First Age 473

2008-01-06T19:37:25Z

ThePartyTree: FA 473

[[Elves|Elven]] cities of [[Brithombar]] and [[Eglarest]] destroyed.

[[Nienor]] born.

[[Túrin]] sent to [[Doriath]].

[[Havens of Sirion]] constructed.

[[Category: First Age years]]

First Age 473

2008-01-06T19:36:39Z

ThePartyTree: FA 473

[[Elves|Elven]] cities of [[Brithombar]] and [[Eglarest]] destroyed.

[[Nienor]] born.

[[Túrin]] sent to [[Doriath]].

[[Havens of Sirion]] constructed.

[[Category: First Age Years]]

First Age 473

2008-01-06T17:08:03Z

ThePartyTree: FA 473

[[Elves|Elven]] cities of [[Brithombar]] and [[Eglarest]] destroyed.
[[Nienor]] born.
[[Túrin]] sent to [[Doriath]].
[[Havens of Sirion]] constructed.
[[Category: First Age Years]]

First Age 473

2008-01-06T17:07:43Z

ThePartyTree: FA 473

===Events==
[[Elves|Elven]] cities of [[Brithombar]] and [[Eglarest]] destroyed.
[[Nienor]] born.
[[Túrin]] sent to [[Doriath]].
[[Havens of Sirion]] constructed.
[[Category: First Age Years]]

First Age 473

2008-01-06T16:15:17Z

ThePartyTree:

In this year, the [[Elves|Elven]] cities of [[Brithombar]] and [[Eglarest]] destroyed.

First Age 473

2008-01-06T16:09:49Z

ThePartyTree:

In this year, the [[Elves|Elven]] cities of [[Brithombar]] and Eglarest destroyed.

Elvish

2008-01-06T15:50:31Z

ThePartyTree: /* Other Elvish languages */

==Elvish languages of Middle-earth==
[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] created many languages for the [[Elves]] to compliment his books set in the fictional universe of [[Middle-earth]]. His interest was primarily philological, and he said his stories grew out of his languages. Indeed, the languages were the first thing Tolkien ever created for his mythos, starting with "Qenya", the first primitive form of elvish. This is now one of the two most complete - [[Quenya]] (High-elven) and [[Sindarin]] (Grey-elven). In addition to these two he also created several other (partially derived) languages.

In Tolkien's mythology, these languages originated as follows:

*'''[[Primitive Quendian]]''' (language of the Elves in [[Cuiviénen]])
**'''[[Avarin]]'''
***'''Various Avarin languages''' (some later merged with Nandorin)
**'''[[Common Eldarin]]''' (the early language of all the [[Eldar]])
***'''[[Quenya]]''' (the language of the [[Ñoldor]] and the [[Vanyar]])
****''' ''[[Quendya]]'' (also ''Vanyarin Quenya'') ''' (daily tongue of the Vanyar: closest to archaic Quenya)
****''' ''[[Noldorin|Ñoldorin 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 [[Mirkwood|Greenwood the Great]]'''
*****'''Original language of [[Lothlórien|Lórinand]]'''
****'''[[Sindarin]]''' (language of the [[Sindar]])
*****'''[[Doriathrin]]''' (dialect of [[Doriath]])
*****'''[[Falathrin]]''' (dialect of the [[Falas]] and [[Nargothrond]])
*****'''[[North Sindarin]]''' (dialects of [[Dorthonion]] and [[Hithlum]])

Professor Tolkien also created the [[Tengwar]] and [[Cirth]] scripts for his languages.

===Pronunciation===
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'''
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
!Letter / [[Digraph (orthography)|Digraph]]
!Pronunciation
!IPA
! Further comment
|-
|a
|as in f'''a'''ther, just short
|{{Unicode|[ɑ]}}
|never as in c'''a'''t
|-
|á
|as in f'''a'''ther
|{{Unicode|[ɑː]}}
|/
|-
|â
|(in Sindarin) as in f'''a'''ther, but even longer
|{{Unicode|[ɑːː]}}
|/
|-
|ae
|(in Sindarin) the vowels described for ''a'' and ''e'' in one syllable.
|{{Unicode|[ɑɛ̯]}}
|Similar to ''ai''
|-
|ai
|a diphthong, similar to that in '''e'''ye, but with short vowels
|{{Unicode|[ɑɪ̯]}}
|never as in r'''ai'''n
|-
|au
|''a'' and ''u'' run together in one syllable. Similar to the sound in h'''ou'''se
|{{Unicode|[ɑʊ̯]}}
|never as in s'''au'''ce
|-
|aw
|(in Sindarin) a common way to write ''au'' at the end of the word
|{{Unicode|[ɑʊ̯]}}
|/
|-
|e
|as in p'''e'''t
|{{Unicode|[ɛ]}}
|/
|-
|é
|the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German)
|S: {{Unicode|[ɛː]}}, Q: {{Unicode|[eː]}}
|Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English r'''ai'''n
|-
|ê
|(in Sindarin) the vowel of p'''e'''t especially lengthened
|{{Unicode|[ɛːː]}}
|Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound as in English r'''ai'''n
|-
|ei
|as in '''ei'''ght
|{{Unicode|[ɛɪ̯]}}
|never as in '''ei'''ther (in neither pronunciation)
|-
|eu
|(in Quenya) ''e'' and ''u'' run together in one syllable
|{{Unicode|[ɛʊ̯]}}
|never as in English or German
|-
|i
|as in mach'''i'''ne, but short
|[i]
|not opened as in f'''i'''t
|-
|í
|as in mach'''i'''ne
|{{Unicode|[iː]}}
|/
|-
|î
|(in Sindarin) as in mach'''i'''ne, but especially lengthened
|{{Unicode|[iːː]}}
|/
|-
|iu
|(in Quenya) ''i'' and ''u'' run together in one syllable
|{{Unicode|[iʊ̯]}}
|later by men often as in English '''you'''
|-
|o
|open as in British g'''o'''t
|{{Unicode|[ɔ]}}
|/
|-
|ó
|the same vowel lengthened (and in Quenya more closed; as in German)
|S: {{Unicode|[ɔː]}}, Q: {{Unicode|[oː]}}
|Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English c'''o'''ld
|-
|ô
|(in Sindarin) the same vowel especially lengthened
|{{Unicode|[ɔːː]}}
|Rural Hobbit pronunciation allows the sound of "long" English c'''o'''ld
|-
|oi
|(in Quenya) as in English c'''oi'''n
|{{Unicode|[ɔɪ̯]}}
|/
|-
|oe
|(in Sindarin) the vowels described for ''o'' and ''e'' in one syllable.
|{{Unicode|[ɔɛ̯]}}
|Similar to ''oi''. Cf. '''œ'''!
|-
|œ
|(in Sindarin) as in German G'''ö'''tter
|[œ]
|in published writing often '''oe''' has falsely been used, as in ''Nírnaeth Arnoediad''!
|-
|u
|as in c'''oo'''l, but shorter
|[u]
|not opened as in b'''oo'''k
|-
|ú
|as in c'''oo'''l
|{{Unicode|[uː]}}
|/
|-
|û
|(in Sindarin) the same vowel as above, but especially lengthened
|{{Unicode|[uːː]}}
|/
|-
|y
|(in Sindarin) as in French l'''u'''ne or German s'''ü'''ß, but short
|[y]
|not found in English
|-
|ý
|(in Sindarin) as in French l'''u'''ne or German s'''ü'''ß
|{{Unicode|[yː]}}
|/
|-
|ŷ
|(in Sindarin) as in French l'''u'''ne or German s'''ü'''ß, but even longer
|{{Unicode|[yːː]}}
|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''.

It's important to remember that, while most samples of the Elvish language are written with the Latin alphabet, within the fiction 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]]

==Other Elvish languages==
Since Tolkien, others have invented Elvish languages in their own fiction.

* ''Ssamath'', the language of the Dark Elves or Drow of [[Dungeons & Dragons]],
* ''Common Elvish'', the language of the surface Elves of D&D
* ''Eltharin'', the language of the elves of Warhammer:
** ''Fan-Eltharin'', the language of the Wood Elves
** ''Tar-Eltharin'', the language of the Sea Elves and High Elves
** ''Drukh-Eltharin'', the language of the Dark Elves
* Elvish language of Andrzej Sapkowski's ''Hexer'' saga, based on Welsh and English
* ''The Ancient Language'' The language of the elves in [[Eragon]] Also spoken by the riders.

==External links==
* [http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/ Ardalambion - a very complete source for learning Elvish]
* [http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4948/index.html Elvish fonts for Windows]
* [http://www.elvish.org Elvish.org]
* [http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/ Various Tolkien resources]
* [http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/qcourse.htm A downloadable course in Quenya]
* [http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/tolkien.html Elvish & Dwarf fonts for Mac Classic]
* [http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/resources List of available books about Elvish]
* [http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/fonts/ Elvish fonts] for TeX|T<sub>E</sub>X
* [http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/misc/local/TolkLang/pronguide.html Pronunciation guide]
* [http://at.mansbjorkman.net Learn Tengwar and Sarati]

[[Category:Languages]]

Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

First Age 473

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Elvish