| Quenya | |
|---|---|
| Eldarin | |
| Created by | J. R. R. Tolkien |
| Date | c. 1910–1973 |
| Setting and usage | The fictional world ofMiddle-earth |
| Purpose | |
| Latin Tengwar Cirth Sarati | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | qya |
qya | |
| Glottolog | quen1234 |
 Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind, long years numberless as the wings of trees! The beginning of the Quenya poemNamárië written inTengwar and inLatin script | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Quenya (pronounced[ˈkʷwɛɲja])[T 1] is aconstructed language, one of thosedevised by J. R. R. Tolkien for theElves in hisMiddle-earth fiction.
Tolkien began devising the language around 1910, and restructuredits grammar several times until it reached its final state. The vocabulary remained relatively stable throughout the creation process. He successively changed the language's name fromElfin andQenya to the eventualQuenya.Finnish had beena major source of inspiration, but Tolkien was also fluent inLatin andOld English, and was familiar withGreek,Welsh (the primary inspiration forSindarin, Tolkien's other major Elvish language), and other ancientGermanic languages, particularlyGothic, during his development of Quenya.
Tolkien developed a complex internal history of characters to speak his Elvish languages in their own fictional universe. He felt that his languages changed and developed over time, as did the historical languages which he studied professionally—not in a vacuum, but as a result of the migrations and interactions of the peoples who spoke them.
Within Tolkien's legendarium, Quenya is one of the manyElvish languages spoken by the immortal Elves, calledQuendi ('speakers') in Quenya. Quenya translates as simply "language" or, in contrast to other tongues that the Elves met later in their long history, "elf-language". After theElves divided, Quenya originated as the speech of two clans of "High Elves" or Eldar, theNoldor and the Vanyar, who leftMiddle-earth to live inEldamar ("Elvenhome"), inValinor, the land of the immortal and God-likeValar. Of these two groups of Elves, most of the Noldor returned to Middle-earth where they met the Sindarin-speaking Grey-elves. The Noldor eventually adopted Sindarin and used Quenya primarily as a ritual or poetic language, whereas the Vanyar who stayed behind in Eldamar retained the use of Quenya.
In this way, the Quenya language was symbolic of the high status of the Elves, the firstborn of the races of Middle-earth, because of their close connection to Valinor, and its decreasing use also became symbolic of the slowly declining Elvish culture in Middle-earth. In theSecond Age of Middle-earth's chronology theMen ofNúmenor learnt the Quenya tongue. In theThird Age, the time of the setting ofThe Lord of the Rings, Quenya was learnt as asecond language by all Elves of Noldorin origin, and it continued to be used in spoken and written form, but theirmother-tongue was the Sindarin of the Grey-elves. As the Noldor remained in Middle-earth, their Noldorin dialect of Quenya also gradually diverged from the Vanyarin dialect spoken in Valinor, undergoing both sound changes and grammatical changes.
The Quenya language featured prominently in Tolkien'sThe Lord of the Rings, as well as in his posthumously published history of Middle-earthThe Silmarillion. The longest text in Quenya published by Tolkien during his lifetime is the poem "Namárië"; other published texts are no longer than a few sentences. At his death, Tolkien left behind a number of unpublished writings on Quenya, and later Tolkien scholars have prepared his notes and unpublished manuscripts for publication in the journalsParma Eldalamberon andVinyar Tengwar, also publishing scholarly and linguistic analyses of the language. Tolkien never created enough vocabulary to make it possible to converse in Quenya, although fans have been writing poetry and prose in Quenya since the 1970s. This has required conjecture and the need to devise new words, in effect developing a kind of neo-Quenya language.
J. R. R. Tolkien began to construct his first Elvish tongue c. 1910–1911 while he was at theKing Edward's School, Birmingham.[1] He later called itQenya (c. 1915), and later changed the spelling toQuenya. He was then already familiar withLatin,Greek,Spanish, and several ancient Germanic languages, such asGothic,Old Norse, andOld English.[T 2] He had invented severalcryptographic codes, and two or three constructed languages. Tolkien took an interest in the Finnish mythology of theKalevala, then became acquainted withFinnish, which he found to provide an aesthetically pleasing inspiration for his High-elvish language. Many years later, he wrote: "It was like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me."[T 2] Regarding the inspiration for Quenya, Tolkien wrote that:
The ingredients in Quenya are various, but worked out into a self-consistent character not precisely like any language that I know. Finnish, which I came across when I had first begun to construct a 'mythology' was a dominant influence, but that has been much reduced [now in late Quenya]. It survives in some features: such as the absence of any consonant combinations initially, the absence of the voiced stopsb, d, g (except inmb, nd, ng, ld, rd, which are favoured) and the fondness for the ending-inen, -ainen, -oinen, also in some points of grammar, such as the inflexional endings-sse (rest at or in),-nna (movement to, towards), and-llo (movement from); the personal possessives are also expressed by suffixes; there is no gender.[T 3]
Tolkien never intended Quenya or any of his constructed languages to be used in everyday life as aninternational auxiliary language,[2] although he was in favour of the idea ofEsperanto as an auxiliary language within Europe.[3] With his Quenya, Tolkien pursued a double aesthetic goal: "classical and inflected".[T 3] This urge was a major motivation for hiscreation of a 'mythology'. While the language developed, Tolkien felt that it needed speakers, including their own history and mythology, which he thought would give a language its 'individual flavour'.[T 4][4]The Lord of the Rings, according to Tolkien, "was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the necessary background of 'history' for Elvish tongues".[T 4] This process of first inventing a language and then creating a background setting for its fictional speakers has been described as unique.[5]Dimitra Fimi, a Tolkien scholar, argues that Tolkien's invention of Qenya started as a quest for the ideal language, to match the moral and aesthetic objectives that were part of his project of creating "a mythology for England". Fimi argues that Tolkien deliberately usedsound symbolism tounify sound and meaning and make the language appear as an ideal language, fit to be spoken in theutopian realm of the Elves and fairies of Valinor.[6] Tolkien considered Quenya to be "the one language which has been designed to give play to my own most normal phonetic taste".[T 5]
From the onset, Tolkien usedcomparative philology and thetree model as his major tools in his constructed languages. He usually started with the phonological system of theproto-language and then proceeded by inventing for eachdaughter language the necessary sequence ofsound changes. "I find the construction and the interrelation of the languages an aesthetic pleasure in itself, quite apart fromThe Lord of the Rings, of which it was/is in fact independent."[T 6]
In his lifetime, Tolkien experimented ceaselessly with his constructed languages, and they were subjected to many revisions. Quenya had many grammars with substantial differences between the different stages of its development. During the first conceptual stage ofearly Quenya c. 1910 to c. 1920, the language was calledElfin in English andEldarissa in Qenya proper. While its development was a continuous process, Quenya underwent a number of major revisions in its grammar, mostly inconjugation and thepronominal system. The vocabulary, however, was not subject to sudden or extreme change. Tolkien sometimes changed the meaning of a word, but he almost never discarded it once invented, and he kept on refining its meaning, and countlessly forged new synonyms. Moreover, Elvish etymology was in constant flux. Tolkien delighted in inventing newetymons for his Quenya vocabulary. But after the publication ofThe Lord of the Rings (finished c. 1949–1950, published in 1954–1955), the grammar rules of Quenya went through very few changes and this version was then defined aslate Quenya (c. 1950–1973).
The spellingQenya is sometimes used to distinguishearly Quenya from later versions. Qenya differs from late Quenya by having different internal history, vocabulary, and grammar rules as described in the "Qenyaqetsa".[7] Examples include a different accusative or the abolition of final consonant clusters in later Quenya.[8] Fimi suggests that Qenya as it appears in the "Qenyaqetsa" was supposed to be a mystic language, as the Lexicon contains a number of words with clear Christian religious connotations, such asanatarwesta "crucifixion" andevandilyon "gospel" – these words were not part of late Quenya.[9]
In the early 1930s, Tolkien decided that the proto-language of the Elves wasValarin, the tongue of the gods orValar as he called them: "The language of the Elves derived in the beginning from the Valar, but they changed it even in the learning, and moreover modified and enriched it constantly at all times by their own invention."[T 7] In theComparative Tables[T 7] the mechanisms of sound change were described by Tolkien for the following daughter languages:Qenya, Lindarin (a dialect of Qenya),Telerin, Old Noldorin (orFëanorian),Noldorin (orGondolinian),Ilkorin (especially ofDoriath),Danian of Ossiriand, East Danian,Taliska, West Lemberin, North Lemberin, and East Lemberin. For this proto-language of the Elves, Tolkien appears to have borrowed the five-partplosive system ofProto-Indo-European, the ancestor ofSanskrit, Greek, Latin, and others; namely, one labial, one coronal, and three velar plosives (palatal, plain, and labial). The first table below provides some of the "Primary Initial Combinations" from theComparative Tables.[T 7]
| Valarin | Qenya | Lindarin | Telerin |
|---|---|---|---|
| mb | m, umb | m, umb | m, emb |
| nd | n, and | n, and | n, end |
| ŋg | ŋ > n, ing | n, ing | ŋg, eng |
| ŋgj | ny, iny, indy | ñ, ind | g, ang |
| ŋgw | ŋw > nw, ungw | m, ungw | m, emb |
Another characteristic of Quenya reminiscent of ancient natural languages like Old Greek, Old English or Sanskrit is thedual grammatical number which is used in addition to singular and plural. It has been suggested that Tolkien used the dual to give Quenya an "archaic feel" in its role as an ancient language of the Elves.[10]
About ten years later, Tolkien changed his mind about the origin of the Elvish proto-language. Instead of learning from the Valar, the Elves had created an original languageQuenderin which had become the proto-language of the Elvish language family.[T 8] For this new language, Tolkien kept the many roots he had invented for Valarin in the 1930s, which then became "Quenderin roots". The Eldarin family of languages comprises Quenya,Telerin,Sindarin andNandorin. The evolution in Quenya and Telerin of the nasalised initial groups of Quenderin is described thus in Tolkien'sOutline of Phonology:
These groups in Quenya normally became simplified to nasals initially. (In Telerin they becameb, d, g.)
Thus:
In contrast to early Qenya, the grammar of Quenya was influenced by Finnish,[8] anagglutinative language, but much more byLatin, asynthetic andfusional language, and alsoGreek,[T 10] from which he probably took the idea of thediglossia of Quenya with its highly codified variety: the Parmaquesta, used only in certain situations such as literature. Thephonology of Quenya was also inspired by certain aspects of Finnish, but this is not easily recognised.[8]
Tolkien almost never borrowed words directly from real languages into Quenya. The major exception is the nameEarendel/Eärendil, which he found in an Old English poem byCynewulf.[11] Yet the Finnish influence extended sometimes also to the vocabulary. A few Quenya words, such astul- "come" andanta- "give", clearly have a Finnish origin. Other forms that appear to have been borrowed are actually coincidental, such as Finnishkirja "book", and Quenyacirya "ship". Tolkien invented the Valarin and Quenderin rootkir- from which sprang his Quenya wordcirya. The Latinaurōra "dawn" and Quenyaaure "moment of special meaning, special day, festival day" are unrelated.[citation needed] Quenyaaurë comes from the Valarin and Quenderin rootur-. Germanic influence can more be seen in grammar (the -r nominative plural ending is reminiscent of theScandinavian languages) or phonology, than in words:Arda, the Quenya name for "region", just happened to resemble GermanicErde "earth", while it actually comes from the Valarin and Quenderin rootgar-. According to Tom DuBois and Scott Mellor, the name of Quenya itself may have been influenced by the nameKven, a language closely related to Finnish, but Tolkien never mentioned this.[12]
Some linguists have argued that Quenya can be understood as an example of a particular kind of artificial language that helps to create a fictional world. Other such languages would includeRobert Jordan's Old Tongue in his novelThe Wheel of Time, and theKlingon language of theStar Trek series invented byMarc Okrand. It was observed that they form "a sociolinguistic context within which group and individual identities can be created."[13]
Two journals,Vinyar Tengwar from issue No. 39 (July 1998), andParma Eldalamberon from issue No. 11 (1995), have been exclusively devoted to the editing and publishing of Tolkien's mass of unpublished linguistic papers.[14][15] Important grammatical texts, alluded to in theHistory of Middle-earth series and described as almost unreadable or quite incomprehensible, have been published in these two journals. The "Early Qenya Grammar", written by Tolkien c. 1925, was edited and published inParma Eldalamberon No. 14.[T 11]
In 1992, according to the Tolkien scholarCarl F. Hostetter, the Tolkien scholarAnthony Appleyard made "the first comprehensive attempt ... to systematize Quenya grammar in light of the new information published inThe History of Middle-earth, particularlyThe Etymologies, in his article 'Quenya Grammar Reexamined'."[16][17] Hostetter commented that Appleyard's work was by 2007 useful mainly for summarising the attitudes to Tolkien's languages at that time. He characterised it as:[16]
In 2008, the computational linguist Paul Strack created the Elvish Data Model (abbreviated to "Eldamo") to provide a lexicon – both a dictionary and an analysis of language development – of all Tolkien's languages (despite the name, not limited to Elvish). Eldamo groups Tolkien's creative work into three real-world periods: up to 1930 ("Early"); from then to 1950 ("Middle"); and from then to 1973 ("Late"). Forms of Quenya occur in each of these periods, as follows:[18]
| Early (1910 to 1930) | Middle (to 1950) | Late (to 1973) |
|---|---|---|
Early Primitive Elvish | Middle Primitive Elvish | Primitive Elvish |
The linguist Alexander Stainton published an analysis of Quenya'sprosodic structure in 2022.[19]
Attempts by fans to write in Quenya began in the 1970s, when the total corpus of published Elvish comprised only a few hundred words. Since then, the use of Elvish has flourished in poems and texts, phrases and names, and even tattoos. But Tolkien himself never made his languages complete enough for conversation. As a result, newly invented Elvish texts require conjecture and sometimes the coinage of new words.[20] The use of Quenya has expanded over the years as new words have been created, forming a Neo-Quenya language that is based on Tolkien's original Quenya but incorporates many new elements.[21]
Quenya and its writing systemTengwar have limited application in hobbyist and public domain works.[22]
The Elvish languages are afamily of several related languages and dialects. The following is a brief overview of the fictional internal history of late Quenya as conceived by Tolkien. Tolkien imagined an Elvish society with avernacular language for every-day use,Tarquesta, and a more educated language for use in ceremonies and lore,Parmaquesta.[23]
The Tolkien scholarVerlyn Flieger observed that the "degree of proximity" tothe light of the Valar affected the development of both languages in terms of phonology, morphology and semantics. The division between Light Elves and Dark Elves that took place during theSundering of the Elves is reflected in their respective languages.[24]
The Elves at first shared a common language, Primitive Quendian, calledQuenderin in Quenya. Among theEldar, i.e. those Elves who undertook the Great March toValinor andEldamar, Primitive Quendian developed into Common Eldarin. Some of the Eldar remained inBeleriand and became theGrey Elves; their language developed intoSindarin. Most of the other Eldar continued to Eldamar ('Elvenhome') inAman and founded the great city of Tirion, where they developed Quenya.[T 12][T 13][T 14]
Quenya's older form, first recorded in thesarati of Rúmil, is called Old or Ancient Quenya (Yára-Quenya in Quenya). In Eldamar, the Noldor and Vanyar spoke two slightly different though mutually intelligible dialects of Tarquesta:Noldorin Quenya andVanyarin Quenya.[T 15] Later Noldorin Quenya becameExilic Quenya, when most of the Noldor Elves followed their leaderFëanor into exile from Eldamar and back to Middle-earth, where the immortal Elves first awoke.[T 16]
Quenya was used by the godlike Valar. The Elves derived someloanwords from the Valar's language, which was called Valarin in Quenya, although these were more numerous in the Vanyarin dialect than in Noldorin. This was probably because of the enduringly close relationship the Vanyarin Elves had with the Valar. The Quenya as used by the Vanyar also incorporated several words from Valarin that were not found in the Noldorin dialect, such astulka ("yellow", from Valarintulukha(n)),ulban ("blue", presumably from the same root as Valarinul(l)u meaning "water"), andnasar ("red", original Valarin not given).[T 17]
According to "Quendi and Eldar: Essekenta Eldarinwa",Quendya was the usual Vanyarin name given to the Quenya language, since in Vanyarin, the consonant groupsndy andny remained quite distinct.[T 18] In Noldorin,ndy eventually becameny. Tolkien explained that "the wordQuenya itself has been cited as an exempla (e.g. by Ælfwine), but this is a mistake due to supposition thatkwenya was properlykwendya and directly derived from the nameQuendi 'Elves'. This appears not to be the case. The word isQuenya in Vanyarin, and always so in Parmaquesta."[T 19]
The Elves of the Third Clan, orTeleri, who reached Eldamar later than the Noldor and the Vanyar, spoke a different but closely related tongue, usually calledTelerin. It was seen by some Elves to be just another dialect of Quenya. This was not the case with the Teleri for whom their tongue was distinct from Quenya. After the Vanyar left the city of Túna, Telerin and Noldorin Quenya grew closer.[25]
The rebelliousNoldor, who followed their leader Fëanor to Middle-earth, spoke only Quenya. ButElu Thingol, King of theSindar of Beleriand, forbade the use of Quenya in his realm when he learned of the slaying of Telerin Elves by the Noldor.[T 20] By doing so, he both restricted the possibility of the Sindar to enhance and brighten their language with influences from Quenya and accelerated the "dimininution and spiritual impoverishment" of the Noldorin culture.[26] The Noldor at this time had fully mastered Sindarin, while the Sindar were slow to learn Quenya. Quenya in Middle-earth became known asExilic Quenya when the Noldor eventually adopted the Sindarin language as their native speech after Thingol's ruling. It differed fromAmanian Quenya mostly in vocabulary, having some loanwords from Sindarin. It differed also in pronunciation, representing the recognition of sound-changes which had begun among the Noldor before the exile and had caused Noldorin Quenya to diverge from Vanyarin Quenya. The change ofz (< old intervocalics) tor was the latest in Noldorin, belonging to early Exilic Quenya. The grammatical changes were only small though since the features of their "old language" were carefully taught.[T 21]
From theSecond Age on, Quenya was used ceremonially by theMen ofNúmenor and their descendants inGondor and Arnor for the official names of kings and queens; this practice was resumed byAragorn when he took the crown as Elessar Telcontar. Quenya in the Third Age had almost the same status as theLatin language had in medieval Europe, and was calledElven-latin by Tolkien.[T 22]
Tolkien described the pronunciation of the Elvish languages by Elves, Men and Hobbits in a variety of sources. The documentation about late Quenya phonology is contained in the Appendix E of theLord of the Rings and the "Outline of Phonology", one of Tolkien's texts, published inParma Eldalamberon No. 19.[T 23]
Tolkien based Quenya pronunciation more onLatin than onFinnish. Thus, Quenya lacks thevowel harmony andconsonant gradation present in Finnish, andaccent is not always on the first syllable of a word. Typical Finnish elements like the front vowelsö,ä andy are lacking in Quenya, but phonological similarities include the absence of aspirated unvoiced stops or the development of the syllablesti >si in both languages.[8] 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.[T 24]
The tables below list the consonants (Q.ólamar) and vowels of late colloquial Noldorin Quenya, i.e. Quenya as spoken among the Exiled Noldor in Middle-earth. They are written using theInternational Phonetic Alphabet, unless otherwise noted.[T 23]
The Quenya consonant system has 6 major places of articulation:labial (involving the lips),dental (involving the tongue and the back of the teeth),alveolar (involving the tongue and thealveolar ridge of the jaw),palatal (involving the tongue and the middle part of the roof of the mouth),velar (involving the back of the tongue and the back part of the roof of the mouth), andglottal (involving thevocal folds). The dentalfricative (/θ/) and the voiced alveolar fricative (/z/) occur in the Vanyarin varieties, but were gradually replaced with/s/ and/r/ respectively in Noldorin Quenya.[27] Notably, voicedplosives only occur afternasals andliquids, i.e. there is no simple/b,d,ɡ/ but only the clusters/mb,(lb,)nd,ld,rd,ŋɡ/, and these occur only between vowels. (This may not be true in Vanyarin Quenya, given the wordAldudénië, the name of a lament for the death of theTwo Trees of Valinor composed by Elemmírë of the Vanyar.)[28][29]Prenasalised consonants are prominent in Quenya, and include their owntengwar. The following table presents the inventory of classic Noldorin consonants. Grouping of consonants occurs only in the central parts of a word, except for combinations with thesemivowels/w/ and/j/.[30]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | p b | t d | k ɡ | ||
| Fricative | f v | s | (ç) | x | h |
| Trill | r | ||||
| Semivowel | (ʍ) w | j | |||
| Lateral | l |
Quenya orthography (using the Latin script) follows the IPA, but uses⟨c⟩ as an alternative to⟨k⟩, writes[ŋ] not followed by another velar as⟨ñ⟩ (in early Quenya when this still can occur, as inÑoldor; otherwise it is written⟨n⟩), and represents the consonants[çʍ] using the digraphs⟨hy hw⟩. Similarly, the digraphs⟨ty ndy⟩ may representpalatal stop allophones of[tⁿd], namely[cⁿɟ], although they are not independent phonemes. In addition,⟨h⟩ in the cluster⟨ht⟩ represents[ç] after⟨e⟩ or⟨i⟩ and[x] after other vowels. In some instances⟨x⟩ was used for the combination/ks/ as inHelcaraxë.[T 23]
Some consonants are realised differently when they occur in clusters with certain other consonants. This particularly concerns clusters that involve the approximants/w,j/ or the glottal fricative/h/. Clusters where the second consonant was/j/ are realised as palatalised consonants, and clusters where the second consonant was/w/ are realised as labialised. Consonant clusters where the initial consonant is/h/ are realised as preaspirated and devoiced.[T 23]
The pronunciation of the consonant cluster⟨hy⟩ is[ç] in Noldorin Quenya, which is a "strong voiceless y, similar to, but more frictional than the initial sound in Englishhuge".[T 26] In Vanyarin Quenya,⟨hy⟩ is pronounced[ʃ].[T 26]
According to Tolkien, the cluster/cj/⟨ty⟩ is pronounced as "a 'front explosive' [c], as e.g. Hungarianty, but it is followed by an appreciable partly unvoiced y-offglide".[T 27]
Tolkien stated that the cluster⟨ny⟩ is pronounced as in English "new"[njuː].[T 28] In the Vanyarin dialect,⟨ty⟩,⟨dy⟩, and⟨hy⟩ were realised as[tʃ],[dʒ], and[ʃ] respectively. Tolkien wrote about⟨py⟩: "In Vanyarin Quenya and among some Ñoldor the cluster⟨py⟩ was sounded with voicelessy, sc. as[pç], which later in Vanyarin became[pʃ]";[T 29] cf.Hungarianlopj[lopç] 'steal'.[T 23]
The cluster⟨hw⟩ is realised as[ʍ], a "spirantal voicelessw. It has more tense with closer lip-aperture and more friction than the voicelesswh of English".[T 26] According to Tolkien, the graph⟨q⟩ or⟨qu⟩ is pronounced as "a lip-rounded 'k' followed by a partly unvoiced w-offglide",[T 27] that is/kʷ/.[T 23]
The clusters⟨hl⟩ and⟨hr⟩ are realised as[ɬ] and[r̥], the same as⟨lh⟩ and⟨rh⟩ in Sindarin. These, like their Sindarin equivalents, derived from Primitive Elvishsl- andsr-. The primitive consonant clusterssm- andsn- came out in Quenya as⟨m⟩ and⟨n⟩; it has been suggested that there was an intermediate stage of⟨hm⟩ and⟨hn⟩, the voiceless versions[m̥] and[n̥], in Common Eldarin; these soon merged with the voiced⟨m⟩ and⟨n⟩. Voicelesshl andhr have a complex history which Tolkien describes thus: "Among the Noldor hr, hl became voiced to r, l before the Exile, and the use of r, l in these cases was normal in Tarquesta, as spoken, tho' the spelling was usually maintained. Since later the Exiles were familiar with voicelesshr,hl in their Sindarin speech many of them restored this sound in Tarquesta, according to the traditional spelling. The learned had, of course, at all times retained hr, hl in reading or reciting Parmaquesta."[T 30]
In the late Ancient Quenya period, when vowels were lost in long compound words, the clusters thus created, or the consonants that became final, were as a rule changed or reduced:[T 23]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i(ː) | u(ː) |
| Close-mid | eː | oː |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a(ː) | |
Quenya has fivevowels (Quenyaómar), and a distinction oflength. The short vowels are /a, e, i, o, u/ and the long ones are written with an acute accent as ⟨á, é, í, ó, ú⟩. The precise quality of the vowels is not known, but their pronunciation is likely closer to the "pure" vowels of Italian and Spanish than to the diphthongised English ones.[29] According to Pesch, for the vowels /a, i, u/ the short and long forms have the same vowel quality, similar to the vowels of Finnish or Polish. But for the vowels /e, o/, the short vowels are pronounced slightly lower and closer to[ɛ] and[ɔ], respectively, whereas the long ones are pronounced as high-mid vowels[eː] and[oː].[31] This interpretation is based on a statement by Tolkien, saying that ⟨é⟩ and ⟨ó⟩, when correctly pronounced by Elves, were just a little "tenser and 'closer'" than their short counterparts: "neither very tense and close, nor very slack and open".[T 31] This interpretation results in a vowel system with 7 different vowel qualities and a length distinction in the high and low vowels only; this system is depicted in table 3.[32]
Late Noldorin Quenya has 6diphthongs (Quenyaohloni): /iu, eu, ai, au, oi, ui/. All of these arefalling, except for /iu/ ([ju]) which is rising.[33] In Old Quenya, all diphthongs were falling. Tolkien wrote: "It is probable that before the Exile Vanyarin and Noldorin [Quenya] in common shiftediu, ui to rising diphthongs,[T 32] (...) but only/iu/ is reported as arising diphthong[ju] similar to the beginning of Englishyule[juːɫ]. On the other hand,ui remained in Exilic Quenya a falling diphthong as reported".[T 32]
| Offglide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | |
| i | ju | |
| e | ew | |
| a | aj | aw |
| o | oj | |
| u | uj | |
In Quenya, the stressing of a syllable is predictable and non-phonemic (i.e. the meaning of a word never changes depending on the stress), but it is partly determined bysyllable weight. Words of two syllables are stressed on the first syllable. In words of three or more syllables, the stress is on thepenultimate syllable if this is heavy, otherwise on theantepenultimate syllable, i.e. the third-to-last syllable. This stress rule is the same as thestress-pattern found in Latin. In Quenya, heavy syllables are syllables that contain either a long vowel, a diphthong, or a final consonant (thus an intervocalic consonant cluster:ll, ld, mm, ss,ny,ry, etc.). Mediallyhy andhw close a syllable in Parmaquesta, but not colloquially in Tarquesta. Quenya has also a secondary accent. The placement of stress and the distinction between heavy and light syllables is important in Quenya verse.[T 33]
Tolkien also devisedphonotactical rules for late Quenya, governing the way in which the sounds could be combined to form words:
The grammar of Quenya isagglutinative and mostlysuffixing, i.e. different word particles are joined by appending them. It has basic word classes ofverbs,nouns andpronouns/determiners,adjectives andprepositions. Nouns areinflected 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, but not in later Quenya, where this agreement disappears.[8] The basic word order issubject–verb–object. Unless otherwise noted, samples in this section refer to Late Quenya as conceived by Tolkien after 1951.
Quenya nouns can have up to four numbers: singular, generalplural ("plural 1"), particular/partitive plural ("plural 2"), anddual.[35] In late Quenya Tarquesta, the plural is formed by a suffix to the subjective form of the noun: forplural 1 the suffix is-i or-r; forplural 2 the suffix is-li.[T 40] Quenya nouns aredeclined forcase. Parmaquesta Quenya has tencases. These include the four primary cases:nominative,accusative,genitive, andinstrumental; three adverbial cases:allative (of which thedative is a shortened form),locative (also with a shortened form), andablative; and apossessive or adjectival case.[36] The accusative was however only used for Parmaquesta and had been replaced by nominative in late colloquial Quenya.[37]
In late Quenya, the singular endings are-a, -ë, -ëa, and a rare form-in that may be seen as a shortened form of-ina. The corresponding plural forms are-ë, -i, ië, and possibly-inë. The latter version is however not attested.[38] Quenya adjectives may be freely used as nouns,[T 41] in which case they are also inflected like a noun: e.g.vinya, "new", may be used asvinyar, "news".[39]
In Quenya, there are many similarities in form between prepositions and adverbs since the grammatical case already determines the relation of verb and object. Thus:[40]
The prepositionan is related to the-nna case ending.
As with all parts of Quenya grammar, the pronominal system was subject to many revisions throughout Tolkien's life, and the available corpus was not systematic until a list of endings was published inVinyar Tengwar No. 49 in 2007.[41] In late Quenya, pronouns have both separate or independent forms, and suffix forms.[T 42][T 43]
The separate pronouns have both a short and long form that are used foremphatic and normal pronouns respectively. Examples of the emphatic form include:emmë,elyë,entë (1st to 3rd person plural).[42] Such emphatic disjunctive pronouns, were already present in early Quenya but differed from the later versions (e.g. plural:tûto,sîse,atta).[43]
"I love him" (or "her") can be expressed in Quenya asMelinyes orMelin sé.[T 44] "I love them" would be thenMelinyet orMelin té (these two forms are reconstructed).If a pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it becomes tied to the verb either as separate word directly before the verb, or as a suffix after the inflected verb. In the suffixed form, an-s (singular) and a-t (plural and dual) may be added to the long subjective pronouns as objectives of the 3rd person:[T 45][44]
It is debated whether certain attested special male and female pronouns that were exclusively used for the description of persons are still applicable to late Quenya as found inThe Lord of the Rings.[46]
The possessive determiners (analogous to Englishmy,his, etc.) are used to indicate the possessor of the noun they determine. They mark the person and number of the possessor, and are inflected to agree with the noun they are attached in number and case. While the English language distinguishes between masculine and feminine singular possessors (his vs.her), late Quenya generally does not.[47]
"Since by Quenya idiom in describing the parts of body of several persons the number proper to each individual is used, the plural of parts existing in pairs (as hands, eyes, ears, feet) is seldom required. Thusmánta "their hand" would be used, (they raised) their hands (one each),mántat, (they raised) their hands (each both), andmánte could not occur".[T 47]
The usual plural ending is-r,hildinyar, "my heirs".[48]
Thedemonstrative makes a three-way distinction between entities the speaker is referring to:
According to Tolkien, "the inflections of [Qenya] verbs are always pretty regular",[T 49] and Quenya verbs are either in apersonal form or animpersonal form. Usually in linguistics, animpersonal verb is a verb that cannot take a true subject, because it does not represent an action, occurrence, or state-of-being of any specific person, place, or thing. This is not how Tolkien intended the use of "impersonal." Animpersonal verb form is a verb to which no pronoun has been attached, ascarë (sg.) orcarir (pl.);carin, "I do (habitually)", is a personal form (with-n, a short suffix for "I, me"). As explained by Tolkien, verbs in Quenya are negated by using a "negative verb"ua- in front of the proper verb in the impersonal tense form.[T 50]
Tolkien noted that "when the emphatic pronoun is used separately the verb has no inflexion (save for number)."[T 51]
Late Quenya verbs have also a dual agreementmorpheme-t:
In theimperative mood, plurality and duality are not expressed.There is no agreement. The verb stays singular.[T 53]
Thecopula in late Quenya is the verbna-. Tolkien stated that it was used only in joining adjectives, nouns, and pronouns in statements (or wishes) asserting (or desiring) a thing to have certain quality, or to be same as another, and also that the copula was not used when the meaning was clear.[T 54] Otherwise, the copula isleft out, which may provide for ambiguous tenses when there is no further context:
Quenya allows for a flexible word order because it is an inflectional language like Latin. Nevertheless, it has word order rules. The usualsyntax structure issubject-verb-object. The adjective can be placed before or after the noun that it modifies.[50]
Because many of Tolkien's writings on the Elvish languages remain unpublished it is difficult to know how large a vocabulary he devised. By 2008, about 25,000 Elvish words had been published.[51]
| English | Quenya | Sindarin equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| earth | ambar,cemen | amar,ceven |
| sky | menel | menel |
| water | nén | nen |
| fire | nár | naur |
| man (male) | nér | benn |
| female | nís | bess |
| eat | mat- | mad- |
| drink | suc- | sog- |
| tall, great | alta,halla | beleg,daer |
| small | pitya,titta | niben,tithen |
| night | lóme | dû |
| day | aurë,ré | aur |
Quenya's proper nouns are names of people and things in Middle-earth.[T 45][T 56]
The word used as a form of polite address to an Elf (male or female) isTar. Among the Númenoreans it became "King/Queen" and used as a form of address for a superior, especially a King or a Queen; cf.Tarinya, used by Prince Aldarion to address his father, King Tar-Meneldur.[T 57]
According toChristopher Tolkien, "the Eldar used two systems of numerals one of sixes (or twelves), and one of fives. (or tens)."[52] That is aduodecimal counting (base 12), and adecimal system. The Quenya word made by J. R. R. Tolkien for the 'decimal system of counting' ismaquanotië - "hand counting".[T 60]
The known numbers for 1–20 are presented below; those from early Quenya ("Early Qenya Grammar") are in bold.
| Cardinal numbers | Ordinal numbers | Fractional numbers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Quenya | English | No. | Quenya | English | No. | Quenya | English |
| 1 | min | One | 1st | minya | First | 1/1 | kaina,quanta | Whole |
| 2 | atta, tata | Two | 2nd | attëa, tatya | Second | 1/2 | peresta, perta | Half |
| 3 | neldë, nel | Three | 3rd | neldëa, nelya | Third | 1/3 | nelesta, neldesta, nelta, nelsa | Third |
| 4 | canta, can | Four | 4th | cantëa | Fourth | 1/4 | canasta, casta, cansat | Fourth, quarter |
| 5 | lempë, lemen, maqua | Five | 5th | lempëa | Fifth | 1/5 | lepesta, lepsat | Fifth |
| 6 | enquë | Six | 6th | enquëa | Sixth | 1/6 | enquesta | Sixth |
| 7 | otso | Seven | 7th | otsëa | Seventh | 1/7 | otosta, osta, otsat | Seventh |
| 8 | toldo, tolto | Eight | 8th | toldëa, toltëa | Eighth | 1/8 | tolosta, tosta, tolsat | Eighth |
| 9 | nertë | Nine | 9th | nertëa | Ninth | 1/9 | neresta, nesta, nersat | Ninth |
| 10 | quëan, quain, maquat | Ten | 10th | quainëa | Tenth | 1/10 | *quaista, caista | Tenth |
| 11 | minque | Eleven | 11th | *minquëa,minquenya | Eleventh | 1/11 | minquesta | Eleventh |
| 12 | yunquë, rasta | Twelve | 12th | *yunquëa, *rastëa | Twelfth | 1/12 | yunquesta, *rastasta | Twelfth |
| 13 | *nelquë, quainel, yunquenta | Thirteen | 13th | *nelquëa, *yunquentëa | Thirteenth | 1/13 | *nelquesta, *yunquentesta | Thirteenth |
| 14 | canquë, quaican | Fourteen | 14th | *canquëa | Fourteenth | 1/14 | *canquesta | Fourteenth |
| 15 | lepenquë, quailepen | Fifteen | 15th | *lepenquëa | Fifteenth | 1/15 | *lepenquesta | Fifteenth |
| 16 | enenquë, quainquë | Sixteen | 16th | *enenquëa | Sixteenth | 1/16 | *enenquesta | Sixteenth |
| 17 | otoquë | Seventeen | 17th | *otoquëa | Seventeenth | 1/17 | *otoquesta | Seventeenth |
| 18 | tolquë, nahta | Eighteen | 18th | *tolquëa | Eighteenth | 1/18 | *tolquesta | Eighteenth |
| 19 | neterquë,húkea | Nineteen | 19th | *neterquëa,hukaiya | Nineteenth | 1/19 | *neterquesta | Nineteenth |
| 20 | *yuquain,yukainen | Twenty | 20th | *yuquainëa,yukainenya | Twentieth | 1/20 | *yuquaista,yukainentya | Twentieth |
Other attested number words includeesta andinga for 'first'. Tolkien was dissatisfied withesta, the definition is marked with a query in the "Etymologies".[T 61]Maqua means specifically agroup of five objects, like the English word "pentad"; similarlymaquat "pair of fives" refers to a group of ten objects. The wordyunquenta for thirteen literally means "12 and one more".[T 62]
| Quenya | English | Quenya | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min elen Er elen | One star A single star | Min Eleno Er eleno | Of one star Of a single star |
| Elen atta | Two stars | Elen atto | Of two stars |
| Eleni neldë | Three stars | Elenion neldë | Of three stars |
| Eleni canta | Four stars | Elenion canta | Of four stars |
| No. | "Qenya" | Quenya | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal | Ordinal | Fractional | ||
| 20 | yukainen | *yuquain | *yuquainëa | *yuquaista |
| 21 | min(ya) yukainen | *min yuquain | *min yuquainëa | *min yuquaista |
| 2_ | _ yukainen | *_ yuquain | *_ yuquainëa | *_ yuquaista |
| 30 | nel(de)kainen | *nelquain | *nelquainëa | *nelquaista |
| 40 | kan(ta)kainen | *canquain | *canquainëa | *canquaista |
| 50 | leminkainen | *lepenquain | *lepenquainëa | *lepenquaista |
| 60 | enekkainen | *(en)enquain | *(en)enquainëa | *(en)enquaista |
| 70 | otsokainen | *otoquain | *otoquainëa | *otoquaista |
| 80 | tol(to)kainen | *tolquain | *tolquainëa | *tolquaista |
| 90 | huekainen | *neterquain | *neterquainëa | *neterquaista |
| 100 | tuksa pínea (lit. small gross) | *tuxa | *tuxëa | *tuxasta |
| 100/144 | tuksa | |||
| 200 | yúyo tuksa | *tuxa atta | *tuxëa atta | *tuxasta atta |
| _00 | _ tukse | *tuxar _ *tuxe _ | *tuxëa _ | *tuxasta _ |
| 1k 103 | húmë tuksa kainen, tuksainen | *húmë *quaituxa | *húmëa *quaituxëa | *húmesta *quaituxasta |
| 2k | yúyo húmi | *húmë atta | *húmëa atta | *húmesta atta |
| _k | _ húmi | *húmi _ | *húmëa _ | *húmesta _ |
| 106 | mindóre, sóra (Large number) | *mindórë | *mindórëa | *mindóresta |
| 109 | yundóre | *yundórë | *yundórëa | *yundóresta |
| 1012 | neldóre | *neldórë | *neldórëa | *neldóresta |
| 1015 | kantóre | *candórë | *candórëa | *candóresta |
| 1018 | lemindóre | *lependórë | *lependórëa | *lependóresta |
| 1021 | enqendóre | *enquendórë | *enquendórëa | *enquendóresta |
| 1024 | otsondóre | *otondórë | *otondórëa | *otondóresta |
"Qenya" numerals above twenty show that the smaller units come first,min yukainen "21" being "one-twenty", which reflects how they are written in Tengwar.[53]
Most of the time, Tolkien wrote his invented languages using the Latin script,[54] but he devisedhis own writing systems to match the internal histories of his languages.[55]
Tolkien imagined many writing systems for his Elves. The best-known is the "Tengwar ofFëanor" but the first one he created c. 1919 was the "Tengwar of Rumil", also called thesarati. He decided that, prior to their Exile, the Noldorin Elves first used thesarati of Rúmil to record Ancient Quenya. In Middle-earth, Quenya appears to have been rarely written using the "Elvish runes" orcirth, namedcertar in Quenya.[55]
Tolkien's spelling in Latin script of Quenya was largely phonemic, with each letter corresponding to a specific phoneme in the language. However, the vowels varied in pronunciation depending upon their length.[56] Specific rules for consonants were provided in Appendix E ofThe Lord of the Rings, e.g. the letterc is always pronouncedk,qu stands forkw,[T 63]Orqui isOrkwi. Tolkien's standard orthography for Quenya uses all the letters of the Latin script exceptj,k, andz, together with theacute anddiaeresismarks on vowels; the lettersñ,þ andz only appear in early Quenya. Occasionally, Tolkien wrote Quenya with a "Finnish-style" orthography (rather than the standard Latin-Romance version), in whichc is replaced byk,y withj, and long vowels written double. The acute accent marks long vowels, while the diaeresis indicates that a vowel is not part of a diphthong, for example inëa orëo, while finale is marked with a diaeresis to remind English-speakers that it is not silent.[57]
The poem "Namárië" is the longest piece of Quenya found inThe Lord of the Rings, yet the first sentence in Quenya is uttered by a Hobbit; namely Frodo's greeting to the Elves:elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo. Other examples includeElendil's words spoken upon reaching Middle-earth, and repeated by Aragorn at his coronation:Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinomë maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta! "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place I will abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world!"[T 46]Treebeard's greeting toCeleborn andGaladriel is also spoken in Quenya:A vanimar, vanimálion nostari "O beautiful ones, parents of beautiful children".[T 64] Another fragment isSam's cry when he uses Galadriel's phial againstShelob:Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima! "Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars!"[T 65] And inThe Silmarillion, the phraseUtúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë! "The day has come! Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!", is cried by Fingon before theBattle of Unnumbered Tears.[T 66]
Other Quenya poems spoken by Tolkien in public but never published in his lifetime areOilima Markirya ("The Last Ark"),Nieninqe, andEarendel in his lectureA Secret Vice, and published in 1983 inThe Monsters and the Critics. A faulty fragment of the poem "Narqelion", written in early Quenya or Elfin between November 1915 and March 1916, was published byHumphrey Carpenter in hisBiography. A facsimile of the entire poem was published only in 1999.[58]
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