 'the years have passed like swift draughts' , or Varda
Oiolosseo ve !anyar maryat onane 'Varda from Mount Everwhite has uplifted
hcr hands like clouds'. Finally the[e are two interjections, Ai! translated 'Ah l'
which begins the poem and Namarie! translated ' Farewell!' which introduces
the closing of the poem and is repeated at the end.
QL has ail 'ohl ha l etc.' and ve 'as, like·, essentially identical with two of
these, and resemblances in area) 'but", imi 'in, inside·, mitm 'in, into, inward·,
and pe/in 'fenced in' perhaps connected ultimately wi th the first component of
pella,l The conjunction or has the meaning 'and ' in the poems ~ E..1fendel " and
~ Nieni n qne ", while the preposition nu 'under' occurs in "Oilima Markirya". And
~The Etymologies" have mi 'i n, within' under the base MI- ' inside', peler ('fenced
field') under PEL(ES)·, and Q la, lala under the negative base LA- 'no, not', the last
of which might account for the second element of pella. We cannot be certai u
th at PEL- and LA- can combine this way, but Tolkien did la ter translate pella as
'beyond (the borders 00'.2 It is also uncertain whnt Tolkien conceived the deri -
vation of namdrii!· to be at the time he was composing the poem. But its second
component is probably related to marie 'it is good' in Firiel's song in "The Lost
Road ". Perhaps in similar fashion \0 nai 'maybe· being derived, by way of the
sense 'be (it) that", from mi 'be' and demonstrative i 'that ', so na -marie may
contain the !>Ume first component na - and have the literal sense 'be (that) it is
good ', conveyi ng a wish that what happens to the person addressed may be
good, essentially what farewell and the lIlore colloquial good-bye both originally
lIleant before becoming conventionalized interjections.

I think it is reasonable to co nclude from th is review of the language of

~Namarie " that Tolkien did !>Utisfy his own proposed requ irement to constmct
his art-language on chosen pri nciples and to abide by them while he composed
thi s poeill. There are some words and devices employed in the poem whose
conceptual origins cannot be established as predating it, so that in theory we
might suppose they were introduced into the language at that very time and for
the sole original purpose of prod uci ng a particular effect in the poem, But I
believe that the analysis above shows these are too few in number to suggest

1 QL ~y~; ARA (JAlU.); ""rOO; Nf"' ; P£L£'''.

2 R NlIJ11arie, imerlineM.

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that the resthetic qualit ies that make "Nmm'iri e " poe try were achieved by such
effects.
Another way to look at this might be to consider what we would under -
stand the poem to S.1Y if we were not told in the story, by way of th e English
translation, what FrOOo later understood it to mean, but if we had instead been
familiar with Tolkien 's earlier writings, such as QL, EQG, the "Secre t Vice"
poems, ~The Lost Road" and "The Etymologies ~ . Take for instance the o pening
line of the poem: A i! laurie lantar lassi sUrinen! This contains fi ve words a.nd
employs four grammatical devices. The three words ai, lanta- and lasse, the
adjectival plural -e, verbal pl ural or, nominal pl ural -i, and instrumental endin g
-!len would all be known to one famili a r with the earlier writings. And the
stems lauri· and sUri· are sufficiently similar to the laure- a nd $!lm· that we
mi ght 'expe<:t' from slJ(:h knowledge, so that the potential sense of the words in
the line would be easily recognized, with their combination prov idi ng adequate
context to ensure that the the correct interpreta tion is indeed, 'Ah! like gold fall
the leaves in the windl '
Or consider the question in the middle of the poem: S( nlan i Yllima !lill
cnqualllliVa7 He re the stems of five of the six words would be immediately
understood, along with th e dative -n and fmure -uva. Gi ven th e previous men-
tion in the poem of miruvOre, the resemblance of yulma to ulma ' flagon" might
be sufficient to suggest its intended sense, at least as some sort of contai ner.
That en- is supposed to mean 'again' would perhaps be difficult to infer with
any assurance, but even wi thout th is the meaning, in particular the rhetorical
point that the questio n conveys as a m etaphor, would be dear enough .
Possibly the hardest part of the poem to und erstand without Tol kien"s
transla tion would be the last two lines: Namdriel Nai hiruvalye Valimar. Nai elye
himva. Namarie! One might be a ble to recover the etymological sense of the
interjection, assumi ng the interpreta tion suggested above is more or less cor-
rect, but for its idio matic significance the best one could do is speculate based
on the overall co nt ext of the poem. And while a sort of process of eli mination
might yield the reasonable inference that -lye and elye are 2 nd person pronouns,
and though we would know lhat a wish regarding the home of the Valar was
being expressed for that person, th ere woul d be no lingllistic ciues as to what
the verb hir- means literally. But even in this case, since such precedi ng phrases
as i/ye tier ullduldve lumbule and caita momie i falmaUllllar woul d be relatively
easy to understand, ehe rhetorical significance of hinlVolye VaUmar migh t very
well be guessed from the context .
Perhaps of equal or more importance in illustrating Tolkien 's poim about
poetry in an art-language, we can consider some of the more obvious poetic
effects he uses in ~ NamariE·. In the first line we have the very prominent allit -

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 Arda Philology 1

eration of laurie lamar lru.si , And there are additional assonances in phrasings
throughout the poem, such as mi oromardi lisse-minll'6reva; frlllyar mdrya!
Elenttiri; u/lduldve Iwubule; Calacirya mm aiale; and vanwtl Valimar. In all of
these, paTlicular alliterations are achieved by placing in sequence words that
already existed, but produce in combination a series of sounds that is il' S-
thetically pleasi ng to an extent beyond the pleasure that the words evoke
ind ividually by their inherent shapes, or would if used 'prosaically' without the
deliberate intention of the poet to increase the beauty of the association of
sound and sense by his arrangement of them.
And alli teration is just one ki nd of poetic tool w hi<:h is availa ble to the
comJX.>ser of JX.>etry in an aTl -language, even when he is content to create by the
rearrangement of already invented words and devices within the JX.>tential of
their established patterns. The poet is also free to sele<:t from among the
JX.>ssible choices of words already devised tha t could convey his ideas in dif-
ferent ways. Fo r exam ple, we noted above possibili ty that in the co nstructio n
aireruri·l[rinen the first component aire- might be a poetic use of the femi nine
word for 's,,1int", used attributive ly in combinat ion wit h the seco nd element to
mean essentially 'a q ueen who is a saint ' and thus in effect 'holy queen'. And
we saw tlmt there is an adjective related to this, aina 'holy', so that it follows
that Tol kien could also have expressed the basic idea he had in mind by
ainardri-I[rinffl, and that the use of aire- was a deliberate choice among pre-
existi ng alternatives. This too was probably chosen in paTl for assonance, but
there seems to be an added nuance of meaning that is significant.
There are other choices a mong synonyms perceptible in the diction of the
poem. The use of the name Valimar instead of Valinar, for instance, by the
choice of its second element, deli berately e<:hoes the aramardi of the first half of
the poem, with the mention of stars and sweet mead, rather than the sinda-
noriella of the second half, with its darkness and mist. Another exam ple in a
descri ptive compound is Calaciryo, which seems to incorporate a sort of JX.>etic
alteration of the name Kalakilya 'Pass of Ligh t', given in ~The Etymologies"
under the base KIL- 'divide', along with Q kilya 'cleft, p..1SS between hills, gorge'.
Bllt kitya means 'ship', apparently related ultimately to various words having to
do with cutting, li ke Q kirka 'sickle'. A kirya is thus somethi ng which cuts
through the waves, much as a kilya is that whic h divides w hat it passes
through; but since a 'cleft' also cuts what it p<1Sses through, so a 'light-cleft' can
be named a Cala-<:irya, A reason for choosing this particular name in the poem
was presumably to evo ke the image of a ship. The idea of the p..1ssage of the
light being hidden by mist is used to symbolize the fact that passage on a ship
to cross the darkened waves to Valinor is denied to Galadriel.

140

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 "Namarie" and the Lexicon of Quenya

A fairly simple but vivid example of word-choice is the phrase 11116time ve

romar aldaroll 'numberless as the wings of trees' , Since the metaphor is that the
passing years are like falling leaves, Tolkien could just as readi ly have used the
word olwa 'branch' (from the ~ Etymologies" b.1se G6LOB-) instead of rama 'wing',
in similar fashion to the li ne "There long the golden leaves have grown upon
M

the branching years in Galadriel's Song of Eldamar (LR 2 VIII: 44). But by the
word-choices of lasse, milia and aida (and as we have seen these are aU basic
vocabulary going back to his original conception of the language) the analogy
between leaf-bram:h-tree and bi rd -wing.feather is evoked, so that from years
sym bolized by falling leaves we pass to a brief hint of birds in flight that is also
metaphorically the trees of the forest , all of which eventually pa ss away like the
linte yuJdor remembered from so long ago in Valimar.
It is beyo nd the scope of this paper to exam ine all of the ways in whi(h
Tolkien exploited the diction of Quenya for poetic purposes in composing
~NaJllari e H . But perhaps these exam ples are sufficient grounds for entertaining

the hypothesis that Quenya does indeed possess an adequate diction for the
composition of poetl)'. In considering this we must take into account the inevi-
table observation that Tolkien changed his conception of many of the words
and devices of his art-language, A priori one might suppose tlmt a particular
work in or about Quenya can embody Tolkien's conception only a t the moment
of its composition, as a sort of cross-set:tion of his conceptual development pro-
cess. And one might conclude that the only way to study Tolkien's art-language
is to examine this process.
When we begin to undertake this exami nation, however, we actually find
th at in many instam:es the conception of a word or grammatical device is at -
tested at more than one point in time, and thus we can infer its exisle[J(:e
throughout the period sp'-lllned by those separate points. Our study of Quenya
m ust then consider collections of words and devices that are used together with
overlapping and interset:ting periods of attestations in various writings. And for
a large body of basic lex ical and grammatical material the pattern of linguistic
relati ons implici t in these attestations long predates the composition of The
Lord of the Rillgs, a substantial portion go ing all the way back to the initial con-
ception of Qenya, as I think the analysis of the linguistic origins of "Narnfuie"
has shown. And insofar as we are concerned widl Tolkien's belief in the neces -
sity of abiding by the ~ chosen pri nciples ~ of his constnlcted art-language, in
order to write poetl)' of a sort, I woul d suggest that it is this expmldillg all d
enduring collection of elements and their p..1uern of interrelation and mode of
usage as language which is the real essence of Quenya.

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ISSN 1654-5737
IS8 11~J78~~ I -::172!:;OO - I -2.
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