Yogh
Yogh (Ȝ ȝ) is a letter of Middle English literature. Note that sometimes it is written with a three (3) when the font is not available.
The sound Ȝ was derived from Old English g. It was a sound that doesn't exist any more in English language since it is now assimilated with y or isn't pronounced at all.
Ȝ in Elvish
Primitive Quendian
Tolkien used Ȝ in The Etymologies to describe the sound gh. Ȝ is seen most often in Primitive Quendian roots such as MAȜ, KUȜ, TEȜ. This sound however was assimilated to other sounds.
Before unvoiced consonants it would evolve into ch: maȝtâ (MAȜ) evolved to machtâ.
Final, after u, it would evolve into w: kuȝ (KUȜ) > kuw
The sound gh would return once more in Elvish. Like in the case of English, Primitive Quendian g was simplified to gh in Quenya (and Sindarin, in most cases). For example the word galadâ "tree" evolved into *ghaladâ/ȝaladâ in the Quenyan branch.
Once more, the gh sound would disappear again, and in Quenya it
Note that in other languages, like Orkish, Tolkien wrote this sound as gh.
See also
External links
- Yogh in Wikipedia
- The Evolution of Quenya by Helge Fauskanger and Vincente Velasco. Discusses, among others, how Ȝ evolved and disappeared in Quenya.
