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
Later Ȝ
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 *ghaldâ/ȝaldâ in the Quenyan branch.
Once more, the gh sound existed in Elvish, and it survived long enough to be written in Sarati before disappearing again. The word alda was still spelt ȝalda. This letter for ȝ was known by tradition among the loremasters[1]
Other languages
Note that in other languages, like Orkish, Tolkien wrote this sound as gh.
In Tengwar, ȝ/gh is written with the letter Anca or Unquë.
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.
- ↑ Vinyar Tengwar 39 p. 7
