How did Pippin understand that Denethor is about to burn Faramir?

[Nameless Thing]

They spoke the language of Gondor (whatever that is), which Pippin didn't speak. From the book it seems to me that he figured out from the conversations around him what was going on. It's unlikely that he learnt the language so quickly.

 

[Elthir]

In general, the people of Gondor spoke Westron. At the time of the War of the Ring "... the Elven-tongue was known to only a small part of the peoples of Gondor, and spoken daily by fewer. These dwelt mostly in Minas Tirith and the . . ." (Appendix F)

One strangeness noted by the Gondorians is that Pippin used "familiar" forms (for pronouns of the second person, for example) for people of all ranks, even for the Lord Denethor, as, in the Shire-usage of Westron, "deferential" forms had gone out of colloquial use, though such forms still lingered among some Hobbits of the Shire.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hi, NT! To Galin's post, I'll attach this discussion on dialogue, from another thread:

http://thetolkien.forum/index.php?threads/a-favorite-passage.23567/page-2

Your question has me wondering whether Arwen and Aragorn were speaking Westron or Rohirric. I was thinking the former, but Aragorn was fluent in the latter, IIRC.

 

[Nameless Thing]

Oh ok, I understand. For some reason I thought the Gondorians spoke a different language.