Appendix E Writing and Spelling

I Pronunciation of Words and Names

The Westron or Common Speech has been entirely translated into English equivalents. An Hobbit names and special words are intended to be pronounced accordingly: for example,Bolger hasg as inbulge , andmathom rhymes withfathom . In transcribing the ancient scripts I have tried to represent the original sounds (so far as they can be determined) with fair accuracy, and at the same time to produce words and names that do not look uncouth in modern letters. The High-elven Quenya has been spelt as much like Latin as its sounds allowed. For this reasonc has been preferred tok m both Eldarin languages. The following points may be observed by those who are interested in such details.

Consonants

C has always the value ofk even beforee andi:celeb'silver' should be pronounced askeleb .

CH is only used to represent the sound heard inbach (in German or Welsh), not that in Englishchurch . Except at the end of words and beforet this sound, was weakened toh in the speech of Gondor, and that change has been recognized in a few names, such asRohan ,Rohirrim . (Imrahilis a Numenorean name.)

DH represents the voiced (soft)th of Englishthese clothes . It is usually related tod, as in S.galadh 'tree' compared with Q.alda ; but is sometimes derived fromn+r, as inCaradhras 'Redhorn' fromcaran-rass .

F represents f, except at the end of words, where it is used to represent the sound ofv as in Englishof :Nindalf ,Fladrif .

G has only the sound ofg ingive ,get:gil 'star', inGildor ,Gilraen ,Osgiliath , begins as in Englishgild .

H standing alone with no other consonant has the sound ofh inhouse ,behold . The Quenya combinationht has the sound ofcht , as in Germanecht ,acht : e.g. in the nameTelumehtar 'Orion'. See also Ch, Do, L, R, Th, W, Y.

I initially before another vowel has the consonantal sound ofy inyou ,yore in Sindarin only: as inIoreth ,Iarwain . See Y.

K is used in names drawn from other than Elvish languages, with the same value asc;kh thus represents the same sound asch in OrkishGrishnakh , or Adunaic (Numenorean)Adunakhor . On Dwarvish (Khuzdul) see p.492.

L represents more or less the sound of English initiall , as inlet . It was, however, to some degree "palatalized" betweene ,i and a consonant, or finally aftere ,i . (The EIdar would probably have transcribed Englishbell ,fill asbeol fiol .) LH represents this sound when voiceless (usually derived from initialsl- ). In (archaic) Quenya this is writtenhl , but was in the Third Age usually pronounced asl .

NG representsng infinger , except finally where it was sounded as in Englishsing . The latter sound also occurred initially in Quenya, but has been transcribedn (as inNoldo ), according to the pronunciation of the Third Age.

PH has the same sound asf . It is used (a) where thef -sound occurs at the end of a word, as inalph 'swan'; (b) where thef -sound is related to or derived from ap , as ini-Pheriannath 'the Halflings' (perian); (c) in the middle of a few words where it represents a longff (frompp ) as inphel 'outer fence'; and (d) in Adunaic, as inAr-Pharazon (pharaz'gold').

QU has been used forcw , a combination very frequent in Quenya, though it did not occur in Sindarin.

R represents a trilledr in all positions; the sound was not lost before consonants (as in Englishpart ). The Orcs, and some Dwarves, are said to have used a back or uvularr , a sound which the Eldar found distasteful. RH represents a voicelessr (usually derived from older initialsr- ). It was writtenhr in Quenya. Cf. L.

S is always voiceless, as in Englishso ,geese ; thez -sound did not occur in contemporary Quenya or Sindarin. SH, occurring in Dwarvish and Orkish, represents sounds similar tosh in English.

TH represents the voicelessth of English inthin cloth . This had become in Quenya spokens , though still written with a different letter; as in Q.Isil, S.Ithil , 'Moon'.

TY represents a sound probably similar to thet in Englishtune . It was derived mainly fromc ort+y . The sound of Englishch , which was frequent in Westron, was usually substituted for it by speakers of that language. Cf. HY under Y.

V has the sound of Englishv , but is not used finally. See F.

W has the sound of Englishw . HW is a voicelessw , as in Englishwhite (in northern pronunciation). It was not an uncommon initial sound in Quenya, though examples seem not to occur in this book. Bothv andw are used in the transcription of Quenya, in spite of the assimilation of its spelling to Latin, since the two sounds, distinct in origin, both occurred in the language.

Y is used in Quenya for the consonanty , as in Englishyou . In Sindariny is a vowel (see below). HY has the same relation toy as HW tow , and represents a sound like that heard in Englishhew ,huge ;h in Quenyaeht ,iht had the same sound. The sound of Englishsh , which was common in Westron, was often substituted by speakers of that language. Cf. TY above. HY was usually derived fromsy- andkhy- ; in both cases related Sindarin words show initialh, as in Q.Hyarmen 'south', S.Harad . Note that consonants written twice, astt ,ll ,ss ,nn , represent long or 'double' consonants. At the end of words of more than one syllable these were usually shortened: as inRohan fromRochann (archaicRochand ). In Sindarin the combinationsng ,nd ,mb , which were specially favoured in the Eldarin languages at an earlier stage, suffered various changes,mb becamem in all cases, but still counted as a long consonant for purposes of stress (see below), and is thus writtenmm in cases where otherwise the stress might be in doubt.ng remained unchanged except finally where it became the simple nasal (as in Englishsing ).nd becamenn usually, asEnnor 'Middle-earth', Q.Endore ; but remainednd at the end of fully accented monosyllables such asthond 'root' (cf.Morthond 'Blackroot'), and also beforer , asAndros 'long-foam'. Thisnd is also seen in some ancient names derived from an older period, such asNargothrond ,Gondolin ,Beleriand . In the Third Age finalnd in long words had becomen fromnn , as inIthilien, Rohan, Anorien.

Vowels

For vowels the lettersi, e, a, o, u are used, and (in Sindarin only)y . As far as can be determined the sounds represented by these letters (other thany ) were of normal kind, though doubtless many local varieties escape detection. That is, the sounds were approximately those represented byi, e, a, o, h in Englishmachine ,were, father, for, brute , irrespective of quantity. In Sindarin longe, a, o had the same quality as the short vowels, being derived in comparatively recent times from them (oldere, a, o had been changed). In Quenya longe ando were, when correctly pronounced, as by the Eldar, tenser and 'closer' than the short vowels. Sindarin alone among contemporary languages possessed the 'modified' or frontedu , more or less asu in Frenchlune . It was partly a modification ofo andu, partly derived from older diphthongseu, iu . For this soundy has been used (as in ancient English): as inlyg 'snake', Q.leuca , oremyn pl. ofamon 'hill'. In Condor thisy was usually pronounced likei . Long vowels are usually marked with the 'acute accent', as in some varieties of Feanorian script In Sindarin long vowels in stressed monosyllables are marked with the circumflex, since they leaded in such cases to be specially prolonged; so indun compared withDunadan . The use of the circumflex in other languages such as Adunaic or Dwarvish has no special significance, and is used merely to mark these out as alien tongues (as with the use ofk ). Finale is never mute or a mere sign of length as in English. To mark this finale it is often (but not consistently) writtene . The groupser, ir, ur (finally or before a consonant) are not intended to be pronounced as in Englishfern, fir, fur , but rather is Englishair,eer, oor . In Quenyaui, oi, ai andiu, eu, au are diphthongs (that is, pronounced in one syllable). All other pairs of vowels are dis-syllabic. This is often indicated by writingea, eo, oe . In Sindarin the diphthongs are writtenae, oi, ei, oe, ui andau . Other combinations are not diphthongal. The writing of finalau asaw is in accordance with English custom, but is actually not uncommon in Feanorian spellings. All these diphthongs were falling diphthongs, that to stressed on the first element, and composed of the simple vowels run together. Thusai, ei, oi, ui are intended to be pronounced respectively as the vowels in Englishrye (notray ),grey, boy, ruin : andau (aw) as inloud, how and not as inlaud, haw . There is nothing in English closely corresponding toae, oe, eu;ae andoe may be pronounced asai, oi .