smw@tilt.UUCP (Stewart Wiener) (05/20/84)
The following, a response to my grammar of the Klingonese language, is
a guide to Elvish. It was compiled by Robert M. Schroeck of Princeton
University, reachable on Bitnet as rms@puccuts.BITNET (via your friendly
Bitnet gateway, probably ucbvax/Berkeley).
Pointers to this appeared in the net.sf-lovers and net.nlang groups.
To those of you in ARPA-land receiving this under UNIX-SOURCES, oh well.
That's what you get for receiving a Usenet newsgroup intended for anything
too large for normal groups. Pass it on to those on the SF-LOVERS list.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, you can do a lot more with Elvish than you can with
klingonaase because Tolkien left a much larger vocabulary with
which to work -- still, it's kind of small -- 600 words more or
less. However, there's evidence that, like in German, you can
hook small words together to make bigger words that represent
other things. Most of what's in here is generalization from what
is left of the tongues, but it seems to work well enough.
First thing to remember is that there are two Elvish languages
extant: Sindarin (Grey-elvish) and Quenya (High-elvish). They
can be used in compound forms and structures, but it is sometimes
confusing, not generally considered good usage, except in names
and other nouns. Everything here will be labeled as to source
language.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VERBS
(Quenya)
Present Past Future Imperative subjunctive
root + a root + e root + uva root + e root + ai
na = is ne = was nuva = will be ne! = be! nai = may it be
sila = sile = siluva = will sile! = sulai = may it
shines shone shine shine! shine
The plural is formed by adding "r". When
the subject is plural, the verb must be, also:
lassi lantar = leaves fall
To indicate the pronouns I, we, and thou
as subjects, the following suffixes are added:
-n for I, -(l)met for we, and -lye for thou.
In the case of -met, the l may take the place
of the plural r: lantalmet = we fall
(Sindarin)
Present Past Future Imperative Participial Auxiliary
root + a root + ant root + ath root + o root + iel root + i
na = is nant = was nath = will no! = be! niel = being ni = have
be been
edra = edrant = edrayh = edro! = edriel = edri = have
open opened will open open! opening opened
To indicate the pronoun I is the subject, a
vowel and the letter n are added:
root + on root + en root + ath + on root + in
non = I nen = I nathon = I nin = I
am was will be have been
No other pronoun structures survive in either
language.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOUNS
Compound nouns are constructed by placing the descriptive
element before the main element, unlike English. The concepts
"of" and "of the" are expressed by word order:
Dunadan "Man of the West" literally "west-man"
Yavanna "Giver of Fruits" literally "fruit-gift"
It is permissable to combine Quenya and Sindarin elements.
Tolkien said "Boromir" was such a combination.
Quenya plural is formed by adding "i" to words ending in
one or more consonants, "r" to words ending in vowels:
elen -> eleni, sinda -> sindar, las -> lassi, alda -> aldar.
Possessive in Quenya is formed by dropping the final vowel,
if there is one, and adding "o" for singular forms. For plurals,
add -on, and do not drop the vowel. Varda -> Vardo "Varda's"
Silmarilli -> Silmarillion "of the Silmarils".
Prepositional elements come at the end of Quenya words, but
the final vowel is not dropped: Oiolosse -> Oiolosseo "from Ever-
white", Lorien -> Loriendesse "in Lorien".
In Quenya, the dual element is formed by adding "t": maryat
"hands-her-two", met "us two".
Sindarin plurals are formed by changing the vowels, as shown
below:
adan = man, edain = men
amon = hill, emyn = hills
annon = gate, ennyn = gates
barad = tower, beraid = towers
mallorn = gold-tree, mellyrn = gold-trees
orch = orc, yrch = orcs
orod = mountain, ered = mountains
Some of the rules covering these changes are: stressed a
becomes e, unstressed a becomes ai, o becomes e, i, or y.
Collective plurals are formed in Sindarin by adding -ath
or, usually in the case of peoples, -rim, literally meaning
"a host", "a great number": elenath "all the stars", Rohirrim
"all the Masters of Horses".
An augmentive suffix, -on, is added to Sindarin nouns to
signify that the thing is very great or mighty, as in aearon
"great sea".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLES
The only article in Elvish is the Quenya word "i", meaning
"the". Indefinite articles in Quenya and all articles in Sin-
darin are apparently implied by the structure of the sentence.
There exists what appears to be a compound form similar
to the French du and au; it is the word "mi", translated by
Tolkien as "in the". It is assumed to be a combined form
incorporating the pronoun i.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SYNTAX
Acceptable structures are:
Quenya
subject-verb-object object-verb-subject
hisie untopa Calaciryo miri tier undulave lumbule
mist covers Calacirya's jewels roads drowned (by) heavy shadow
object-subject-verb
maryat Elentari ortane . . .
her two hands Star-Queen lifted up . . .
Verbs occur at the end of sentences only in questions.
Si man i yulma nin enquantuva?
Now who the cup for me will refill?
Sentences beginning with verbs tend to be emotionally charged:
Auta i lome!
Passing is the night!
If there are one or more nouns before the verb, one of them will
usually be the subject, unless it has a prepositional suffix (-o,
-ello, -esse "from, "in"), in which case the subject is the noun
following the verb.
Yeni ve linte yuldar avanier.
YEARS like swift draughts have passed away.
vs.
sindanoriello caita mornie i falmalinnar
from grey country lies DARKNESS the waves upon
Most adjectives precede the noun; adjectives of plural nouns must
be plural. Adjectives are made plural by changing the final vowel to
"e" or adding "e" if there is no final vowel.
Two adjectives, or a possessive and an adjective, are never found
in sequence, as in "the big blue ball" or "Joey's red truck". The
structure would be "the big ball blue" or "Joey's truck red". Also,
possessives are never placed between a preposition and its object:
Vardo nu luini tellumar NOT nu Vardo luini tellumar
Varda's under blue domes under Varda's blue domes
These are only guidelines -- in a highly inflected language such
as Quenya, a great amount of freedom in word order is allowed.
Sindarin
object-verb-subject verb-object
le linnathon na vedui Dunadan
(to) thee chant-I-will (it) is (at) last Dunadan
(subject suffix)
verb-subject subject-verb-object
noro lim, Asfaloth! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!
ride on, Asfaloth! Fire take the werewolves!
Verbs are usually followed by their modifiers, which may
even come at the end of a sentence:
Cuio i Pherian annan!
Live the Halflings long!
Nouns are usually followed by their modifiers. The concepts
"of" and "of the" are usually implied by word order. Where "from"
or "of" is stated, the Sindarin word o stands alone, rather than
as a suffix:
o menel, Celebrimbor o Eregion
from heaven, Celebrimbor of Eregion
vs.
Annon edhellen
Door (of the) Elves
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
English to Elvish Dictionary
Q = Quenya, S = Sindarin. Verb roots are preceded by "to", as
in "to abide".
Accents are indicated by characters in the line above the word:
/ .
yavie
/ = acute accent, = circumflex, and . = umlaut
(two small dots over a vowel).
A pronunciation key will be found at the end of the dictionary.
A
abhorrence : deloth abhorrent : Q saur, S thaur
to abide : Q mar abominable : Q saur, S thaur
abroad : S palan abyss : ia
across : S thar, S thrad afar : S palan
again : Q en- air : Q vilya, Q wilya
alas : Q ai all (plural) : Q ilye
/
the all : Q iluve alone : er
and : S a, Q ar anger : ruth
as : Q ve ash : S lith
/ .
augmentive suffix : S -on autumn : S iavas, Q yavie
.
awakening : Q coire, cuivie, S echoir, echui
awe : gaya
B
bald : S rudh bane : dagnir
barrow : S tur, plural tyrn battle : dagnir, ndak, dagor
to be : Q,S n- be it that : Q nai
beard : fan(g) beautiful (fair) : Q vana
because (for) : Q an beech : neldor
to behold : Q aiy-, el- to bend : lok
beside : Q ar beside : Q ar
between : S im, Q imbe beyond : Q pella
.
birch : S brethil bird (small) : S aew, Q aiwe
black : mor, vorn blessed : aman, man
blood : agar, S sereg, Q serke bloodstained : agarwaen
/ . .
blossom : Q lote, S loth blue : S lhun, luin, Q luine
/
book : Q parma bow : cu, Q luva
breeze : Q hwesta bridge : S iant, Q yanta
. .
brilliance : S ril, Q rilde, rille bull : mundo
butterfly : Q wilwarin
C
cave : grod, groth, rod chambers : S sammath
/
champion : Q arato to chant : S lin-
children : Q hini, S hin chill : S ring
to cleave : cir-, kir-, ris- cleaver : crist, grist, kris, hyando
cleft : cir, cirith cloak : Q collo, S gollo
cloud : S fan, Q fana, plural fanyar coast : falas, falath
collective plural suffix : S -ath, S -rim, Q rimbe
course : rant cold : S ring
/ /
to come : Q tul- commander : Q kano, S gon
/
consumer : Q vasa cool : him
to cover : Q untup- crow : S craban, plural crebain
to cry : Q, S nall- cup : Q yulma
to cut : cir, kir
D
.
dark : S dur, mor darkness : S fuin, Q huine, Q mornie
daughter : Q,S -iel dauntless : S thalion
/
day : S -or, Q re dead : S firn
. / .
death : S gurth deep : Q bale, bule
demon : S raug, rog, Q rauko devoted to : (n)dil, (n)dur, nil, nur
dimness : S du, gwath, wath, weth direction : Q men
dog (great) : huan dome : Q telluma, plural tellumar
doom : S amarth, Q ambar, umbar door : S annon, pl. ennyn, fen, fennas
double : adu down : Q ndu, nu
to down-lick : Q undulav- to down-roof : Q untup-
draught : Q yulda, plural yuldar to draw : S teith-
dread : gaya, S gor, goroth to drown : Q undulav-
/ . / .
dusk : S dome, Q lome, S moth Dwarf : S naug plural naugrim, nog,
nogoth plural noegyth
to well : Q mar- dwelling : S bar, Q mar
E
eagle : Q soron, S thoron ear : S lhaw
Earth : Q Arda earth (dirt) : Q kemen
/
east : S rhun, run, Q rom, romen echo : lom
echo (great) : lammoth Elf : S edhel plural edhil, S eledh,
Q elda plural eldar, quendi
empty : lost to encircle : Q pel-
encircling wall : S echor end : met
to end : Q tel- Ent : S Onod plural Onodrim or Enyd
to enter : S minn- even thou : Q elye
ever : Q oi, oio, S oiale, ui exalted : Q varda
eye : hen
F
fading : S beleth, firith, Q quelle fair-haired : Q vana
to fall : Q lant- fangs : S carach, carag, carak, carch,
.
Q caraxe, carca
far : Q hae far and wide : Q, S palan
/ .
far-seer: Q palantir pl. palantiri farewell : namarie
fate : Q ambar, umbar, S amarth father : Q atar, S adar
feast : mereth feather : Q quesse
fell (adj., "fell beast") : aeg feminine name suffix : -iel
fence : S iath fence (outer) : S ephel
to fill : Q quant- to find : Q hir-, utuv-
figure : Q fana to finish : Q tel-
fire : Q nar, S naur first : Q minya
/ .
fist : S paur, Q quare flame (leaping) : lach, lhach
flame (red) : S ruin, Q runya flat-lands : S talath
to flow away, to flow down : Q cel-, kel-
/ .
flower : Q lote, lot, S loth flowing : sirith
foam : rhos, ros, roth, ving, wing to follow : Q khil, hil
foot : S dal, Q tal for (because) : Q an
.
ford : athrad, iach forest : S erin pl. eryn, taur, Q taure
forsaken : egla fortress : ost
friend : (n)dil, (n)dur, nil, nur, S mellon
from : Q -ello, Q -o from on high : Q ndu
/ .
fruit : Q yave
G
gape : faug gate : Q ando, S annon pl. ennyn, fen,
fennas
garlanded maiden : Q -riel to gaze : S dir-, Q tir-
to gaze afar : S palantir gazing : S diriel
gift : Q anna to give : S on-
glass : S heled gleam : glin
glittering : bril glittering white : silivren
.
gloom : S fuin, Q huine gloomy : dim
glory : S aglar, Q alcar, alkar glorious : S aglareb, Q alcarin,
alkarinque
to go around : Q pel- to go away : Q cel-, kel-
goblin : S glam pl. glamhoth, orch pl. yrch
gold : S mal pl. mel, Q malta gold (color, light) S glor, lor, Q
.
. . laure
golden : Q laurea, laurie golden-brown : S baran
golden-red : cul good : man
grade : Q tyelle pl. tyeller gravel : S brith
gray : S mith, thin(d), Q sinda green : S calen, galen pl. gelin, Q lai
growth : loa
H
hair : fin half : Q per, S pher
hall with arched roof : rond, thrond hall : Q mard pl. mardi
to halt : S dar- hammer : S dring
/ .
hand : S bor, cam, cham, Q kamba, ma, maite, quare
harbor, haven : S lonn, lond, Q londe
head : dhol, dol hearing : S lhaw
.
heart : Q ore heat : Q ur
heaven : Q, S menel heavy : blung
/
heir : S chil, red, Q hil pl. hildinyar
helm : thol here : S si
hidden : S dolen hiding : esgal
/
high : ar(a), arat, don, Q oro, tan, tar, tara
hill : S amon pl. emyn hither : nev
hollow (adj.) : S nov hollow (noun) : Q unque
holly : ereg, reg holy : Q aina, aire
home : S bar, Q mar hook : Q ampa
hope : S estel horn : S dil, ras pl. rais, Q til
horror : del, S gor, goroth horde : S hoth
.
horse : S roch, ro(h), Q rokko host : S hoth, rim, Q rimbe
to be hot : Q ur hound : huan
/
hour : lumenn' howl : ngwaw
hunt : faroth
I
I : S im ice : S khelek
icy, ice-cold : Q helka in : Q -esse
in the : Q mi in this place : Q sinome
in which : Q yassen iron : S ang, Q anga
of iron : S angren pl. engrin is : Q,S na
island : tol it : Q -yes (pronoun suffix)
J
jaws : Q anca, carka, S carach, carag, carak
.
jewel : S mir, Q mire
K
to keep : S cheb- kindler : S thon / .
king : S aran pl. erain or erein knowledge : S golodh, Q noldo, nole
L
lady : S hiril lair : torech
lake : aelin, lin lamp : Q calma
/ . . / / .
lament : Q denie, nainie land : S dor, (n)dor, nor, Q nore
last : S vedui to be last : Q tel-
laughter : lalaith lawn : S parth
leaf : Q asea, las pl. lassi letter : Q tengwa pl. tengwar, S tiw
to lie : Q cait- life : coi
to lift up : Q ortan- light : Q cal, kal, S galad
like : Q ve to live : S cui-, guin-
to listen : S last- lofty : don, S tar, Q tara
lonely : ereb long : an, and, anann
look toward : S tir loop : lok
/ .
lord : Q heru, S hir lore : Q nole
lost : Q vanwa love : mel
lover of : (n)dil, (n)dur, nil, nur
M
to make : S ech- maiden : ien, -wen
maiden (garlanded) : -riel man : S adan pl. edain, Q atan pl.
atani
masculine name suffix : -ion mastery : tur
may it be : Q nai me-for : Q nin
meeting (of our) : omentielvo mesh : rem, rembe, rembre
metal : Q tinco middle : en, ened
mighty : beleg mind : Q ore
/ .
mist : Q his, hisie, S hith month : Q asta pl. astar
moon : Q isil, S ithil mortal : fir
mound : cerin, corol, coron, S haudh, tur pl. tyrn
mountain : S orod pl. ered mouth : Q anto
N
name : Q esse near : nev
nectar : miruvor net : rim, rembe, rembre
/
new : vinya night : S du
/ / / .
nightingale : S dulin, tinuviel, Q lomelinde, tindomerel
noble : ar, ara, arat noise (din) : glam
north : S for, forn, forod, Q formen
/
not : Q,S u- (negating prefix) now : Q si
.
number (great) : S rim, Q rimbe
O .
O! : S a! ocean : S aear, Q ear
of : Q -ello, -eva, Q,S -o old : iar, iaur
on this side of : S nef one : Q er
to open : S edr- opression : S thang
out : et, eth outflow : ethir
outside : Q ar
P
pass : cirith to pass : Q aut-, van-
/ .
people : Q nore, S waith petty : S nibin
pillar : tarma pine : S thon
place (in this) : Q sinome plain : lad, talath
platform : talan pl. collective suffix : S -ath, -rim
point : ae, S dil, Q til pool : aelin, lin
power : S bal pl. bel, rod pl. rodyn, Q tur, val
to praise : S egl-, Q lait- prince : ernil
prison : S band, Q mando, mbando pursue : faroth
Q
/
queen : S bereth, Q tari
R
radiance : Q alata, S galad rage : Q aha
rain : Q ulma rainbow : ninniach
ransom : danwedh re- (repetition prefix) : Q en-
.
red : S car, caran, Q carne to refill : Q enquant-
refuser : avar region : Q arda, men, S arth
/
remembrace : -rin rest : Q este
reversed : Q nuquerna to ride : S nor-
ridges : S pinnath ring : Q cor
. .
river : S duin, duine, hir, Q,S sir, Q luine
roads : Q tierr root : thrond
royal : ar, ara, arat rune : Q certa pl certar, S certhas
S cirth, S gerthas
rushing : alag, alak, asca
S
sad : dim to day : S ped-, Q quen-, quet-
.
screen : esgal sea : S ae, aer, gaer, Q ear
. .
series : Q tema pl. temar serpent : Q hloke, loke, S lhug, lyg
seven : S odo, Q otso shadow : S ath, dae, gwath, wath, weth
shadows (heavy) : Q lumbule shadows cast by light : morchaint
sharp : S maeg, Q maika to shine : Q cal-, kal-, S gal-
to shine with white or silver light : Q sil-, S thil-
ship : cair, cir, cirya, gir shipwright : S cirdan
shore : falas, falath, rast, rest shuddering : girith
sickly : engwa sign : Q tehta, S thiw
/ .
silent : din silver : S celeb, Q telep, telpe
silverlike : S celebrin, Q telperin to sing : Q,S lin-
.
singer : linde skill : curu
sky : Q vilya, wilya to slant down : S penn-
. .
slender, slim : fim snake : Q hloke, loke, leuca, S lhug
plural lyg
snowy : lossen son of : Q,S -ion
sorcery : morgul, S gul south : S har, harad, harn Q hyarmen
.
spark : S gil, Q tinwe to sparkle : S din-, Q,S tin-, Q it-
/ tint-, tintil-
to sparkle like jewels : S mir to speak : S ped-, Q quen-, quet-
spider : ungol spider web : Q ungwe
. . .
spirit : Q fea, sule, thule spindrift, spray : ros, rhos, ving,
/ . wing
spring of water : Q et-kele, etele, S eithel
.
spring season : S ethuil, Q tuile stake : S ceber pl. cebir, gebir
star : Q,S el, Q elen pl. eleni, S elen pl. elenath or elin, gil, il
starhost : S giliath starlight : Q silme
stars (of the) : elda pl. eldar, elena
stem : Q telco stirring : Q coire, S echuir
stone : S gon, gond, Q ondo stone (small) : sarn pl. serni
to stray : raen-, ran- stream : hir, sir
street : rath strong : S thalion
sudden : bragol surfline : falas, falath
sumer : S laer, Q laire sun : Q anar, S anor
/ . / . .
sunlight : Q are, aze, S aur, S aure
/ .
sunrise : Q romen, S run sunset : Q andune, S annun
swan : S alph, Q alqua sweet : Q lissi
swift : Q linte sword : S megil, Q macil
swordsman : Q macar, S vagor
T
tall : Q halla the : Q i
thee : Q le them : S hain
these : S hin this : S hi
thorn : ereg, reg thou : Q lye, S le (usually suffixes)
(even) thou : Q elye thousand : mene
.
thread : S lain three : nelde
throng : Q sanga to thee : S le
tobacco : galenas tongue : Q lambe
tower : S barad pl. beraid, Q,S minas
torment : Q ngwalme, nwalme, ywalme torrent : S thor
treasure : Q harma tree : Q alda pl. aldar, S galadh pl.
galadhad, orn
troll : S torog trumpet sound : rom
twilight : aduial, minuial, tindome, uial, undome
to twine : rig- to twinkle : Q tintil-
/ U
un- : Q u- under : Q nu, nuin
underground dwelling : S grod, groth, rod
unto : Q tenn' unwilling : Q avar
us two : Q met
V
valiant : astaldo valley : S dun, nan, nand, imlad, tum
Q tumbo
vaulted roof : rond veil : Q,S fana
victor : Q dacil void : ia
voice : S lammen, Q oma
W
wall : S ram, Q ramba to wander : raen-, ran-
wanderer : randir to watch (over) : Q,S tir-
water : nen waterfall : lanthir
wave (crested) : Q falma way : S bad, Q pata
.
we two : Q met week : Q enquie pl. enquier
.
well of water : Q ehtele, S eithel werewolf : S gaur, ngaur
/ /
west : S annun, dun, Q numen wet : med, nin
white (dazzling) : S glos white : S nim, nimf, nimp, niph,
Q ninque
who : Q man whole : Q iluve
.
will (verb suffix) : Q -uva willow : Q tasare, S tathar, tathren
/
wind : S gwae, gwai, Q sul window : S henneth
. /
wing : Q rama pl. ramar winter : Q hrive, S hriw
.
wise, wisdom : S golodh pl. gelydh, Q noldo, nole
without : Q ar wolf : draug
.
woods : S erin pl. eryn, taur, Q taure
word : S beth, Q quetta to wreathe : rig-
Wose : dru wright : S dan pl dain
Y
-y (adj. ending in English, i.e., "mist-Y") : Q -ime, S -ui
year (solar) : loa year (long Elven) : Q yen pl. yeni
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRONUNCIATION KEY
The following pronunciation key is adapted from the
Appendix of The Silmarillion, Appendix E of The Lord
of The Rings, and Tolkien's updated notes from page
63 of The Road Goes Ever On.
C always has the value of K, never of S. Celeb 'silver' is
pronounced "keleb".
CH always has the value of CH in the Scottish 'loch' or Ger-
man 'buch', never that in the English 'church'.
DH represents the voiced TH sound in 'the', not the unvoiced
TH of 'thin'. If you are pronouncing it right, you should
feel a vibration in your larynx when you place your hand
against it. The voiced TH is found in such Elvish words
as Maedhros, Caradhras, and Galadhrim.
F represents the F in 'find' except at the ends of words, as
in the English 'of', where it has a V sound. Note that the
root nef- is spelled with a 'v' when used in the compound
Nevrast 'Hither Shore'.
G is always "hard" G, as in 'get' or 'gild'. 'Gildor' begins
as does 'Gilbert'; 'Region' begins as does 'regulate'.
H alone, uncombined with other consonants, has the value of H
in 'house' and 'behold'. It has special values when com-
bined as : CH, DH, LH, RH, TH, HW, and HY. In Quenya, HT
has the value of CHT in the German 'acht'. This combination
appears in 'Telumehtar'.
I in Sindarin, when occuring at the beginning of a word and
followed by another vowel, has the value of consonantal Y:
thus Ioreth is pronounced "Yoreth".
K is occasionally found in Elvish, and is the same as C.
L has approximately the sound of L in 'let'. However, between
E or I and a consonant, or after E or I at the end of a word,
L was somewhat 'palatalized', that is, pronounced with the
blade of the tongue, rather than the tip, against the hard
palate, as in 'Eldar'.
LH represents an unvoiced, palatalized L. In archaic Quenya,
this was written HL.
NG has the value of NG in 'finger' except at the beginning and
end of words, where it has the value of NG in 'sing', as in
the Sindarin ngauroth 'werewolves'.
QU has the sound KW.
PH has the sound of F in find.
R is trilled in all positions. RH, or HR as it is written in
Quenya, represents a voiceless R.
S is always voiceless, as in 'so'. The sound Z as in 'is' and
'zoo' did not occur in Elvish.
TH has the value of the voiceless TH in 'thin'
TY has the value of the British 'tune', not the American "toon".
It has some of the quality of CH, as heard in some English
dialect pronunciations of 'tune' as "chune", and also in the
phrase 'at you', as "atcha" in some American dialects.
V has the value of the English V, not the German.
W has the value of the English W, not the German. HW is a voice-
less W, as in 'white' and 'whale'.
Y in Quenya is used for the consonant sound of Y in 'you'. In
Sindarin, Y represented the modified U in the French 'lune'.
HY represents a sound similar to that in 'hew' and 'huge', as
in Hyarmen. This sound is represented by the H in Quenya EHT
and AHT.
Consonants written twice are pronounced long. The M in Rammas
Echor and Sammath Naur have the sound of M in 'roommate' rather
than that in 'ramming'.
A has the sound in 'father'.
E has the sound in 'bed' and is pronounced as a separate syllable
in the middle of words such as Merethrond 'Feast Hall' and at the
/ . .
end of words such as lome 'dusk', where it is usually marked 'e'.
I has the sound in 'sick'.
O has the sound in 'hot', but "rounder" than in modern English,
apparently with the mouth and lips held more open.
/
U has the sound in 'brute' even when long. Turin is pronounced
'Toorin', not 'Tyoorin'.
/
Long vowels were marked with an acute accent, e.g. a. These
vowels were long in duration rather having a different sound:
not as in 'ape' but as in 'apple'. However, in Quenya, long
/ /
e and o are correctly pronounced with a 'tenser and closer'
sound than the short vowels, apparently with the mouth and
lips more closed. In Sindarin, stressed one-syllable words
are marked with a circumflex accent, indicating a particularly
/
prolonged vowel, as in dun, contrasted with Dunadan.
/
AE and AI have the sound of 'eye'. Dunedain ends with a syllable
pronounced 'dine'.
EI has the sound in 'gray'.
IE has the vowels sounded separately and run together as in
'Ni-enna'. It does not have the sound in 'piece'.
OE and OI have the sound of the vowels in 'boy' and 'toy'.
UI is pronounced as are the vowels in 'ruin', but run to-
gether into one syllable.
AU and AW have the sound in 'loud' and 'how'. Sauron begins with
a syllable pronounced 'sour'.
ER, IR, UR before a consonant, as in Cirdan, or at the end of a
word, as in Ainur, shoud be pronounced as in English
AIR, EER, OOR.
EA and EO are not run together, but form separate syllables.
STRESS. In two-syllable words, the stress or accent is on the first
syllable. In longer words it occurs on the next to last
syllable if that syllable contains a vowel followed by two or
more consonants, a long vowel, or a dipthong (two vowels pronounced
in one syllable, such as AI, EI). IsILdur and PelARgir are
words of this type. If the next to the last syllable contains
a short vowel followed by one or no consonants, the stress falls
on the syllable before it, the third from the end. FEanor,
ErESsea, and DENethor are words of this type. Digraphs, pairs
of consonants that make a single sound, such as CH, DH, PH, SH
and TH, are counted as one letter in determining stress, and are
written with one letter in the Eldarin alphabets.
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Si quenuvalye i lamber Eldareva!