Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien

JRR Tolkien developed for the mythology he created numerous partially fictitious, partially actually designed by him languages ​​and scripts.

Many are familiar with Tolkien only as a writer, but he was above all a philologist and as such professionally dealt with the origin of languages ​​and words ( etymology ). He had knowledge of many languages, from ancient Germanic languages ​​such as Old Icelandic and Gothic to the non- Germanic Finnish and developed something like a " sound taste " ( literal translation of what he called this Quenya word lámatyávë ), which prompted him to create languages which should have the perfect sound for him. But now he was a philologist of the opinion that language has an origin and a story needs, and to this fundamental purpose, he invented Arda and its history. Important facets of this world as single figures, objects and regions and localities are described in separate articles.

" From his scientific field here was Tolkien language historians - that is, he dealt with the history of words, where words were not isolated, but always seen in their cultural contexts. And words, as Tolkien himself said, produced in their ghost stories. "

The spelling of proper names and some other contexts is based on differences between the two German translations of the Lord of the Rings after the earlier of Margaret Carroux, as these still produced in collaboration with Tolkien. The differences from the translation Wolfgang Kreges are given in some cases.

• 2.1 Cirth
• 2.2 Tengwar 2.2.1 modes
• 2.2.2 Character / spelling
• 2.2.3 Unicode
• 2.2.4 computer representation

Languages

There are the tales of Middle-earth several languages ​​developed by JRR Tolkien, which are described hereinafter sometimes a bit more accurate. Among these languages:

• Valarin the Valar ( gods creatures )
• The Eldarin of the Elves who lived in Valinor. This is also referred to as Eldarissa, language of science '. It continued to evolve into Vanyarin, Noldorin and Telerin.
• The Quendin, better known under the name of Quenya, the language of scholars ', and was similar to the Greek or the Latin used later in our Middle Ages.
• The Vanyarin or Amanyarin the Vanyarelben which is only spoken in Valinor.
• The Noldorin of Noldorelben, also Noldorissa, language of the inventors ' called. Noldo means wise or sent.
• The Telerin the Telerielben from which Sindarin Nandorin and Lindarin developed.
• The Sindarin Sindarelben, which was first used particularly in Doriath, but later throughout Middle-earth by the Elves as a common language.
• The Avarin or Umanyarin of the Elves of Middle-earth, who never went to Valinor. These probably also include the Laiquendin the wood elves.
• The Indya or Irindya the generic term for the languages ​​of the people with Adûnaisch, Westron and Rohirrisch.
• The Khuzdul the dwarfs.
• The Orquin of Orcs and Uruk- Hai.
• The Entish that may say Onodrin, because a Onod is an Ent.

In addition, there was also the Parmalambië, language of the books ', ie, the written language, sign language Matengwië language with hands ', that is, at the dwarves Iglishmêk, and secret languages ​​, such as the Black Speech of Sauron or a communication in range of telepathy as used, for example, Galadriel, to read the thoughts of others.

Elvish languages

Development of Elvish

The main languages ​​in Tolkien's world are no doubt the language of the Elves. Their historical development is as follows: Originally, when the elves still all lived together, they were using a common language that Tolkien simply called Primitive Elvish (Ur - Elvish ). In this language, the simple sentence would have " The man says " probably ( i) ndêro gelautet kwêtâ. As a large portion of the same is set out on the journey to the West, however, the language had already developed, and you said what Tolkien called Common Eldarin ( Community Elvish ). There were several dialects, such as the Common Telerin or the Common Enya; However, the Common Telerin was west of the sea a Amanya Telerin. In Middle-earth, these developed on the one hand the Old Sindarin, on the other hand the Nandorin, however, this is not recorded well enough to reconstruct the above example sentence in it. As an example of this language here is why: golda dac yrc - "A Noldo kill orcs ." For comparison, in Sindarin it would mean Golodh DAG yrch.

The Old Sindarin has undergone in the ever-changing Middle-earth various stages of development in different dialects; a distinction in the first age at least between the dialects of the coast, from Doriath, the Mithrim the Noldor and the Edain ( people ), which in turn can all be divided into older and more modern forms (one could eg of Central Mithrim Sindarin etc. speak ). In the second period, however, survived primarily the dialect of the coast, going back to the even the general Sindarin of the Third Age in the largest extent. Since the beginning of the third age is in Middle Earth but mainly " New Sindarin " spoken, which has evolved from the original " Old Sindarin " out and is spoken by most of the Eldar, at least those who remained until the fourth age of Middle-earth.

As an example, the sentence " the man says ":

In Sindarin, Quenya and phonetic symbols are processed in written form, unlike, for example, in German, where combinations of letters are used used. This is why Tolkien among others, since it includes in Europe for a long time the words were written as they sound. Today we observe the often still in write beginners. So can also declare that, for example, the name Meier ( Maier, Mayer, Meyer, Meyr, Meijer ... ), despite identical pronunciation, exists in different spellings.

Quenya

Formation

Quenya was not the first language that Tolkien invented (he had previously about an evolution of the Gothic tried), but it was the first of those languages ​​, which he later integrated into its mythology. In 1912 Tolkien discovered the Finnish language. He was so impressed by the experience that gave him the reading of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, that he decided to invent based on the Finnish phonetics, which he felt was especially beautiful own language. " Basically," Tolkien wrote, " one could say that it is composed on a Latin basis with two other (main) ingredients that one, phonästhetisches ' ​​give me pleasure after all. Finnish and Greek "

According to ISO 639-3 is the language code for Quenya qya.

Language development

Quenya is the language of the elves who went into the mists of time in the Undying Lands ( Valinor ) and some of which later returned to Middle-earth. However, the language is not similar in sound and grammar in some ways the Finnish, in the vocabulary. Tolkien Quenya from all his invented languages ​​by far the best documented, it is therefore relatively well reconstructed.

In the Third Age of Middle-earth, Quenya Sindarin has almost completely replaced as a spoken language; Quenya exist practically only in ancient literature, similar to Latin in Europe or the Sanskrit in India. The term " Hochelbisch " for Quenya refers to the status of a language of the learned.

Characteristics

Unlike his successor Sindarin Quenya can be described as an inflectional language, which is inspired by the Finnish. It knows ten case and four numbers and thus more pronounced than the Indo-European proto-language declensions. With five tenses, no distinct passive and only syntactically or indicated by particle mode, the verbal morphology, however, is severely limited compared with the Indo-European.

Sindarin

Sindarin was in the first age, the language of the Sindar ( Grey-elves ) and later spread even among the other elves from. Tolkien has left the Sindarin less written material as the Quenya, so can today only the basic features of the Sindarin clarify.

According to ISO 639-3 language code for the Sindarin is sjn.

Linguistic history

Sindarin is related to Quenya, but not a direct descendant of the language. It evolved from the language of those Teleri who remained to the west into Beleriand during the Great Migration of the Eldar. The language was because Elu Thingol ( King of Beleriand ) the " immigrants " banned ( by the other spoken ) Quenya because of the deeds of blood at their relatives, later also adopted by the Noldor returned to Middle-earth as well as some human strains.

History ( external)

J. R. R. Tolkien liked the Welsh language. Some grammatical and especially phonological basics of Sindarin are due to Welsh. For example, the Anlautmutationen that represent an innovation of insular Celtic languages ​​within the Indo-European language family. The language can, however, quite "real " call, as the Sindarin yes also has a predecessor language, can be derived from all its roots.

Human languages

Adûnaisch

Adûnaisch was the language of the people who came in the first age after Beleriand and not with Melkor ( dark ruler ) allied. After the first ages these people were ( the Dunedain = Western people ) blessed by the Valar as a reward with an island: Númenor. There, the Adûnaische remained the mother tongue of most people, and towards the end of Númenor it was again declared the first and only language; the kings were again adûnaische name after they had previously had Quenya name. The Adûnaische derives from Quenya, but based as the Khuzdul (and the Semitic languages ​​) on three- consonant word roots. These, however, still has a " characteristic vowel", which is generally between the first and second consonants: eg Bg- ml i for having "star" related terms. Star (different case and Numbers ): Gimli, Gimle, gimlîya. In related words, the vowel can also, for example, walking in front of the consonant cluster: Star-shaped: igmil. At the same time remains Adûnaisch an inflecting language. From Adûnaisch exists a vocabulary of about twenty words. According to the Silmarillion is a circumflex (^) in Adûnaischen to a long vowel.

Westron

The Westron was the accepted lingua franca in the Third Age of Middle-earth. It was spoken by almost all nations, by many as a mother tongue. In the Lord of the Rings that language is represented in fiction Tolkien than English. The only language certificates can be found in the appendix to the Lord of the Rings, in which the narrator explains that he had personal and place names copied from narrative reasons with agents of the English language so as Meriadoc Brandybuck's real name Kalimac Brandagamba have gelautet. The question is not to determine whether Tolkien these "originals" only formed later for the sake of completeness. From Westron exists a vocabulary of about 200 words.

Development

One of the many maintained by the Númenorern in Middle-earth was Pelargir ports, which belonged to Gondor later. By many elements of indigenous languages ​​had been added, a strong adûnaischer dialect had formed there. This was an early Westron, but the later of the Númenorern that came in the wake of Elendil and his sons to many Elvish elements has been extended. The language spread first along the coasts and later with the expansion of Gondor and Arnor very far out, so that she could become the standard language.

Language of the Rohirrim

The language of the people of Rohan, the Rohirrim was still related to the Adûnaischen and thus also with the Westron, the people of the Edain had been related to the Rohirrim. Tolkien gave this language with the Old English again, so that the relationship ( is it rendered as English ) with the Westron is recognizable. Although the hobbits have given up their own original language and Westron accepted as a colloquial language, there are numerous old terms, which have a very close relationship with the language of the Rohirrim.

In other languages

Khuzdul ( Dwarvish )

Khuzdul is the language of the Dwarves, which is written in runic script Angerthas. She seems - the Semitic languages ​​similar - to be constructed, consisting of three consonants word roots around: kh- zd, bnd, zgl. Much is not known about this language, the dwarves they kept for themselves, with the exception of some names and their Battle Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai menu! , Which means " Axes of the Dwarves! Dwarfs over you means ".

Among the languages ​​of Middle-earth Khuzdul is unique in that it is heard in a separate language family and not related to the Elvish languages ​​. Nevertheless, there are several similarities between Khuzdul and the original languages ​​of the people, such as Taliska, the language of the first and the third house of the Edain, which is due to the fact that they are in the early days of Middle-earth, even before people over the mountains into Beleriand subjected to contact with the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains and continue talking to the east. Thus Taliska preceded the Adûnaischen, the language of Númenoreans, and the directly descended common tongue Westron.

The dwarf language sounds very similar to the Hebrew. In fact, Tolkien noted a few similarities between Dwarves and Jews: both were " both native and foreign in their habitat, although speak the languages ​​of the country, but with an accent because they maintain their own language." The choice fell further to the Hebrew as the basis for Khuzdul, as it is the European languages ​​dissimilar and strange enough to show western ears, how different is the dwarf language in comparison with the same languages.

In the Silmarillion is noted that the dwarves their language of Aulë whose creators learned, and that that had devised the Khuzdul, which implies that Khuzdul, in reality and fiction, is technically a constructed language.

The linguist David Salo used what little was known about the Khuzdul to create a sufficient language for the filming for the movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings. It seems very in circles by Tolkien fans the name Neo - Khuzdul nationalize.

Entish

After she had learned to speak by the Elves, the Ents also invented their own language. This is how the Ents themselves very slowly and sonorously with constant repetitions of words and can be learned by any other nation than the Ents, as it is very complicated and time consuming. a- lalla - lalla - rumba - Kamanda - lindor - burúme is probably the only attempt to write down a portion of a Entish set. Treebeard, the oldest Ent, says in The Two Towers that the Entische usually tells not only a description but also the history of an object or being, and therefore the words are so long. For this reason, simple label terms such as mountain are perceived by the Ents in their speech than hastily. There are two examples of an abbreviated entische place name, used by the decision tree beard. Once for Lothlorien Laurelindórenan lindelorendor malinornélion ornemalin ' what ' Goldenliedlandtal Liedträumendland the gold trees as golden tree " is, and for the Fangorn Forest, Taurelilómea - tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurea Lómeanor ' what ' Waldvielbeschattetes tieftalschwarzes tieftalbewaldetes Dark Country " means.

Black Speech / orcish

The Black Speech exists except for a few single words (such GHASH = fire, Sharku = old man) only in the ring inscription.

Emergence of the " Black Speech "

When Sauron was for the first time in power, he invented the Black Speech for all his subjects. But Sauron was defeated and the language also came under the orcs into oblivion, although many orcish words ableiteten from her. As Sauron came to power again, she was again the language of Mordor.

After the Orcs of Melkor, the first evil ruler of the Elves were first created, they caught on words from different languages ​​and defaced it so that from them the Orcish language was. This was so primitive that they did not use much except for ranting and insulting.

Among the many orc tribes soon emerged so many different dialects that the orcs could no longer communicate with other tribes. For these reasons, learned many orcs Westron, and in some tribes it was the mother tongue. So orcish was at the end of the Third Age (thus in the Lord of the Rings ) is a dying language.

Samples

Unlike the case of the Elvish languages ​​exist from the Black Speech only a few fragments. The best known and most complete is the inscription of the One Ring.

"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum - ishi krimpatul. "

" To find One Ring to rule them all, To drive and in the darkness bind them ".

" One Ring to - enslave - it - all, One Ring to find them -, A ring - bring - it - all, and in darkness - forever - to - bind them. "

Other language certificates represent local and personal names, such as Lugbúrz, the name of the Dark Tower in the Black Speech.

Despite the extremely limited linguistic material, some plausible statements to Broad Black Speech can meet. So it follows the principle of agglutinative linguistic structure, which makes them fundamentally different from the same languages ​​that are based on the inflectional language structure. Basic units of black language are almost exclusively monosyllabic stems, as durb, nazg, gimb, burz. These are modified by one or more suffixes in their meaning. In the case of durb -at -ul- ûk about it are three suffixes: -at denotes intention ( " to " ), ul denotes the object of the action ( " they ") identifies and ûk completeness or completion of an action. Especially the fact that the object of the transitive action is expressed by a Verbalsuffix has given rise to the speculation, Tolkien would be inspired by the Hurrian language. Contrast has been argued that it may not are real suffixes, but to separate words that were only written together. In addition, the lexis a striking resemblance to the Hurrian language.

In addition to the formation of compound words Suffixation from two root words appear as the most common method of word formation: Lug - burz (literally, Tower - dark), name of Barad - dur in the Black Speech.

Striking feature of the language is the lack of articles as well as a grammatical marking of the humerus by means of suffixes. So Nazgûl always appears in the same form, regardless of whether one or more Ringwraiths are talking about.

The only complete set in Tolkien's work is a curse of the Orc- captain Grishnakh against his standing in Saruman's services competitors Uglúk:

" Uglúk u bagronk sha pushdug Saruman - glob búbhosh skai "

Tolkien himself are two translation variants, one of which is:

" Uglúk into the cesspool, sha! the dung - filth; the great Saruman - fool, skai! "

" Uglúk in the manure pit with stinking Saruman - the dirt, Schweinegedärm, gah! "

Linguistic studies have the Black Speech and the Orksprache mostly perceived as a language.

Writings / runes

The writings in JRR Tolkien tales of Middle-earth initially be based on the runes of the Germans. This is referred to as Futhark. The in the book "The Hobbit " occurring characters are these runes still very similar. There they are used in this form only by the dwarves, so they are known as dwarf runes. These are sometimes called moon runes, if they were made invisible in a magical way. So you can read the hidden runes on the map Thorin Oakenshield example, only on a particular day and in the light of a moon that has the same form as in the day, when they were written. Of these dwarf runes, the rune rows of Cirth differ significantly. Although they still look like runes, but they represent a self-developed by Tolkien writing system

Cirth

The Cirth, notch sign ' outwardly resemble still the Germanic runes, but only a few actually meet them yet. As with the Germanic characters the font, therefore, has evolved into Middle-earth. Here, Tolkien has closely based on the scientific facts in the history of the Germanic runes.

The Cirth were developed by the Sindar of Doriath in the First Age. Like the runes they were meant for inscriptions in wood, stone or metal.

The oldest character has one " master " and a " branch ". The branches are attached to the stem. If there was only one side branches of the strain, it is usually to the right. But it also was not unusual that the branch was placed on the other side. But this had no phonetic significance.

Daeron, the minstrel and scholars King Thingol, the letters summed together probably under the impression Tengwar and arranged them in rows Angerthas were called. The base notes consist of a stem and a right recognized branch. They stand for unvoiced sounds. If another branch stated on this page, the rune stands for the corresponding voiced consonants. Reversal of Cirth to the left means opening to a fricative. Does the master branch on both sides, this character stands for the voiced nasal. In this form the Cirth was used by the Sindar in Beleriand.

Later, the Noldor of Eregion the runic alphabet added some new characters to represent sounds that did not occur in the language of the Grey Elves. The result of this change, called Angerthas Daeron.

When the dwarfs came to know this alphabet in Eregion, they took it and developed it further, to adapt it to their language Khuzdul. They brought this system to Moria, which is why it was also called Angerthas Moria. The dwarves were spread further the runes and even developed a form that was suitable for writing with the pen. Examples of the use of this document can be found both on the grave stone of Balin, as well as in the records of the great books in Halle, Mazarbul ' in Moria.

When the Dwarves from Erebor a further modification of Cirth was in use.

Tolkien uses the Cirth at the beginning of the book to write a review. It reads:

"The Lord of the Rings translated from the red book"

Or in the translation letter for letter:

" Ie * lon -rd ov ie iz- Nazi ' tn -Ran -ns ' lapd fn -rom ie * n -red bok "

Tengwar

The Tengwar, characters ' can be used as an alphabet in the narrow sense, but also use as a consonantal script is possible. In its rule-based structure they resemble the Korean Hangul script in shape they resemble the other hand, the insular Minuskelschriften.

In Tolkien's works they have been invented by Feanor on the basis of Rúmil Sarati. A number of languages ​​of Tolkien's world is written with them, including Quenya and Sindarin. JRR Tolkien, however, it is mostly used for playing English.

The word tengwar is in Tolkien's Elvish tongue Quenya " letter" or " character". Strictly speaking, the word is derived from the roots TEK = make signs and keep Gwara = protect off. Thus, it also describes a protective and defensive functions of characters, similar to the symbol or magic runes of the Germans. Both Gandalf and Thorin use, for example, in letters a single character as an abbreviation for its name. (G- rune, rune Th ).

The number system of Tengwar is handed down. In contrast, the Angerthas only the numbers 1 and 3 to 6 is known. These appear in the book of Mazarbul.

Modes

To write a specific language with the Tengwar it needs - just as with any other font - a specific orthography, which depends on the phonology of the language. In the case of tengwar orthographies such commonly called modes.

In some modes, the Tehtar modes, the vowels with diacritics ( Tehtar called ) is reproduced; in other modes, however, the full writing modes, with normal letters. In some modes, the first four letters for / t /, / p /, / k / and / k ʷ /, in contrast, are different for / t /, / p /, / tʃ / and / k /. Some modes are based more on the debate, while others are more like the traditional orthography.

Since the publication of the first official description of the Tengwar in the Lord of the Rings numerous Tengwar modes have been created for languages ​​such as Spanish, German, Esperanto or Lojban by other people.

Characters / spelling

The most characteristic peculiarity of the Tengwar is the mutual correlation of features of the form of a hand, and characteristics of the reproduced sounds on the other.

The 24 primary letters consist of a combination of three different forms: from a strain (telco ) ( short -long or short length ), a bow ( Luva ) (left or right of the root, simple or double ) and a horizontal line ( hwarma ), the could close the bow.

The primary characters are arranged in four columns that correspond to the major articulation places, and in six lines, which correspond to the major types of articulation. Both vary depending on the mode.

The first four letters, that is, the top of each column, consist of a normal (that is, downward extended) root and a simple bow. They refer to the voiceless plosive of the respective column. In the classical Quenya mode, there are t, p, c, qu. Therefore, the names of the four columns tincotéma, parmatéma, calmatéma and quessetéma ( Téma called " column / row " in Quenya ).

In the columns of "general -use" mode, there are the following correspondences between form and sound features:

• A doubling of the arch forms a voiced sound.
• An increase in the strain ( ie displacement) forms a fricative.
• A shortening of the stem forms a nasal. Tengwar with shortened stem and single bow are, however, in most modes, not for voiceless nasals, but for approximants.

Here as an example the parmatéma (those characters with a closed bow right) in "general use":

• The letter with a simple bow and normal (ie, downward extended ) Pedigree stands for [ p].
• With double bow, it stands for [b ].
• With raised (ie upward shifted ) Pedigree for [ f].
• With a raised stem and double bow for [v ] (German w).
• With a shortened stem and double bow for [ m].
• With a shortened stem and single bow for [ w] ( consonantal u as in Bauer).

In the classical Quenya mode some lines are configured differently:

• The letter with normal stem and double bow is [ mb ].
• With a raised stem and double bow for [ mp].

In addition, letters can be extended (ie upward and downward extended ) Pedigree occur. Furthermore, besides the primary letters those that have no rules forms. They refer, for example, the sounds / r /, / l / and / h /. The use of additional letters varies greatly from mode to mode.

If tehtar (see above) used for playback of vowels, these are in languages ​​in which border the words primarily on vowels (such as Quenya ), with the previous consonant letters in languages ​​in which the words primarily on consonants end (such as Sindarin and German ) but over the following. Here is a mostly represented by three points or a circumflex, e. Acute by a, i by a point o through a right open and u through an open left Squiggle

Unicode

Have been made in the Unicode standard formal proposals for accommodating the Tengwar and Cirth.

Computer representation

A computer font, with the Tengwar can be reproduced including tehtar, called Tengwar Parmaite.

TeX and LaTeX are available on CTAN free font packages that both Tengwar and Cirth can be set.

Swell

• J. R. R. Tolkien letters. Edited by Humphrey Carpenter. Klett- Cotta, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-608-93650-5.