Post by Móreadhiel on Jan 21, 2007 12:31:44 GMT -5
It is not a secret to us, that the first things Professor J.R.R. Tolkien started creating for his mythology were his languages, or rather: that in fact his mythology arose through his desire to have a world in which his artificial languages really could exist, in which they felt realistic and where through the characteristics of each language the characteristics of the respective speakers formed and defined themselves.
But some of these languages belong to different periods of Tolkien's ongoing process of creation and thus did in his mythology never actually coëxist and rather represent former tries of the professor that had later been changed (sometimes dramatically).
From his earliest creations - 1920's and earlier - we only know about Qenya and Goldogrin (inspired by Finnish and Welsh respectively), but already in the 1930's we find a quite developed language universe, incorporating no less than 24 languages and several dialects:
Valarin, the languagues of Oromë, Aulë, Melko and the Valarindi, Orkish, Dwarvish, Primitive Quendian, (Common) Eldarin, Lemberin, Laiquendian, Danian, Taliska, Hvendi, Mork, Lindarin, Qenya, (Exilic) Noldorin, Telerin, Ilkorin, Doriathrin, Falathrin, Kornoldorin (Korolambe, Old Noldorin), Ossiriandeb, plus dialects and various tongues of Men.
(Languages to which there is some vocabulary known are here marked by bold letters. Tolkien actually wrote vocabulary and grammars of the Mannish tongues of Taliska, Hvendi] and Mork, which are still unpublished).
In Tolkien's (more or less) final conception that is well known from the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion the internal history of the languages should be more or less as follows:
Elder Days
The Ainur descend into the World That Is. Being thus Incarnated they do what Ilúvatar devised for those: they invent a language for themselves. Although they do not need a spoken language they soon communicate mainly in their Valarin tongue, which is very rich of consonants and quite long-winded (e.g. Aþaraphelûn Dušamanðân, Marred World). As Aulë awakens the Dwarves he possibly teaches them a language he devised for them, Khuzdûl, which will change but little in the ages to come. The Elves awaken at Kuiviénen and also quickly start developing a language, inventing words they deem beautiful and fitting for the named things. This is what we call the Primitive Quendian - not being primitive at all (but in fact very complex!), but just the first and basic Elvish language (e.g. i ndero kweti, the man speaketh). But there certainly are some influences already from the Valarin speech, since the Vala Oromë is often with the Elves in their first years. Most likely the third clan even now speaks a somewhat varying dialect.
Many of the Elves now start their journey to the West and they are called the Eldar, their language being the Common Eldarin (e.g. i ndær kweti, the man speaketh). The dialect of the third clan, the Teleri, is often referred to as a separate language, Common Telerin, varying from the Common Eldarin mainly through several sound-changes (e.g. i ndær peti, the man speaketh). The Elves that stayed behind at the Waters of Awakening, the Avari, are soon divided into various peoples, each speaking a language of their own, about which almost nothing is known but which are sometimes collectively referred to as Avarin (Kindi, Cuind, Hwenti, Windan, Kinn-lai, Penni, being terms for themselves in six of these tongues, all deriving from Primitive Quendian kwendi(-li) ).
After several split-ups among the Teleri there is then a great split at the west coast of Middle-earth: The Vanyar and Ñoldor migrate into the West where their Common Eldarin speech develops into Quendya (with the 'd' still intact), which changes very little with the Vanyar who borrow a lot from Valarin. In the mouths of the Ñoldor the change is somewhat quicker and sometimes deliberate (as the change of 'th' to 's', against which Feänáro rebels heatedly), and they soon call their own language Quenya (e.g. i nér quete, the man speaketh). Those of the Teleri that also go into the West soon speak what is referred to as (Amanya) Telerin (e.g. i dér pete, the man speaketh), with those that stay in Beleriand the Common Telerin tongue evolves into what is later called Old-Sindarin (e.g. i ndêr petæ, the man speaketh).
First Age
Most of the Ñoldor return to Middle-earth and meet their the Grey-elves, whose language is evolving into the more modern dialects of Sindarin (e.g. i·ndîr pêd, the man speaketh). Soon the Green-elves arrive in Beleriand - a Telerin people that had on the great westward march remained behind at the Misty Mountains - who speak a dialect of Nandorin (e.g. golda dac yrc, a Ñoldo kills orcs) as do their relatives that still linger in the lands about Anduin. But just as the Ñoldor the Green-elves soon learn the Sindarin tongue which is used as a common language of intercourse. As the Elves meet the ancient people of the Ents they kindle in them the love for language and they develop an own Entish tongue but also learn the Elvish languages (especially Quenya), which they often use after their strange, extraordinarily long-winded fashion.
The Dwarves in these days still have much concourse with the Elves and thus also speak the Sindarin, but among themselves they still use their Khuzdûl (e.g. uzbad khazâdu ai-mênu, the Lord of the Dwarves upon you). The Nœgyth-nibin or Petty Dwarves most likely speak a dialect of the tongue.
With the beginning of the First Age the first Men had awakened in Hildórien and had developed many languages. As the people of the Three Housed that wandered into the west now meet the Elves, each of the tribes speaks each a language of its own (or possibly rather dialects of the same language), that they call Taliska, Mork and Hvendi, and which show some Dwarvish as well as Elvish (Avarin and/or Nandorin) influence. They also adopt the Sindarin as Common Tongue.
Already at that time Men also had settled much further in the unknown south and East of Middle-earth, but nothing of them or their languages of that time is known to us.
About the evil creates of Morgoth, the orcs, dragons, balrogs etc. their is no specific record concerning language, but not seldom do we hear about dialogue with Elf or Man, so it seems they use the Sindarin also.
Second Age
The Men in Númenor continue to use Sindarin until this is forbidden and only practiced by the Elendili or Elf-friends. From the old Mannish tongues, which they never have forgotten, arises an own Númenórean speech, Adûnaïc (e.g. bâ kitabdahê! - Touch me not!). Among the Númenóreans just as among the Elves Quenya has become but a language of lore and honour, not of daily use; all Elves that came from Beleriand speak Sindarin.
They now meet the afore mentioned Nandorin speaking woodland Elves of the lands about Anduin and their Silvan speech (likely having some Avarin influence), but of this little is borrowed into Sindarin but the Silvan folk rather adopt Sindarin, strengthening it in its role as Common Tongue and though in their own realms soon there are spoken strange dialects of Sindarin with heavy Silvan influence the Sindarin language is now the language of all Elves in north-western Middle-earth. The Elf-friends that fled from the destruction of Númenor settle in Gondor and Arnor, where their speech evolves into what is later commonly called Westron, but Adûni in the language itself and Annúnaid in Sindarin (e.g. Banazîr Galbasi, Samwise Gamdgee), very likely incorporating much from to us unknown languages of native Mannish people of that region.
Sauron devises his own language for his minions, the Black Speech of which the own term for itself is not known. But he fails in this aim because most of his creatures simply are to ignorant or lazy and they soon use the Common Tongue and take but a few words from Sauron's creation. Only his highest captains like his Mouth or the Úlairi (Nazgûl in their own tongue) speak it fluently (e.g. snaga u bagronk!, the slave into the dung-pit!).
Third Age
With the Fading of the Elves Sindarin also becomes a language which is more and more forgotten or only preserved in lore. The Westron now becomes the Common Tongue and is also called Sôval Phâre. More Men that had in the First Age not come to Beleriand now appear (if they have not already appeared during the Second Age), all speaking languages or at least dialects of their own of which we know almost nothing today, safe that they are in origin all related to some degree.
The realm of Rochand (later Rohan) is established in Calenardhon, and there dwells one of that people of the North, using a language that is closely related to those languages from which Westron arose: Rohirric. The original neighbours of that people, the Halflings, likewise use a closely related language (cf. Rohirric kud-dûkan, hole-builder, with kudûk, hobbit, the Halfling's word for their own race). Though the Halflings keep certain words and naming conventions of their former speech they completely adopt the Westron, which is now truly the Common Speech, since it is spoken and understood by all peoples, even by the orcs and some animals.
A new race appearing during the War of Ring are the great soldier trolls, or Olog-hai, and they are said to use solely Sauron's Black Speech.
But some of these languages belong to different periods of Tolkien's ongoing process of creation and thus did in his mythology never actually coëxist and rather represent former tries of the professor that had later been changed (sometimes dramatically).
From his earliest creations - 1920's and earlier - we only know about Qenya and Goldogrin (inspired by Finnish and Welsh respectively), but already in the 1930's we find a quite developed language universe, incorporating no less than 24 languages and several dialects:
Valarin, the languagues of Oromë, Aulë, Melko and the Valarindi, Orkish, Dwarvish, Primitive Quendian, (Common) Eldarin, Lemberin, Laiquendian, Danian, Taliska, Hvendi, Mork, Lindarin, Qenya, (Exilic) Noldorin, Telerin, Ilkorin, Doriathrin, Falathrin, Kornoldorin (Korolambe, Old Noldorin), Ossiriandeb, plus dialects and various tongues of Men.
(Languages to which there is some vocabulary known are here marked by bold letters. Tolkien actually wrote vocabulary and grammars of the Mannish tongues of Taliska, Hvendi] and Mork, which are still unpublished).
In Tolkien's (more or less) final conception that is well known from the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion the internal history of the languages should be more or less as follows:
Elder Days
The Ainur descend into the World That Is. Being thus Incarnated they do what Ilúvatar devised for those: they invent a language for themselves. Although they do not need a spoken language they soon communicate mainly in their Valarin tongue, which is very rich of consonants and quite long-winded (e.g. Aþaraphelûn Dušamanðân, Marred World). As Aulë awakens the Dwarves he possibly teaches them a language he devised for them, Khuzdûl, which will change but little in the ages to come. The Elves awaken at Kuiviénen and also quickly start developing a language, inventing words they deem beautiful and fitting for the named things. This is what we call the Primitive Quendian - not being primitive at all (but in fact very complex!), but just the first and basic Elvish language (e.g. i ndero kweti, the man speaketh). But there certainly are some influences already from the Valarin speech, since the Vala Oromë is often with the Elves in their first years. Most likely the third clan even now speaks a somewhat varying dialect.
Many of the Elves now start their journey to the West and they are called the Eldar, their language being the Common Eldarin (e.g. i ndær kweti, the man speaketh). The dialect of the third clan, the Teleri, is often referred to as a separate language, Common Telerin, varying from the Common Eldarin mainly through several sound-changes (e.g. i ndær peti, the man speaketh). The Elves that stayed behind at the Waters of Awakening, the Avari, are soon divided into various peoples, each speaking a language of their own, about which almost nothing is known but which are sometimes collectively referred to as Avarin (Kindi, Cuind, Hwenti, Windan, Kinn-lai, Penni, being terms for themselves in six of these tongues, all deriving from Primitive Quendian kwendi(-li) ).
After several split-ups among the Teleri there is then a great split at the west coast of Middle-earth: The Vanyar and Ñoldor migrate into the West where their Common Eldarin speech develops into Quendya (with the 'd' still intact), which changes very little with the Vanyar who borrow a lot from Valarin. In the mouths of the Ñoldor the change is somewhat quicker and sometimes deliberate (as the change of 'th' to 's', against which Feänáro rebels heatedly), and they soon call their own language Quenya (e.g. i nér quete, the man speaketh). Those of the Teleri that also go into the West soon speak what is referred to as (Amanya) Telerin (e.g. i dér pete, the man speaketh), with those that stay in Beleriand the Common Telerin tongue evolves into what is later called Old-Sindarin (e.g. i ndêr petæ, the man speaketh).
First Age
Most of the Ñoldor return to Middle-earth and meet their the Grey-elves, whose language is evolving into the more modern dialects of Sindarin (e.g. i·ndîr pêd, the man speaketh). Soon the Green-elves arrive in Beleriand - a Telerin people that had on the great westward march remained behind at the Misty Mountains - who speak a dialect of Nandorin (e.g. golda dac yrc, a Ñoldo kills orcs) as do their relatives that still linger in the lands about Anduin. But just as the Ñoldor the Green-elves soon learn the Sindarin tongue which is used as a common language of intercourse. As the Elves meet the ancient people of the Ents they kindle in them the love for language and they develop an own Entish tongue but also learn the Elvish languages (especially Quenya), which they often use after their strange, extraordinarily long-winded fashion.
The Dwarves in these days still have much concourse with the Elves and thus also speak the Sindarin, but among themselves they still use their Khuzdûl (e.g. uzbad khazâdu ai-mênu, the Lord of the Dwarves upon you). The Nœgyth-nibin or Petty Dwarves most likely speak a dialect of the tongue.
With the beginning of the First Age the first Men had awakened in Hildórien and had developed many languages. As the people of the Three Housed that wandered into the west now meet the Elves, each of the tribes speaks each a language of its own (or possibly rather dialects of the same language), that they call Taliska, Mork and Hvendi, and which show some Dwarvish as well as Elvish (Avarin and/or Nandorin) influence. They also adopt the Sindarin as Common Tongue.
Already at that time Men also had settled much further in the unknown south and East of Middle-earth, but nothing of them or their languages of that time is known to us.
About the evil creates of Morgoth, the orcs, dragons, balrogs etc. their is no specific record concerning language, but not seldom do we hear about dialogue with Elf or Man, so it seems they use the Sindarin also.
Second Age
The Men in Númenor continue to use Sindarin until this is forbidden and only practiced by the Elendili or Elf-friends. From the old Mannish tongues, which they never have forgotten, arises an own Númenórean speech, Adûnaïc (e.g. bâ kitabdahê! - Touch me not!). Among the Númenóreans just as among the Elves Quenya has become but a language of lore and honour, not of daily use; all Elves that came from Beleriand speak Sindarin.
They now meet the afore mentioned Nandorin speaking woodland Elves of the lands about Anduin and their Silvan speech (likely having some Avarin influence), but of this little is borrowed into Sindarin but the Silvan folk rather adopt Sindarin, strengthening it in its role as Common Tongue and though in their own realms soon there are spoken strange dialects of Sindarin with heavy Silvan influence the Sindarin language is now the language of all Elves in north-western Middle-earth. The Elf-friends that fled from the destruction of Númenor settle in Gondor and Arnor, where their speech evolves into what is later commonly called Westron, but Adûni in the language itself and Annúnaid in Sindarin (e.g. Banazîr Galbasi, Samwise Gamdgee), very likely incorporating much from to us unknown languages of native Mannish people of that region.
Sauron devises his own language for his minions, the Black Speech of which the own term for itself is not known. But he fails in this aim because most of his creatures simply are to ignorant or lazy and they soon use the Common Tongue and take but a few words from Sauron's creation. Only his highest captains like his Mouth or the Úlairi (Nazgûl in their own tongue) speak it fluently (e.g. snaga u bagronk!, the slave into the dung-pit!).
Third Age
With the Fading of the Elves Sindarin also becomes a language which is more and more forgotten or only preserved in lore. The Westron now becomes the Common Tongue and is also called Sôval Phâre. More Men that had in the First Age not come to Beleriand now appear (if they have not already appeared during the Second Age), all speaking languages or at least dialects of their own of which we know almost nothing today, safe that they are in origin all related to some degree.
The realm of Rochand (later Rohan) is established in Calenardhon, and there dwells one of that people of the North, using a language that is closely related to those languages from which Westron arose: Rohirric. The original neighbours of that people, the Halflings, likewise use a closely related language (cf. Rohirric kud-dûkan, hole-builder, with kudûk, hobbit, the Halfling's word for their own race). Though the Halflings keep certain words and naming conventions of their former speech they completely adopt the Westron, which is now truly the Common Speech, since it is spoken and understood by all peoples, even by the orcs and some animals.
A new race appearing during the War of Ring are the great soldier trolls, or Olog-hai, and they are said to use solely Sauron's Black Speech.
