View source for Sarati

{{short description|Fictional script in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien}}
{{about|the artificial script|the actress known as Sarati|Deal or No Deal (American game show)#Models}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name      = Sarati
|sample    = Sarati word abugida style.jpg
|type      = [[Abugida]]
|languages = [[Quenya]]
|creator   = [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]
|time      = {{ME-date|VY|1179-}}
|children  = [[Tengwar]]
|iso15924  = Sara
|direction = Mixed
}}
'''Sarati''' is an [[artificial script]], one of [[Tolkien's scripts|several scripts created]] by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]. According to Tolkien's mythology, the Sarati alphabet was invented by the Elf Rúmil of Tirion.

== External history ==

As [[Tolkien]] strove to create a world that would feel authentic, he realized that for that to be possible, he must invent accompanying scripts for his languages. And, being a perfectionist, he acknowledged that a fully-fledged writing system could not have just appeared out of nowhere. Therefore, he set out to create [[Tolkien's scripts|a series of scripts]] for the elves as well as for the humans and [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|dwarves]] that would indicate a certain degree of evolution and development. The first script for the elves was the Sarati which eventually developed into [[Tengwar]] by [[Fëanor]].<ref name="Book1">Smith, Ross ''Inside Language'', p. 107</ref> 

Known as the first writing system of [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]], Sarati was in the fiction invented by the [[Ñoldor]]in chronicler Rúmil of [[Valinor]] in the [[Valian Years|Valian Year]] 1169 of the [[First Age]]. It was he "who first achieved fitting signs for the recording of speech and song"<ref name="Book2">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|at=ch. 6 "Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"}}</ref>  The writing system is officially called Sarati as each letter of the script represents a "sarat". However, Tolkien sometimes called the writing system "The Tengwar of Rúmil", where the word ''tengwar'' means "letters" in [[Quenya]]. "Sarati" is the Quenya name for Rúmil's script.<ref name="Book1" />

Upon marrying and getting a job as an assistant on the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', Tolkien began to keep a diary that was written exclusively using the "alphabet of Rúmil". It has been described as a script that looks like a "mixture of [[Hebrew]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Pitman's shorthand]]."<ref name="Book3">[[Humphrey Carpenter|Carpenter, Humphrey]] ''[[J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography]]'', p. 51</ref>

== Description ==

[[File:Sarati word.jpg|thumb|"Sarati" written in Sarati, from left to right, the letter "a" shown explicitly. Usually, the letter "a" is omitted<!--as above-->, making this an [[abugida]] script with implicit "a" after each unmarked consonant.<ref name="Björkman Forme"/>]]

Each full character represents a consonant, while vowels are represented with  [[diacritic]]s (called [[Tengwar|tehtar]] in the terminology associated with the Tengwar). In Sarati, vowel signs are written to the left if the vowel comes before or to the right if after the consonants in horizontal writing. In vertical writing, vowels are written above and below in the same principle. According to Tolkien, consonants were considered more salient than vowels, and vowels were considered merely modifiers. When writing Quenya, the sign for "a" is usually omitted, as it is the most common vowel in Quenya. This makes Sarati an [[abugida]] with an inherent vowel of "a".<ref name="Björkman Forme">{{cite web |last=Björkman <!-- Swedish Tolkien linguist and member of The Tolkien Society Forodrim --> |first=Måns |title=Les Sarati - Forme Phonétique |url=https://www.ambar-eldaron.com/mansbjorkman/sarati_phonetic.htm |website=Ambar-eldaron.com |access-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117042336/https://www.ambar-eldaron.com/mansbjorkman/sarati_phonetic.htm |archive-date=17 January 2018 |language=English}}</ref>

=== Consonants ===

In accordance with the leading theory at the time, the consonants were created as the main characters of Sarati, while the role of vowels was secondary and were used to accentuate the consonants. The consonants, more so than the vowels, appear differently throughout the texts. Only the shapes of a select few sarati are stable, varying just slightly. The alterations of the shapes can be mostly attributed to Tolkien's constant work on the development of the script.

[[File:Sarati consonants (vertical).png]]

=== Vowels ===

As mentioned above, the role of the vowels was to emphasize linguistically and, possibly, aesthetically, the consonants of the script. Therefore, the vowels fill the role of [[diacritics]], which can be pronounced either before or after the consonant. The vowel diacritics often can also double the sound or indicate an adjacent "s" or a preceding homorganic nasal.
Though vowel diacritics vary considerably less frequently than the consonants, vowels had undergone considerable changes throughout the years.

[[File:Sarati vowels.png]]

== Features ==

[[File:Sarati full Stop (single and double).png|thumb|upright|Sarati's punctuation marks]]

As Sarati was created for the [[Eldar (Middle-earth)|Eldar]] who were ambidextrous, the script can be written right-to-left; left-to-right; top-to-bottom, from the right or left; or [[boustrophedon|boustrophedon (back-and-forth)]].
When writing from right-to-left, the left hand was employed, whereas when writing left-to-right, the right hand was used. This prevented the accidental smudging of ink, and allowed the writer to see what had just been written. Also, as Sarati was meant to represent an older script, its distinguishing trait of allowing the script to be written in multiple directions is meant to mirror real ancient scripts that are known for their less rigid nature.<ref name="Book1"/>

While a fair amount of punctuation marks have been created for the script, Sarati has established only two punctuation marks (both of which serve as a full stop) that are used consistently throughout texts. 

Tolkien created a system of Rúmilian numerals for Sarati.{{sfn|Martinez|2007}}

== See also ==

* [[Elvish languages (Middle-earth)|Elvish languages]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{cite journal |last=Martinez |first=Helios De Rosario |title=Rúmilian Numerals |journal=[[Tengwestië]] |date=30 September 2007 |url=http://www.elvish.org/Tengwestie/articles/DeRosarioMartinez/rumiliannumerals.phtml}}
* [[Arden R. Smith|Smith, Arden R.]] "The Túrin Prose Fragment: An Analysis of a Rúmilian Document." ''[[Vinyar Tengwar]]'' 37 (1995): 15–23.
* [[Arden R. Smith|Smith, Arden R.]], Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr. "The Semiotics of the Writing Systems of Tolkien's Middle-earth." In ''Semiotics around the World: Synthesis in Diversity, I-II'', ed. Irmengard Rauch, 1239–42. Berlin, Germany: [[De Gruyter]], 1997.
* {{ME-ref|Silm}}  <!--Tolkien 1977-->
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien, J.R.R.]] "The Alphabet of Rúmil." ''[[Parma Eldalamberon]]'' 13 (2001).

== External links ==

* [http://at.mansbjorkman.net/sarati.htm Amanye Tenceli -- The Sarati] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228092007/http://at.mansbjorkman.net/sarati.htm |date=2011-02-28 }}
* [http://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/sarati.htm Sarati at Omniglot]
* [http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/sarati.htm Sarati mode for Quenya]

{{Languages of Middle-earth}}
{{Middle-earth}}
{{Constructed languages}}

[[Category:Middle-earth writing systems]]
[[Category:Abugida writing systems]]