Colorful languages are utilized in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books of Middle-earth, such as The Lord of the Rings book series, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. The generation of myths in Tolkien’s books is derived from the author’s love of the study of languages and philology, which is the study of form, documentary progress, and connections of all languages. Building languages is Tolkien’s biggest hobby and passion, even from an early age. In examining the languages of Middle-earth, it is essential to understand its two facets. First, the “primary history,” the events in the author’s real-world that influenced Tolkien’s development in his created language. And then the “secondary history,” which is the envisioned timeline of events in Middle-earth.
Primary history
Tolkien was an expert linguist specializing in the Ancient English language. He was also engrossed in various languages aside from his scope and was deeply fascinated with Finnish. When he found a grammar book in Finnish with an elaborate description, he likened it to barging inside a wine-cellar full of exquisite vintage, with class and taste never savored before. The Finnish language morphology, especially its diverse pattern of inflection, influenced the invention of Quenya. Tolkien also had a particular interest in Welsh. The uniqueness of its phonology led to the language of Sindarin. Tolkien derived many words from known languages but tweaked and transformed them as he advanced. And so, efforts to find the origin of a word or name in Elvish in other published works during Tolkien’s lifetime are ambiguous. Creating languages is Tolkien’s passion throughout his lifetime. He formed his first few languages, named Nevbosh and Animalic when he was only thirteen. From then on, he regularly mused on his creations for 65 years until his passing.
Tolkien’s Languages
The languages Tolkien formed are closely linked to the myths he created. This is because of his realization that a language would be incomplete without having a history of the groups and individuals who uttered it. The Elvish tongues Quenya and Sindarin are the most renowned and most comprehensive languages Tolkien has developed, but he also created many other languages. Sindarin and Quenya are related to Elvish [1] dialects, which arose from Common Eldarin, the mother tongue of Elves. The Common Eldarin also began from the “Primitive Quendian,” the primary source of Avarin and Eldarin languages. Moreover, there is an independent family of languages that belong to Men; Westron was the most outstanding of all. It developed from the Numenorean dialect of Adunaic, the everyday language of the people of The Lord of the Rings. Most of the languages of Men, also called Mannish languages, manifest traces of the Elvish and Dwarvish tongues. Other distinct languages were named as well; one of them is Khuzdul, the Dwarvish language. There are more such as Valian of the Valar and the Black Speech of Sauron in the Second Age. [2]
Elvish Study
Even though formal linguists do not necessarily study the languages created by Tolkien, some professional researchers have also collected all his developed grammar and history. A book published many years before about Eldarin language is called An Introduction to Elvish. Jim Allan is the book’s author and released with the publications of Bran’s Head Books. Allan wrote this book before The Silmarillion was even published and is therefore deemed out-of-date. There are many other projects dedicated to Tolkien’s languages:
- Quettar, from the Bulletin of the Linguistic Fellowship of The Tolkien society, updated by Julian C. Bradfield, the first publication in Eldarin
- Parma Eldalamberon and Vinyar Tengwar by the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
- Tyalie Tyelellieva publication by Lisa Star
- Mythlore by the Mythopoeic Society
- Beyond Bree by Nancy Martsch
- Lambengolmor, Tolklang and Elfling, mailing lists devoted to Tolkien’s linguistics
Secondary History
In Middle-earth’s imagined history, the Elves’ languages are divided when some Elves migrated to Aman, and the rest remained. This led to the separation of Quenya, also known as Elf-Latin or High-Elvish, and Sindarin, the common tongue among the Elves.
Linguistics of Middle-Earth
In Middle-earth, the writing was an invention of Rumil. He also created the first alphabet called the Sarati, a word that means “letters”. Feanor beautified and improved the alphabet into the Tengwar, which was distributed over all Middle-earth through the Noldor. Tengwar was widely used in the West-lands during the Third Age. Meanwhile, Daeron of Doriath created the Cirth runes entirely independent from Rumil and Feanor’s previous works. However, Cirth runes are only for inscription usage. So Tengwar replaced it, except for the Dwarves, who continued to use these. A significant expert of Middle-earth’s linguistics is Pengolodh of Gondolin, a culture scholar who is a writer in Sindarin and Quenyan languages. He authored Quendi and Eldar, the Osanwe-Kenta, and the Lhammas, which is accredited to him. He was also one of the remaining Lambengolmor. The Quenyan word lambë, from which the term Lambengolmor was derived, is the word used for speech and language. Tengwesta is a broad term for syntax and coding system, this can be interpreted as grammar.
Spelling and Writing
Quenya and Sindarin in writing are usually in the Tengwar alphabet, which Tolkien created explicitly for both Elvish languages. These two can also be written in Cirth runes. When the languages of Middle-earth are written using the Latin alphabet, circumflex (â, ĂŞ, Ă®, Ă´, Ă», and Ĺ·) and acute accents (á, Ă©, Ă, Ăł,Ăş) show long vowel pronunciation based on the language and usage. The diaeresis (ä, Ă«, ö) is a mark for short vowels that must be enunciated independently. It also means it is voiced and included in a diphthong. For instance, the four letters at the end of the word AinulindalĂ« must be voiced as English “dah-leh” instead of “dale.” The three letters that begin with the word Eärendil are enunciated “eh-ahr” instead of the English word ear. Most times, specifically in written words of early Eldarin, Tolkien applies the macron to emphasize lengthened vowels. The dieresis on ä, ö, and ĂĽ for pronunciation similar to the German language (e-modification or i-modification).
Language Replacement
In the book The Lord of the Rings, the author applied the literary technique of replacing a fantastical language with an existing one. He wrote and used English in the book and referred to it as Westron. He continued this process in replacing Rohirric, an early system of Westron, with Old English, of which modern English also originated. He also replaced the names in Dale’s dialect, which is in the north of Rhovanion, with words in Old Norse. Therefore, this traces the familial connection of his imaginary languages to the real historical origin of English to Germanic languages. Since Tolkien [3] never developed these languages, an effect of this is that they were not included verbatim in the books and replaced all the details with that of the existing language.
1. Elvish
- Early Quendian
2. Mannish languages (with the influence of Avarin and Khuzdul)
- Ancestral Languages of Atanatari’s Houses (First and Third)
- Taliska, two language forms
- Language of Men of Eriador in the Second Age
- Language of the Northmen
- Ancestral forefathers of the Atanatari’s Second House
- Dunlending
- Haladin
- Language of the Drûg
- Drúedain of Brethil’s dialect
- Woses of Drúadan Forest’s dialect
- Haradrim Languages in many dialects
- Easterling Dialects
- The Losoth and Forodwaith dialects
3. Dwarvish
- Khuzdul
4. Language of Ents
5. Ainur Language (Malar and Valar)
- Valarin
- Black Speech of Sauron
6. Orc Language
Lesser forms of Black Speech and dialects mixed with Westron
Other ancient forms of communication
