View source for Languages constructed by Tolkien

{{good article}}
{{Short description|Constructed languages}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2020}}

The English [[philologist]] and author [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] created several [[constructed language]]s, mostly related to his fictional world of [[Middle-earth]]. Inventing languages, something that he called ''[[glossopoeia]]'' (paralleling his idea of ''[[mythopoeia]]'' or myth-making), was a lifelong occupation for Tolkien, starting in his teens.

Tolkien's glossopoeia has two temporal dimensions: the internal (fictional) timeline of events in [[Middle-earth]] described in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' and other writings, and the external timeline of Tolkien's own life during which he often revised and refined his languages and their fictional history. [[Tolkien research|Tolkien scholars]] have published a substantial volume of Tolkien's linguistic material in the ''[[The History of Middle-earth|History of Middle-earth]]'' books, and the ''[[Vinyar Tengwar]]'' and ''[[Parma Eldalamberon]]'' journals. Scholars such as [[Carl F. Hostetter]], [[David Salo]] and [[Elizabeth Solopova]] have published grammars and studies of the languages. 

He created a large family of [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish languages]], the best-known and most developed being [[Quenya]] and [[Sindarin]]. In addition, he sketched in the [[Men in Middle-earth|Mannish]] languages of [[Adûnaic]] and Rohirric; the Dwarvish language of [[Khuzdul]]; the [[Ent]]ish language; and the [[Black Speech]], in the fiction a constructed language enforced on the [[Orc]]s by the Dark Lord [[Sauron]]. Tolkien supplemented his languages with [[Tolkien's scripts|several scripts]].

== Context ==

=== Tolkien's hobby: glossopoeia ===

{{further|A Secret Vice}}

Tolkien was a professional [[philologist]] of ancient [[Germanic languages]], specialising in [[Old English language|Old English]]. Glossopoeia, the construction of languages, was Tolkien's hobby for most of his life.<ref name="Fauskanger Vice">{{cite web |last=Fauskanger |first=Helge Kåre |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |url=http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/vice.htm |title=Tolkien's Not-So-Secret Vice |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lordfingulfin.webs.com/earlierlanguages.htm |title=Tolkien's Languages: The Tongues of Middle-Earth |date=2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110153/http://lordfingulfin.webs.com/earlierlanguages.htm |archive-date=24 December 2013 }}</ref> At a little over 13, he helped construct a sound substitution cypher known as ''Nevbosh'',<ref name="M&C_200" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1983|p=200}}<!--Monsters & Critics--></ref> 'new nonsense', which grew to include some elements of actual invented language. Tolkien stated that this was not his first effort in invented languages.<ref name="M&C_203" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1983|p=203}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, he developed a true invented language called Naffarin.<ref name="M&C_209" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1983|p=209}}</ref> One of his early projects was the reconstruction of an unrecorded early [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]] which might have been spoken by the people of ''[[Beowulf]]'' in the [[Germanic Heroic Age]].<ref>Tolkien's name for himself in ''Gautistk'' was ''Undarhruiménitupp''. [[John Garth (author)|John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]''. p. 17. Andrew Higgins, [http://www.signumuniversity.org/eagle/2015-01/in-dembith-pengoldh/ In Dembith Pengoldh A column on Tolkien's invented languages] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304140355/http://signumuniversity.org/eagle/2015-01/in-dembith-pengoldh/ |date=January 2015}}</ref>

In 1931, Tolkien gave a lecture about his passion for constructed languages, titled ''[[A Secret Vice]]''. Here he contrasts his project of [[artistic language]]s constructed for aesthetic pleasure with the pragmatism of [[international auxiliary language]]s. The lecture also discusses Tolkien's views on [[phonaesthetics]], citing Greek, [[Finnish language|Finnish]], and [[Welsh language|Welsh]] as examples of "languages which have a very characteristic and in their different ways beautiful word-form".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1983|loc="A Secret Vice"}}</ref> Part of the lecture was published in ''[[The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays]]''; in the part that was not, Tolkien gave the example of "Fonwegian", a language with "no connection whatever with any other known language".<ref name="Higgins 2016">{{Cite journal |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |date=15 May 2016 |title=Tolkien's A Secret Vice and 'the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway' |url=https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=journaloftolkienresearch |journal=[[Journal of Tolkien Research]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |article-number=3 |no-pp=y}}</ref>{{efn|All the same, Fonwegian contained words like ''agroul'' for "field", cf. Greek ᾰ̓γρός (''agrós''), and ''nausi'' for "sailor", cf. Greek ναύτης (''naútēs''), which do "suggest derivative origin".<ref name="Higgins 2016"/>}} 

Being a skilled [[calligraphy|calligrapher]], [[Tolkien's scripts|Tolkien invented scripts]] for his languages.<ref>[[Wayne G. Hammond|Hammond, Wayne G.]], [[Christina Scull|Scull, Christina]], ''[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator]]'', p. 190.</ref> The scripts included [[Sarati]], [[Cirth]], and [[Tengwar]].<ref name="Tolkien Estate 2015">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Arden R. |author-link=Arden R. Smith |title=Writing Systems |url=https://www.tolkienestate.com/en/learning/languages-and-writing-systems/writing-systems.html |publisher=The Tolkien Estate |access-date=26 January 2021 |date=2015 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414115427/https://www.tolkienestate.com/en/learning/languages-and-writing-systems/writing-systems.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Tolkien's theory of invented languages ===

{{further|Sound and language in Middle-earth}}

Tolkien was of the opinion that the invention of an [[artistic language]] in order to be convincing and pleasing must include not only the language's [[historical linguistics|historical development]], but also the history of its speakers, and especially the mythology associated with both the language and the speakers. It was this idea that an "Elvish language" must be associated with a complex history and mythology of the [[Elves (Middle-earth)|Elves]] that was at the core of the development of [[Tolkien's legendarium]].

Tolkien wrote in one of his letters:

{{blockquote|what I think is a primary 'fact' about my work, that it is all of a piece, and fundamentally linguistic in inspiration. ... It is not a 'hobby', in the sense of something quite different from one's work, taken up as a relief-outlet. The invention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows. I should have preferred to write in 'Elvish'. But, of course, such a work as ''The Lord of the Rings'' has been edited and only as much 'language' has been left in as I thought would be stomached by readers. (I now find that many would have liked more.) ... It is to me, anyway, largely an essay in 'linguistic aesthetic', as I sometimes say to people who ask me 'what is it all about'.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#165 to the [[Houghton Mifflin Co.]], 30 June 1955 }}</ref>}}

The Tolkien scholar and folklorist [[Dimitra Fimi]] questions this claim. In particular, his September 1914 ''The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star'', based on the [[Old English]] poem [[Crist 1]], shows that he was starting to think about a mythology before he started to sketch his first invented Middle-earth language, Qenya<!--not a typo, just an early version of the name-->, in March 1915. Further, the steps that led to his first attempt at the mythology,{{efn|Fimi notes that this process was analysed by [[John Garth (author)|John Garth]] in his 2003 biography ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]''.{{sfn|Fimi|2010|pp=63–67 "Ideal Beings, Ideal Languages"}} }} the 1917 draft of ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'', involving the character of [[Eärendel|Earendel]] in its first story, did not involve his invented languages.{{sfn|Fimi|2010|pp=63–67 "Ideal Beings, Ideal Languages"}} Tolkien was, rather, in Fimi's view, emphasizing that language and myth "began to flow together when I was an undergraduate [at Oxford, 1911–1915]" (as Tolkien wrote in 1954),<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#144 to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 25 April 1954 }}</ref> and stayed that way for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Fimi|2010|pp=63–67 "Ideal Beings, Ideal Languages"}}

=== ''Lhammas'' ===

{{main|Lhammas}}

In 1937, Tolkien wrote the ''[[Lhammas]]'', a linguistic treatise addressing the relationships of the languages spoken in [[Middle-earth]] during the [[First Age]], principally the Elvish languages. The text purports to be [[found manuscript|a translation of an Elvish work]], written by one Pengolodh, whose historical works are presented as being [[Tolkien's frame stories|the main source of the narratives]] in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' concerning the First Age.<ref name="Lhammas"/>

The ''Lhammas'' exists in three versions, the shortest one being called the ''Lammasathen''.{{efn|These are published, as edited by [[Christopher Tolkien]], in ''[[The Lost Road and Other Writings]]''.{{sfn|Fimi|2010|pp=73, 102}}}} The main linguistic thesis in this text is that the languages of Middle-earth are all descended from the language of the [[Valar]] (the "gods"), [[Valarin]], and divided into three branches:<ref name="Lhammas">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|loc=Part 2, Chapter 5, "The Lhammas"}}</ref>

* Oromëan, named after [[Oromë]], who taught the first [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] to speak. All languages of Elves and most languages of [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] are Oromëan.<ref name="Lhammas"/>
* Aulëan, named after [[Aulë]], maker of the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]], is the origin of the [[Khuzdul]] language. It has had some influences on the tongues of Men.<ref name="Lhammas"/>
* Melkian, named after the rebellious [[Morgoth|Melkor]] or Morgoth, is the origin in the First Age of the many tongues used by the [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]] and other evil beings.<ref name="Lhammas"/>

== Middle-earth languages ==

=== Elvish languages ===

{{main|Elvish languages (Middle-earth)}}

==== Internal and external histories ====

[[File:Elvish Languages Mapped to Kindreds and Migrations.svg|thumb|center|upright=2.5|The internal history of [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish Languages]] mapped to kindreds and migrations in the [[Sundering of the Elves]]. [[Quenya]] was the ancient language; [[Sindarin]] was initially spoken in [[Beleriand]], and continued to be spoken in Middle-earth in the [[Third Age]]. Beneath the name of each language is the word for "Elves" in that language.]]

Internally, in the fiction, the [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish language]] family is a group of languages related by descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language.{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}

Externally, in Tolkien's life, he constructed the family from around 1910, working on it up to his death in 1973. He constructed the grammar and vocabulary of at least fifteen languages and dialects in roughly three periods:{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}

# Early, 1910 – {{circa|1930}}: most of the proto-language Primitive Quendian, Common Eldarin, [[Quenya]], and Goldogrin{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}
# Mid: {{circa|1935–1955}}: Goldogrin changed into Noldorin, joined by Telerin, Ilkorin, Doriathrin and Avarin{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}
# Late: Ilkorin and Doriathrin disappeared; Noldorin matured into [[Sindarin]].{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}

Tolkien worked out much of the [[etymological]] background of his Elvish languages during the 1930s, resulting in ''[[The Etymologies (Tolkien)|The Etymologies]]''.<ref name="Etymologies" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|pp=378–379}}</ref>

[[File:Glamdring etymologies.svg|thumb|center|upright=2|Etymology of '[[Glamdring]]' in [[Elvish languages of Middle-earth|Tolkien's Elvish languages]], as described in ''[[The Etymologies (Tolkien)|The Etymologies]]'' under "Lam-", "Khoth-", "Glam-", and "Dring-"<ref name="The Etymologies" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|pp=385–448 "The Etymologies"}}</ref> What was Noldorin at that time later became Sindarin.{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}]]

==== Quenya ====

{{main|Quenya}}

Tolkien based Quenya pronunciation more on [[Latin spelling and pronunciation|Latin]] than on [[Finnish phonology|Finnish]], though it has elements derived from both languages. Thus, Quenya lacks the [[vowel harmony]] and [[consonant gradation]] present in Finnish, and [[stress (linguistics)|accent]] is not always on the first syllable of a word. Typical Finnish elements like the front vowels ''ö'', ''ä'' and ''y'' are lacking in Quenya, but phonological similarities include the absence of aspirated unvoiced stops or the development of the syllables ''ti'' > ''si'' in both languages.<ref name=Tikka>{{cite conference |first=Petri |last=Tikka |title=The Finnicization of Quenya |journal=Arda Philology |pages=1–20 |publisher=Arda Society |year=2007 |book-title=Arda Philology: Proceedings of the First International Conference on J. R. R. Tolkien's Invented Languages, Omientielva Minya, Stockholm 2005 |volume=1 |isbn=978-9197350013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOF7m2m3AXcC&pg=PA1}}</ref> The combination of a Latin basis with Finnish phonological rules resulted in a product that resembles Italian in many respects, which was Tolkien's favourite modern Romance language.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#223: "I remain in love with Italian, and feel quite lorn without a chance of trying to speak it." }}</ref>

[[Quenya grammar]] is [[agglutinative]] and mostly [[suffix]]ing, i.e. different word particles are joined by appending them. It has basic word classes of [[verb]]s, [[noun]]s and [[pronoun]]s/determiners, [[adjective]]s and [[preposition]]s. Nouns are [[Inflection|inflected]] for case and number. Verbs are inflected for tense and aspect, and for agreement with subject and object. In early Quenya, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in case and number; in later Quenya, this agreement disappears. The basic word order is [[subject–verb–object]].<ref name=Tikka/>

==== Sindarin ====

{{main|Sindarin}}

{| class="floatright" style="border-spacing: 2px; border: 1px solid darkgray;"
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" | [[File:Aerlinn in Edhil o Imladris (first 3 lines).png|150px]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <poem>A Elbereth Gilthoniel 
silivren penna míriel
o menel aglar elenath!</poem>
|-
| style="text-align: center; background: #EEEEEE;" | <small>Start of the Sindarin poem<br/>"[[A Elbereth Gilthoniel]]"</small>
|}

Tolkien wrote that he gave Sindarin "a linguistic character very like (though not identical with) [[Welsh language|British-Welsh]] ... because it seems to fit the rather 'Celtic' type of legends and stories told of its speakers".<ref name="Letters_#144" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#144 to [[Naomi Mitchison]], April 1954 }}</ref>

Unlike Quenya, Sindarin is mainly a [[fusional language]] with some [[analytic language|analytic]] tendencies. It can be distinguished from Quenya by the rarity of vowel endings, and the use of [[voiced plosive]]s ''b d g'', rare in Quenya found only after [[nasal consonant|nasals]] and [[Liquid consonant|liquids]].  Early Sindarin formed plurals by the addition of ''-ī'', which vanished but [[affection (linguistics)|affected]] the preceding vowels (as in Welsh and [[Germanic umlaut|Old English]]): S. {{lang|sjn|Adan}}, pl. {{lang|sjn|[[Edain]]}}, S. {{lang|sjn|Orch}}, pl. ''[[Yrch]]''.{{sfn|Salo|2004|p=94, section 6.2 (see also sections 4.33, 4.37)}}  Sindarin forms plurals in multiple ways.{{sfn|Salo|2004|pp=95–100}}

=== Mannish languages ===

==== Adûnaic and Westron ====

{{main|Adûnaic|Westron}}

Tolkien devised [[Adûnaic]] (or Númenórean), the language spoken in [[Númenor]], shortly after World War II, and thus at about the time he completed ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', but before he wrote the linguistic background of the Appendices. Adûnaic is intended as the language from which [[Westron]] (also called ''Adûni'') is derived; Westron became the [[lingua franca]] for all the peoples of [[Middle-earth]]:{{sfn|Solopova|2009|pp=70, 84}} This added a depth of historical development to the Mannish languages. Adûnaic was intended to have a "faintly Semitic flavour".<ref>''[[Sauron Defeated]]'', p. 240</ref> Its development began with ''[[The Notion Club Papers]]'' (written in 1945). It is there that the most extensive sample of the language is found, revealed to one of the (modern-day) protagonists, Lowdham, of that story in a visionary dream of [[Atlantis]]. Its grammar is sketched in the unfinished "Lowdham's Report on the Adunaic Language".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1992|loc=Part Two: "The Notion Club Papers"}}</ref>
 
Tolkien remained undecided whether the language of the [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] of Númenor should be derived from the original Mannish language (as in Adûnaic), or if it should be derived from  "the Elvish Noldorin" (i.e. [[Quenya]]) instead.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996}}, p. 63.</ref> In ''[[The Lost Road and Other Writings]]'', it is implied that the [[Númenóreans]] spoke Quenya, and that [[Sauron]], hating all things Elvish, taught the Númenóreans the old Mannish tongue they themselves had forgotten.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987}}, p. 68 and note p. 75.</ref>

==== Rohirric ====

{{further|Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings}}

Tolkien called the language of Rohan "Rohanese".<ref name="Tolkien Rohanese" group=T>{{cite journal |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor |editor-last=Hostetter |editor-first=Carl F. Hostetter |journal=[[Vinyar Tengwar]] |issue=42 |date=July 2001 |page=8}}</ref> He only gave a few actual Rohirric words:<ref name="Fauskanger Mannish"/>

*''Kûd-dûkan'', an old word meaning "hole-dweller", which evolved to ''kuduk'', the name the [[Hobbit]]s had for themselves<ref name="Fauskanger Mannish"/>
*''Lô-'' / ''loh-'' corresponding to [[Old English]] ''éoh'', "war-horse", and the derived names ''Lôgrad'' for "[[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Horse-Mark]]", and ''Lohtûr'' for ''[[Rohan (Middle-earth)#History|Éothéod]]'', "horse-people". This word is an exact homonym of the [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] word for "horse", ''[[:hu:ló|ló]]''. The Rohirric word for "horse" has been identified as a cognate for Tolkien's Elvish words for "horse": ''rocco'' ([[Quenya]]) and ''roch'' ([[Sindarin]]). All names beginning with ''Éo-'' supposedly represent Rohirric names beginning with ''Lô-'' or ''Loh-'', but the Rohirric forms of names such as ''[[Éomer]]'' and ''[[Éowyn]]'' are not given.<ref name="Fauskanger Mannish">{{cite web |url=http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/mannish.htm |title=Various Mannish Tongues - the sadness of Mortal Men? |first=Helge K. |last=Fauskanger |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |work=Ardalambion |publisher=[[University of Bergen]] |access-date=24 October 2012}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ Horses for the Riders of [[Rohan, Middle-earth|Rohan]]<ref name="Fauskanger Mannish"/>
|-
! Language !! Word !! Comments
|-
| Rohirric || ''lô-'' || e.g. ''Lôgrad'', "Horse-mark"
|-
| [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] || '' ló'' || [[Homonym]] of the Rohirric
|-
| [[Old English]] || ''éoh'' || "war-horse", hence ''[[Éothéod]]'', "Horse-people"
|-
| [[Quenya]] || ''rocco'' || "horse" 
|-
| [[Sindarin]] || ''roch'' || hence, Rohirrim, "Horse-people"
|}

Only one proper name is given, ''Tûrac'', an old word for King, the Rohirric for [[Théoden]].<ref name="Fauskanger Mannish"/> That in turn is the [[Old English language|Old English]] word ''[[wiktionary:þeoden|þéoden]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wynne |first=H. |chapter=Theoden |editor-first=M. D. C. |editor-last=Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |page=643 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&q=Th%C3%A9oden&pg=PA643 |quote='the [[Tribal chief|chief]] of a :þeod (a nation, people)'.}}</ref> meaning "leader of a people", "king" or "prince".{{Efn|Bosworth, [http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/031679 {{lang|ang|þéoden}}]; (also spelt {{lang|ang|ðeoden}}), cognate to the [[Old Norse]] word {{lang|non|þjóðann}}.|name=Bosworth Theoden}} As with other descriptive names in his legendarium, Tolkien uses this name to [[Tolkien and antiquarianism|create the impression that the text is "'historical']], 'real' or 'archaic'".<ref>{{harvnb|Solopova|2009|p=22}}</ref>

=== Dwarvish ===

{{main|Khuzdul}}

Some samples of [[Khuzdul]], the language of the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]], are given in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The explanation here is a little different from the "Mannish" languages: as ''Khuzdul'' was supposedly kept secret by the Dwarves and never used in the presence of outsiders (not even Dwarvish given names), it was not "translated" by any real-life historical language, and such limited examples as there are in the text are given in the "original". 
Khuzdul was designed to resemble a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]], with a system of [[Triliteral|triconsonantal root]]s and other parallels especially to [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]], just as some resemblances between the Dwarves and the [[Jews]] are intentional.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#176 to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 8 December 1955 }}</ref><ref>Tolkien commented of the Dwarves that "their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."{{cite news |url=http://www.reocities.com/Area51/Shire/5014/interview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114153158/https://geocities.restorativland.org/Area51/Shire/5014/interview.html |archive-date=14 November 2021 |title=An Interview with J.R.R. Tolkien |date=January 1971 |work=[[BBC Four]]}}</ref>

=== Entish ===

The language of the [[Ent]]s is briefly described in ''The Lord of the Rings''. As the Ents were first taught to speak by Elves, Entish appears related to the Elvish languages. However, the Ents continued to develop their language. It is described as long and sonorous, a [[tonal language]] somewhat like a woodwind instrument. Only the Ents spoke Entish as no others could master it. Even the Elves, master [[linguistics|linguist]]s, could not learn Entish, nor did they attempt to record it because of its complex sound structure:<ref name="Appendix F" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, Appendix F</ref>

{{Blockquote|...&nbsp;slow, sonorous, agglomerated, repetitive, indeed long-winded; formed of a multiplicity of vowel-shades and distinctions of tone and quantity which even the loremasters of the [[Eldar (Middle-earth)|Eldar]] had not attempted to represent in writing<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/>}}

To illustrate these properties, Tolkien provides the word ''a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burúme'', meaning ''hill''. He described it as a "probably very inaccurate" sampling of the language.<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/>

=== Black Speech ===

{{main|Black Speech}}

Tolkien devised little of the Black Speech beyond the [[Rhyme of the Rings]]. He intentionally made it sound harsh but with a proper grammar. He stated that it was an [[agglutinative language]];<ref name="Words, Phrases and Passages" group=T>{{cite journal |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |title=Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in 'The Lord of the Rings' |journal=[[Parma Eldalamberon]] |issue=17 |year=2007 |pages=11–12}}</ref> it has been likened to the extinct [[Hurrian language]] of northern [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name="Fauskanger Orkish">{{cite web |last=Fauskanger |first=Helge K. |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |url=http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/orkish.htm |title=Orkish and the Black Speech |work=Ardalambion |publisher=[[University of Bergen]] |access-date=2 September 2013}}</ref> 

In the fiction, the Black Speech was created by the Dark Lord [[Sauron]] to be the official language of all the lands and peoples under his control: it was thus both in reality and in the fiction a constructed language.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meile |first=M. G. |chapter=Sauron's Newspeak: Black Speech, Quenya, and the nature of mind |title=Semiotics around the World: Synthesis in Diversity |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2020 |orig-year=1996 |pages=219–222 |doi=10.1515/9783110820065-030 |isbn=978-3-11-082006-5}}</ref> The Orcs are said never to have accepted it willingly; the language mutated into many mutually unintelligible Orkish dialects, so that Orcs communicated with each other mainly in a debased Westron.{{sfn|Hostetter|2013}}

== Analysis ==

=== Origins ===

{{further|Finnish influences on Tolkien}}

Tolkien developed a particular love for the [[Finnish language]]. He described the finding of a Finnish grammar book as "like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before".<ref name="Letter 163" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#163 to [[W. H. Auden]], 7 June 1953. }}</ref> Finnish morphology, particularly its rich system of [[inflection]], in part gave rise to Quenya.<ref name="Letter 163" group=T/> 
Another of Tolkien's favourites was [[Welsh language|Welsh]], and features of Welsh phonology found their way into Sindarin.<ref name=Burns>{{cite book |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |first=Marjorie |last=Burns |author-link=Marjorie Burns |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2005 |page=21 |isbn=0-8020-3806-9}}</ref>

{{anchor|Westron|Common Speech}}

=== Linguistic mapping ===

{{further|Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings}}

[[File:Linguistic Map of Middle-Earth.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|According to [[Tom Shippey]], Tolkien invented parts of [[Middle-earth]] to resolve the linguistic puzzle he had accidentally created by using three different [[Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings|pseudo-translated]] European languages for those of peoples in his legendarium.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131-133}}]]

When writing ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (1954–55), a sequel to ''[[The Hobbit]]'' (1937), Tolkien came up with the literary device of using real languages to "translate" fictional languages. He pretended to have translated the original language Westron (named ''Adûni'' in Westron) or Common Speech (''Sôval Phârë'', in Westron) into English. This device of rendering an ''imaginary'' language with a ''real'' one was carried further by rendering:{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131-133}}

* Rohirric, the language of [[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Rohan]] (related to Westron) by the [[Mercian dialect]] of [[Old English]]{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131-133}}
* names in the tongue of [[Dale (Middle-earth)|Dale]] by [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] forms{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131-133}}
* names of the [[Kingdom of Rhovanion]] by [[Gothic language|Gothic]] forms, thus mapping the genetic relation of his fictional languages on to the existing historical relations of the [[Germanic languages]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=131-133}}

Furthermore, to parallel the [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] [[Substrata (linguistics)|substratum]] in England, he used [[Old Welsh]] names to render the [[Dunlending|Dunlendish]] names of [[Buckland (Middle-earth)|Buckland]] Hobbits (e.g., ''[[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Meriadoc]]'' for ''Kalimac'').<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/> The whole device of linguistic mapping was essentially a fix for the problems Tolkien had created for himself by using real Norse names for the Dwarves in ''[[The Hobbit]]'', rather than inventing new names in Khuzdul. This seemed a clever solution, as it allowed him to explain the book's use of Modern English as representing Westron.{{sfn|Fimi|2010|pp=189–191}} 
Because of this, Tolkien did not need to work out the details of Westron grammar or vocabulary in any detail. He does give some examples of Westron words in Appendix F to ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he summarizes Westron's origin and role as ''[[lingua franca]]'' in Middle-earth:<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hemmi |first=Yoko |title=Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and His Concept of Native Language: Sindarin and British-Welsh |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=7 |year=2010 |pages=147–174 |doi=10.1353/tks.0.0063 |s2cid=170366632 |via=Project MUSE |url=https://doi.org/10.1353/tks.0.0063|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The language represented in this history by English was the Westron or 'Common Speech' of the West-lands of Middle-earth in the Third Age. In the course of that age it had become the native language of nearly all the speaking-peoples (save the Elves) who dwelt within the bounds of the old kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor ... At the time of the War of the Ring at the end of the age these were still its bounds as a native tongue. (Appendix F)<ref name="Appendix F" group=T/>}}

Rohirric is represented in ''The Lord of the Rings'' by Old English because Tolkien chose to make the relationship between Rohirric and the Common Speech similar to that of Old English and [[Modern English]].<ref name="Tolkien Rohanese" group=T/>

[[File:Pre-Rohirric, Westron, Gothic, Old English, Modern English.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|center|The mapping of [[Old English]] to Modern English is like the mapping of Rohirric to Westron, and Tolkien uses the two Germanic languages to represent the two Middle-earth languages.<ref name="Tolkien Rohanese" group=T/> Further, Tolkien uses [[Gothic language|Gothic]] names for the early leaders of the Northmen of Rhovanion, ancestors of Rohan.<ref name="Tolkien Gothic" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|p=311}}</ref>{{sfn|Smith|2020|pp=202–214}} ]]

Tolkien stated in ''[[The Two Towers]]'' that the name [[Orthanc]] had "by design or chance" two meanings. In Sindarin it meant "Mount Fang", while in the language of Rohan he said it meant "Cunning Mind". The author [[Robert Foster (author)|Robert Foster]] notes that ''orþanc'' genuinely does mean "cunning" in Old English, so that the [[homonym]] Tolkien had in mind was between Sindarin and Old English, that is, translated or represented Rohirric. Foster comments that since it would be unlikely for a homonym also to exist between these two languages and actual Rohirric, and for the Old English and the Rohirric to be synonyms as well, Tolkien had made an error.{{sfn|Fimi|2010|pp=191–192}}

== Study ==

{{further|Tolkien studies}}

The first published monograph dedicated to the Elvish languages was ''An Introduction to Elvish'' (1978) edited by Jim Allan (published by Bran's Head Books). It is composed of articles written before the publication of ''[[The Silmarillion]]''. Ruth Noel wrote a book on Middle-earth's languages in 1980.{{sfn|Noel|1980}}

With the publication of much linguistic material during the 1990s, especially in the ''[[History of Middle-earth]]'' series, and the ''[[Vinyar Tengwar]]'' and ''[[Parma Eldalamberon]]'' material published during the early 2000s from among the 3000 pages of linguistic material held by the [[Elvish Linguistic Fellowship|team of editors]] including [[Carl F. Hostetter]],<ref>{{harvnb|Solopova|2009|p=90}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=Jason |author-link=Jason Fisher |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=by0dzzQ6m8sC&pg=PA403 |chapter=Manuscripts by Tolkien |page=403 |title=J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-last=Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-13588-034-7}}</ref> Tolkien's constructed languages have become much more accessible.{{sfn|Hostetter|2007|pp=1–46}}

[[David Salo]]'s 2007 ''A Gateway to Sindarin'' presents Sindarin's grammar concisely.<ref>[[David Salo|Salo, David]] (2007) ''A Gateway to Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish Language from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings'', [[University of Utah Press]].</ref> [[Elizabeth Solopova]]'s 2009 ''Languages, Myth and History'' gives an overview of the linguistic traits of the various languages invented by Tolkien and the history of their creation.<ref>{{harvnb|Solopova|2009}}</ref>

A few fanzines were dedicated to the subject, like ''Tyalië Tyelelliéva'' published by Lisa Star,<ref>{{cite web |title=Tyalië Tyelelliéva |url=https://www.oocities.org/tyalie/ |publisher=Lisa Star |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref> and ''Quettar'', the Bulletin of the Linguistic Fellowship of [[The Tolkien Society]], published by Julian C. Bradfield.<ref>{{cite web |title=Quettar |url=http://www.quettar.org/ |website=Quettar |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref> ''Tengwestië'' is an online publication of the [[Elvish Linguistic Fellowship]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tengwestie |url=https://www.elvish.org/Tengwestie/ |publisher=Elvish Linguistic Fellowship |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref>
Internet mailing lists and forums that have been dedicated to Tolkien's constructed languages include Tolklang, Elfling and Lambengolmor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tolklang.quettar.org/ |title=The Tolkien Language List |access-date=8 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://elfling.midgardsmal.com/ |title=Elfling |access-date=8 April 2015 |archive-date=9 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409052152/http://elfling.midgardsmal.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elvish.org/LambengolmorList/ |title=The Lambengolmor List |publisher=[[Elvish Linguistic Fellowship]] |access-date=8 April 2015}}</ref> Since 2005, there has been an International Conference on J.R.R. Tolkien's Invented Languages.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://omentielva.com/index.htm |title=Omentielva |website=omentielva.com |access-date=9 May 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Translating The Lord of the Rings|Translating ''The Lord of the Rings'']]

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Primary ===

{{reflist|group=T|30em}}

=== Secondary ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===

{{refbegin}}
* {{ME-ref|Letters}}
* {{cite book |last=Fimi |first=Dimitra |author-link=Dimitra Fimi |title=Tolkien, Race, and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2010 |orig-year=2008 |isbn=978-0-230-21951-9 |oclc=222251097}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hostetter |first=Carl F. |author-link=Carl F. Hostetter |title=Tolkienian Linguistics: The First Fifty Years |journal=[[Tolkien Studies]] |volume=4 |date=2007 |pages=1–46 |doi=10.1353/tks.2007.0022|s2cid=170601512 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Hostetter |first=Carl F. |author-link=Carl F. Hostetter |title=Languages Invented by Tolkien |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |encyclopedia=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=332–344}}
* {{cite book |last=Noel |first=Ruth |title=The languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |location=Boston |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-395-29130-6 |oclc=6043062}}
* {{cite book |last=Salo |first=David |author-link=David Salo |title=Gateway to Sindarin: a grammar of an Elvish language from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]] |date=2004 |isbn=978-0874809121}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Arden R. |author-link=Arden R. Smith |chapter=Invented Languages and Writing Systems |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Stuart D. |editor-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]] |date=2020 |orig-year=2014 |publisher=[[Wiley Blackwell]] |isbn=978-1119656029 |oclc=1183854105 |pages=202–214}}
* {{ME-ref|ROAD}}     <!--Shippey 2005-->
* {{ME-ref|Solopova}} <!--LMH, 2009-->
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|M&C}}      <!--Tolkien: Monsters & Critics-->
* {{ME-ref|LROW}}
* {{ME-ref|SD}}
* {{ME-ref|PoME}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.elvish.org The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship: publishes the journals ''Parma Eldalamberon'', ''Tengwestië'', and ''Vinyar Tengwar'']
* [http://www.elvish.org/FAQ.html The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship's Tolkienian Linguistics FAQ]
* [http://www.elvish.org/resources.html The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship's Resources for Tolkienian Linguistics]
* [http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/ The Tolkien language mailing list]

{{Languages of Middle-earth}}
{{Lord of the Rings}}
{{Middle-earth}}
{{J. R. R. Tolkien}}
{{Constructed languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of Arda}}
[[Category:Lists of languages|Tolkien]]
[[Category:Middle-earth languages| ]]


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