Tolkien's use of other languages in his 🧝Elvish languages

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

It is mostly referred to people who's first language isn't English but everyone feel free to contribute
Have you ever noticed any words or phrases in any of Tolkien's languages that reminds you of any words in languages you know?
I go first
Arabic isn't my first language and I'm not by any means fluent but there is a word that I've noticed that is similar between Quenya and Arabic
Naar in Arabic means fire and it's pretty much the same as Quenya's Nár
Which I think can't be just a coincidence as Tolkien was a linguist first and foremost

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Ooh, this seems like it will be a really interesting topic!

I'm not fluent in any languages other than English, but I do study Russian a little, and Curufin's Quenya mother-name of Atarincë feels slightly Russian to me. Atarinkë means "little father." In Russian, father is отец (pronounced "a-tyets") which sounds a little like Quenyan Atar. And the word in Russian for small is маленький (pronounced "malenkiy") and that sounds somewhat similar to the diminutive ending "incë."

I thought I heard somewhere that Quenya is based heavily off Finnish, but I can't remember where I heard that. It wouldn't surprise me if Tolkien borrowed from other languages too!

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Ooh, this seems like it will be a really interesting topic!

I'm not fluent in any languages other than English, but I do study Russian a little, and Curufin's Quenya mother-name of Atarincë feels slightly Russian to me. Atarinkë means "little father." In Russian, father is отец (pronounced "a-tyets") which sounds a little like Quenyan Atar. And the word in Russian for small is маленький (pronounced "malenkiy") and that sounds somewhat similar to the diminutive ending "incë."

I thought I heard somewhere that Quenya is based heavily off Finnish, but I can't remember where I heard that. It wouldn't surprise me if Tolkien borrowed from other languages too!

This actually made me remember
Ata in Turkish and Azeri means Dad
The word for mother is more similar to the Sindarin one's "Anna" means mother which sound similar to sindarin's "Nana"

 

[Olorgando]

During the Council of Elrond, Elrond mentions Tom Bombadil close to the end of the chapter, and lists the names TB had been given in other languages (seems TB was quite widely known!). Among them was "Orald by Northern Men". That language was "translated" from the feigned "original source" by JRRT as Norse. As a (modern high) German native speaker (as well as of English), that immediately suggested the German adjective "uralt" meaning very, very old. "Alt" means "old", and "ur" is a prefix meaning, in this case, very. "Urgroßvater" means great-grandfather, "Urwald" old-growth primary forests, "Urzeit" prehistory etc.

As for the primary "models" for Quenya respectively Sindarin, JRRT repeatedly stated that these were Finnish respectively Welsh. But JRRT had some idiosyncratic views on languages, according to Tom Shippey. I guess what JRRT was aiming for in his modeling was something he called the "flavor" of Finnish and Welsh, IIRC. This does not mean that native speakers of Finnish or Welsh (which JRRT was far from in either) would have an easier time understanding Quenya or Sindarin.

 

[Atwe]

Roman Rausch wrote an article about this topic years ago: You can read it here

 

[Vorondil]

Well there is Rohirric, which is just Old English. Another word I have noticed is Oliphaunt, and in Afrikaans elephant is Olifant, which is pretty similar. I'm not actually sure what Middle Earth language Oliphaunt is.

 

[Elthir]

Actual Rohirric is not Old English though, just for possible clarity.

It's been translated with Old English, yes.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Oh, noooo!

 

[Elthir]

Appendix F: On Translation

Anyway, Old English didn't exist in "Éomer's" day, despite the "coincidence" of Orthanc, for example.

Yes, coincidence

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

And the names of the "pre-Eorl" Northerners are "translated" into Gothic.

Speaking of coincidences, Tolkien averred that "Erech" had no connection with the Biblical city, and in fact that he used no Hebrew-derived language influences. I always wondered about this, as "ben" in a Hebrew name means "Son of"; it can hardly be coincidence that Tom Bombadil is known to the Elves as Iarwain Ben Adair: "Oldest and Fatherless".

My pet theory is that he was making a sly reference to the old joke:
Q. "Who was the only person in the Bible without a father?"
A. "Joshua, Son of Nun".