Elvish languages were created by J.R.R Tolkien for the Elves in the Middle Earth. These are different languages used by Elves as they developed into society throughout the ages.
Out of his love for literature and his pursuit of realism, Tolkien undertook the development and evolution of languages over time.
He invented two complete languages and several more in their developmental stages and worked on how the language adapts.
Tolkien was also a professional philologist and spent a lot of time on the languages he had built. In his letters, he said that the stories in the imaginary world of Middle-Earth were not inspired by the narratives or characters as one would think but started from a set of constructed languages. [1]
The characters and incidents were used as conduits to give life to these languages. According to Tolkien, the creation of languages was a foundation; to him, a name first came, and then the story followed; the stories were made to give a world to his languages.
Out of his love for literature and his pursuit of realism, Tolkien undertook the development and evolution of languages over time.
He invented two complete languages and several more in their developmental stages and worked on how the language adapts.
Tolkien was also a professional philologist and spent a lot of time on the languages he had built. In his letters, he said that the stories in the imaginary world of Middle-Earth were not inspired by the narratives or characters as one would think but started from a set of constructed languages. [1]
The characters and incidents were used as conduits to give life to these languages. According to Tolkien, the creation of languages was a foundation; to him, a name first came, and then the story followed; the stories were made to give a world to his languages.
External History
Tolkien first started constructing the Elvin dialect at Birmingham and later named it Quenya. He was already well-versed in several languages including Spanish, Latin, Italian, Greek and ancient German, Old English as well as Gothic.
Tolkien pursued a goal of creating mythology with his Quenya. The creation of history, speakers, and dynamics like war and migration all emerged to give a background to the Elvish languages.
Over the decades, the Elvish languages underwent several revisions for grammar. The vocabulary did not change extremely and instantly.
The meaning of a word was sometimes modified though the actual word, once invented, was never disregarded. He continued to refine the meaning of the words and added new synonyms. The etymology was always in flux.
Tolkien used the tree model and comparative philology as his primary tools for constructing languages. He generally started with protolanguage and proceeded to invent the sounds for daughter languages. [2]
Tolkien, in the 30s, came to a conclusion that Valarin was the proto-language of the Elves. The Elvish languages were derived from the Valar in the beginning but later they underwent changes and were enriched constantly.
Tolkien in his ‘Comparative Tables’, talks about the mechanism of sound change in the daughter languages Telerin, Qenya, Noldorin, Lindarin, North Lemberin, West Lemberin, East Lemberin, Taliska, and others.
He has never stopped, during his lifetime, experimenting on the languages and considered many revisions to perfect them. After ‘The Lord of The Rings’ was published, the grammar rules of Elvish languages underwent a few changes.
Tolkien pursued a goal of creating mythology with his Quenya. The creation of history, speakers, and dynamics like war and migration all emerged to give a background to the Elvish languages.
Over the decades, the Elvish languages underwent several revisions for grammar. The vocabulary did not change extremely and instantly.
The meaning of a word was sometimes modified though the actual word, once invented, was never disregarded. He continued to refine the meaning of the words and added new synonyms. The etymology was always in flux.
Tolkien used the tree model and comparative philology as his primary tools for constructing languages. He generally started with protolanguage and proceeded to invent the sounds for daughter languages. [2]
Tolkien, in the 30s, came to a conclusion that Valarin was the proto-language of the Elves. The Elvish languages were derived from the Valar in the beginning but later they underwent changes and were enriched constantly.
Tolkien in his ‘Comparative Tables’, talks about the mechanism of sound change in the daughter languages Telerin, Qenya, Noldorin, Lindarin, North Lemberin, West Lemberin, East Lemberin, Taliska, and others.
He has never stopped, during his lifetime, experimenting on the languages and considered many revisions to perfect them. After ‘The Lord of The Rings’ was published, the grammar rules of Elvish languages underwent a few changes.
Internal History
A family of related languages and dialects, the Elvish languages originated from the proto-language of the Elves who rose in the east of Middle Earth according to Tolkien. The Elves had naturally tried to invent a language for communication and all the Elvish languages originate from a common ancestor.
Tolkien has introduced two subfamilies of the Elvish languages:
The Elves of the Second and Third Clans who did not migrate to Valinor used Avarin. It was developed into about six Avarian languages.
The Elves of the Eldar who marched to Valinor used the common Eldarin language which later transformed into:
Tolkien has introduced two subfamilies of the Elvish languages:
The Elves of the Second and Third Clans who did not migrate to Valinor used Avarin. It was developed into about six Avarian languages.
The Elves of the Eldar who marched to Valinor used the common Eldarin language which later transformed into:
- Quenya, the language used by the Elves in the Eldamar beyond the Sea further classified into Vanyarin Quenya (speech of the Vanyar, the Elves of the First Clan) and Noldorin Quenya (colloquial speech of the Noldor, the Elves of the Second Clan). [3]
- Telerin, the language of all the Teleri further divided into Telerin, Sindarin, and Nandorin.
Etymologies
Tolkien’s dictionary of the Elvish languages was created in the 1930s. It was published in the 5th volume of the ‘History of Middle Earth’ and was described as one of the most significant documents by Christopher Tolkien.
The Etymologies resemble a scholarly work mentioning all the roots of the protolanguage used by the Elves. They don’t form a whole but instead incorporate the layers of changes Tolkien introduced for the structure and use of the languages at specific times.
The Etymologies mainly discuss the Noldorin, Old Noldorin, and Quenya languages. The work provides insight into Elvish places and people which would not have otherwise been recognized. This text reflects the work of Tolkien as a philologist.
He worked backward for English, tracing the origins of words. He worked both forward and backward for Elvish. An Elvish word once found would never change or get deleted but the etymology can change several times.
The Etymologies resemble a scholarly work mentioning all the roots of the protolanguage used by the Elves. They don’t form a whole but instead incorporate the layers of changes Tolkien introduced for the structure and use of the languages at specific times.
The Etymologies mainly discuss the Noldorin, Old Noldorin, and Quenya languages. The work provides insight into Elvish places and people which would not have otherwise been recognized. This text reflects the work of Tolkien as a philologist.
He worked backward for English, tracing the origins of words. He worked both forward and backward for Elvish. An Elvish word once found would never change or get deleted but the etymology can change several times.
References
This page has been seen 5,928 times.
-
-
Created by on
-