Asterisk

The asterisk is a symbol used in historical linguistics. Tolkien made use of asterisks in his texts about Elvish languages.

Usage

In historical linguistics, an asterisk immediately before a word indicates that the word is not directly attested, but has been reconstructed on the basis of other linguistic material (see also: comparative method). The asterisk shows that this form of the word is hypothetical and lacks historical validation.

Asterisks are therefore used mostly in the reconstruction of unwritten or prehistoric languages, deduced by comparison between other languages.

For example, the Old English word endleofan suggests a Proto-Germanic form was *ainlif. The Proto-Germanic people did not have a writing system. Therefore ainlif is unattested, which is indicated with an asterisk.

Elvish

Tolkien used asterisks when writing about the history of his Elvish languages to show that some forms are unattested and existed before the established alphabets of, for example, Tengwar or the Cirth. As such, an asterisk placed before a word indicates that the form is hypothetical. As noted by Christopher Tolkien, such a marking means that the form is "deduced to have existed from later, recorded forms". Asterisks are used most usually in Primitive Quendian.

For example, Tolkien gives *luktiênê as the ancient form of the name Lúthien.

In fandom, even the asterisked forms of Tolkien's invented words are considered "valid" and as canonical as the un-asterisked words.

Fandom

Students of Tolkien's languages use asterisks when the form and meaning of a word can be deduced from Tolkien's existing writings.

For example the word *corma is a hypothetical word believed to mean "ring". It can be seen only as part of the word cormacolindo, which means "Ring-bearer". The longer word's form makes it reasonable to assume that the word "corma" exists in Quenya. Since the word is never written clearly by Tolkien, however, it is considered hypothetical and marked with an asterisk.

Asterisks are also used to show ancient forms of attested words. The Sindarin word hobas from Root KHOP points to an Old Sindarin intermediate *khopasse. Tolkien never wrote this word, but the rules of Sindarin etymology makes this form the only possibility. Proper referencing requires an asterisk to make clear that it is not a word given by Tolkien.

Students also sometimes employ a double asterisk ** to indicate a mistaken hypothetical form. A mistaken form would be the proposed Primitive Quendian word **aladâ meaning "tree", instead of the correct form of the word *galadâ. They both use Quenya alda, but the former uses Sindarin *aladh instead of the proper galadh. In this instance, the double asterisk could also clarify the behavior of g in the two languages.

Tolkien Gateway has entries only for attested canonical words. Asterisked forms will be given as examples but will not have links to their own entries.