Volume 10 Number 3 Article 8 1984 A Linguist Looks at Tolkien's Elvish Thomas S. Donahue Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Donahue, Thomas S. (1984) "A Linguist Looks at Tolkien's Elvish," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 10 : No. 3 , Article 8. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol10/iss3/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract A somewhat playful look at Tolkien’s invented languages, deducing some of the rules for evolution from Proto-Eldarian to Quenya then Sindarin and offering possible derivations for a number of hobbit words and names. Donahue’s conclusion is that Tolkien’s inventive sense was “puckish” and sprang from “a penchant for drollery.” Followed by Comments by Paul Nolan Hyde rebutting a number of Donahue’s points, a Reply by Donahue, and a Rejoinder by Hyde. Additional Keywords Hyde, Paul Nolan; Linguistics; Tolkien, J.R.R.—Characters—Hobbits—Names—Etymology; Tolkien, J.R.R.—Languages This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol10/iss3/8 Page 28 MYTHLORE 37: Winter 1984 A Linguist Looks at Tolkien's Elvish Thomas S. Donahue [Editor's note: - presented here are a lin­ around the fact that it may share and IE root guistic article followed by comments by Myth- form (*gwen) that refers not to speech or 2 lore 's Philology Editor; these are followed s p e a k in g , b u t to women (a m ild to sau cy s e x ­ by a reply by the writer of the article, and ist Joke?); with a little strain, one can a reJoinder by the Philology Editor. In also see that its ending is an anagram of the order to clarify the points made in the ini­ Middle English present participle. The early tia l comments, the numbers of the points made word for "men" is Atani--which appears to be are indicated in the margin of the article. the same word as Adam, but with devoicing, a Mythlore hopes by presenting this linguistic nasal substitution, and an "i" plural. Tol­ controversy the readers will be better in­ kien likes to have a bit of fun making up formed of the several issues and approaches familiar-sounding words through substituting presented. --G . G . ] sounds from within the same sound class, or from adJacent points of articulation—much as Once upon a time ... linguists had a if wo were to have in mind the invitation particular mission as members of English "Here! You wanna have a good time? Have a literature departments. We were asked to smoke!" but to give it instead the articula­ tell what was so good about Beowulf, and how tion, "Yir! Hanna yap a goof dime? Yafa deeply does one have to get into it? We were fmoke ! " 1 asked to expand upon such outrageous proposi­ tions as The Language of Chaucer is Easier to As the time passes in the first age, the Understand than that of Shakespeare. We were elves are asked to migrate across Middle- asked to tell why the Revealed Truth about earth to the land of the Gods so that their Standard English is visible only to the Few, creator and his assistants can have a good while the Many are kept in benighted igno­ look at them. Along the way one group of rance. Of late, people either are tired of elves is detained while its leader has a long hearing our answers about dialects and about romantic dalliance, with the result that this how intellectually rigorous non-standard group comes in time to speak a modified lan­ English is, or they are unwilling to ask us guage called Sindarin. Although Tolkien's any more questions. Whatever the case, it is announced theory of language change in The a certain sign of the times that literature Lord of the Rings is that in time words tend specialists now prefer to hear about: El­ to. get "worn down" (see The Return of the v is h . King, p. 520), the actual complexity of the relationships between Proto-Eldarin and Quen­ In Tolkien's scheme of things, elves are ya and Sindarin shows that he spent a lot of the firstborn of all human-like creatures on time and effort in working out his imaginary Earth; they are beautiful and immortal, and languages. In an appendix to The Silma- as time passes they become quite world-weary, rillion, Christopher Tolkien has supplied a and they are plagued by a cold melancholy. substantial collection from the Elvish voca­ Human b e in g s , th e s e c o n d -b o rn , a re v e n a l and bulary, and I list the following as examples; suggestible, but together with their curiosi­ the suggested derivational rules are my own. ty and credulousness, they have the gift of M ortality. Hobbits, who come on the scene (3) Proto-Eldarin (PE) kal ("shine") becomes 3 later, are a small people who seem to have alkar ("glory") in Quenya and aglar ("glory") the gift of staying eternally simple. in Sindarin. Before we begin, let me say quite cau- P .E . k a l 1 tiously that it is possible to imperil the Quenya S in d a rin basic Charm of a work of fantasy by looking at any part of it too severly and intently, 1. Insert "al" 1. Insert "al" prefix: and to damage the appeal of such . literature prefix: alkal a lk a l by approaching it with gross seriousness. 2. Metathesize "1" and and "k": aklal So, since it really won’t hurt anybody, 2. Final "1" becomes 3. "k" voices to "g": let's do Just that. " r " : a lk a r a g la l 4. Final "1" becomes A hard look at Tolkien's mythic matter " r " ; a g la r in The Silm arillJon and The Lord of the Rings reveals his .penchant for playing tricks and. (4a) PE ndu ("down") becomes andune ("west") making Jokes with etymology and the princi­ in Quenya and annun ("west”) in Sindarin. ples of word-formation. We are given to understand that Quenya, the proto-language of P .E . ndu all those spoken in Middle-earth and the Quenya S in d a rin e a r l i e s t s o u rc e "of W estro n , th e common Lan­ guage from which Tolkien "translated" his 1. Initial- "n" 1. "d" drops: nu tales, arose first when the elves started to d ro p s : du speak and had the collective name of Quendi. 2. Insert "an" 2. Insert "an" prefix: Tolkien's pleasantry in this word may revolve prefix: andu annu M YTHLOKE 37: Winter 1984 Page 19 3. Insert "ne" 3. Insert "ne" suffix: Quenya S in d a r in suffix: andune annune 4. Final "e" drops: 1. "t" voices to 1 . "t" becomes the annun " d " : a ld a voiceless continuant "th": altha (4b) PE ndor ("dry land") becomes dor 2. Metathesize the final ("land") in Quenya and ennor ("middle sounds: alath earth") in Sindarin. 3. Voice the final consonant: aladh P .E . ndor 4. Insert initial "g": g a la d h Quenya S in d a r in The informed and tickled observer will see 1. Initial "n" 1. "d" drops: nor that rules one and three in the Sindarin d ro p s : dor derivation, exemplify Grimm's and Verner's 2. Insert "en" laws, respectively. A similar sequence may prefix: ennor be noticed in Quena noldo ("the wise") and Sindarin golodh ("the wise"). Further, with Notice in (4a) that we have a kind of the Quenya aze ("sunlight"), we see a reprise consonant cluster reduction such that the of that portion of Verner's law which de­ first member of the cluster is retained in scribes the derivation of "was" as opposed to Sindarin, while the second member of the "were" in Modern English (this is of course cluster is retained in Quenya. But contrast an in-Joke allusion, and no strict derivation examples (5) and (6), where the first member at all). This is but the briefest possible of the cluster goes to Quenya, and the second sample from a vast vocabulary in the - Elvish to Sindarin. languages; despite, or in addition to, the prevailing sense of fun, we must acknowledge (5) PE mbando ("prison") becomes mandos that the scale and the consistency of this ("prison") in Quenya and bando ("prison") in creation command our respect. S i n d a r i n .