Elvish languages of Middle-earth Edit

The languages originated as follows:

Primitive Quendian (language of the Elves in Cuivinen)
Avarin
Various Avarin languages (some later merged with Nandorin)
Common Eldarin (the early language of all the Eldar)
Quenya (the language of the oldor and the Vanyar)
Quendya (also Vanyarin Quenya) (daily tongue of the Vanyar: closest
to archaic Quenya)
oldorin Quenya (also Exilic Quenya) (the "Elven Latin" of Middle-
earth)
Common Telerin (the early language of all the Lindar)
Telerin (the language of the Teleri who reached the Undying Lands)
Nandorin (languages of the Nandor some were influenced by
Avarin)
Original language of Greenwood the Great
Original language of Lrinand
Sindarin (language of the Sindar)
Doriathrin (dialect of Doriath)
Falathrin (dialect of the Falas and Nargothrond)
North Sindarin (dialects of Dorthonion and Hithlum)
There were also the Tengwar and Cirth scripts.
Pronunciation Edit
Sindarin and Quenya have in most aspects very much the same pronunciation. The following
table gives pronunciation for each letter or cluster in international phonetic script and examples:
Vowels
Letter
/ Digraph
Pronunciation IPA Further comment
a as in father, but shorter. Like fathom [] never as in cat
as in father [] /

(in Sindarin) as in father, but even
longer
[] /
ae
(in Sindarin) the vowels described
for a and e in one syllable.
[ ] Similar to ai
ai
a diphthong, similar to that in eye,
but with short vowels
[ ] never as in rain
au
a and u run together in one syllable.
Similar to the sound in house
[ ] never as in sauce
aw
(in Sindarin) a common way to
write au at the end of the word
[ ] /
e as in pet [] /

the same vowel lengthened (and in
Quenya more closed; as in German)
S: [],
Q: [e]
Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows
the sound as in English rain

(in Sindarin) the vowel of pet
especially lengthened
[]
Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows
the sound as in English rain
ei as in eight [ ]
never as in either (in neither
pronunciation)
eu
(in Quenya) e and u run together in
one syllable
[ ] never as in English or German
i as in machine, but short [i] not opened as in fit
as in machine [i] /

(in Sindarin) as in machine, but
especially lengthened
[i] /
iu
(in Quenya) i and u run together in
one syllable
[i ]
later by men often as in
English you
o open as in British got [] /

the same vowel lengthened (and in
Quenya more closed; as in German)
S: [],
Q: [o]
Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows
the sound of "long" English cold

(in Sindarin) the same vowel
especially lengthened
[]
Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows
the sound of "long" English cold
oi (in Quenya) as in English coin [ ] /
oe
(in Sindarin) the vowels described
for o and e in one syllable.
[ ] Similar to oi. Cf. !
(in Sindarin) as in German Gtter []
in published writing often oe has
falsely been used, as in Nrnaeth
Arnoediad!
u as in cool, but shorter [u] not opened as in book
as in cool [u] /
(in Sindarin) the same vowel as [u] /
above, but especially lengthened
y
(in Sindarin) as in French lune or
German s, but short
[y]
not found in English, as in German
"Htte"

(in Sindarin) as in French lune or
German s
[y] /

(in Sindarin) as in French lune or
German s, but even longer
[y] not found in English
Consonants (differing from English)
The letter c is always pronounced like the letter k, even before i and e.; for
instance, Celeborn is pronounced Keleborn, and Cirth is pronounced Kirth.
The letter g is never pronounced in the soft form, as in giant. For instance, Region is
pronounced unlike the English word region.
The letter r is lightly trilled, as in Spanish.
The digraph dh, as in Caradhras, is pronounced like the th in this.
The digraph ch, as in Orch, is pronounced as in German ach.
Most samples of the Elvish language are written out with the Latin alphabet, but the languages
were written using Tengwar, or occasionally carved in Cirth. Tengwar can however be used to
write many other languages.
See also: Languages of Middle-earth