Quenya

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Quenya
Created by:	J. R. R. Tolkien	1915–1973
Setting and usage:	The fictional world of Arda
Total speakers:	An unknown number of people try to cultivate Quenya in written form (see Neo-Eldarin)
Category (purpose):	constructed language artistic language Quenya
Category (sources):	a posteriori language with elements of Finnish, Latin and Greek.
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`art`
ISO 639-3:	`qya`
Text in Quenya, written in the Tengwar and Latin alphabets.
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Quenya is one of the languages spoken by the Elves (the Quendi) in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It was the language developed by those non-Telerin Elves who reached Valinor (the "High Elves") from an earlier language called Common Eldarin, which also evolved from the original Primitive Quendian. Of the Three Houses of the Elves, the Noldor and the Vanyar spoke slightly different, though mutually intelligible, dialects of Quenya (Quenya [also Noldorin Quenya and later when they followed Fëanor in Arda Exilic Quenya] and Vanyarin Quenya [also Quendya], respectively). The language was also adopted by the Valar, who made some new introductions into it from their own original language, though these are more numerous in the Vanyarin dialect than the Noldorin one. This is probably the case because of the enduringly close relationship the Vanyar had with the Valar. The part of the Third House, the Teleri, that succeeded to arrive in Aman and founded the city of Alqualondë, spoke a different, closely related language, (Amanya) Telerin, although this was by some seen as a dialect of Quenya, which is untrue in a historic perspective but plausible in a linguistic one; the languages do not share a common history, but are very much alike, and later grew very close due to contact.

During the Third Age Quenya was no longer a living language in Middle-earth: most Elves spoke Sindarin, and Men mostly spoke Westron. Quenya was mainly used in official names and writings, much like the Latin language was in mediæval Europe. Cp. the name Elf-Latin for Quenya.

In Tolkien's fictional world, Quenya is usually written in Tengwar, although it was earlier written in Sarati. The language can also be written in other alphabets: modes for Cirth exist. In the real world Tengwar is not uncommon, but it is usually written in the Latin alphabet.

Quenya was made more popular in 2001 when the first installment of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was released in theaters.

1 Fictional history
2 Non-fictional development
3 Phonology
- 3.1 Vowels
- 3.2 Consonants
4 Grammar
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Fictional history

The Lay of Leithian translated and transcribed

As told in the Silmarillion (chapter 3), the Elves devised the language at Cuiviénen, before they encountered the Vala Oromë:

"they began to make speech and give names to all things that they perceived. Themselves they named the Quendi, signifying those that speak with voices; for as yet they had met no other living things that spoke or sang."

Since the stars were the first thing seen by the Elves as they awoke, the word el "star" was the first invented, originally an exclamation of adoration^[1], and Oromë named the elves Eldar "people of the stars" in their own language.

Over time, however, the Eldar changed the language, adding to it words of their liking and softening it from its origins in Valarin speech. The Valar adopted this language in order to converse with the Eldar in Valinor.

The Noldor who fled to Middle-earth following the Darkening of Valinor spoke Quenya among themselves. However, when Elu Thingol of Doriath, who was the king of the Sindar (Elves of the Telerin line who remained in Beleriand instead of journeying to Valinor) learned about their slaying of the Teleri, he forbade the use of Quenya in his realm. The Sindar, however, had been slow to learn Quenya, while the Noldor at this time had fully mastered Sindarin. (See The Silmarillion).

The Quenya used in Middle-earth of the Third Age (the time of the setting of The Lord of the Rings) had come to be a scholarly pursuit — something akin to Latin in our time. (Indeed, Tolkien occasionally refers to Quenya as "Elven-Latin".) Quenya was used as a formal language and for writing; Sindarin was the vernacular of all Elves. However, the Noldor still remembered Quenya and valued it highly, which we can see in the way they treat Frodo's greeting elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo ("A star shines on the hour of our meeting"). Galadriel is perhaps the only major Elf character in Middle-earth during the events of The Lord of the Rings who learned Quenya as a cradle-tongue: she was born in Valinor, during the days of the Two Trees. Noldorin (Exilic) Quenya differed somewhat from Valinórean Quenya, because the language continued to evolve after exile and underwent some regularisation as it became a language of lore. There were also a few changes in pronunciation.

The poem Namárië is the longest piece of Quenya found in the The Lord of the Rings. It is also known as Galadriel's Lament.

[edit] Non-fictional development

Outside the fiction, the grammar of Quenya was influenced by Finnish, which is an agglutinative language; grammatical inspiration also came from Latin and Greek. The phonology was also based on Finnish and, to a lesser extent, Latin, Italian and Spanish. Some interesting phonological rules are that no consonant cluster can begin or end a syllable (with one exception, the dual dative ending -nt); voiced stops must be preceded by sonorants; and a word may not end in a non-coronal consonant.

The most striking feature of Quenya is that it is a highly agglutinating language, meaning that multiple affixes are often added to words to express grammatical functions. It is possible for one Quenya word to have the same meaning as an entire English sentence. For example, one could say "They have seen it" in Quenya in a single word, namely Ecénientes.

Tolkien wrote much more material about Quenya and his other languages than he published in his lifetime. In fact, Tolkien, a professional linguist, insisted that he originally invented Middle-earth and its inhabitants as a means of imposing upon his artificial languages a history of war, migration and suffering. The famous novels might be considered incidental to his further and more passionately developed linguistic hobby.

The journals Vinyar Tengwar and Parma Eldalamberon are devoted to editing and publishing Tolkien's linguistic papers.

Quenya is one of many constructed languages introduced over the years by science fiction and fantasy writers, some others being Klingon, Newspeak, Nadsat, the Ascian language and Lapine.

In Tolkien's early writings (see: The History of Middle-earth), this language was called Qenya (although pronounced the same as Quenya). It underwent countless revisions in both grammar and vocabulary before it reached the form found in The Lord of the Rings and again went through changes before the completion of The Silmarillion. The term Qenya is now used to distinguish between old Qenya and the new Quenya. However, the fluid nature of Quenya (or Qenya, for that matter) makes such a distinction a highly disputed one.

Quenya used by fans for post-Tolkien composition of poems and texts, phrases and names, is usually nicknamed neo-Quenya, or Quenya Vinyacarmë (Q. for "neologism") by scholars. Since Tolkien's own ideas were rather fluid, any attempt to actually use the language must involve a number of "editing decisions" by the post-Tolkien author. See Neo-Eldarin.

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

Quenya has 10 basic vowels, differentiated by length as well as quality. The vowels are :

a : [a]
á : [ɑː]
e : [ɛ]
é : [eː]
i : [i]
í : [iː]
o : [ɔ]
ó : [oː]
u : [u]
ú : [uː]

[edit] Consonants

Most of the consonants are fairly straightforward, except :

h : sometimes [x]
qu : [kʷ]
nw : [nʷ]
ng : [ŋ]
ngw : [ŋʷ]
hy : [ç]
hw : [ʍ]
ty : [c]
ly : [ʎ]
ny : [ɲ]

[edit] Grammar

[edit] Nouns

Nouns are declined for ten cases: the nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, possessive, locative, allative, ablative, and a tenth "mystery" case sometimes called the "respective" or dedative case.

The nominative is used mainly to mark the subject of a verb. In spoken Quenya it also functions as the accusative (see below). It is also used with prepositions.
The accusative marks the direct object of a verb. It is not used in spoken Quenya, having been replaced by the nominative, but appears in writing.
The genitive is mainly used to mark origin (e.g. the best painters of France). Its usage sometimes overlaps the ablative, sometimes the possessive.
The dative marks the indirect object of a verb.
The instrumental marks a noun which is used as a tool or instrument.
The possessive marks possession or ownership. This usage sometimes overlaps with the genitive.
The locative expresses location or position.
The allative expresses motion towards.
The ablative expresses motion away from.
The "mystery" or respective case may be a figurative equivalent of the locative case (e.g. "about wolves" or "regarding wolves").

There are four numbers: the singular, dual, plural, and partitive plural.

[edit] Vocalic declension

The Plotz Letter gives the declension of the words 'cirya' and 'lassë'. We have no 'consonant-stem' declension. Moreover, Quenya declension had changed from the Qenya of 1915 to the mature Quenya (post Lord of the Rings).

Singular	lassë	cirya	meldo	elen	nat
Nominative	lassë	cirya	meldo	elen	nat
Accusative	lassë	cirya	meldo	elen	nat
Genitive	lassëo	ciryo	meldo	eleno	nato
Dative	lassen	ciryan	meldon	elenen	naten
Instrumental	lassenen	ciryanen	meldonen	elennen	natenen
Possessive	lasséva	ciryava	meldova	elenwa	nateva
Locative	lassessë	ciryassë	meldossë	elenessë	natessë
Allative	lassenna	ciryanna	meldonna	elenenna	natenna
Ablative	lassello	ciryallo	meldollo	elenello	natello
Dedative	lasses	ciryas	meldos	elenes	nates

Dual	lassë	cirya	meldo	elen	nat
Nominative	lasset	ciryat	meldu	elenet	natu
Accusative	lasset	ciryat	meldu	elenet	natu
Genitive	lasseto	ciryato	melduo	eleneto	natuo
Dative	lassent	ciryant	meldun	elenent	natun
Instrumental	lassenten	ciryanten	meldunen	elenenten	natunen
Possessive	lassetwa	ciryatwa	melduva	elenetwa	natuva
Locative	lassetsë	ciryatsë	meldussë	elenetsë	natussë
Allative	lassenta	ciryanta	meldunna	elenenta	natunna
Ablative	lasselto	ciryalto	meldullo	elenelto	natullo
Dedative	lassetes	ciryates	meldus	elenetes	natus

Plural	lassë	cirya	meldo	elen	nat
Nominative	lassi	ciryar	meldor	eleni	nati
Accusative	lassi	ciryar	meldor	eleni	nati
Genitive	lassion	ciryaron	meldoron	elenion	nation
Dative	lassin	ciryain	meldoin	elenin	natin
Instrumental	lassinen	ciryainen	meldoinen	eleninen	natinen
Possessive	lassiva	ciryaiva	meldoiva	eleniva	nativa
Locative	lassessen	ciryassen	meldossen	elenissen	natissen
Allative	lassennar	ciryannar	meldonnar	eleninnar	natinnar
Ablative	lassellon	ciryallon	meldollon	elenillon	natillon
Dedative	lassis	ciryais	meldois	elenis	natis

Partitive plural	lassë	cirya	meldo	elen	nat
Nominative	lasseli	ciryali	meldoli	eleneli	nateli
Accusative	lasseli	ciryali	meldoli	eleneli	nateli
Genitive	lasselion	ciryalion	meldolion	elenelion	natelion
Dative	lasselin	ciryalin	meldolin	elenelin	natelin
Instrumental	lasselínen	ciryalínen	meldolínen	elenelínen	natelínen
Possessive	lasselíva	ciryalíva	meldolíva	elenelíva	natelíva
Locative	lasselissë	ciryalissë	meldolissë	elenelissë	natelissë
Allative	lasselinna	ciryalinna	meldolinna	elenelinna	natelinna
Ablative	lasselillo	ciryalillo	meldolillo	elenelillo	natelillo
Dedative	lasselis	ciryalis	meldolis	elenelis	natelis

In archaic "Book Quenya", accusative case of these words could have been rendered as: ciryá (pl. ciryai, part. pl., ciryalí, du. unknown), lassé (pl. lassí, part. pl. lasselí, du. lasset), nat (pl. natí, part. pl. natelí, du. unknown').^[2]

[edit] Verbs

There are two main types of verbs: basic (or primary) verbs, those which are formed from the basic verbal base, such as tire (tiri-) "to watch" from stem tir-, and derivative (or A-stem) verbs, whose stems end in -a and are formed either by putting verbal suffixes to a base like tulta- "summon", from *TUL "come", or derived from non-verbal bases like kúna- "bend", originally an adjective "bent".

These conjugations were not written by Tolkien, but represent one possible reconstruction using information derived and inferred from a number of sources of various periods. Most forms are relatively uncontroversial among researchers, with the exception of tultëa as the proposed continuative form of an A-stem, as it is inferred from a single example in a late, unpublished note. (By another suggestion, A-stems cannot make a distinction between aorist and continuative form.)

	Derivative verbs		Basic verbs
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Infinitive	tulta		tirë
Aorist/Simple present	tulta	tultar	tirë (tiri-)	tirir
Present continuative	tultëa	tultëar	tíra	tírar
Past	tultanë	tultaner	tirnë	tirner
Future	tultuva	tultuvar	tiruva	tiruvar
Perfect	utultië	utultiër	itírië	itíriër

[edit] Pronouns

Pronouns are seen as both independent words, and enclitics which resemble synthetic verb endings. The rules for this are not completely understood, although evidence suggests that independent forms are more emphatic in nature, while enclitics are the forms in use normally. The effect of having both pseudo-synthetic (with enclitics) and analytic (with independent pronoun) verbs gives Quenya a system strongly resembling that of Irish Gaelic (see Irish verbs). What is known is that for intransitive verbs, the pronoun can appear as either an independent word or an enclitic, with the enclitic form often coming in two different forms, long and short. In the third person, the short form is used for direct objects rather than subjects. The following table outlines the different forms attested in Tolkien's material. Hypothetical or reconstructed forms are indicated by either question marks (?) or asterisks. Those forms that cannot be determined are not included and their absence is indicated by a slash (/).

Form	---Short---	--Median--	-Long-	Independent	Possessive
1st sing.	-n	-në	-nyë	ni, nyë	-nya
2nd casual (sg. & pl.)	-t	/	/	ki, tyë	*-tya
2nd sing. formal	-l	-lë	-lyë	lë, elyë	-lya
3rd sing. masc.	-0	-r	-ro	so	/
3rd sing. fem.	-0	-r	-rë	së	-rya
3rd sing. neut.	-s	-sa	/	sa	/
1st dual	/	/	-lvë, -lwë	met	-lwa, -lva
1st pl. excl.	/	/	-mmë	më, emmë	-mma
1st pl. incl.	/	/	-lmë (-ngwë?)	më	-lma
2nd pl. formal	-l	-lë	-llë	ellë	/
3rd pl. personal	-t	-të	-ntë	të	*-nta
3rd pl. impersonal	-t	-ta, -at	/	ta	/
3rd pl. masc.	/	-ron/-lto	/	/	/
3rd pl. fem.	/	-ren	/	/	/

'-ntë' is used for three or more persons when the subject has not been mentioned.

[edit] References

^ This is in striking parallel to the "Sun Language Theory" of Turkish nationalism, which posits that the first word was Aa "Sun", coined in the same fashion.
^ In Helge Fauskanger's appendix to his Quenya article. [1]