Ónë tengwelë: Elvish and English Sound Symbolism and Ethnocentrism in J.R.R Tolkien’s Constructed Languages by Lindsay Michelle Farrugia B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2014 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The College of Graduate Studies (Interdisciplinary Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) June 2018 © Lindsay Michelle Farrugia, 2018 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Ónë tengwelë: Elvish and English Sound Symbolism and Ethnocentrism in J.R.R Tolkien’s Constructed Languages ________________________________________________________________ Submitted by Lindsay Farrugia in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. Dr. Michael Treschow, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisor Dr. Ramine Adl, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Christine Schreyer, Irving K. Barber School of Arts & Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Dan Ryder, Irving K. Barber School of Arts & Sciences University Examiner ii Abstract J.R.R. Tolkien is most famous for the fantasy series The Lord of the Rings, but long before he began writing the trilogy and its many counterparts, Tolkien constructed a number of languages for the inhabitants of Middle-earth. Phonosemanticism is the idea that phonemes carry meaning, irrespective of their lexical value. This thesis examines the constructed languages in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and uses philological sources contemporary to Tolkien to describe the impact of phonosemantics and “phonetic fitness” in his languages. While the emotional or expressive quality of language is relevant to any author, for conlangers the phonosemantic affective quality is given even more attention. This thesis deals with the ethnocentrism present in language construction, and particularly how Tolkien’s ideas of phonetic fitness are influenced by his subjective perception of beauty in sound and language. iii Lay Summary Languages created for works of fiction offer unique opportunities to depict elements of culture, particularly in works of fantasy. The works of J.R.R. Tolkien, including the languages created for the imagined cultures of Middle-earth, have had a lasting impact on this genre. The sounds Tolkien chose to include in his languages have significance for how they have impacted subsequent constructed languages in the genre, but also for their relation to existing real languages. Sounds, even removed from their meaning on a word-level, carry sense. A cultural awareness of the sense of sounds can be explored through created languages. So too, an awareness on the part of language creators is required regarding how the sounds of a created language can reflect and represent world cultures. Tolkien’s languages provide an excellent model for this study, as they have maintained a large audience and offer insight into how fictional cultures represent natural ones. iv Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................................ iii Lay Summary …….......................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................vi List of Figures..............................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Constructed Languages and World Building…………………….…………..…….….1 Chapter 2: Sound Symbolism and Phonosemantic Affect 2.1 Sound and Meaning………………………………………………………………….12 2.2 Affect and Language…………………………………………………………………18 Chapter 3: Ethnocentrism and Language Status 3.1 Language Ideologies and Status………………………………………...……………27 3.2 The Pleasure of Language: “O felix peccatum Babel!”……………………...………30 3.3 Tolkien’s “NatLang” Sources and the Languages of Middle Earth………………....34 3.4 Rohirric Language and People……………………………………………….………35 3.5 Elvish Languages…………………………………………………………….……....36 3.5.1 Sindarin……………………………………………………………….………….38 3.5.2 Quenya………………………………………………………………...…………45 3.6 Black Speech and Other Languages……………………………………………..…..49 3.7 Metalinguistics and Determinism…………………………………………...…...…..53 Chapter 4: Conclusion………………...…….………………………………………………….56 References ………………………………………………..……………………………………..60 v List of Tables: Table 1 Welsh Vowel IPA Chart……………………………………………...………… 39 Table 2 Sindarin Vowel IPA Chart……………………………………………………… 39 Table 3 Welsh Consonant IPA Chart…………………………………………..…………40 Table 4 Sindarin Consonant IPA Chart…………………………………………...………40 Table 5 Phonology of Sindarin…………………………………………………………...42 Table 6 Quenya Vowel IPA chart……………………………………………….………..47 Table 7 Finnish Vowel IPA chart…………………..…………………………………….48 Table 8 Quenya Consonant IPA chart……………..…………………………………….. 48 Table 9 Finnish Consonant IPA chart…………………………………………………….49 Table 10 List of Languages………………………………………………………………...51 vi List of Figures: Figure 1 The Elves……………………………………………………………….………..37 vii Acknowledgements This thesis project was made possible by the work of several people to whom much credit is due for its completion. First, I would like to thank my supervisor Michael Treschow, for his continued support of this project and his patience with me while writing it. His advice and guidance helped me in researching and writing this thesis, and I am very grateful for his time and encouragement. I would also like to thank my other supervisory committee members, Christine Schreyer and Ramine Adl, both of whom offered key suggestions and insights that improved this thesis and my writing process. I would like to extend a further thanks for Christine for the chance to work on her production Conlanging, The Film, a project in which I learned first-hand about conlanging from several famous language creators, herself included. I am grateful for the financial support I received that allowed me to complete this thesis. Specifically, the financial support of my family, and that of the University of British Columbia University Graduate Fellowship. Finally, I would like to extend thanks to my friends and family for their emotional support during the process of writing this thesis. Without such an amazing group behind me, this project could never have happened. viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Constructed Languages and World Building In literature, particularly fantasy literature, representations of race reflect our fascination with identifying, classifying, and interacting with the cultural “other.” In the fantasy genre in particular, this is a popular trope as fantasy creators and audiences are able to share experiences of difference, disconnected from the familiar “natural” world. World-building in fantasy requires a fantasy world believably differentiated from our own experience. The inclusion of a constructed language provides a more immersive experience, which is more believably detached from our own. However, the worlds and cultures constructed in fantasy are never entirely separate from existing world cultures. The act of world-building is always informed by preexisting knowledge of natural world cultures and natural languages. Natural is the term I will use here to denote something that has evolved within a culture, as opposed to a language which has been artificially devised, though I do not wish to suggest that constructed languages are “unnatural.” Constructed languages, or conlangs, are languages that an author or linguist creates. When a work of fantasy uses languages specifically constructed for that world, the way that characters speak to each other reveals a good deal about their culture. This, in turn, discloses information about underlying ideologies of the existing languages and cultures that have informed these fictional worlds (either directly or more loosely). The creators themselves know and speak natural languages and tend to follow conventions of natural language structures in their own creation processes. When a constructed language gains a large audience, the implications of embedded language ideologies becomes increasingly important. These languages are providing information about their respective cultures, but more importantly are making direct and indirect commentary on existing natural languages and cultures in the world. One of the 1 earliest and most famous examples of a language constructed for a fictional context is in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. His trilogy features a number of constructed languages, and even what is likely the first created language family (Peterson 10). In fact, Tolkien understood the importance of language to culture, even in his constructed context, and actually wrote to his American publishers that his work “is all of a piece, and fundamentally linguistic in inspiration” (qtd. in Zettersten 12). Tolkien’s constructed universe, its history, politics, and ecology, were all created after the languages, and so they serve as a very useful model for understanding how culture is inscribed in